Stonyfield CE-Yo to Teach at UNH

New Hampshire business professionals with an interest in corporate social responsibility and sustainability are in for a treat: Walt Freese, Stonyfield’s president and chief executive officer (CE-Yo), will be an instructor in the Certificate in Corporate Sustainability program at the University of New Hampshire in November. 

The program will be held Nov. 7-9, 2012. The Certificate in Corporate Sustainability is a collaboration of the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics, New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR), and UNH’s Sustainability Institute.

Freese and Tom Kelly, chief sustainability officer at UNH, will team-teach a course on trends in sustainability and will explore sustainability’s pertinence to businesses of all sizes. Through a mix of lecture and discussion, participants will review the context, history, and key drivers of sustainability.

Freese took the helm of Stonyfield from founder Gary Hirschberg in January 2012. Freese is former CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. and is widely recognized as a mission-driven corporate leader.

“The program addresses an expressed desire by business professionals for opportunities to expand their understanding of corporate sustainability beyond what can be attained in a one-day conference, without committing to a full sustainability MBA program,” said Michelle Veasey, executive director of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR).

Over the course of three days, students will be immersed in coursework, site visits including PolyRecovery and Redhook Brewery, and case studies that explore why sustainability matters to business. They will learn how to build a case for sustainability, and how to communicate a sustainability message to internal and external stakeholders.

Courses are team-taught to maximize academic content with practical application in the field. Inaddition to Freese and Kelly, instructors include George Parmenter of Hannaford, Mark Newton ofTimberland, Wood Turner of Stonyfield, Herb Parkhurst of NH Ball Bearings, Bryan Sheehan of SymbioSus Consulting, and Fiona Wilson of UNH.

The program, designed for mid-level to senior-level professionals, is now accepting applications for November 2012. For more information, including curriculum and a complete list of instructors, visit http://www.sustainabilitycertificate.org/.

The certificate program receives generous sponsorship and support from The Timberland Company, a business pioneer in sustainability.

Submitted by Lori Wright, University of New Hampshire media relations.