ESG University: Sustainable Capitalism in Practice - Berkeley Law Executive Education (2024)

Location & Start Date

Online

Self-Paced

Course Launch:

April 29, 2024

Content Access: 5 months

Time Commitment: ~ 40 hours of mandatory content

Who Should Participate

This course approaches ESG from a cross-functional perspective and explores both legal and business risks and opportunities. Participants from prior iterations of this course include junior, mid, and senior level professionals from different disciplines, including:

Law
Compliance/Regulatory
Management consulting
Investor relations (IR)
Public affairs and policy
Media and communications

If you are a corporate board member or C-suite executive, you may want to register for Sustainable Capitalism for Directors.

Course Structure

Lectures

All modules begin with a series of short lectures that include theoretical underpinnings for each topic and case studies of leading company practices. Module titles are found below.

Practitioner Perspectives

Most modules include interviews with thought leaders at the forefront of defining and implementing ESG. These conversations provide concrete insights into how ESG and sustainable capitalism are being debated and operationalized, and enable students to keep their finger on the pulse of this movement.

Case Studies

Module Six (The Costs of Unsustainable Practices) and Module Seven (The Opportunities of Sustainable Capitalism) feature over 10 case studies highlighting real world examples of the challenges, issues, and opportunities surrounding ESG and sustainable capitalism.

Curated Readings

With new articles being published each day, it is difficult to navigate the vast literature around ESG and sustainable capitalism. In this course, we have curated some of the most important resources, which include:

Ground-breaking academic papers (which we have excerpted)
Opinion pieces and articles written by leadingexperts
Industry reports containing data on ESG trends and highlighting ESG risks and opportunities
Media articles that show how ESG issues are being discussed and debated in the court of public opinion

Live Office Hours and Networking Sessions

To provide participants with the opportunity to engage in the discussion and debate, we will host four optional, live office hours (often featuring special guests), providing participants with the opportunity to ask questions and bring up topics for discussion. Office hours will be hosted jointly with participants in our Sustainable Capitalism for Directors course. In addition, we will host three networking sessions (two of which will focus on “Careers in ESG and Sustainable Capitalism”).

Course Modules

Below is a list of the course modules. For an overview of the course pedagogy and a more detailed description of each module, please download the ESG University: Sustainable Capitalism in Practice syllabus.

Module 1

Introduction and History of Business

Module 2

The Corporate Sustainability Movement

Module 3

Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Government

Module 4

Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Corporate Stakeholders

Module 5

Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Civil Society

Module 6

The Costs of Unsustainable Practices

Module 7

The Opportunities of Sustainable Capitalism

Module 8

Beyond Compliance, Transparency, and ESG

Tuition & Discounts

General Tuition

$1,500

UC Berkeley Alumni and Government, Nonprofit, and University Employees*

Applies to past participants of paid Berkeley Law Executive Education courses.

$1,275 Save 15%

Partner Organization Members*

$1,275 Save 15%

Group Rate*

Sallie Mae Financing

If you are interested in financing this course, Sallie Mae provides competitive education loan programs for credit-qualified borrowers. For more information and to apply, visit the Sallie Mae website. If you decide to pursue such financing, please submit your application to Sallie first and then contact us at [emailprotected]. We will provide additional instructions on completing your registration.

Professional Development Sponsorship

If your employer provides professional development opportunities and funding, we highly recommend asking them to subsidize the cost of tuition for the course. This certificate program is an excellent professional development and networking opportunity, and your employer may be willing to cover some, or all, of the costs. You are welcome to customize this template for your purposes.

Certificates & MCLE

Certificate Type

Certificate of Completion

Participants who complete all required course elements will receive a certificate of completion from Berkeley Law Executive Education.

MCLE

25 Hours

This program has been approved by the California State Bar to offer up to 25 credit hours of MCLE. Attorneys from other states will need to contact their local bar to verify their own certification requirements.

Instructor

Angeli Patel

Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business

Angeli Patel is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business. Prior to joining Berkeley Law, she was an attorney in the Sustainability & ESG Advisory Practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in San Francisco where she advised clients on the governance of climate and social risks, and a Lecturer at Berkeley Law. Previously, Angeli was a corporate associate at Jones Day and held an advisory role at the UN Global Compact Network Australia. Angeli graduated from UC Berkeley, School of Law in 2020. While there, Angeli was the co-President of Women in Tech Law and an editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. Prior to her legal career, Angeli served at the White House Office of Management and Budget under the Obama Administration and served as a policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance in the Government of Chile.

Research Associate & Course Facilitators

Silvia Fregoni

J.S.D. Candidate ’24, Berkeley Law

Adam Sterling

Assistant Dean at Berkeley Law

Expert Contributors

Erin Augustine

Senior Director, Operations and Supply Chain Sustainability, Oatly

Rob Chesnut

Former Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb & Author of Intentional Integrity

Hilary Dessouky

General Counsel at Patagonia

Elizabeth Doty

Director, Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce, The Erb Institute, University of Michigan

Robert Eccles

Visiting Professor of Management Practice at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Accessibility

For disability accommodation requests and information, please contact us at [emailprotected]. Please attempt to make your service request with as much advance notice as possible.