At a time when forward thinking organizations are focused on developing new business practices for long term growth, the Duquesne University Green to Gold award offers well-deserved recognition to American firms leading the way in implementing the essential and beneficial ideals of sustainability.
Candidates are selected through a screening process that requires membership in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index-US Components as well as strong positive scores in the KLD SOCRATES Corporate Social Ratings Monitor. Candidates are then evaluated for financial performance against their industry peer group. Top quartile performance over three years in ROA, ROE, ROI and profit margin is required for further consideration.
Companies that meet those requirements are then screened by a panel of graduates of the MBA Sustainability program of Duquesne University’s Donahue Graduate School of Business, who evaluate sustainability performance as defined in the Green to Gold WaveRiders criteria. A list of five finalists is then presented to a panel of judges that includes Dan Esty and Andrew Winston, co-authors of the book Green to Gold, as well as other academic and professional leaders in sustainability.
The Green to Gold award offers unbiased recognition from a leader in sustainable business education.
Duquesne was among the first signers of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education, a United Nations-backed initiative promoting environmental stewardship, human rights and fair trade practices in business education. In addition, the University ranks 25th in the world for integrating social and environmental stewardship into research and MBA program coursework, according to the 2011 Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey of the Aspen Institute, an international foundation dedicated to developing leaders for a sustainable global society.
Duquesne University’s MBA Sustainability program recently won the prestigious Page Prize for curriculum design (2009), and Treasury and Risk Management magazine has named Alan Miciak, dean of Duquesne’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business, one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance for “reaching beyond academia’s boundaries to introduce corporate responsibility concepts directly into the business community.”
