Presidio Spins Off LiveNeutral, Forms Strategic Alliance with ClimateCHECK

In the early days, Jason Smith and three other Presidio students helped the School become one of the first members of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). Through this membership, Presidio has offset all its carbon emissions, and LiveNeutral was launched in 2005 as a Presidio enterprise with Jason serving as its Executive Director. As one of the first carbon offset companies in America, LiveNeutral gained media attention in Christian Science Monitor, Time Magazine, USA Today, ABC 7 News and elsewhere. Presidio is now pleased to announce a strategic partnership with ClimateCHECK and the spin-off of LiveNeutral as a stand-alone not-for-profit entity. As a result of this three-way alliance, ClimateCHECK will act as primary sponsor of LiveNeutral; Presidio will continue to offset all carbon emissions through LiveNeutral; and LiveNeutral will continue managing and leveraging Presidio's CCX membership. The strategic partnership will also include joint marketing efforts with ClimateCHECK. Jason Smith now serves as Vice President of Key Accounts at ClimateCHECK, and Jenna Carl has taken over as the new Executive Director for LiveNeutral. Congratulations to all parties involved!

Four New Staff Members Join Presidio

Presidio is pleased to announce four new additions to its administrative team.

Nora Ganey is the new Admissions & Student Services Coordinator. She joins us from Valparaiso, Chile, where she taught college-level English classes for WorldTeach, the Harvard Center for International Development. Her experience in South America developed her interest in higher education. Nora received her B.A. in history and theology from Boston College.

With more than 8 years experience in the telecommunications industry, Wilbur Lam joins Presidio as the new IT Manager. He has successfully designed and implemented telecommunication projects for Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, Costco, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless. De'Aunta Richmond has joined us as Administrative Coordinator, after relocating from Los Angeles, where he was a project manager for UCLA's Clinical Scholar Program. He has also worked for Earthjustice, the world's largest nonprofit law firm. De'Aunta graduated from Chico State with a B.S. in psychology.

Our newest addition is Allison Guerin who has taken on the role of Academic Affairs Coordinator. Previously, she was a merchandising planning analyst with Gap, Inc.and recently moved to the Bay Area from Pennsylvania. She has also worked with New Leaders for New Schools, a nonprofit that trains teachers as principals and places them in underserved schools. Allison graduated from Ursinus College with a B.A. in business and economics with honors.

We are delighted to have Nora, Wilbur, De'Aunta and Allison on board and warmly welcome them to the Presidio community!

Students & Companies Team Up on Sustainability Toolkits, Among Other Projects

This semester Presidio MBA students are working with a variety of organizations to implement sustainability initiatives and foster "learning by doing." Here are highlights of the sustainability projects students are doing with companies this Spring 2008:

• Developing an operations plan for REI that creates sustainable packaging to decrease the company's carbon footprint
• Working with ShoreBank to build a toolkit of sustainable practices for nonprofits
• Creating strategic and marketing plans for Worldwatch Institute to increase the impact of the organization's reach
• Building a marketing plan for the EthicMark Award in conjunction with Hazel Henderson and the World Business Academy to showcase ethical marketing practices
• Working with Red Bull in various aspects of their burgeoning sustainability initiative
• Creating with Cisco an "integrated bottom line" financial assessment tools
  Building an operations plan for the opening of the first People's Grocery store in Oakland

February Firm Night a Smashing Success

In another example of increasing Sustainable MBA supply and demand, the Presidio Net Impact Firm Night on February 13 drew more than 100 attendees -- students, alumni and other Bay Area Net Impact members -- who met with 30 potential employers including Gap, Method, New Resource Bank, Sun Microsystems, Wal-Mart and Williams-Sonoma.

From America to Australia: Bringing Eco-Job Training Down Under

Presidio student Jodi Pincus was recently invited to Australia to speak at the Dusseldorp Skills Forum about her nonprofit's work to create jobs for youth involving energy efficiency. On behalf of Rising Sun Energy Center, Jodi spoke to representatives from Eco Smart, Inspire Foundation, Sustainability Victoria and Sydney Water. The Dusseldorp Skills Forum has a vision for an Australian workforce with the skills and knowledge needed to meet sustainability imperatives. It is considering adopting parts of Rising Sun's business model, which integrates resource efficiency and resource literacy into everyday life by training and employing youth to provide conservation services for local residences.

Presidio Grad Helps Homeowners Reduce Energy Usage, Save Money

Since graduating from Presidio last June, Matthew Smith has served as Vice President of Marketing for Greenbox Technology, an early stage Bay Area start-up that is working to enable homeowners to conveniently track, understand and manage energy and water usage, reduce their environmental footprint and save money. In his role, Matt develops strategic initiatives to help Greenbox establish a market presence, innovate more quickly and build strategic partnerships. He oversees corporate communications, branding, marketing and business development. Matt has 13 years of experience, gained working for Liquid Audio and Sony Electronics, where he helped launch the VAIO Personal Computer business. Matt says this about his entrepreneurial company, which directly relates to his Presidio Capstone Venture Plan he created in his final semester: "We've put together a top-notch team, an insightful product, and are now working to establish key distribution partnerships in the channel. Word is getting out about the work we're doing, and it's great to see so much interest from potential partners in helping households improve their efficiency and lower their footprint."

Hunter Lovins Advises Newsweek's Editorial Board

Last month Hunter Lovins was invited to share her insights with Newsweek's Global Environment and Leadership Advisory Committee at a private editorial lunch in San Francisco. Discussion topics included energy, peak oil, high prices, climate, the environment, the economy, green collar jobs, education in general and sustainable MBA programs. Hunter stressed the "integrated bottom line" and the concept that behaving responsibly to people and planet enhances every aspect of shareholder value.

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