CSB Blog | CSB Student Worker Reflection: Core Messaging and Identity-Building in Sustainability

Odalia Zubarev (MBA in Luxury and Retail, 2026) graduated from NYU Stern with specializations in Sustainable Business and Innovation, and Luxury Marketing, and will be joining the United Nations working in Communications and Design in the New York headquarters. Odalia is also a social entrepreneur, artist, gardener and silversmith. Take a look at Odalia’s portfolio and work samples here: odalia.xyz

In my spring semester at Stern in the Luxury and Retail MBA, I worked as a Marketing and Communications Fellow at the Stern Center for Sustainable Business. The center holds the enduring legacy of Tensie Whelan’s work in sustainability, creating an education research center committed to explaining how sustainability can drive financial performance and value in business, through research and their trademarked ROSI methodology. Having specialized in Sustainable Business and Innovation, which is a top 10 MBA specialization at Stern, I was also required to take its flagship course “Sustainability for Competitive Advantage”, taught by Alison Taylor. The center supports a vast amount of fellowships, executive and undergrad/graduate coursework, pitch competitions, mentorships, and skills-based bootcamps. When I first joined the Stern CSB, a layer of complexity to my role is the geopolitical and cultural polarization around sustainability and ESG-related discourse, inherently the broader context in which the Stern CSB was shaped, This created an added layer of complexity in how sustainability-related messaging was framed externally, requiring careful consideration of tone, positioning, and emphasis. I learned how to communicate sustainability not as an abstract or optional value, but as something embedded within business operations, strategy, and institutional legitimacy.
 

Within the structure of an academic center embedded in a university but operating with external-facing programming, I also developed a clearer understanding of how institutional support functions in practice. This required me to adapt my design and communication approaches to meet more formal expectations while still maintaining clarity, visual coherence, and strategic relevance. In practice, this meant balancing creative thinking with institutional alignment; ensuring that outputs were polished, structured, and aligned with stakeholder expectations across both academic and professional audiences. By the end of my internship, I  produced 80+ branded multimedia assets supporting sustainability initiatives, partnerships, and student programming. I also built digital systems for campaign management, analytics tracking, and stakeholder coordination. 
 

Prior to joining the Stern Center for Sustainable Business, my work has involved partnering with Indigenous communities, sustainability centers, and NGOs on initiatives related to language revitalization, workforce development, housing, and community wellbeing. These experiences taught me that effective and empowered communication begins with intentionality, listening, and deep relationship-building. I view communications as creating pathways for those closest to the work to be heard, rather than speaking on their behalf. The goal is to increase accessibility and outreach channels; amplifying messaging while preserving political nuance, cultural context, and the leadership of those most directly impacted. I’ve learned the importance of centering community expertise, respecting cultural contexts, and ensuring people are represented as authors of their own narratives rather than subjects of external interpretation. Narratives shape whose experiences are visible, how issues are understood and interpreted, and what futures people believe are possible. Across the globe, storytelling and oral history has long been a tool for preserving identity, challenging dominant narratives, and mobilizing collective action. My professional experiences have involved translating complex research and social issues into accessible public-facing communications, and I’m excited by the challenge of helping strengthen a global network through storytelling, advocacy, systems-building, and movement-centered communications.
 

Overall, this experience strengthened my ability to operate in environments characterized by organizational ambiguity, leadership transition, geopolitical pressures, and evolving strategic narratives. It deepened my understanding of how institutions communicate through periods of change, and how to produce structured, high-impact deliverables. The experience also strengthened my understanding of how organizations navigate sustainability, institutional change, and stakeholder engagement during periods of transition. As I begin my summer internship with the United Nations supporting the DOS and Office of the Under-Secretary General in Communications and Design, I’m excited to continue exploring how operational strategy, sustainability, and communications can help organizations create meaningful impact at a global scale.