Centre for Sustainability and Business
Solving sustainability challenges to benefit organisations and society.
Overview
What does sustainability mean for Boards, CEOs and executive teams? In what ways is business transforming?
The MBS Centre for Sustainability and Business is focused on ‘unleashing leaders and ideas for an environmentally sustainable future’.
This often starts with dialogue. Bringing together and holding space for different perspectives and ways of thinking. From this, our focus is on sustainability education (capability development) and research, harnessing School and broader University expertise. With an emphasis on environmental sustainability - the human-nature relationship, climate change, waste and the circular economy and biodiversity conservation.
A sustainable future requires a shift in paradigm, mindset and practice. Melbourne Business School is uniquely placed to help you navigate, in what has been called ‘the decade to deliver’.
Dialogue
Future Leaders
Ideas
Leading by Example
Who We Work With
We work with the following business professionals to enable them to realise the benefits associated with responding to climate change and assist them thrive through the transition.
Boards and NEDS
C-Suite & Senior Executives
Executives & Functional Heads
Sustainability Leaders
Emerging Leaders
Teams
Our People
Our integration of experts from business, academia, sustainability consulting and world-leading environmental science sits behind our successful impact.
Businesses need the goodwill of the community to thrive, and we, as a community, will not be able to achieve a sustainable world without business because of its financial, human, technological, organisational and political capital.
PROFESSOR GLENN HOETKER
Centre Director
MBS Foundation Chair of Sustainability and Business
GLENN HOETKER
Centre Director
Glenn is the MBS Foundation Chair in Sustainability and Business and Professor of Business Strategy at Melbourne Business School. He is also a Fellow of the Melbourne Energy Institute and a member of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute's executive committee, both at the University of Melbourne. Prior to joining the school, he was a professor of strategy at Arizona State University with affiliate positions in supply chain management and law.
GARY VEALE
Executive Director
Gary brings to this role over 25 years of experience working with leading advisory firms and in industry, often at the forefront of issues relating to sustainability, innovation, growth, research and investment. Gary is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the School of Ecosystem and Forestry Science (University of Melbourne), a former Director with KPMG and holds a PhD in the role of nature in unlocking human potential and corporate nature responses.
ALEX ROBERTS
Consultant
Prior to Alex’s current role as Consultant within the team, she was the Coordinator for the Centre for Sustainability and Business. She holds a Master of Environment and Sustainability specialising in environment and governance and completed a research thesis looking at household food waste and the roll out of the food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin. Before joining Melbourne Business School, Alex worked in the higher education sector and brings subject matter and organisational knowledge to her role.
DAVID KEITH
Associate Professor
After completing his PhD in Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, David joined the faculty at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the System Dynamics group. David’s specializes in the use of simulation for strategy development in complex and dynamic settings, with a particular focus on the future of the automotive industry. His research addresses topics including: the impact of new technologies on energy consumption and the environment, technology diffusion, new product launch, platform competition, the sharing economy and, supply constraints and waitlists.
DONALD HENRY, AM
Enterprise Professor
Don is an Enterprise Professor of Environmentalism at MBS and the University of Melbourne, with a focus on practical action and transformative change. He is an International Board Member of The Climate Reality Project, chaired by the Hon. Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States. In 2018, Don was awarded an Order of Australia (AM) for his work in protecting Australia's native wildlife and environment. His background includes being the CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF Australia, a Director of WWF US and the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland.
DIRK VISSER
Principal Consultant
Dirk is a Principal Consultant at the Centre for Sustainability and Business. He has almost 15 years’ experience as a strategist and educator working at the intersection of business and sustainability to support organisations and individuals to contribute to a flourishing future. He was previously a Senior Lecturer at Monash University and designed and developed executive education programs at Monash Sustainable Development Institute and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He also worked for several years in banking and has an ongoing advisory role in an investment firm.
GAOMIN LIU
Doctoral Researcher
Gaomin is a doctoral researcher, primarily focusing on sustainability and business innovation. She holds a master's degree in environmental engineering from University of Melbourne and a MPhil degree on engineering for sustainable development from University of Cambridge. Prior to her PhD study, Gaomin worked in academia and business consultancy.
CATHERINE BROWN
Enterprise Fellow
Catherine is Board Chair of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and a Director of Impact Investing Australia. Catherine was CEO of Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the largest and oldest community foundation in Australia, for 12 years until early 2024. In 2016, the Foundation placed a climate lens across all its work and added impact investment to its asset allocation. As an Enterprise Fellow with CSAB, Catherine’s priority is accelerating blended finance approaches to support Australia and our region’s climate transition. Catherine is the author of Great Foundations (ACER Press, 2010). Her PhD is titled Unlocking the innovation potential of philanthropic organisations (2019). Catherine is a lawyer and an AICD Fellow. Catherine was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia in 2020.
Secure your Tomorrow
We bring together the brightest minds in sustainability and business to unleash leaders and ideas for an environmentally sustainable future.
Such a purpose requires fundamental change - a major shift in systems, sectors, organisations, products and services to create a more circular, human and regenerative economy. While success here is no small feat, the consequences of inaction are profound.
As a leading business school, it is our responsibility to nurture mindsets and practices - through dialogue and practical leadership, ideas and partnerships - that serve current and future generations.
Contact us today to find out more.
Contact us
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