Businesses have a vital role to play in solving social and environmental issues through innovation, market development, and entrepreneurship.

With more than 20 years’ experience, the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise works with faculty associated with the Business of Sustainability Theme who are at the forefront of research, teaching, and engagement related to helping businesses address these problems. We provide students distinctive experiential learning opportunities and collaborate with organizations to help to tackle the grand challenges of our time, such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, and poverty.


The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise is excited to announce our new Sustainability Mentors program! Mentors will meet one-on-one with students virtually or in-person to share their sustainability expertise, advise on careers in sustainability, and discuss students’ goals and interests. This is a one-year commitment and mentors should plan to commit at least 8 hours to the program each semester.

If you are interested in becoming a member of our inaugural cohort of Sustainability Mentors, please submit the form below.

Contact CSGE@cornell.edu with any questions about the program.

News and Stories About the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise

Pinaki Bhattacharyya presenting at an AMPIN event
August 22, 2025

Powering the Future: Leadership in Renewable Energy Transition

20 for 20 honoree Pinaki Bhattacharyya MBA ’03, CEO of AMPIN Energy Transition, shares his commitment to sustainability.

Vanessa Purnawan MBA ’26 standing in front of the Stanford Graduate School of Business sign at the Knight Management Center
August 20, 2025

The Future of Southeast Asian Family Care

Vanessa Purnawan MBA ’26 spends her summer internship developing a tech-enabled childcare solution for families in Southeast Asia.

Britta von Oesen standing in front of a dark gray backdrop
August 11, 2025

Driving Energy Transition: A 20 for 20 Changemaker

The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise celebrates 20 for 20 honoree Britta von Oesen MBA ’09, partner and managing director at CRC-IB.


Research With Impact

Dragana Cvijanovic

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Atlas Wu

Atlas Wu

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Childhood Mental Health and Long-term Financial Outcomes

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Research Paper, January 2025

Summary 

The authors investigate the relationship between childhood mental health conditions and financial outcomes later in life. They find that individuals with childhood mental health conditions are significantly less likely to hold any assets, and they accumulate more debt. Financial literacy, however, mitigates most of these effects.


The Center hosts annual conferences surrounding the energy transition and business impact, hosts roundtables and networking events during NYC Climate week, and more!

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Events

Monday, October 27, 2025
Sustainability Fellows Applications Due by November 2 @11:59 pm. Open to 1st-year MBA students. Application Link: https://johnson.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6WLgcFSqEGfHonY Sustainability Fellows: https://business.cornell.edu/centers/sge/students/fellows-program/...
6:00pm - 9:00pm EDT -04:00
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Friday, October 31, 2025
Sustainability Fellows Applications Due by November 2 @11:59 pm. Open to 1st-year MBA students. Application Link: https://johnson.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6WLgcFSqEGfHonY Sustainability Fellows: https://business.cornell.edu/centers/sge/students/fellows-program/...
6:00pm - 9:00pm EDT -04:00
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November 2 - November 3, 2025
These programs have been created to enable MBAs to distinguish themselves through knowledge of sustainability as a strategic business issue...
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Stay in Touch with the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise

Check out our recent newsletters below. Please email CSGE@cornell.edu to be added to our distribution list.


Center Projects Spanning the Globe

The Center provides hands-on learning opportunities for graduate students interested in learning how businesses address environmental and social problems through innovation and enterprise. Click on the map to learn more about the diversity of companies and types of challenges we work on.


Michael Arsnow (MBA '19)

My best decision at Johnson was joining SGE. Hands down!

Mikey Arsnow, MBA '19
Mercedes Moran

The SGE program is more than a class, it is a community building exercise. We worked hard but also played hard while learning about win-win solutions for business and the world.

Mercedes Moran Enriquez, MBA ‘20

Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ Land Acknowledgment for the Ithaca Campus

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ’ people, past and present, to these lands and waters.