Location & Start Date
Online
Self-PacedCourse Launch:
March 3, 2025
Content Access: 5 months
Time Commitment: ~ 40 hours of mandatory content
Who Should Participate
This course approaches ESG from a cross-functional perspective and explores both legal and business risks and opportunities. Participants from prior iterations of this course include junior, mid, and senior level professionals from different disciplines, including:
- Law
- Compliance/Regulatory
- Management consulting
- Investor relations (IR)
- Public affairs and policy
- Media and communications
If you are a corporate board member or C-suite executive, you may want to register for Sustainable Capitalism for Directors.
Course Structure
Lectures
All modules begin with a series of short lectures that include theoretical underpinnings for each topic and case studies of leading company practices. Module titles are found below.
Practitioner Perspectives
Most modules include interviews with thought leaders that provide concrete insights into how ESG and sustainable capitalism are being debated and operationalized.
Case Studies
Module Six (The Costs of Unsustainable Practices) and Module Seven (The Opportunities of Sustainable Capitalism) feature over 10 case studies highlighting real world examples of the challenges, issues, and opportunities surrounding ESG and sustainable capitalism.
Curated Readings
With new articles being published each day, it is difficult to navigate the vast literature around ESG and sustainable corporate strategy. In this course, we have curated some of the most important resources, which include:
- Ground-breaking academic papers (which we have excerpted)
- Opinion pieces and articles written by leading experts
- Industry reports containing data on ESG trends and highlighting ESG risks and opportunities
- Media articles that show how ESG issues are being discussed and debated in the court of public opinion
Live and Networking Sessions
To facilitate discussion and debate, we will host eight optional live office hours (often featuring special guests), allowing participants to ask questions and explore topics of interest. Two sessions will focus on careers in ESG and another two sessions will focus on building your sustainability skillset.
Course Modules
Below is a list of the course modules. For an overview of the course pedagogy and a more detailed description of each module, please request the ESG University: Sustainable Capitalism in Practice syllabus.
Module 1
Introduction and History of Business
Module 2
The Corporate Sustainability Movement
Module 3
Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Government
Module 4
Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Corporate Stakeholders
Module 5
Mapping the Sustainability Ecosystem: Civil Society
Module 6
The Costs of Unsustainable Practices
Module 7
The Opportunities of Sustainable Capitalism
Module 8
Beyond Compliance, Transparency, and ESG
Scholarships
Berkeley Law Executive Education is pleased to award full scholarships to underrepresented members of the legal community for ESG University: Sustainable Capitalism in Practice. The scholarship application is closed. Recipients will be notified by December 20, 2024.
Tuition & Discounts
General Tuition
$1,500
UC Berkeley Alumni and Government, Nonprofit, and University Employees*
Applies to past participants of paid Berkeley Law Executive Education courses.
$1,275
Save 15%
Partner Organization Members*
$1,275
Save 15%
Group Rate*
Available for groups of three or more people from the same organization
$1,275
Save 15%
*For all special rates (i.e. UC Berkeley alumni and government, nonprofit, and university employees; groups; or partners), please email executive@law.berkeley.edu for instructions to access your tuition category. To register a group, please email executive@law.berkeley.edu. All special rates are discounted off of the general tuition.
Sallie Mae Financing
If you are interested in financing this course, Sallie Mae provides competitive education loan programs for credit-qualified borrowers. For more information and to apply, visit the Sallie Mae website. If you decide to pursue such financing, please submit your application to Sallie first and then contact us at executive@law.berkeley.edu. We will provide additional instructions on completing your registration.
Professional Development Sponsorship
If your employer provides professional development opportunities and funding, we highly recommend asking them to subsidize the cost of tuition for the course. This certificate program is an excellent professional development and networking opportunity, and your employer may be willing to cover some, or all, of the costs. You are welcome to customize this template for your purposes.
Certificates & MCLE
Certificate Type
Certificate of Completion
Participants who complete all required course elements will receive a certificate of completion from Berkeley Law Executive Education.
MCLE
22 Hours
This program has been approved by the California State Bar to offer up to 22 credit hours of MCLE. Attorneys from other states will need to contact their local bar to verify their own certification requirements.
Instructor
Angeli Patel
Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business
Angeli Patel is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business. Prior to joining Berkeley Law, she was an attorney in the Sustainability & ESG Advisory Practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in San Francisco where she advised clients on the governance of climate and social risks, and a Lecturer at Berkeley Law. Previously, Angeli was a corporate associate at Jones Day and held an advisory role at the UN Global Compact Network Australia. Angeli graduated from UC Berkeley, School of Law in 2020. While there, Angeli was the co-President of Women in Tech Law and an editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. Prior to her legal career, Angeli served at the White House Office of Management and Budget under the Obama Administration and served as a policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance in the Government of Chile.
Research Associate & Course Facilitators
Silvia Fregoni
J.S.D. Candidate ’24, Berkeley Law
Adam Sterling
Associate Dean at Stanford Law School
Expert Contributors
Erin Augustine
Vice President, Operations and Supply Chain Sustainability, Oatly
Rob Chesnut
Former Chief Ethics Officer at Airbnb & Author of Intentional Integrity
Hilary Dessouky
General Counsel at Patagonia
Elizabeth Doty
Director, Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce, The Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Robert Eccles
Visiting Professor of Management Practice at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Michelle Edkins
Managing Director at BlackRock Investment Stewardship
Ofer Eldar
Professor of Law, Berkeley Law
Josh Faddis
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Veeva Systems Inc.
Desiree Fixler
Advisor, DF Consult Group
Bruce Freed
President and Co-founder, Center for Political Accountability
Mahlet Getachew
Managing Director, Corporate Racial Equity at PolicyLink
John Goldstein
Global Head of Sustainability and Impact Solutions at Goldman Sachs
Maryam Haque
Executive Director, Venture Forward
Lori Heinel
Global Chief Investment Officer at State Street Global Advisors
Mike Isaac
Technology Correspondent at The New York Times
Stephen Johnson
Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer, American Airlines
Courteney Keatinge
Senior Director at Glass Lewis & Co.
Prasad Krishnamurthy
Professor of Law, Berkeley Law
Jonas Kron
Chief Advocacy Officer, Trillium Asset Management
Andrew Mayock
U.S. Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Council on Environmental Quality (Executive Office of the President)
Esteban Mezzano
General Counsel Corporate Operations & Sustainability, Nestlé
Amelia Miazad
Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law (formerly the Founding Director, Business in Society Institute at Berkeley Law)
Amy Norris
Former General Counsel, Clif Bar & Company
Kevin Self
Former Senior Vice President Strategy, Business Development & Government Affairs, Schneider Electric
Omari Scott Simmons
Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
Anne Simpson
Global Head of Sustainability at Franklin Templeton
Leo Strine
Of Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court
Amy Weaver
President & Chief Financial Officer at Salesforce
Rupert Younger
Director, Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Program Partners
Accessibility
For disability accommodation requests and information, please contact us at executive@law.berkeley.edu. Please attempt to make your service request with as much advance notice as possible.
