On a campus that prioritizes the intersection of sustainability and entrepreneurship like few others, Earth Day is no small occasion.
So, April 22 proved a fitting opportunity to welcome the founders of three sustainability-minded small businesses to the Kogod School of Business as part of the school’s ongoing, unique speaker series.
Students, faculty, alumni, and guests gathered to hear stories of resilience, passion, and thinking outside the box during the hour-long discussion, which was held as part of the Gamechangers in Sustainability series. This series highlights how the most innovative leaders create a more sustainable world.
For the second straight year, the series took the shape, on Earth Day, of a Founders Forum featuring a panel of three change-driven entrepreneurs.
The founders who participated in this year’s forum included:
The discussion focused on how Frimpong, Powell, and Mostafavi have each managed to find sustainable ways to grow business concepts that, at their essence, have traditionally come with inherent hurdles in waste, single-use plastics, and overall carbon footprint.
Yet, as each panelist explained, this group has managed to generate a lasting business model while growing ethically and scaling with their company’s original culture in mind; the latter, an essential ingredient in any startup’s success, noted the event’s moderator, Danielle Vogel, Kogod professor and assistant director of the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship.