WHO WE A R E
R ESP O NSIB LE LE A D ER S H IP IN I T I AT I V E
For the past year, we have had the great joy of implementing
our college’s Responsible Leadership Initiative. This initiative
grew organically and innocently. Cathy’s sustainability-related
work in her discipline, across the university, and in the college,
provided the motivation/foundation. Brandon was captivated
by the SDGs and eager to engage. Over the coming months
we generated ideas and initiated actions, as our excitement
about and commitment to the SDGs grew. Staff joined in.
Students joined in. Faculty joined in. We quickly realized that
our work with the SDGs had a momentum of its own, and by
early October Dean Spake requested that we formalize what
we were doing by naming it. The Responsible Leadership
Initiative (RLI) was born.
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We find honor in this work. It uplifts and provides purpose.
It leads and inspires us. We truly have enacted GRLI’s “Think
big. Act small. Begin now.” And the actions keep coming
with ease. In this time of climate change, where the carrying
capacity of planet earth is challenging social systems across
the globe, the needs are great. Corporations have led the way
with effective actions to limit environmental impacts, improve
working conditions, and create shared value across social,
planetary and economic spheres - and our college has the
responsibility to convey this information to our students.
The opportunities are limitless.
The RLI flows readily from our college’s mission. As such,
we have chosen to organize our SIP report in sections that
reflect elements of our mission, rather than in the standard
manner of organizing by the PRME principles. We have tagged
the PRME principles throughout with their corresponding
icons - so they are clearly present in this report.
The first year of our PRME membership was a year of quiet
progress, as we considered how to translate our membership
into meaningful action. The second year manifested the RLI,
which launched the Year of Dialogue, during which our activity
focused on communicating about the SDGs and our RLI.
We look forward to the years ahead, as we are energized by
deepening our commitment and expanding our reach through
engaging in our “to-do” list at the end of this report.
In gratitude,
Cathy L. Z. DuBois, Ph.D.
Brandon Lloyd Shields
Associate Dean Assessment and
Professor, M&IS Accreditation Analyst