Students interested in sustainability don't have to choose between building business skills and making a positive impact. At American University’s Kogod School of Business, sustainability is integrated throughout the student experience and the school’s operations.

For students who want to make sustainability a central part of their education, Kogod offers an MS in Sustainability Management, undergraduate minor in sustainability, and graduate certificate in sustainability. Sustainability also reaches across the broader business curriculum, with coursework connecting sustainability to finance, accounting, business analytics and AI, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and other areas of business.

That integration extends beyond academics. Kogod and American University's broader sustainability efforts give students examples of how sustainability principles can shape the operations of an organization as well as its strategy. The 84-acre campus is an accredited arboretum, making sustainable landscape management and biodiversity visible parts of the student experience.

How Can I Get Involved with Sustainability Outside the Classroom?

Kogod offers students multiple ways to gain hands-on experience with sustainability beyond the classroom.

Students can:

• Compete in sustainability-focused competitions and innovation challenges.
• Recommend ESG-focused investments for a portion of American University's endowment through the Student-Advised Impact Investment Fund.
• Join student clubs and organizations centered on sustainability and responsible business.
• Publish research and thought leadership through the Kogod Sustainability Review.
• Attend speaker events featuring business and sustainability leaders.
• Participate in American University's campus-wide sustainability initiatives.

As part of American University, Kogod sits on one of the nation's most sustainability-focused campuses, where sustainability is embedded in academics, operations, and student life, expanding opportunities beyond the business school through campus-wide programs and initiatives.

What is a Sustainability Competition, and How Can Students Participate?

Kogod students can participate in innovation competitions that challenge them to solve real sustainability problems using business strategy, design thinking, and emerging technologies.

These experiences allow students to work in interdisciplinary teams, develop practical solutions, receive feedback from faculty and industry professionals, and pitch their ideas.

Sustainability Invent-o-Thon

The annual Sustainability Invent-o-Thon brings together students from business and other disciplines to develop innovative solutions inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During the competition, students:

• Work in interdisciplinary teams.
• Develop products, services, or educational tools.
• Prototype ideas in Kogod's Design & Build Lab.
• Receive mentorship from faculty.
• Pitch their solutions to judges.

The experience mirrors the product development process used in consulting firms, startups, and corporate innovation teams, helping students build skills they can apply in future business careers.

Recent competitions have challenged students to create interactive games that teach middle school students about the SDGs. Finalist teams refined their prototypes, tested their ideas with real middle schoolers, and improved their designs based on user feedback—giving participants experience in design thinking, collaboration, and iterative product development.

AI x Sustainability Challenge

Students interested in artificial intelligence can also participate in Kogod's AI x Sustainability Challenge, where they use emerging AI tools to address real sustainability issues.

Over eight weeks, interdisciplinary teams use AI tools—including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and low-code development platforms—to create solutions for sustainability challenges affecting Washington, DC communities.

Participants:

• Work with faculty and industry mentors.
• Build AI-powered prototypes.
• Develop business models.
• Pitch solutions for funding.
• Compete for admission to the AU Incubator.

The competition helps students understand how AI can support sustainability efforts and how business leaders can evaluate the ethical, environmental, and social implications of emerging technologies.

How Can Kogod Students Get Experience with ESG Investing?

Students interested in sustainable finance can gain hands-on investment experience through Kogod's Student-Advised Impact Investment Fund, where they help research and recommend investments for a portion of American University's endowment.

Working through Kogod's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Funds course, students:

• Analyze companies using both traditional financial metrics and ESG criteria.
• Research potential investment opportunities.
• Present recommendations to the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees.
• Learn from faculty and professional investment advisors.
• Gain experience with institutional portfolio management.

American University committed 1% of its endowment—approximately $9 million when the program launched—to support the initiative, making it one of the largest student-advised impact investment funds in the country. Once approved by the Board of Trustees, student recommendations become part of the university's investment portfolio.

For students interested in careers in asset management, investment banking, sustainable finance, or ESG investing, the program provides experience that's difficult to find as an undergraduate or graduate student at most business schools.

Are There Kogod Student Organizations Focused on Sustainability?

Kogod students can deepen their interest in sustainability by joining organizations that connect them with industry leaders, classmates, and real-world business challenges.

These student-led groups complement classroom learning by offering networking opportunities, professional development, leadership experience, and hands-on projects that help students explore sustainability careers.

Kogod Sustainability Club

The Kogod Sustainability Club brings together students who are interested in responsible business, corporate sustainability, and environmental and social impact.

Throughout the year, the club hosts:

• Networking events with sustainability professionals.
• Guest speakers from industry.
• Career conversations focused on ESG and corporate responsibility.
• Workshops on emerging sustainability topics.
• Collaborative events with other student organizations.

These programs help students explore sustainability careers, build professional connections, and learn how organizations are addressing environmental and social challenges across industries.

For students considering careers in consulting, corporate sustainability, sustainable finance, or social impact, the club helps connect classroom concepts with current business practice.

Kogod Sustainability Review

Students interested in research, writing, and thought leadership can contribute to the Kogod Sustainability Review, a student-led research journal dedicated to sustainable business.

Rather than simply reporting on sustainability news, student writers research and analyze emerging issues affecting organizations around the world.

Recent editions have explored topics such as:

• Artificial intelligence and sustainability
• Sustainable finance
• ESG reporting
• Circular economy business models
• Climate resilience
• Corporate responsibility
• Environmental justice

Students gain experience researching complex issues, interviewing experts, writing for professional audiences, and communicating business ideas clearly—skills that support careers in consulting, communications, policy, and strategy. And you don’t need to be a sustainability management student to participate; any American University student can submit work to the Kogod Sustainability Review.

What are the Signature Sustainability Programs at the Kogod School of Business? 

Kogod regularly connects students with business leaders who are shaping the future of sustainability through speaker series and industry events.

One of Kogod's signature programs is the Gamechangers in Sustainability speaker series.

Gamechangers in Sustainability brings executives, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and nonprofit leaders to campus to discuss how they're addressing today's biggest sustainability challenges.

Past speakers have represented organizations, including:

• WWF
• Marriott International
• EY
• Eat the Change
• Local DC restaurant owners and entrepreneurs

These conversations expose students to a wide range of perspectives on sustainable business—from corporate strategy and finance to hospitality, conservation, and public policy—while giving them opportunities to ask questions and build professional connections.

Unlike a traditional classroom lecture, these events allow students to hear directly from senior sustainability leaders navigating the challenges and opportunities of sustainable business.

What are American University's Campus-Wide Sustainability Initiatives?

Because Kogod is part of American University, business students have access to sustainability opportunities across the entire campus—not just within the business school.

Students can choose from initiatives that allow them to contribute to environmental and social impact while gaining practical leadership experience. Together, these experiences extend the sustainability education that begins at Kogod, giving students additional ways to apply responsible business principles across campus.

Many of those opportunities are coordinated through American University's Office of Sustainability, which gives students ways to participate in campus sustainability through paid internships, student programs, events, tours, and project funding. Sustainability interns, for example, can work on projects involving data analysis and research, green buildings and sustainability reporting, outreach and communications, and sustainability education.

How Can Students Get Involved in Sustainability Across AU?

Students volunteer in the American University Community Garden, helping grow fresh produce for the AU Food Pantry while learning about sustainable agriculture, food systems, and food security.

Students can also join the AU Beekeeping Society, which maintains campus beehives, promotes pollinator health, and educates the campus community about biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

Students who want to take a more active role in campus sustainability can become EcoReps. The student volunteers work with the Office of Sustainability to promote sustainable practices and encourage behavior change across the AU community, gaining experience in outreach, sustainability education, recycling and composting initiatives, and peer engagement.

Students can also turn their own sustainability ideas into campus projects through the American University Sustainability Fund, which provides financial and administrative support for projects proposed by members of the AU community. Past projects have included the community garden, composting pilots, bike maintenance stations, and rain barrels.

Students also have a voice in how AU approaches sustainability institutionally. American University's Sustainability Advisory Group brings together students, faculty, and staff to review progress and support the university's sustainability goals, while working groups allow members of the AU community to engage with specific sustainability challenges.

Sustainability is also reflected in how AU's classrooms and offices operate. The Green Teaching Program encourages faculty to incorporate sustainable practices into their courses, while the Green Office Program focuses on sustainable workplace practices. Kogod is currently recognized as a Gold-level participant in the Green Office Program.

That culture becomes visible across campus as well. American University's annual Campus Beautification Day brings students, faculty, and staff together to care for the university's grounds and gardens, providing another way to contribute to AU's campus environment.

Sustainability Efforts in Action at AU

American University's sustainability footprint also extends to Airlie, its property in Warrenton, Virginia, which includes a working farm and has a long history connected to environmental convening and sustainability. Students can pursue internships and other hands-on opportunities at Airlie, gaining experience connected to sustainable agriculture, food systems, land management, and environmental stewardship. These experiences extend sustainability learning beyond the classroom and AU's main campus, allowing students to see how sustainability principles are put into practice.

Students don't have to join a program to see sustainability in practice. The Office of Sustainability offers guided and self-guided campus sustainability tours that use AU itself as a learning environment. The tours highlight sustainable campus features and help connect broad environmental goals with practical decisions about buildings, landscapes, energy, water, transportation, and waste.

Those features include Kogod's green roof, which is part of AU's broader approach to green buildings and stormwater management. Together, these campus initiatives add another dimension to sustainability at Kogod: students can study how organizations approach sustainability in class and then see many of the same questions—investment, infrastructure, resource use, organizational behavior, measurement, and implementation—playing out around them.

What Does Kogod’s Location in Washington, DC, Mean for Studying Sustainability?

That learning environment extends beyond AU's campus. Studying sustainability in Washington, DC gives Kogod students access to organizations shaping environmental policy, corporate responsibility, and sustainable business.

The nation's capital is home to:

• Federal agencies.
• International organizations.
• Global nonprofits.
• Consulting firms.
• Industry associations.
• Mission-driven companies.

This ecosystem creates opportunities for internships, guest speakers, networking events, consulting projects, and other experiential learning opportunities that connect students with professionals working at the intersection of business and sustainability.

For students interested in careers in climate, ESG, sustainable finance, corporate responsibility, or public-private partnerships, Washington, DC provides opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom while building professional connections throughout the region.

What Careers Can Sustainability Experiences Support?

The skills students develop through Kogod's sustainability experiences apply to a wide range of business careers.

Graduates interested in sustainability may pursue roles such as:

• Impact Investing Analyst
• Sustainable Finance Associate
• Corporate Sustainability Analyst
• ESG Consultant
• Sustainability Strategy Manager
• Sustainable Supply Chain Analyst
• Product Manager
• Management Consultant
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager

Sustainability knowledge is becoming valuable far beyond dedicated sustainability roles.

Employers increasingly seek professionals who understand how environmental and social considerations affect finance, operations, marketing, entrepreneurship, risk management, and long-term business strategy.

As sustainability becomes part of everyday business decision-making, graduates who can connect business strategy with environmental and social impact will be well-positioned across industries.

The Bottom Line

Students interested in sustainability at Kogod don't have to wait until after graduation to make an impact. They can begin building relevant experience throughout their time as students.

From designing solutions during the Sustainability Invent-o-Thon and developing AI-powered innovations to researching investments for a portion of American University's endowment, publishing research, leading student organizations, and participating in campus sustainability initiatives, Kogod students gain opportunities to apply sustainable business practices in meaningful ways.

Just as importantly, these experiences prepare students for a business landscape where sustainability is no longer a niche specialty—it's part of how organizations make business decisions.

Whether students pursue careers in consulting, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, or dedicated sustainability roles, they graduate with experience collaborating across disciplines, solving complex business problems, and understanding how sustainability influences business strategy.

At Kogod, sustainability isn't simply something students study. It's something they build, invest in, test, lead, and practice.