Welcome our 2019-2020 Student Advisory Board New Members
The Center for Responsible Business is delighted to announce the newest members of our Student Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB works with the Center and fellow students to advise on as well as design and implement program structure, content, marketing, and outreach.
SAB members represent a wide variety of interests and communities on campus, and through their involvement in ongoing projects and new initiatives, these students work to facilitate the goals of the CRB through various avenues, such as positioning the CRB to its core stakeholders, providing insight into the infusion of sustainability into CRB electives and core curriculum at Haas, as well as guiding the CRB’s strategic planning process.
Throughout the application and interview process, existing board members and CRB staff were able to meet with our newest members, and are excited to see how this dynamic new team will bring their passions and dedication to responsible business practices to life this year with the CRB. We are excited to welcome them aboard!
Nicole Austin-Thomas, MBA ’21
As a first year MBA student, Nicole chose Haas because of its commitment to purpose-driven innovation in business. Throughout her career, she’s worked at the intersection of business and philanthropy; first at the nonprofit New York Cares where she planned volunteer events for corporate partners and then at the Citi Foundation, for the global philanthropic arm of Citigroup. Looking forward, Nicole plans to leverage her experience and passion as a member of the Student Advisory Board to elevate current and future business leaders who are intentional, creative and strategic in addressing the complex issues across the world. Contact Nicole via LinkedIn.
Joe Czapary, MBA ’21
Joe Czapary joins the Student Advisory Board after 12 years in the U.S. military, first with the Navy and then with the Coast Guard. He spent his career deploying to conflicts in the Middle East and East Africa in addition to hurricanes across the southeast United States leading intelligence teams, inter-agency collaboratives, and first responders. Seeing first-hand the negative symptomatic consequences of the current global economy, Joe came to Berkeley-Haas to work on the underlying issues. Joe looks forward to continuing the CRB’s work in expanding the collaborative effort to scale and accelerate new economy innovations, helping businesses to both minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts. Contact Joe via LinkedIn.
Sagar Doshi, MBA ’21
Prior to Haas, Sagar Doshi served as a Strategy and Operations Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. During his time at Deloitte, Sagar had a diverse set of experiences including leading projects in enrollment strategy and student success in the Higher Education practice, conducting energy analytics within the Sustainability practice, and demonstrating a drive for social impact through international pro-bono consulting projects. Beyond consulting, Sagar is also the co-founder of One Thousand Schools, a nonprofit organization that brings young professionals for a week-long service trip to Honduras to build schools for communities in need. Born and raised in Maryland, Sagar completed his B.S. at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, as a double major in Finance and Social Innovation/Philanthropic Management. As Sagar joins the SAB this year, he is most excited about the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and learn more about how they are finding innovative ways to integrate social responsibility into their business. Contact Sagar via LinkedIn.
Alison Gilbert, MBA ’20
Alison came to Berkeley Haas with a background in the social sector and a desire to build a career in brands that benefit people and planet. Prior to Berkeley, she worked in South Africa with Grassroot Soccer, a youth empowerment nonprofit that uses the language of soccer to engage kids in HIV prevention education, and then at the Skoll Foundation, using storytelling to highlight social entrepreneurs solving the world’s most pressing problems. For her summer internship she launched a sustainability-focused innovation project at Clif Bar, an experience that showed her just how meaningfully major brands can integrate sustainability and support for communities along the supply chain into their products. She’s excited to dive deeper into the world of responsible business through the CRB, learning from classmates and experts around what’s worked (and what hasn’t!) in major companies’ efforts to create positive impact through their brands. Contact Alison via LinkedIn.
Adam Joseph, MBA ’21
Adam is a Bay Area-native with a background in international development, entrepreneurship, and human-centered design. Most recently, he was on IDEO’s organizational design team, helping to cultivate innovation culture in large organizations. Prior to that, he worked at a Mongolian investment bank, helping development finance institutions to invest in Mongolian businesses. As a CRB Advisory Board member he is most excited to work with industry partners to develop meaningful learning opportunities for UCB students in sustainable innovation. Contact Adam via LinkedIn.
Osman Mansur, BS ’21
Osman is a junior in the Haas undergraduate program majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Data Science. Originally from Minnesota, he came to Berkeley to 1) escape the cold weather and 2) join a community of students passionate about business strategy, ethics and sustainability. He is excited to help the CRB advance the discourse around ethical and sustainable business through its conferences and speaker series. Contact Osman via LinkedIn.
Hanna Ostapchuk, BS ’21
Hanna is a very supportive and passionate individual when it comes to all forms of sustainability and responsible business practices. As a new transfer student at UC Berkeley, she is excited to join the CRB Student Advisory Board. Hanna looks to the Advisory Board as the community to learn from and grow with. Together with other members, she will continue to positively impact our environment on a larger scale. Hanna is strongly interested in helping with the organization and planning of different CRB events and competitions including the Peterson Speaker Series, CRB Info Sessions, and the Patagonia Case Competition. She looks forward to having a meaningful year as an Advisory Board member. Contact Hanna via LinkedIn.
Michelle Sims, MS Energy & Resources ’21
Michelle is passionate about creating sustainable global food systems that nourish people, support livelihoods, and protect the environment. Prior to coming to UC Berkeley, Michelle worked for two years at a non-profit called Pueblo a Pueblo in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala where she managed a project that aimed to strengthen the livelihoods of coffee farmers through beekeeping and honey production. Following this, Michelle worked for three years at EcoAgriculture Partners in Washington, D.C. on programs that utilized integrated landscape management to improve environmental, economic, and social outcomes in biodiversity-rich agricultural landscapes. Having witnessed the importance of cross-sector collaboration through her work at these organizations, she believes business can act as a critical lever in transitioning to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable global food system. With the CRB, Michelle hopes to explore how environmental and social impact can be more comprehensively integrated into business models and strategies to create change, particularly within the food industry. She is excited to get involved with CRB’s Sustainable Food Initiative and explore the role of business in addressing sustainability challenges alongside a community of students, faculty, and industry leaders on the forefront of business sustainability. Contact Michelle via LinkedIn.
Lauren Taymor, MBA ’21
Before coming to Haas, Lauren worked as a sustainability consultant leading project teams to achieve their sustainability certification targets and minimize climate change risks to their buildings. Her experience in collaborating with stakeholders, developing business plans, and securing funding to transform an early-stage building resilience tool into a client-ready service has inspired her desire to drive transformational change within corporate sustainability. Lauren is energized by the immense potential business leaders have to drive major change in the clean energy transition. As a Student Advisory Board member, Lauren is excited to support the growth of the Sustainable Innovation focus area, helping the center facilitate the sharing of best practices and create a platform for open innovation and collaboration between companies to solve challenging sustainability issues. She was drawn to Haas in part because of the CRB’s leadership in redefining business and developing leaders who will drive this transformative change for a sustainable future. Contact Lauren via LinkedIn.
Berklee Welsh, BS ’20
Berklee Welsh is an undergraduate (’20) studying Business Administration, interested in food systems, sustainable innovation, and the intersection of marketing and sustainability. Berklee serves as VP of Sustainability for Haas undergraduates and published Haas’ first ever sustainability report last year. She has gained internship experience in a variety of roles at Annie’s, Seventh Generation, and Once Upon a Farm. Along with being a member of the Student Advisory Board, Berklee leads marketing efforts for the CRB, and is excited to become more engaged with other students interested in sustainability and the Center’s future programming. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors and making cookies. Contact Berklee via LinkedIn.