Alumni Biographies (2006 - 2008)

Christina is focusing in organizational development and strategy with an emphasis on organizational/individual behavior change as it relates to environmental sustainability principles. She is also pursuing studies through the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship to learn more about creating meaningful work-places where employees can thrive.  Upon graduation, Christina hopes to pursue a career in either Corporate Social Responsibility or sustainability consulting and to that end, has spent her past 2 summers completing internships for Cisco Systems and the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.  Prior to Erb, she lived in San Francisco and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Stanford University in 2000 with a degree in International Relations and a minor in Russian.

Josh is focusing his studies on corporate environmental strategy and is interested in incorporating sustainability into traditional business models. He is also interested in green construction and renewable energy. Last summer Josh worked at Deloitte Consulting in Detroit, Michigan, supporting the development of a market offering focused on sustainability, CSR, and climate change advisory services. The previous summer he worked at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, developing strategies to promote the implementation of advanced mobility technologies in typically underserved markets. Prior to attending Michigan, Josh advised the United Nations and several US government agencies at Industrial Economics, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While there he evaluated environmental damage claims submitted to the United Nations, coordinated the development of partnerships between EPA and industry to improve environmental performance, and investigated the implications of the emerging domestic market for micro-fuel cells. Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Geology from Middlebury College.

From engineering to business, Rupal has trekked across the automotive industry following a desire for greater social responsibility. It is this passion for change that has led her to the Erb Institute, where her ultimate goal is to create value for shareholders through the development of economic, environmental solutions.  Rupal is concentrating on strategy in finance in the Ross School of Business and environmental policy in the School of Natural Resources and Environment.  She is interested in renewable energy and has experience in biofuels, wind and solar.  Last summer, she worked at GE in their Renewable Energy Leadership Program building competitive intelligence for their wind and solar divisions.  Rupal is a member of SNRE Student Government, Net Impact, Women in Business and the SOL Consortium. She holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Sarah's professional focus is corporate social responsibility, particularly marketing sustainable products and sustainability to consumers. Prior to enrolling in the University of Michigan, Sarah worked as a research analyst at a think tank where she created a nationwide marketing campaign to raise awareness about the importance of parental involvement in child development, planned and executed conferences, and managed and conducted research studies. She also spent two years teaching creative writing to underprivileged South Bronx high school students. Sarah graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in Art History. In the summer of 2005, she interned at Spencer Trask Ventures, a venture capital firm, and in the summer of 2006 she was a marketing intern at Johnson & Johnson Personal Products Company.

A native of Kyoto, Japan, Mitsuyo focused his studies at the Erb Institute on corporate strategy and sustainable development, with an interest in creating new green ventures. He worked at Venture-link Co., Ltd http://www.venture-link.co.jp/english/ as a consultant to startup JJ Club100, a recycling videogame entertainment business of Next Japan Inc., and to promote profitability of various franchise businesses. Mitsuyo graduated from Doshisha University with a Bachelor of Theology and his thesis, "The Protestant Ethic and Japanese Social Enterprises". He received Rotary Environmental Management Scholarship in 2004, the first scholarship especially for environmental management and a sustainable enterprise in the history of Rotary Foundation. After studying at Copenhagen Business School during the Winter 2007 term as an international exchange student to get hands-on experience in green venture business in Denmark, he has been working at Jyonan Electric Industrial Co., Ltd as the Managing Director for Eco Venture Division http://www.jyonan.co.jp/e/index.html. Stay tuned with his blog at http://mitch01.typepad.com/

Laura is currently a Consultant with Five Winds International in
Chicago where she assists companies in the creation of value by
integrating sustainability into core decision-making processes.  Her
work focuses on product sustainability, CSR benchmarking, climate
change, and management systems. Prior to joining Five Winds, Laura
served as Director and Co-founder of the Chicago Sustainable Business
Alliance, a non-profit providing services to support the growth and
sustainability of Chicago-based enterprises.  In 2007, Laura was
selected as a McCloy Environmental Affairs Fellow, where she conducted
extensive research in Germany on trends and opportunities in the use of
Environmental Product Declarations (ISO 14025), particularly in
building and construction sectors.  Laura also holds a BA in Philosophy
from Indiana University.