Written by Harvard students Christine Song & Kelsey Ge

Every semester, Harvard Undergraduate Consulting on Business and the Environment chooses to take on a pro-bono case, which is decided based on the social impact of the casework and company involved. For the Spring 2020 semester, CBE chose to take on Global Green as their pro-bono client. CBE was extremely impressed with Global Green’s efforts in diverting 214,000 lbs of organic waste with their food rescue initiative and the impact of the creation of self-sustaining, zero-waste EcoParks and decided to reach out.

Harvard Undergraduate Consulting on Business and the Environment is a student consultation group on Harvard’s campus that provides strategy consulting services to companies around the United States and globally. The organization specializes in business problems in the sustainability, technology, and life sciences industries. The Global Green case was led by Christine Song, Kelsey Ge, and Jeffrey Chiu and consisted of analysts Enio Andoni, Evelyn Chen, Bradley Ferguson, and Aaron Sun. William Bridge, CEO, and Liam M. Quaresimin, Director of International Affairs, were managing the case for Global Green with the Harvard CBE Team.

Shown in the picture above from left to right: Kelsey Ge (Case Team Lead, Second-Year concentrating in Computer Science), Bradley Ferguson (Analyst, Second-Year concentrating in Applied Math), Evelyn Chen (Analyst, First-Year concentrating in Applied Math), Aaron Sun (Analyst, Second-Year concentrating in Applied Math), Christine Song (Managing Director, Third-Year concentrating in Economics), Jeffrey Chiu (Associate, Second-Year concentrating in Computer Science), and Enio Andoni (Analyst, Second-Year concentrating in Economics)

Over the span of ten weeks, CBE tackled the tasks of: 1. Benchmarking goals and market analysis for Global Green’s sustainability plan and 2. developing long-term recommendations related to each of Global Greens main programs. This work cumulatively resulted in strategic recommendations and key partnerships that Global Green could pursue to address the most pressing aspects of the climate crisis.

The CBE team first approached Global Green’s sustainability activities by analyzing the current plan and assessing competition in the market. Analysts examined opportunities for Global Green to continue to evolve its marketing and platform, while ensuring that the recommendations aligned with the 2030 SDGs and the UN Global Compact Standards. This included determining the most appropriate social justice elements to incorporate and best practices.

To develop the Global Green long-term strategies, CBE devised a 10-year strategic recommendations document contextualized within the current international environmental framework, building out a set of global funding sources with a diverse range of focus fields with a particular emphasis on Global Green’s pillars. This proposal heavily considered Global Green’s pillars of water, energy, sustainability, education, and medical care. To ensure that Global Green’s effort would have the most possible impact, the CBE team looked into potential partners, funding sources, and sustainable methods employed by other players.

The CBE research and recommendations were submitted to the Global Green Board of Directors and key stakeholders, and due to the enjoyable and successful partnership between Global Green and Harvard Undergraduate Consulting on Business and the Environment, the project has resulted in a continued cooperation to expose environmental issues.