Finance & Sustainability provides a high level introduction to the financial tools that can be used to address sustainability across a broad range of issues, including environmental (eg biodiversity, climate change) and social challenges (eg poverty, education, housing). By design, this course does not provide a deep dive on any specific issue. This course is suitable for both MBA students planning a career in financial services who want to understand the potential impact of their work on issues of sustainability, and for students planning a career in social enterprise who want to understand the application of financial tools. Specifically, the course objectives are to:

1. Understand the relationship between finance and sustainability.
2. Analyze which financial tools are effective (as measured by both sustainable impact and the ability to earn a financial return), and which are not.
3. Learn how the effective implementation of finance to address sustainability can be practically applied in a variety of contexts.

Bruce Usher

Co-Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark T. Gallogly '86 Faculty Director; Professor of Professional Practice

Bruce Usher is a Professor of Professional Practice and the Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark T. Gallogly '86 Faculty Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. Professor Usher teaches on the intersection of finance, social and environmental issues, and is a recipient of the Singhvi Prize for Scholarship in the Classroom, the Lear Award, and the Dean’s Award...

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