Building ESG Curriculum and Career Alignment at Anderson

Fascinated by the intersection of business and sustainability, Rita Aboujaoude has dedicated her time at UCLA to exploring how businesses can drive, implement, and measure sustainability initiatives. Pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration at UCLA Anderson, Rita has tailored her coursework to include subjects vital to future sustainability leadership, such as ESG reporting, social impact consulting, and finance-related classes. Recognizing a gap in traditional MBA coursework, Rita has independently delved into sustainability topics and engaged in discussions with peers, revealing a shared interest in ESG and sustainability topics.
Identifying an opportunity to integrate sustainability into UCLA Anderson’s community, through her leadership positions at Anderson, Rita aims to ensure that students are exposed to these topics and understand the pivotal role of businesses in addressing them. Through her Leaders in Sustainability project, Rita, alongside peers Nkem Chukwuma and Martin Marchiori-Wong, audited the core curriculum, pinpoint opportunities to embed ESG and sustainability topics and collaborate with faculty to develop a strategic implementation plan. Anderson’s core curriculum covers topics such as accounting, marketing, and finance. THE the LiS project, the team will be recommending the inclusion of sustainability topics such as ESG disclosures and accounting, ethical marketing, and closed-loop planning. This initiative is essential for UCLA Anderson as it strives to shape future business leaders who possess both business acumen and a deep understanding of their industries’ societal and environmental impacts, empowering them to drive effective and sustainable change.

As part of her project, Rita researched the ESG job market pertaining to management positions and other MBA roles to understand the skills employers are looking for. This research is informing a report to be submitted to the Dean of student affairs on what the ESG landscape and job opportunities look like for MBA students. The goal is for the administration to take into account the reports findings as they think about how to update the curriculum to adapt to changing industry needs.