New Lecturer in Sustainability Management

New Lecturer in Sustainability Management

this Master of Science in Sustainability Management (SUMA) Program I am very happy to welcome the two new lecturers to co-teach the introductory course on sustainable development management in the fall of 2021. Laura Kavanagh and Wendy Hapgood bring complementary experiences in management and sustainability, which will give students new insights into the field of sustainability management .

Laura Kavanagh is the first deputy director of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). The first deputy chief is the second in command of the New York City Fire Department. In this position, Kavanagh is the highest-ranking woman in FDNY, the second woman in the department’s history to hold this position, and the youngest person ever to be appointed to this position. As the first deputy, Kavanagh is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the agency’s 17,000 employees and a $2 billion budget. Her responsibilities include overseeing key departments such as fleets, facilities, 911 dispatch operations, technology, data analysis, and health services.

Kavanagh has been a key leader in the agency’s response to major events including the 2015 Ebola epidemic and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and has taken the lead in formulating key policy initiatives for the department. Kavanagh led the firefighter recruitment campaign to generate the most diverse applicant pool in the department’s history, including the largest and most diverse group of women in the past three decades. She also paved the way for technological innovation by developing applications that provide situational awareness for front-line members; created a fire safety plan to install and distribute smoke alarms in the most dangerous communities; and advocated at the city, state, and federal levels First responders.

Wendy Hapgood, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Wild Tomorrow Fund

Wendy Hapgood is co-founder and chief operating officer Wild Tomorrow Fund, A wildlife protection non-profit organization dedicated to protecting threatened and endangered species and the habitats on which they depend. Hapgood’s first career was in capital markets, where she was the sales director of a leading global bank. From 2008 to 2011, she led the electronic money sales team at Barclays Bank in Tokyo, responsible for an annual sales budget of more than 30 million U.S. dollars. She moved to New York City in 2011 as the director of sales and was responsible for establishing relationships with key customers of Barclays Bank and Citibank. In 2015, she left finance and completed a master’s degree in sustainable management at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where she studied climate change science and policy, and studied The intersection of poverty and rhino poaching It turned out that this was the largest ivory depression in New York State’s history, and researched new ways of financing the green economy. She now uses her business knowledge and her environmental education to help protect the biodiversity of our planet.

Hapgood has led projects on a wide range of issues from protection to community health and technology implementation in the public and private sectors. Projects include working with the Australian state government to manage alcohol management plans for indigenous communities, connecting the Japanese stock exchange and banking trading platforms for automated transactions, providing research for the 2017 Global Climate Index Report’s Asset Owner Disclosure Project, and research Shareholders participate in cooperation with the fossil fuel company of the Colombian Sustainable Investment Center.She was recommended Forbes Magazine As a champion of social welfare in 2019.

Sustainability management is an introductory course that all students of SUMA must take, preferably in their first semester. The course introduces students to the field of sustainability management and provides them with a general framework and a set of case studies that will inform them for the rest of the program.This is a practical professional course organized around core concepts
The core concept of management and sustainability, with special emphasis on urban sustainability.

Kavanagh and Hapgood will apply their own unique spins on the court. We talked with them to learn more about their methods.

What is your background in this field?

Page: I have nearly 20 years of experience as a staff and complex project and problem manager. For the past 7 years, I have been working at FDNY, where I was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the country’s largest fire department and complex policy issues from diversity and inclusion to technological innovation.

WH: After a successful career on Wall Street, I completed the SUMA program in 2017 and entered a sustainable world. At the same time that I started the project, my partner and I launched the Wild Tomorrow Fund, a wildlife conservation charity dedicated to saving threatened wildlife and wilderness on Earth. Efforts to protect and restore biodiversity can also help reduce poverty, combat climate change, and prevent the sixth mass extinction. I have first-hand experience in launching start-up organizations, creating communities, and generating the conservation capital needed to successfully execute our vision as an organization.

What do you plan to cover in your course part, and how does your approach differ from other parts?

Page: I want to help professionals develop practical plans to implement real solutions.

WH: As a wildlife conservationist, I will pay more attention to the importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration in our part of the course. Biodiversity protection and climate change are interrelated double crises. Together they push our planet to an ecological tipping point, which may undermine the stability of life on earth. Building a sustainable future in harmony with nature is essential to our long-term survival.

What do you think is the importance for professionals to understand sustainable development management?

WH: In order to survive in the new “green economy”, all professionals must consider the sustainability of their business practices. It is now an important tool for management. Companies that are part of the old destructive order that does not consider the environment need to innovate urgently and turn to operational sustainability, or they will become obsolete. We live in an extraordinary historical era. Conscious consumers and voters have proliferated. Their choices are important and are driving change. Visionary entrepreneurs are recruiting scientists, economists, engineers, artists, software programmers, bitcoin miners, architects, and accountants to innovate with “green” business models without leaving traces of environmental damage.

Are you currently involved in any work related to sustainable development management?

Page: every day! No one will manage a large organization without dealing with sustainability issues-they should.

WH: Yes, at the Wild Tomorrow Fund, my focus is on creating and restoring wildlife corridors in global biodiversity hotspots and countering the regional power of biodiversity loss. This is a hopeful action and concept that can restore and “rewild” degraded areas, bringing back local extinct species-and by doing so, reconnect people as part of nature.

Do you want to highlight any new trends in sustainable management?

WH: The United Nations declared this year to be the first in the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. It is exciting to see new discussions, international agreements, and funding about protecting habitats and creating wildlife corridors. As a temporary goal, the world has a vision to protect 30% of the earth’s land and oceans by 2030 and increase to 50% by 2050. This gives me hope for the future.

Do you have any additional details you want to share that might interest students?

Page: I just graduated from SIPA’s EMPA course in May 2021, including attending school at the height of the pandemic. I know what it is to be a working student. I am not here to assign work, but to help you get the results of problem-solving.

WH: The SUMA project provides me with a platform to make a lot of positive progress for a corner of the earth. The Sustainability Management Course is a basic course that outlines all aspects of sustainability management, including the practice of management itself. Being able to effectively operate organizations, manage teams, negotiate, and influence public policy-these are vital skills in your toolkit if you want to change the world!

this Master of Sustainability Management, Co-hosted Earth Institute with Columbia Institute of Professional Studies, Train students to deal with complex and urgent environmental and management challenges.visit website learn more.