Join us for the kickoff event of ClimateCATALYST 2026 to explore how and why business leaders need to understand the business implications of our changing climate. Come away inspired to embrace climate as a part of your MBA and future careers.

Speakers:

Jessica Wingert, Program Lead, ClimateCAP

Patrick Flynn, Founder, Switchboard

Get up to speed on climate change fundamentals in this 1-hour crash course in climate science. Explore the fundamental causes and effects of climate change and how it is, and will, affect communities, businesses, and the global economy. Speaker: Andrew Issacs, UC Berkeley, Senior Lecturer with Continuing Status

Climate change is increasingly a critical business issue and will be relevant regardless of your industry, function, or career path. This session explores how climate is reshaping markets and creating major risks and opportunities for future business leaders to navigate in the years ahead.

Speaker: Meeta Kothare, Professor of Practice in the McCombs School of Business and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin

Meeta is Professor of Practice in the McCombs School of Business and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the Managing Director of the Global Sustainability Leadership Institute at UT and served as the inaugural Managing Director of its predecessor, the Social Innovation Initiative at McCombs.

Kothare has over three decades of academic, business, and social sector experience. Kothare began her career in sales and marketing before pursuing graduate studies in business. After completing her doctorate, she joined the finance faculty at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where she has taught in the MBA, Undergraduate and Executive Education programs. Her research in finance has appeared in leading academic finance journals. Her commitments to philanthropy and community service led her to launch an impact consulting firm and eventually sparked her interest in the role of finance and entrepreneurship in advancing a sustainable future.

Kothare holds a Ph.D. in Finance and an M.S. in Applied Economics from the University of Rochester, and an MBA from the University of Georgia.

You know you'd like to incorporate climate into your post-MBA career, but what are your options? In this session, we'll share an overview of the climate career landscape, talk about key trends in today's job market, and discuss the ways you can prepare for recruiting and career success while you're an MBA student.

Speaker: Marcus Castain, Associate Director, Parker Career Management Center at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Founder of Launchpad.

Climate policy--at the national, state, and international level--is one of the most important drivers in shaping market dynamics and the cost of capital in climate tech. Get up to speed on fundamental climate policy issues and their business implications in this session.

Speaker: Elizabeth Doty, Executive Director, Third Side Strategies

Measurement of climate impacts is critical to businesses, customers, and investors. This session will cover leading sustainability standards and frameworks, such as GRI and IFRS, provide an overview of GHG emissions categories under the GHG Protocol, and briefly introduce climate risk assessments.

Speaker: Karina Hilton Spiegel, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Environ Energy

Transitioning to a low carbon future is critical in managing climate change. Join this session to understand how energy is produced, delivered, and used, and how those activities affect climate outcomes, innovation opportunities, and investment decisions.

Speaker: Jonathan Silverthorne, Director of the Revers Center for Energy, Sustainability, and Innovation at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

The AI build out is a digital twin of the green transition. This session will explore how AI can accelerate climate solutions and decarbonization efforts, while examining the tensions surrounding AI’s energy use, data infrastructure, resource demands, and unintended consequences.

Speaker: Gernot Wagner, Faculty Director, Climate Knowledge Initiative, Columbia Business School

Which innovations are the most attractive business opportunities, and how do different types of investors evaluate climate tech? In this panel discussion, we'll introduce you to the ecosystem of climate investing.

Speakers: Radhika Lalit, Initiative Director, Industry, Climate Imperative

Helenka (Lenka) Nolan, Lecturer in Strategy at Northeastern University

Elaine Hsieh, Partner and COO for VoLo Earth Ventures

Hugo Mkhize, Associate, Investments, Climate Investment (CI)

We’ve covered a ton of different climate levers over the past three days, and now is your chance to put that to use in this interactive session using the En‑ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator.

Speaker: Katherine Markova, Partnerships Manager, Climate Interactive

​Climate change is reshaping leadership. MBAs today will have the responsibility to manage climate impacts in their leadership and investment decision-making. They’ll also be the innovators leading the way to develop and implement new climate solutions. Join us for our kickoff event for an introduction to ClimateCATALYST and an exploration about why and how future business leaders should think about climate impacts. Come away inspired to embrace climate as a part of your MBA and future careers. ​

Speakers:

-Jessica Wingert, Program Lead ClimateCAP Initiative

-Patrick Flynn, Founder, Switchboard and Director of Corporate Climate Action, Topo Finance

​​Speaker Bios:

​Jessica Wingert is Program Lead for ClimateCAP, a partnership of business schools focused on educating MBA students about the business risks and opportunities of climate change. Jessica brings a wealth of both industry and academic expertise together in this role. She started her career in supply chain and procurement consulting, has launched and led sustainability programs at both Land O’Lakes and Labcorp, and worked previously at the Fuqua Career Management Center. In each of these roles, she has brought a keen understanding of strategy, a creative entrepreneurial spirit, a deep understanding of climate and sustainability issues, and a passion for inspiring students and stakeholders. She holds an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and an BS in Marketing from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

​Patrick Flynn is a climate action expert who has spent his career at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability. While always working for Planet Earth, he has held roles in engineering, investing and business transformation, including many years leading sustainability for Salesforce. Nowadays, he’s on a mission to supercharge the business world’s most influential climate leaders with Switchboard. Patrick is an advisor to various mission-aligned organizations like Generation Investment Management, TOPO Finance and WattCarbon. He holds an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA from MIT.

About ClimateCAP The ClimateCAP Initiative is working to prepare tomorrow's business leaders—today’s MBA students—to understand and respond to the climate challenge by mainstreaming the climate conversation in business school. Find out more at: https://climatecap.org/.

Need to get up to speed on climate change fundamentals? This 1-hour crash course in climate science is based on Andrew Isaacs’ popular course UC-Berkeley Haas that explore the fundamental causes and effects of climate change and how it is, and will, affect communities, businesses, and the global economy. ​

Speaker: Andrew Isaacs, Senior lecturer with continuing status at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business ​

Speaker Bio: ​Andrew Isaacs brings an unusual combination of Earth Science expertise and business experience to his role at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where he is one of the few climate scientists teaching at a major American business school.Isaacs began his career with NASA's Planetary Science Division at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, conducting research on Earth and planetary geochemistry after completing undergraduate and graduate degrees in geochemistry from the University of Michigan. From NASA he moved to Silicon Valley, where he worked at a materials science startup before taking on management and executive positions at corporations in Silicon Valley and Tokyo. ​Since joining UC Berkeley in 1999, Isaacs has taught technology innovation, climate science, and climate change strategy to over 5,000 students. Isaacs has also written 30 business case studies, many addressing climate-related business challenges, and is working on a textbook to help non-scientists teach climate change to business students. Isaacs has taught executive courses for more than 100 companies across the US, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. ​Isaacs’ recent recognition includes the 2022 UC Berkeley Sustainability Teaching Award and the 2024 Best Haas Case Study award for his work on Net Zero. He lives with his family in rural Napa County, where they operate a low-carbon ranch producing wines under the Screaming Squirrel label.

About ClimateCAP: The ClimateCAP Initiative is working to prepare tomorrow's business leaders—today’s MBA students—to understand and respond to the climate challenge by mainstreaming the climate conversation in business school. Find out more at: https://climatecap.org/.

Recording of "Integrating Climate Into Your MBA" on May 16th, 2025. MBAs who understand the business implications of climate change are better prepared to manage and succeed in our changing world. In this virtual learning session, prospective and incoming MBA students hear from business educators about the ways they can build skills and climate expertise during your MBA experience and prepare yourself for a business career that contributes to climate solutions.

Participating Schools:

-Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

-Emory University, Goizueta Business School

-Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business

-Harvard University, Harvard Business School

-HEC Paris

-MIT, Sloan School of Management

-UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business

-University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

-University of Michigan, Erb Institute, Ross School of Business

-University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School

-University of Washington, Foster School of Business

-Yale, School of Management