Consulting Projects

The MBA in Organizational and Environmental Sustainability focuses on the understanding of the learning organization by assigning students multiple group projects. These group projects allow students to not only learn from their classmates, but also to experience the dynamics of teamwork in organizations. These group projects help to meet the learning goals of the course while integrating professional and academic experiences. Consulting projects are often key to career development and students often reference these projects in their résumés.

Consulting projects are critical to the Earth Systems in Organizations class. Antioch faculty and businesses work together to identify “sustainability challenges” related to earth systems. Teams of students then spend the semester working to resolve the challenge and present their findings to organizational staff and boards of directors. Examples of earth systems consulting projects are outlined below:

Cabot Cheese, Cabot, VT (Fall 2009)
Students were asked to assist Cabot Cheese in developing a strategy for measuring their waste stream. Teams of students worked together to analyze the sources of waste at the Cabot Creamery and to design strategies for measuring the waste stream. Students also analyzed disposal options including: landfills, composting, recycling, and the potential waste stream of Cabot Cheese.

"We received enormous value from our real world consulting project with Antioch graduate students.~ Their grasp of the challenges we presented to them was impressive and their work stayed within scope.~ The research, brainstorming and recommendations of the students were of a depth and quality that showed genuine insight and broad application of their Earth Systems learning.~ I am already looking forward to our next project with Antioch."
—Jed Davis, Director of Sustainability, Cabot Cheese

Monadnock Farm Community Connections (MFCC), Keene, NH (Fall 2009)
Teams of students worked with the local grassroots efforts of MFCC to assist in developing a new Coop in downtown Keene. Students were asked to research other Coops and analyze how they integrate the triple bottom line message for farmers, producers, Coop members, and other consumers. Students developed marketing materials to help inform the various stakeholder groups of the importance of balancing environmental, financial, and community messages for the Coop.

"The quality and professionalism of the Antioch Green MBA students--both in their final products and their presentation skills--exceeded my expectations. ~Their thorough consultation and the complexity of their final product are invaluable to our marketing, community outreach, and sustainable business development efforts as we continue the process of building a community-owned food store. ~The students' demonstrated skills and comprehension of whole systems analysis would be an asset to any business."
—Bonnie Hudspeth, MFCC Program Coordinator, Monadnock Farm and Community Connection

Clean Air Cool Planet, Portsmouth, NH (Fall 2008)
Clean Air Cool Planet has become a national leader in supporting schools and businesses in measuring and reducing their carbon footprints. The students were presented with the opportunity to broaden the services offered by Clean Air Cool planet. Students presented a business model that expanded services and revenue building initiatives.

Hannah Grimes Entrepreneur Center Sustainability Manual and Recognition Program (Fall 2008)
The fall 2008 cohort was asked to create a learning tool that would allow Hannah Grimes's clients to integrate earth systems awareness into their fledgling businesses. They looked at the programs that were already in place at Hannah Grimes and designed a sustainability education program manual and a recognition program that will be strong supplements to the Hannah Grimes's Entrepreneur Project curriculum. Together the manual and the recognition program will help Hannah Grimes' clients assess their impact on earth systems, set goals to alleviate this impact, provide tips and tools on how to make positive environmental change in their businesses, and celebrate the steps these businesses take toward more sustainable operation.

The Executive Summary
The Sustainability Manual

Stonewall Farm Sustainability Project (Fall 2007)
The first MBA class did an extensive project with Stonewall Farm, an educational farm in Keene, NH. The students were asked by the executive director to learn about the farm's resources and develop proposals for revenue building for the farm. Students identified five options and worked on teams researching these opportunities for the farm. The groups were: agrotourism, sustainability and energy, development of a commercial kitchen and local foods projects, local foods restaurant, and capitalizing on existing resources.

This sample below is the work of the sustainability and energy group by four of the Green MBA students. They presented this proposal to the Stonewall Farm Board of Directors. This project was one of the verifications for the course.

Stonewall Farm Project

Last Updated: 3/26/10