The Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics is delighted to announce the recipients of its annual research grants for the 2021-2022 academic year. This year’s projects focus on inclusive leadership, controversial social issues, diversity, and governance—themes central to the Center’s mission and long-term vision.  

Results from each project will not only help inform the curricular and programmatic efforts of the Center but will also guide current and future business leaders to prioritize and embody values-based leadership, ethical organizations, and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) follow-through within successful companies.

For the third year, The Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership, a joint initiative between Columbia Business School and Law Schools housed within the Bernstein Center, sponsored four projects focusing on a broad spectrum of issues and challenges that affect organizational culture and change.

Next month, our 2020-2021 grant recipients will present their research findings to the Columbia Business School community, reporting on real-world leadership applications. Be sure to watch it live or check out our Leadership Digital Collection to learn about each project’s impact.

The Center applauds this year’s grant awardees and looks forward to learning about our researchers’ pertinent and insightful conclusions in the near future.

Faculty Grant Recipient:

Wei Cai, Assistant Professor of Business, Accounting Division
Research Project: “Inclusive Leaders”

Valerie Purdie-Greenaway, Affiliated Faculty Associate Professor of Psychology, Management Division 
Research Project: "The Social Life of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Brain: What Makes DEI Research Findings Credible in Organizations?"

Lisa Yao Liu, Assistant Professor of Business, Accounting Division
Research Project: "How Do Competing Regulators Regulate Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure? Evidence from Fairness Opinion Providers' COI Discclosures"

Doctoral Grant Recipients:

James T Carter, Management Division
Research Project: “The Ricky Business of Organizational Claims: Effects of (In)consistency between Organizational Claims and Outcomes”

Brandon Freiberg, Management Division
Research Project: “Spillover Effects of Diversity Initiatives”

Jean Joohyun Oh, Management Division
Research Project: “Working Class Founder: The Effects of Social Class Origins on Entrepreneurship”

Sonia Kim, Marketing Division
Research Project: "'If You Like the Brand I like, We Can Have a Conversation': The Effect of Brand Preference Similarity on Willingness to Discuss Controversial Social Issues" 

Junjun Quan, Finance Division
Research Project: "Long-Short Fight Under the Influence of Passive Governance

Stefan Walz, Finance and Economics Division
Research Project: "Financing the Climate Transition: Bank Lending and Dirty Firms"