I didn’t get to see the Oscars or watch the red carpet parade of gowns but I was waiting in anticipation for Oscar night for one reason and one reason only. I couldn’t wait to see the winning gown of the Red Carpet Green Dress competition, a contest launched in 2009 for an award-winning “green” →

For years, the Minnepolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) has been a leader in the United States for learning green design online. This past semester, a new class debuted there, with a new way of practicing design for sustainability—the Whole Systems and Life-Cycle method. This method was created for the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop in →

Last spring I was invited to participate in Cittadellarte’s (City of Art) University of Ideas (UNIDEE) thanks to a grant from Fondazione Zegna. I was eager to examine sustainability in the context of the Italian luxury fashion industry and I am pleased to share a two-part post about my experiences. This second installment of my →

Future-proofing needs collaboration, innovation, education and inspiration Use these four primary catalysts for transformation to optimize your company’s journey and change your business mentality. Make no mistake, the transformation from a firm of the past to a firm of the future is challenging, especially while operating amid of a perfect storm of social, economic and →

About 150 miles south of Miles City lies a place, “conveniently located in the middle of no place.” It’s called Alazada, Montana, and is home to the Stoneville Saloon and not much else (there is also a convenience store and post office). The Saloon is a place that one must really visit in person to →

When beginning to build my Ride the Talk campaign for need-based scholarships for the students of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program, I stumbled upon a cool Kickstarter campaign for the Backcountry Boiler. Devin Montgomery, a young designer turned entrepreneur, raised three times his Kickstarter fundraising goal with the help of over 500 backers to turn his →

After a chaotic boarding at Missoula’s Greyhound Station, I was finally on my way to Miles City (~480 miles East of Missoula), the place where I would begin to Ride the Talk. My seat buddy, an exhausted mom, had already been on several buses for the past 24 hours when she made her transfer in →

Nearly time to blast off: two major deadlines on the same day. September 1st is looming. What was I thinking? I’ve been parallel planning for two epic adventures. The first being my 1000 mile bicycle commute from Montana to Minnesota to raise funds for need-based student scholarships for the program I direct. (To discover more →

Who knew that that old adage, “it takes a village” to be so darned true? I am encountering this over and over in my work and personal life, regardless of the size of endeavor. Now that I am a convert, I see a village everywhere I look. Need help? Ask your community. Have too much? →

Businesses must transform into firms of the future by embedding sustainability, creating value for themselves, their communities and the ecosystems in which they operate A “perfect storm” of economic, social and environmental factors is making the business landscape increasingly volatile. The pace of change is faster and only set to increase. To succeed, business needs →