IMD_SustainabilityReport_Digital

IMD Sustainability Report 2020

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EMBA

The IMD EMBA program aims to “develop reflective, global leaders, who lead with personal responsibility and integrity, having a positive impact on their businesses and society”.

Impact investing ESG primer The EMBA program has made sustainability an even more important part of the journey with a new online module on environmental, social and governance factors in business decision making. This new course provides an in-depth understanding of the key concepts in impact investing and ESG integration, alongside practical experience and contact with diverse experts in the field.

Discovery Expeditions

EMBA students typically gain hands-on experience with sustainability themes such as bottom-of-the- pyramid business models, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable development through Discovery Expeditions that take them to emerging markets such as Kenya, Peru, and Israel. Due to the pandemic, in 2020 they participated in a range of electives that exposed them to related dilemmas and leaders solving some of the world’s greatest challenges, such as the impact investing ESG primer.

Developing responsible leaders through impact investing and ESG

Professor Vanina Farber’s new EMBA module – “A primer on impact investing and ESG financial integration” – seeks to educate and inspire fast-rising executives to become ambassadors for change.

Investors and corporates are increasingly incorporating the concept of impact and ESG (environment, social and governance) factors in their decision making. This mobilization of private capital for positive change is swiftly becoming a requirement for companies and a competitive advantage for portfolio managers. For many executives and investors, however, it is not always obvious how to approach these concepts to deliver real impact. To address this challenge, Professor Farber, elea Chair for Social Innovation, created a three- week, online EMBA module to provide an in-depth understanding of the key concepts in impact investing and ESG integration, alongside practical experience and contact with diverse experts in the field.

“This course is about leveraging the power of the IMD EMBA to bring together people from around the world who are in a position to change their business as a force for good. We just provide a framework so they can drive change through intentionally mobilizing private capital in their own environment,” Farber said.

The new EMBA module is split into three sections:

• Investing for impact: private market vehicles

• Investing with impact: public market vehicles

• Group project to develop and pitch an impact solution within EMBA participants’ companies