By Sachin Waikar and LeeAnn Shelton

Welcome to the latest installment of our new series, “The Industry Ahead,” in which our faculty share the latest trends in hiring and career paths across multiple fields. This time we’re diving into the domain of social and environmental impact with Professors Megan Kashner and Meghan Busse who have successfully guided many students seeking jobs that make a difference. 

Managing clean energy policy at Apple. Hydrogen-focused consulting at McKinsey & Company. Product management of sustainability apps for enterprise-software-provider C3 AI. 

These are just a few of the roles recent Kellogg graduates have accepted in the broad impact space, which includes corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, among other fields. Along the way, many have benefited from the advice and encouragement of faculty members Meghan Busse and Megan Kashner. 

“It’s not a linear sector, which is part of what makes it rewarding,” says Kashner, an associate professor of strategy. “Think of an impact career as a series of lily pads you’ll land on that might only make sense after the fact. Our students go into CSR and sustainability, impact investing, nonprofit leadership, public service, entrepreneurship and many other arenas. There are so many possibilities.”  

“Even the climate space alone is gigantic in terms of career options,” says Busse, director of social impact and lecturer at Kellogg. “So we ask questions to figure out what students care about and what they are good at.” 

In short, pursuing an impact career is a real-life game of choose-your-own-adventure, and Kellogg professors like Kashner and Busse help students chart their course and benefit from key Kellogg resources as they progress across near-term and future lily pads.

Find the Right Opportunity for You 

“It can be challenging to find impact jobs,” Kashner says, “but corporations are seeking well-qualified candidates for CSR and sustainability roles, including those with MBA-level skills with analytics, partnerships, and other areas. Consulting firms are also hiring for a world that requires greater accountability around ESG, such as promoting sustainability and impact measurement.” 

Busse highlights the examples of three students who approached her for advice on climate-related careers, her specialty area. “I asked what kind of organization they want to work with — startup, growth-stage, established?” she says. “I also asked if they want to work on something with a clear path to market or more speculative like a moonshot technology, and what area they’re most passionate about, like carbon-capture, hydrogen, recycling or food waste.” 

The three conversations led to three different career paths of impact. One student is pursuing ways to make the capital market work for large investments to scale a climate-tech product. Another excels at project management and is targeting impact roles in Denver. The third wants to leverage their chemical-engineering background at a mid-stage company, possibly in sustainable batteries. 

“It shows there’s no ‘hot’ new climate job out there, but there are lots of different organizations and jobs that need people with different skill sets,” Busse says.

Sustainability Is Everywhere 

Indeed, both professors note the ubiquity of sustainability roles across sectors and career paths. 

“Sustainability is increasingly part of any job at any company,” Kashner says. “It will be hard in many cases to distinguish between a sustainability role and roles in strategy or business development or others. That’s because there’s growing global insistence on impact progress, transparency and reporting — from climate, to human rights, to supply chain and more.”  

Two key developments exemplify what’s driving this, as Busse notes. The Inflation Reduction Act has regulations that increase potential for doing things in areas like batteries and metals, especially as more tech components must be made in the US. And the SEC is increasing reporting requirements in sustainability, which will create more jobs — such as managing sustainability-associated impact and financial data for disclosure.  

“We’re in a time of ‘climate weirding,’” Busse says. “More extremes with fires, floods, and other events, and less predictability. Companies need people to help deal with it. Everyone should know something about the climate. And this generation of students has strong interest in it; and it’s not just those seeking jobs with ‘sustainability’ in the title.” 

That reality is reflected in the wide range of job titles associated with impact careers. “There are no normed titles for in-house CSR jobs,” Kashner says. “It could be something like senior manager of governance or senior sustainability manager or global business development lead. In consulting it can be simply senior associate or manager.” 

The Kellogg advantage 

Kellogg offers broad and deep resources for anyone seeking an impact-focused career. Key Kellogg offerings include: 

Academic opportunities 

• A rich set of electives. Kellogg offers 35+ impact electives, more than other top business schools, with more focused topics, Kashner says. “The percent of students who take at least one of these electives has been 80-85% for years, and the number who take 3-4 has grown a lot,” she notes. Both professors teach Kellogg impact courses, such as Busse’s Energy Markets, which often has a long waitlist, and her newest course, What Every MBA Should Know About Climate.  
• Dedicated academic pathways. Kellogg’s specialized Social Impact & Responsible Leadership Pathway offers courses that approach impact from the perspective of leadership foundations, specialized professional toolkits and specified areas of impact. Also available is the Energy & Sustainability Pathway, which allows students to develop deep expertise in the economics and strategy of energy markets, corporate sustainability, as well as sustainable investing and entrepreneurship. 
• Leadership. Kellogg’s renowned leadership focus and offerings help students become effective leaders on any career path. “We teach you how to be good leaders,” Busse says. Kashner says, “With their high EQ and ability to work collaboratively, Kellogg students and alumni make fantastic professionals and leaders in the impact space.” 

Financial and career support 

• Funding is available for students to learn and grow in social impact and sustainability careers and impact entrepreneurship — not just during the school year, but also during summer internships and after graduation. Check out the full options here for more details. 
• Career guidance. Kellogg’s Career Management Center offers unlimited one-on-one coaching to students, a dedicated research specialist to advise on your professional path, and resources that extend well beyond graduation. “The CMC is there for students and recognizes the impact space is not about one fixed career trajectory,” Kashner says. “The center helps a lot with alumni looking to pivot into impact as well.” 
• A deep, broad sector-spanning alumni network. Kellogg alumni at all stages of their career are engaged in social impact work and are using the Kellogg network to create opportunities for students. Kellogg’s Youn Impact Scholars bring this alumni strength to life. 

Rich experiences beyond the classroom 

• Events, networking and connections. Kellogg hosts more than 60 impact-related events and speakers every year, including the annual Climate Conference and Social Impact & Sustainability Days. These opportunities bring together students with alumni, faculty and experts in the field. 
• Student clubs and conferences. Kellogg is home to 12 different student clubs focused on impact, including the Social Impact Club as well as clubs focused on education, energy and sustainability, impact consulting, policy and more.  
• Travel and immersive experiences. Treks and courses with domestic or international travel components offer many opportunities for experiential impact learning beyond the classroom. 
• Board service experience. The Golub Capital Board Fellows Program is a rigorous, 20-month program that connects top students to nonprofit boards. Students serve as ex-officio board members, while completing two courses in board governance. 

Read Next 

Curious about what an MBA in social impact or sustainability at Kellogg can do for you? Follow the links here to read about students and alumni in sustainability and impact and discover the latest research about leadership and social impact from our faculty. Or, explore our degree programs to find the right fit for you.