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 who are at the forefront of research, teaching and engagement related to helping businesses address sustainability 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.


News and Stories About the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise

Tika Diagnestya using a microphone to present with a whiteboard as her backdrop.
May 11, 2026

Cornell Business Impact Symposium: Making sustainability work

Key insights highlight how to turn sustainability concepts into practical, real‑world impact

Chelsey Turner and Evan Gold standing in front of their poster, showcasing their work for Hollenbeck’s Cider Mill.
April 1, 2026

Pressed for legacy: Cider mill keeps a tradition going strong

Big Red Microenterprise students reflect on helping a beloved upstate cider mill plan a sustainable future while staying true to its roots

luxury beach resort
March 2, 2026

Sustainability at the heart of luxury travel

An MBA internship showed how sustainability can be a luxury advantage, with simple operational and guest‑experience changes driving impact, credibility, and growth at Empirean Consulting


Research With Impact

Megan Epler Wood

Megan Epler Wood

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Professional headshot of Ante Mandic with gray background.

Ante Mandić

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Strengthening Sustainable Tourism’s Role in Biodiversity Conservation and Community Resilience

International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2025

Summary 

In this publication, the authors develop a framework with three strategic goals for visitation to Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs). These goals focus on tourism revenue, resilience and livelihoods, and collaborative governance systems, which aim to expand sustainable tourism’s role in strengthening biodiversity and incentivize equitable economic development. The research examines multiple case studies to demonstrate how tourism can drive biodiversity conservation and outline a framework for how stakeholders can position tourism to be environmentally responsible and foster long-term sustainability.


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

Friday, May 15, 2026
As capital flows into biotech face growing scrutiny around long-term value creation, sustainability is emerging as a defining lens for...
10:00am - 11:00am EDT -04:00
Online Event
Friday, May 15, 2026
We hope you will join the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise for our annual end-of-the year celebration which includes students,...
6:00pm - 8:00pm EDT -04:00
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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.