ASU community invited to learn current sustainability business trends

For the first time, the annual GreenBiz Forum, a hallmark conference hosted by GreenBiz Group, is coming to Arizona State University as a shadow conference for students, faculty and staff, called GreenBiz U. Presentations at GreenBiz Forum, set to take place Feb. 18-20 in Scottsdale, will be simulcast for free on ASU’s Tempe campus during GreenBiz U.

GreenBiz Forum, which happens twice a year in various locations around the country, provides an in-depth look at today’s sustainable business challenges and opportunities.

"GreenBiz Forum brings together sustainability leaders from the world’s biggest corporations to discuss key trends and best practices,” says Joel Makower, chairman and executive editor of GreenBiz Group. “We’re excited to bring this wealth of insight and inspiration to the larger ASU community, which includes tomorrow’s business leaders.”

The Forum is a premier partner of the inaugural Sustainability Solutions Festival, a week of events organized by ASU’s Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives that takes place concurrently with GreenBiz Forum.GreenLight Solutions, an ASU student-based sustainability consulting organization, is coordinating GreenBiz U in partnership with GreenBiz Group and the Sustainability Solutions Festival.

“Like GreenBiz says, sustainable business is too big to go at it alone,” says Tara Briscoe, founding member of GreenLight Solutions. “To maximize the knowledge gained at the GreenBiz Forum, we wanted to include ASU's students, faculty and leaders who can apply what they learned within the local community.”

During GreenBiz U, the ASU community will learn from corporate sustainability influencers like The Sustainability Consortium’s Kara Hurst, The Nature Conservancy’s Mark Tercek and Jessica Alba, actress and founder of The Honest Company. On-site workshops will complement the presentations.

GreenBiz U will welcome additional speakers like Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of waste recycling company TerraCycle; John Malian, a sustainability engineer for CISCO; Kimber Lanning, founder and executive director of Local First Arizona; Courtney Klein, co-founder and CEO of SEED SPOT; and a special guest panel discussion on Spiritual Perspectives on Sustainability.

More information on GreenBiz U can be found atsustainabilityfestival.asu.edu/calendar-of-events/greenbiz-u/. GreenBiz U participants are also encouraged to attend additional events during the week-long Sustainability Solutions Festival. A full schedule of events can be found at sustainabilityfestival.asu.edu/calendar-of-events/.