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Dave currently works for JP Morgan in New York on the Emerging Markets Credit Desk where he focuses on corporations in emerging and frontier markets. Prior to that, he was a Ranger-qualified infantry officer in the United States Army, where he served most recently in Riyadh as an advisor to the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior. Dave also completed a combat tour in Afghanistan where he advised the Afghan National Police and one in Iraq where he advised the Iraqi Army. Dave holds an MPA from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, an MBA from Columbia Business School, an MPhil in International Finance from the University of Glasgow, and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Hofstra University.
Why did you choose to study for the Master's in Sustainability Leadership?
Sustainability is a topic that will continue to increase in importance across all industries and sectors. I felt that this programme offers some of the most current and comprehensive instruction on the subject.
What role have you been undertaking in your company recently? How does this connect to the sustainability agenda?
My major role is a finance function but I have volunteered for numerous side initiatives and corporate programmes that are attempting to advance sustainability agendas. I am also active in my free time mentoring entrepreneurs interested in sustainable development ventures. This degree has provided me with many skills that I can use to assist these ecopreneurs.
How do you think the MSt assists your work?
The MSt offers strong training in sustainability and is also an academically rigorous programme that made me a better researcher and exposed me to numerous diverse individuals at the forefront of sustainability theory and practice. I will be able to use this knowledge both directly and indirectly in my career.
What have you found to be the most valuable aspect of the MSt?
The sheer breadth and depth of the workshop experiences at Cambridge have exposed me to some of the thought leaders in sustainability and also to my group of fellow students who, in addition to being invaluable resources in the fields of sustainability, have become close friends over the past two years.
What impressed you about the Cambridge MSt as opposed to other courses on offer elsewhere?
Academically, Cambridge has been a leader in the sustainability field for decades. In addition to academics though, the actual Cambridge experience is second to none. I have taken full advantage of membership in my College and have returned between scheduled workshops to enjoy much of what being a Cantabrigian has to offer.
David Disi (August 2014)
Teddy is a partner of the Kalaw Sy Selva & Campos law firm in the Philippines. His legal practice focuses solely on the corporate governance and legal aspects of intellectual property, realty, and securities transactions; commercial litigation and dispute resolution; and public policy representation. He is the incumbent President of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb) and also serves as a trustee of the Institute of Corporate Directors of the Philippines (ICD). Teddy received his Master of Laws from Harvard Law School.
Why did you choose to study for the Master's in Sustainability Leadership?
My professional experience has convinced me that the concept of sustainability is the single most important perspective for addressing my country’s development context and challenges going forward, hence my decision to make a significant commitment to learning in this area.
What role have you been undertaking in your company recently? How does this connect to the sustainability agenda?
Professionally, my participation in the programme has added significant value to the public policy side of my law practice, not just in terms of having a broader perspective as to stakeholder issues but also an awareness of a greater range of options to address policy challenges. As a trustee of my country’s learned society for corporate directors, the programme has enabled me to advocate a reorientation of our organisation’s public agenda towards the concept in general, and applications for corporate boards in particular.
How do you think the MSt assists your work?
Working through the programme’s content has also furnished me with an extensive conceptual toolkit for applying the concept in both my work and even in my personal life. I also rank highly the opportunity to continue to extend my knowledge and develop with the resources and network I was exposed to during my participation.
What have you found to be the most valuable aspect of the MSt?
Hands-down it would have to be my introduction to a vibrant community of leading thought leaders on the concept, not just from the actual presenters and facilitators but also from among my cohort.
What impressed you about the Cambridge MSt as opposed to other courses on offer elsewhere?
The programme is unique in that it is among the first of its kind in the world. Being delivered by the University of Cambridge gives it a strong position to attract both leading scholars and practitioners at the cutting edge of sustainability.
Teodoro Kalaw IV (August 2014)
Deb completed the CISL Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business and also has a BA (hons) in Art History and Anthropology and an MA in Art History. Until recently she was responsible for UK Community Investment and development of KPMG's social mobility programme, and she has 12 years' experience working in the not-for-profit sector, with Industrial Society, Action Resource Centre, and Business in the Community. She has two years' public sector experience with Lambeth Council, and spent 12 years working in private-sector CSR management roles. Deb is Director of SGOSS (School Governor’s One Stop Shop), National Number Partner Consortium and was previously chair of Southwark Council for Voluntary Service, Lambeth Community Health Council, and a member of King's College Hospital Maternity Services Liaison Committee. She is currently a mentor for two students at Central Foundation Girls’ School, Tower Hamlets and member of Herne Hill Climate Change Forum.
Why did you choose to study for the Master's in Sustainability Leadership?
I wanted to take an academic approach to this broad subject, in order to take time to reflect, gather and better apply knowledge to making practical changes in my work.
What role have you been undertaking in your company recently? How does this connect to the sustainability agenda?
Until recently, and for the last four years, I have been working in KPMG to improve access to employment, in particular for under-represented socioeconomic groups. This issue, the mobilisation of human and social capital in the context of developing a sustainable economy, is less considered in the developed world than developing economies. However, I believe that social mobility – and access to the "high status" end of the labour market – is a significant sustainability issue. Undertaking the MSt, and in particular the dissertation, gave a fantastic opportunity to explore this and to apply academic and practitioner research to real-life business practice.
How do you think the MSt assists your work?
The MSt has enabled me to access a wealth of inputs, literature, speakers, tutors, and importantly fellow students to provide a view of the whole landscape – when it is too easy in a busy role to only be able to have sight of a local situation.
My new global network of colleagues will be the gift which keeps giving as we all continue with our work in the future.
What have you found to be the most valuable aspect of the MSt?
The dissertation: I have loved the opportunity to focus on an area of sustainability which matters hugely to me, my work, firm and industry for a prolonged period, and to bring to bear different perspectives on the question in hand.
What impressed you about the Cambridge MSt as opposed to other courses on offer elsewhere?
The blend of academic and practical approaches to the real-life issues of building sustainability into business practice for short- and long-term gain for business and society.
Deb Connor (August 2014)