Meet Lauren Taymor: 2019 CRB Fellow
Written by Sona Senapati, Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business, Student Editorial Writer
The Center for Responsible Business is delighted to announce our newest fellow, Lauren Taymor, who will be joining Haas in the fall of 2019. With each year that passes, we grow even more excited to continue the tradition of the CRB fellowship which was founded to foster graduates that redefine standards of conventional business practices. With notions of sustainability always in mind, our fellows strive to make a strong social impact in their daily actions. Lauren is no different and has dedicated herself to working with companies that are passionate about renewable energy and worked diligently to further their goals.
What Inspired Lauren to be a Leader in Social Impact
Before attending Haas to complete her MBA, Lauren graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Business Administration. After her graduation in May 2014, she went on to work as a sustainability consultant for DNV GL, a global risk management company. In her current role, Lauren works with diverse teams to achieve 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.
Eager to deepen her technical skills, she decided to pursue a Cleantech Certificate in Sustainable Energy Management at Presidio Graduate School. While at Presidio, she led a market assessment for Salesforce to evaluate the feasibility of renewable energy procurement options in an international market. Her experience with Salesforce opened her eyes to the complexity of the challenge large tech companies face and catalyzed her aspiration to help develop innovative solutions for renewable energy sourcing. Lauren strongly believes the tech industry is in a unique position to drive major change in the renewable energy market, thereby playing a significant role in curbing climate change.
Future Goals (for herself and the CRB)
After receiving her MBA, Lauren would ideally like to work as a sustainability manager at a large tech company that has committed to 100% renewable energy. Through her previous experience, she has come to realize that businesses have a fundamental role to play in mitigating climate change and that companies with a large carbon footprint and resources to make a difference can be effective change agents in the clean energy transition.
Lauren’s future goals include serving as the head of sustainability for a large tech or consumer goods company, shaping their sustainability strategy and leveraging the company’s brand to engage and educate employees and consumers. As the CRB fellow, she hopes to engage with students across the Haas community to challenge convention and redefine business with the triple bottom line in mind.
Why Lauren Chose Haas and the CRB
Lauren was drawn to Haas because of how its culture aligned with her values. When visiting campus, it was clear the Defining Leadership Principles are deeply embedded in the culture and are uniquely defining feature at Haas. She saw that the student body was committed to making the world a better place, not just through a sustainability lens but across a wide variety of environmental, health, and social impact areas.
By joining the CRB, Lauren is excited to redefine business within the corporate sphere and enact change in big companies. Beyond developing leaders who have the skills to make change, Lauren sees the CRB fellowship as an opportunity to take action, find her voice, and be an effective change maker in driving business towards sustainability. She is particularly looking forward to helping the center facilitate the sharing of best practices and create a platform for open innovation and collaboration between companies.
About the CRB Fellowship
The CRB Fellow serves as a point person between the Center for Responsible Business and the Haas student body and receives an automatic placement on the CRB Student Advisory Board to help set the agenda for the CRB. The CRB Fellow is selected from Round 1 Haas MBA applicants. This is done by a committee made up of representatives from the Institute for Business and Social Impact and the admissions office, with top candidates being interviewed by CRB Fellow donor Scott Pinkus, and CRB Associate Director Seren Pendleton-Knoll. Successful applicants consider how the Center for Responsible Business will support their aspirations and how they intend to further the mission of the CRB to “develop leaders who redefine business for a sustainable future.”
