There are many wonderful student clubs at Leeds that offer opportunities for sustainability and social impact students to expand their knowledge, build their networks, and put their business skills to the test. The clubs listed below all also offer events that qualify for the CESR Explores rewards program. To learn more about their programs, and to get involved, please visit their websites and sign up for their newsletters and recruitment events. Due to health and safety concerns all events will be held virtually through the end of 2020.听
Graduate Student Clubs
Net Impact and the Organic & Naturals Club
The Net Impact Club is an international organization designed听to mobilize a new generation to use their careers to drive transformational change in their workplaces and the world.听The Leeds MBA chapter focuses on connecting students with leaders in the sustainability and social impact space and providing experiences that allow MBAs to see opportunities for impact wherever their career takes them.听The Organic and Naturals Club听enhances MBA students鈥� involvement with the organics and naturals community through networking, learning and research opportunities.听Due to the overlap in their leadership, the two clubs will be working closely this year to offer programming that strengthens both of their missions. This year both Net Impact and the Organics and Naturals Club are especially focused on elevating diverse voices in the sustainability, social impact, and food spaces.听
Grace Dennis, Co-President, Net Impact and Co-President Organic & Naturals Club
Prior to the MBA program, Grace worked in non-profit environmental research and education, specializing in regenerative agriculture and food justice. She spent this past summer as a Sustainability Intern with Happy Family Organics working on sourcing, communications, sustainable packaging, and carbon reduction strategies. Outside of school Grace can be found gardening, hiking with her dog Finn, or skiing.听
Evan Godfrey, Vice President of External Relations, Net Impact and Co-President, Organic & Naturals Club
Evan worked extensively in operations management roles for companies in different segments of the food industry before coming to 彩民宝典. Still dedicated to helping build a better food system, his primary interests lie in regenerative agriculture, impact investing, and supply chain management. Evan recently completed a supply chain internship with Boulder Organic Foods and began a new role as the Systems Operations Project Director for rePlant Capital. 听Beyond work and school, Evan is most likely cooking, hiking, skiing, or enjoying Colorado's live music scene. 听
Max Petersen, Co-President, Net Impact听
Max has spent the majority of his professional life in the environmental field. He received a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from CU and worked in field environmental for 6 years. He then moved back to Colorado for his MBA. After attending the Net Impact conference in 2019 he found a passion for social impact. During the 2020 school year, Max wants to dedicate himself to furthering causes he cares about, specifically food insecurity. When not in school Max is diving into the world of specialty coffee or playing with his dogs.
LSIC (fall 2020)
LSIC provides students with real-word consulting experience at mission-driven companies for 8 week projects during the fall semester. Projects can vary from B Impact Assessments, marketing, finance, business plan development, program evaluation, community outreach and more. This fall, we have exciting consulting projects with companies like Meati Foods, EcoProducts, and InClover and we are still recruiting more companies. MBA students can now for the company pitch day. Deadlines for student and company recruitment are coming up. Please note:
is Sept. 9, 2020
is Sept. 14, 2020
Thaala Loper, Co-President
Thaala is originally from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. She pursued her undergraduate degree in Computer Science at Stanford University before beginning a career at Goldman Sachs as a Business Analyst. She got her first introduction to impact driven business leading an employment training program for refugees at a social enterprise thrift store in Denver. Since then, she has been passionate about working at the cross section of business and social change. After her summer internship at Apple, Thaala is thrilled to return to Leeds to share her passion for purpose driven business with her MBA peers. When she is not working and studying, Thaala loves to spend time hiking, gardening and taking care of her two chickens, Chick Norris and Princess Lay-ah.
Jenny Swonger, Co-President
Before starting at Leeds, Jenny worked as a wildlife biologist studying climate change effects in salt marshes. While she valued her time in the saltmarshes, she felt that she could make a larger environmental impact working with businesses. As a result, she came to Leeds to pursue her MBA in Renewable Energy. Jenny is looking forward to providing avenues for her peers to engage in social impact work.
Board Fellows (spring 2021)听
Board Fellows aims to prepare Leeds MBAs for responsible community leadership through placement as non-voting board members of nonprofit boards. As a fellow, you will have the opportunity to spearhead an MBA-level strategic project for a local nonprofit while 听building your nonprofit fluency. This club combines strategic skillbuilding, professional networking opportunities, and peer-to-peer connection all rooted in social impact work.听
Kallie Bebee, Co-President
Hey everyone! I'm Kallie Beebe and I am originally from Santa Cruz, CA. I have a background in nonprofit management, small scale farming, and sociological studies. Prior to pursuing my MBA here at Leeds, I was the director at a nonprofit and working goat dairy here in Boulder. I am passionate about social impact, sustainable food systems, animal welfare and regenerative ag as a way of connecting business operations to consumer and environmental wellness. I love our nonprofit community here on the Front Range, and I think the Board Fellows program offers a powerful opportunity for our MBAs to ground themselves in social impact work while providing organizations with critical support.听
Ari Gianakopoulos, Co-President
My name is Arianna Gianakopoulos, and I'm a recent transplant from Columbus, Ohio. My background is in product and service design, and I decided to pursue my MBA to be able to move into leadership roles and scale my impact. I always apply a sustainability and social impact lens to my work, and I felt that getting involved in Board Fellows was a great way to be able to really immerse myself in the Greater Denver non profit community and share the business skills I was learning. I've met so many awesome people through the program, and as Co-President this year, I'm excited to connect students to great organizations for mutual benefit and community building.听
Outdoor Industry听Club听
At the 彩民宝典, the Leeds Outdoor Industry Club exists to connect MBA students to hands-on learning opportunities with outdoor industry leaders to prepare students for careers in the space. We achieve this goal through consulting projects and case competitions with outdoor industry partners and the facilitation of guest speakers and networking events.
TJ Marriott, President
I started my career as a Buff in 2010 when I began Leeds' undergraduate program. I graduated in 2014 with a degree in finance and shortly thereafter, moved to New York City to begin a career on Wall Street trading mortgage backed derivatives. After three years in New York, I decided to move back out to Denver because I missed the mountains too much. I remained in the financial services industry for another two years trading distressed debt before deciding to go back to school for my MBA. Currently, I am a second year MBA student studying marketing looking to merge my love for the outdoors with my career. When I'm not in class, you can find me exploring the West in my 4Runner, snowboarding or playing guitar in a 90's-00's cover band.听
Undergraduate Student Clubs
CESR Fellows听
Our purpose is to connect students with the resources and organizations that relate to CESR鈥檚 focus areas in order to showcase how businesses are dealing with these issues and create visibility for socially and environmentally conscious business. We aid students in professional development through programming related to networking and consulting skills. Throughout everything we do, we hope to build a strong community of those passionate about bettering local & global communities.听
Kat Grygiel, Director of Finance
Katherine is a junior at the Leeds School of Business studying Finance and Accounting, as well as pursuing certificates in Leadership and Social Responsibility & Ethics. In addition to CESR Fellows, Katherine is a Peer Mentor and a member of the Dean鈥檚 Leadership Fellows program in Leeds. Her involvement with CESR has allowed her to connect with like-minded people who share similar passions and learn more about how business can positively impact society. CESR Fellows was one of the first programs she came across her freshman year and hopes as a leader she can help expand its community and share the importance of sustainable business with others.听
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Montserrat Cataldi, Director of Marketing
Montse is a senior at Leeds School of Business 听majoring in Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility while pursuing a certificate in Leadership. She is passionate about finding ways to make an impact in the lives of people who need help and hopes to build her career around doing something that is meaningful. Outside CESR Fellows, Montse volunteers at CU鈥檚 Disability Services and assists in the creation of a fully accessible, integrated, and universally designed campus community. Montse is from Paraguay and some of her hobbies include doing arts and crafts, traveling and getting to know new cultures, baking, spending time outdoors, and horse-back riding.听
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Lena Kim, Director of Committee Affairs
Lena is a junior at the Leeds School of Business, majoring in Marketing and Operations Management, with certificates in Social Responsibility & Ethics and Information Analytics. She is from Denver and likes to hike and eat Snooze. CESR Fellows has allowed Lena to gain a new perspective on business, by expanding the role of corporations beyond the goal of maximizing profits. Through CESR鈥檚 professional events, industry speakers, and project opportunities, Lena has developed a passion for using business as a means to create a positive social impact. Outside of CESR Fellows, Lena gives tours of the business school and volunteers. 听
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Lily Busse, Director of Operations
Lily is a junior majoring in Management with a minor in Political Science. She enjoys spending time outdoors and hanging out with friends. Lily hopes to make a positive impact by using business for good and is excited to declare the new management track in social responsibility and sustainability.
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Abi White, President
Abi is a junior at the Leeds School of Business pursuing a degree in marketing with a certificate in social responsibility and ethics. After college, Abi hopes to pursue a career in sales for a natural foods company. Outside of CESR Fellows, Abi has an internship managing donor relations for the Leeds School of Business and is a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. In her free time, Abi likes to ride her bike and ski.听
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Maxime Brandt, Director of Professional Development
Maxime is a junior pursuing a dual degree in Environmental Studies and Business with an emphasis in Accounting and a Certificate in Social Responsibility and Ethics (SRE). After college Maxime wants to pursue a career in sustainable business focused on sustainable food solutions. CESR has allowed Maxime to learn about and understand the importance of CSR while exposing her to a like minded community of students and professionals. Outside of CESR Fellows, Maxime is the Sustainability Intern at Aurora Organic Dairy and is also a member of Alpha Kappa Psi and Leeds Scholars. In her free time Maxime enjoys cooking, reading, and exploring the outdoors.听
Multicultural Business Students Association (MBSA)
MBSA offers a variety of meetings every year ranging from corporate, leadership, and team building. We are a great resume builder, network builder, as well as a great place to meet some new friends and study buddies.
Sofia Montoya, Tri-Exec
Sofia is a senior studying Marketing with dual certificates in 听Business Leadership and Technology, Arts, and Media. As an active member of MBSA since freshman year, Sofia is excited and honored to take on the role as one of the Tri-Executives for the 2020-21 school year. As a first generation college student, she knows how important it is to be a part of an organization that accepts people from diverse backgrounds. Traveling is important to Sofia, and in the Fall of 2019, she studied abroad in Alicante, Spain and got to visit 7 other countries all over Europe.听
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Elena Dedi, Tri-Exec听
Hey guys! My name is Elena and I am a senior studying Finance with a Global Business Certificate. I am so excited to be one of the Tri-Execs for MBSA this year in order to make a difference for all students of diversity and to help students get connected with professionals in the industry even during these crazy times. A fun fact about me is that I was born in Athens, Greece and I love to travel.听
Kylie Davis, Tri-Exec
Kylie Davis is a senior at the 彩民宝典 and is currently getting degrees in Marketing and Sociology. She serves as a Tri-Executive of the Leeds Business Schools Multi-Cultural Business Student Association and also holds a Customer Success internship with a Denver based startup known as Pyrance. Throughout her time at CU she has been awarded the Casey Feldman scholarship for teaching low-income 5th and 6th graders earth science during spring break and has been awarded Outstanding Sophomore in 2019. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in Marketing in technology or entertainment.听
LCG is a 彩民宝典 organization that provides top performing students with the tools they need to be diverse-thought leaders in the business world. We perform strategy consulting for our clients to help them solve some of their most challenging business problems.
Grace Kroeger, President
As a student and leader at CU, Grace is dedicated to being a change agent in the field of sustainable business, with interests in energy, resource use, and agriculture. She is pursuing a double-degree in Economics and Environmental Studies at CU with a Leadership Studies Minor. Prior to being elected President, she held the Vice President of Curriculum position at LCG, spearheading the New Member Development Program and writing a case to help the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. Outside of school, she enjoys trail running, skiing, and music!
Anneke Lanou, Vice President of Operations
Anneke is a rising sophomore at the 彩民宝典 studying Operations Management at Leeds with a minor in Economics; She is pursuing certificates in leadership and global business as well. Over the summer, she completed a consulting fellowship with the Beacon Fellowship working in Washington D.C. to eliminate racial inequity in healthcare. As far as extracurriculars, Anneke enjoys being a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and is from Boston, Massachusetts.
Ethan Meyer, Vice President of Finance
Ethan is a second-year student studying Computer Science and Data Science at the 彩民宝典. As an emerging data scientist, he seeks to gain real-world experience developing data-driven solutions to complex issues. Moreover, Ethan aims to leverage a strong work-ethic, analytical mindset, and key technical skills to provide value in all settings. He recently completed an engagement through LCG with Eco-Cycle, a local non profit to ideate a the pilot program for reducing waste generated by take-out food. Outside of LCG, Ethan is an avid skier and holds a National Ski Patrol Outdoor Emergency Care license, volunteering as a patroller during the winter season.
Ralphie's Closet
Emma Kochenderfer, Director
Emma Kochenderfer is a Sophomore at Leeds, studying Talent Management and Marketing, minoring in Music and TAM, and working towards a certificate in Business Leadership. She is the director of Ralphie鈥檚 Closet, a Leeds club that collects professional clothing donations and distributes them to students. Emma currently works as a Digital Engagement Intern in the Leeds Office of Advancement, where she works closely with the Alumni Relations team. Prior to COVID, Emma was also a tour guide at Celestial Seasonings tea company, both a job and hobby she maintained on the weekends. Post-COVID, she is enjoying catching up on TV and movies, tubing in the Boulder Creek, and spending time with friends and family (socially-distant, of course).
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