Dear Net Impact Club Members,

We are thrilled that many of you have signed up for the Duke Conference on Sustainable Business and Social Impact. We have over 400 people registered, however, we definitely need to keep the momentum going, so be sure to REGISTER NOW! The day-long conference will take place from 9am-5pm at Fuqua this Wednesday, February 17th. We have some exciting panels planned and speakers coming from a number of industries in both the private and nonprofit sectors. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please don’t forget to vote for the Net Impact Club Co-Presidents! All FYs who are active members of the club and all SY cabinet members are allowed to vote. Polls close on Monday, February 15th, at 12pm. Please use the link below to vote:  https://www.fuquaworld.duke.edu/FuquaWorld/evoting/FWOpenBallot.jsp?electionid=40

More details for each of upcoming events are in the newsletter below.

Please click here to access the application form for 2010-11 CSI Fellows Program

Duke University’s Corporate Sustainability Initiative is pleased to announce its Call for Applications for the 2010-11 class of CSI Fellows.  The CSI Fellows Program supports CSI’s vision to educate and enable the world’s next generation of sustainable business leaders.  Fellows, selected from graduate students at both The Fuqua School of Business and Nicholas School of the Environment, work with CSI on applied research projects as well as programmatic support and strategy.  Fellows are not paid, but they do have access to unique, high-impact project and networking opportunities (for instance, participation in CSI Corporate Advisory Council meetings and dinners, special events with sustainability guests and thought-leaders, and first right-of-refusal on project opportunities with our research partners). 

The application deadline is February 14. If you have any questions about the CSI Fellows program or would like to apply, feel free to talk to Katie Kross

This Friday, February 12th, a team from Duke, represented by Robert Olinger, Jonathan Gibbs, Mark Smallwood, and Matt Brancato, competed in the Walmart Better Living Business Plan Competition and won the regional competition at Emory University in Atlanta.

EntoGenetics, the business plan Robert and his team submitted, uses genetically engineered silkworms to create spider-silk, producing a completely biodegradable product which has the potential to compete with Kevlar in the ballistic fiber market. There were four other schools participating in this round, including UNC, Claflin, Emory, and the University of Florida. Walmart representatives were very pleased with the result on the day and offered to act as a mentor to our team for the finals. Next year Fuqua will host the regional competition. We are grateful for Walmart's support of our team.

Please join us in congratulating Robert and his team for their tremendous performance!

Who: Director of Peace Corps, Aaron Williams
What: The Importance of Service Work
When: 3:00-4:00pm on Thursday, February 18th
Where: Duke University, Sanford School Room 04

Come hear the current Director of the Peace Corps, Aarron Williams, speak about his work in the Peace Corps and about the current challenges and opportunities facing the Peace Corps as it approaches its 50th anniversary.

Did you have, or wish you'd had, someone to help you find the right career for you?
How would you like to be that someone for a young person today?

Learn how Futures for Kids (F4K) helps level the playing field for students and how you can become a Career Coach.
F4K Career Coaches are professionals who answer students’ questions about careers in as little as 10 minutes a week.
For more information and to get involved, please visit: www.f4k.org/beacareercoach

The Open Space Institute is conducting a candidate search on behalf of an affiliated philanthropic institution (“Employer”) who also works in the area of land conservation.  The Employer consists of two operating foundations and three non-operating foundations largely focused on environmental issues, with total assets in excess of $100M and a $5M annual budget.  Over the past 10 years, the foundations have awarded $50M of grants to more than 50 beneficiaries.  Beneficiaries include many of the leading domestic and international environmental, arts and educational institutions, such as Wildlife Conservation Society, The Nature Conservancy, New York Botanical Garden, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Harvard University.  Additional information about the foundations will be provided to candidates who are selected for interviews.  

The Employer seeks to fill two consulting positions described separately below – (1) Strategic Review Consultant and (2) Research Consultant.  Both consultants will work among a staff of seven people who oversee the financial, investment and administrative management of the foundations, along with family office matters.  Both positions require candidates with excellent academic records and with proven research, data collection, analytical and report-writing experience.  Please be prepared to forward sample research/analytical report(s) you have written.   Both positions are full-time and based Monday to Friday in the Employer’s new, spacious office in Great Neck, NY (30-min train ride from Penn Station).  To ensure that the consultants fully integrate and engage with the team, the Employer requests that all work be conducted at the office (no telecommuting option).  

The Employer seeks mid-level professionals in terms of skills, compensation and opportunity for career growth sought by the candidates.  Candidates should be entrepreneurial, flexible and high-energy self starters, willing to commit the time and effort required to complete the assignments within an aggressive, agreed-upon timeline.    The positions will be both stimulating and demanding.  In return, the Employer offers a truly unique opportunity to gain a broad yet up-close exposure to the leading players in the environmental arena.  Mid-level professionals with early but good grounding in environmental/foundation/business management will greatly expand their professional networks in the environmental arena and gain depth of experience in environmental grantmaking and program management. 

 The foundation is mainly interested in MBAs and former management consultants. For more information contact alexandra.michalko@fuqua.duke.edu

The Mind Trust's Education Entrepreneur Fellowship is a nationally unique incubator for transformative education ventures designed to solve public education's most vexing problems. The Fellowship offers promising education entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and launch their break-the-mold education ventures.

Click here for more information.

Drop by to chat with Katie Kross about your sustainability job search or other sustainability questions. Katie is Associate Director of the Corporate Sustainability Initiative at Duke and author of Profession and Purpose: A Resource Guide for MBA Careers in Sustainability.

Click here for more information.

Cornell University’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise is pleased to announce the commencement of the 2010 SustaInvest competition, a portfolio pitch competition focused on maximizing profitability and sustainability in an investment strategy.

The 2010 SustaInvest Case involves a mock investment mandate from The Cornell University Endowment to allocate $10 million towards sustainable investments. The portfolio must include competitive financial returns, risk management commensurate with target returns, and positive environmental and social impact. Portfolios will be judged for an understanding of the interdependence among business, society and the environment for a competitive advantage. Register your team of up to four students here

Deadline: Monday, March 15, 2010, 11:45 pm EST

For more information, including resources on sustainable investing, please visit www.sustainvest.org or email at sustainvest@johnson.cornell.edu.

The Prizes
1st Place: $1,000
2nd Place: $500
3rd Place: $250

All graduate and undergraduate students are invited to participate in teams of up to four students.

  When:  May 20-21, 2010
  Where: Westin Market St and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
               San Francisco, CA

  Click here for more information.

The Green Devil Challenge to help focus on specific actions you can take.  Each month, a new challenge will be issued to encourage individuals to make small changes in their daily lives that will help reduce our emissions at Duke.  

The first challenge is simple - make a commitment. More than 3,300 students and employees have signed the Sustainable Duke Pledge. But a much broader commitment is needed if we are to make substantive change. If you have not already, we encourage you to take the pledge. If you have already pledged, take the next step and invite your friends or colleagues to do the same.

Accept the challenge at: http://sustainability.duke.edu/action/challenge/

Competition dates
        Team applications are due Friday, February 19, 2010.
        Wednesday, March 31, 2010: Case released at 5 pm EST
        Friday, April 9, 2010: Registration, opening ceremony and reception
        Saturday, April 10, 2010: Competition day (Columbia Heights Ed Campus, at 3101 16th St, Wash DC)
READ MORE HERE ...

  There is just over a month left to enter the 2010   Dell Social Innovation Competition.
   READ MORE HERE ...