23/24 Year-in-Review

“The harder I work, the luckier I get."

 

This Carl H. Lindner quote resonated deeply with me when I first encountered it, and it has guided me throughout my time at UC. Reflecting on my sophomore year, I see how these words have come to life in my journey of environmental sustainability and leadership.

 

My sophomore year I honed in on environmental sustainability on campus and the Tri-State area, leveraging the leadership skills I developed during my freshman year to create my own "luck". I started Fall of 2023 coming back from a transformative study abroad experience at the Iceland School of Energy, where I studied renewable energy and sustainability innovation  Witnessing Iceland's pristine natural landscapes motivated me even more to work with companies, non-profits, academia and government to minimize negative environmental impacts.

 

I took two more classes on innovation in my sophomore year, which profoundly influenced my approach to solving environmental challenges. By introducing me to the design thinking methodology - understanding the problem and the needs of those affected and brainstorming and ideating solutions with an empathetic lens - I could apply it on other spheres of my life, such as my activism in my home country of Brazil and my campus involvement. For example, in Passarinhos, MA, a community in Northeast Brazil severely impacted by climate change, this approach guided me as I participated in a social project that addressed the lack of access to water and the protection of mangroves through understanding the need of empowering women economically. Through my role as Vice President of Consulting for Net Impact, a sustainability organization, I could also apply and teach design thinking to our consultants.

 

Additionally, I participated in many business events and conferences this academic year. In all events I organically found people that had sustainability concerns and challenges within their corporation and had no guidance on how to solve it. This revealed a significant demand for sustainability consulting services and inspired me to develop green skills and meet this demand through offering our consulting services. During the fall and spring semesters, we worked on incredible projects. We collaborated with a for-profit organization to develop a comprehensive resource hub for businesses aiming to become more sustainable and with a non-profit to host a circularity workshop for businesses in the Tri-State area. These experiences established us as experts, expanded our network in the climate field, and built credibility for our offerings. Interacting with these sustainability professionals, I gained a holistic understanding of the challenges and solutions in corporate efforts, as well as the right incentives to drive meaningful change within organizations.

 

Looking at the future, I want to continue on my environmental leadership path and expand my impact across campus and internationally. To so that I am continuing to build my academic "toolkit," where I am currently taking Life Cycle Assessment and Corporate Sustainability Reporting courses and will take more EVST courses in my junior year. These courses will provide me with the technical expertise to teach our Net Impact members and further our consulting offerings, especially as we will have our first international client in the Fall. Within campus, I want to integrate the sustainability initiatives at UC, increasing its potential. As the incoming President of Net Impact, the Sustainability Coordinator at the Center for Entrepreneurship, and hopefully (still waiting for the decision) the  Director of Sustainability for Student Government, my aim is to continue "connecting dots and people" and integrate UC’s sustainability efforts.

 

As I reflect all I've accomplished during my sophomore year at UC, I feel energized to maintain momentum, work harder, and get even luckier in my junior year.