Center for Sustainable Business | Sustainability and Human Rights Summer Fellowship

Kirsten will lead two high visibility projects in our Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Practice. In the first, she will leverage materiality assessment results to drive impact and inform ESG strategy and in the second, she will conduct research to develop innovative ESG offerings to support impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and business growth.

Isa will work with Williams-Sonoma, Inc. on projects related to supply chain innovation, sustainability, circular economy, worker education and empowerment, and ESG reporting. The post will involve research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and strategy development.

Abbey will support New Balance on their fair compensation work and supply chain responsible leadership program.

Yurany will work on two projects with Gore Mutual: one focusing on CSB's Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) methodology and the other to support with developing a framework for the launch of their ESG program.

Puja will chart a course that is both sustainable and impactful at a global scale. She will work with stakeholders of Sourcing, Operations, Business Intelligence, Tech, Service Delivery and Education, matching everyday business as usual requirements with ambitious targets for carbon neutrality.

Sophie will support Nespresso's social and environmental impact. Some deliverables will include the development of social impact strategy, including BCorp principles, of competitors and other certified BCorp companies of similar size and/or industry, conduct research of end-of-life capsules for selected key markets, help drive the environmental strategy/plan, and support waste audits at our head office and/or local boutique locations

Marta supported the BBMG team in creating content for brand and innovation projects, support project management directly with clients, and research and synthesize brand landscapes and consumer reports.

Maddie assisted Applegate with its Meat Solutions Index (MSI) tool while making the connection back to the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI) model. The MSI tool contemplates a range of factors that can impact the Human Health, Environmental Footprint and Animal Welfare associated with various innovation platforms and potential improvements that can be resourced and advanced to improve the meat system.

Taylor worked across Sales, Marketing, Research, and Finance teams to investigate and identify areas for growth in sustainability and will examine the company’s carbon footprint, monetize sustainability efforts and goals, and help to develop a concrete ESG strategy that can be implemented across departments at all levels.

Lucie assisted King Arthur Baking Company on projects to operationalize the company’s ambitious sustainability goals and embed their purpose further upstream in the supply chain

Pedro will be responsible for supporting priority human rights due diligence of sales and business activities; helping to draft Microsoft’s annual human rights transparency report, and helping to prepare the Human Rights Team’s participation at the UN General Assembly.

Nadia will be responsible for supporting priority human rights due diligence of sales and business activities; helping to draft Microsoft’s annual human rights transparency report, and helping to prepare the Human Rights Team’s participation at the UN General Assembly.

Saumya worked with Williams-Sonoma, Inc. on projects related to supply chain innovation, sustainability, circular economy, worker education and empowerment, and ESG reporting. The post will involve research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and strategy development.

Joss applied the ROSI framework to two National Grid investments in energy efficiency and net-zero buildings. This project represents an early attempt by National Grid to monetize its sustainability efforts and, more importantly, a commitment to the energy transition that we need.

Liz examined William Sonoma Inc’s supply chain, learning how they onboard vendors and track vendor data across their 8 brands, including creating and implementing a baseline survey for West Elm LOCAL vendors to inform their commitments to the 15% Pledge.

Rebecca's central project was to assess corporate responses to COVID-19 across the Packaged Food & Meats industry, the Restaurant industry, and the Financial Services sector to help build the firm’s understanding of how corporate resilience is connected to overall ESG performance

Leora analyzed how communications highlighting sustainability could enhance Nespresso’s brand identity and support its consumer and sales channel marketing goals.

Lily's work included a series of memoranda on how to best ground emergency responses to COVID-19 in human rights principles. In light of evidence that nations around the world have derogated their human rights commitments in order to enact necessary emergency measures, Lily researched ways to protect civilians’ privacy and rights.

Jamison produced an investment plan for financing smallholder tree crop farmers throughout the world, with a specific focus on cocoa farmers in West Africa.

Tara evaluated the Social Consciousness & Innovation team's marketing communication efforts by mapping their strategy across channels. She also analyzed West Elm’s reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), focusing specifically on social compliance disclosures.

Leah relaunched Nespresso's B2B recycling program, which allows their B2B clients to return their used aluminum coffee capsules to one of Nespresso's partner recycling facilities.

Sam worked on a research project for the human rights team at Microsoft focused on AI in the military. He conducted due diligence into the potential for Microsoft to be linked to human rights harms from future sales in this area, and to recommend areas for further focus.

Stephanie researched and developed sector-specific metrics to monitor and assess IFC’s climate-related investments. Specifically, she prepared the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) guidance for Investment Officers on the definition and potentials of CSA and the different metrics used to determine the climate-related impacts of the CSA investments.

Yen's work focused on the LOCAL program, in which West Elm stores curate selections of locally-made products and host events with creative small businesses. With her team, she surveyed LOCAL makers to learn more about their experiences as creative small business owners and how LOCAL helps (or could help) them reach their business objectives.

Julianne assisted with the preparation for Bloomberg's annual internal conference, where the relevant contacts in the businesses get together to share what they’ve been working on and their plans for the upcoming year. She also researched the corporate governance of specific companies and executive compensation.