The Center is pleased to announce that MBA students Braden Beaudreau, Tommy Bledsoe, Zachary Brown, and Jacquelyn Renée Schneider have been selected as 2017-2018 Scheller College Sustainability Fellows. Fellows work closely with mentors to design and develop projects that can make contributions to sustainable business. Braden and Tommy have teamed up to assist Center-affiliated faculty Omar Rodríguez-Vilá in his study about how linking a brand to a social need can impact a company’s bottom line. Jacquelyn is researching how revolutions in artificial intelligence will impact gender parity in the workforce. Zachary is creating a proof of concept for a more efficient waste and recycling program at Georgia Tech. Below are brief introductions to this year’s fellows.
Braden Beaudreau (2020) calls the fellowship a “perfect opportunity” to advance his education, improve his résumé, and build relationships with faculty and peers. Interested in both real estate and sustainability, the Georgia Power land rights analyst appreciates working for a company with clearly defined sustainability goals. After receiving his MBA, Braden would like to leverage his degree and sustainability experience to transition to his company’s renewable energy group.
Environmental stewardship has been ingrained in Tommy Bledsoe (2020) since his days as an Eagle Scout. Tommy hopes to change consumer attitudes by making sustainability a part of people’s everyday lives. He says, “I want to open more doors for people to participate in the movement.” Currently a project manager for a software company, Tommy was drawn to Scheller College for opportunities “that come from being in the Tech Square ecosystem.”
In his first year of medical school, an emotional experience in the ER prompted Zachary Brown (2019) to step away from this path. He made a “quick pivot” to managing high-end restaurants, where he became appalled at the amount of waste in the food industry. “Running lean operations and sustainability go hand in hand,” he says. He wants to use his ability to recognize operational inefficiencies “to make money and save the world at the same time.”
The “vital legacy” of Ray C. Anderson influenced Jacquelyn Renée Schneider (2018) to apply for the fellowship. With a proven track record of leadership in sustainability consulting, having worked on over 100 LEED projects, Jacquelyn currently consults in Georgia Power’s energy efficiency program. The MBA will complement her other graduate degrees in Environmental Sciences and Policy as well as Transportation Technology and Policy degrees. She also will become a proud “Double Jacket” with both her MBA and BS from Georgia Tech.
Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business launched in 2013 thanks to the generosity of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and the Kendeda Fund. The Center was created as a catalyst, connector, and enabler, bringing together students, research faculty, companies, entrepreneurs, and other organizations in environments where business-driven solutions can take shape and thrive.