The Foster Effect
The Foster School earns high marks for employer satisfaction, academic reputation, alumni advancement, and return on investment – but the bottom line of any business school is impact: economic, environmental, and social.
Whether students and alumni are starting minority-owned companies, working on ground-breaking change in Foster’s newest carbon offset building, cleaning up the country with zero and low-emission vehicles, or working on sustainable consulting projects, from Seattle to South Africa, students are applying ingenuity to better humanity through action.
Envisioning 2050: Action Today for a Sustainable Future
Full-time, Evening MBA Programs launch ESG Leadership Specialization Program
Foster MBA Analyzes Renewable Off-Grid Power for Food Storage
Innovation
Entrepreneurship programs at the University of Washington ranked in the top 10 for Best Entrepreneurship Programs according to a ranking produced jointly by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine. Over the last 10 years, over 540 companies have been launched by graduate students with more than $350M in fundraising and investment. The annual Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge is just one of the many opportunities hosted by Foster’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship – solving some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems with innovations that have market potential.
Prizes Awarded at Landmark Environmental Innovation Challenge
Beyond the classroom
Make an impact outside of the classroom and engage with companies and organizations through Applied Strategy consulting projects, our Challenge for Charity (C4C) competition, or the Board Fellows Program – just a few examples of experiential learning at Foster.
Ascend
Over the past two years alone, Ascend has helped more than 500 businesses raise $60 million in capital, generate $670 million in revenue, and create and retain more than 5,500 jobs. By 2025, the program plans to create $1 billion in value through the growth of businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color— helping 400 surpass $1 million in annual revenue, 75 exceed $5 million and 25 top $10 million. Students participate through the Ascend Fellows program or take a course on impact lending to underserved communities.
Board Fellows Program
The Board Fellows Program at Foster is the largest Board Fellows Program in the country, impacting over 2.5 million people annually! Foster MBA students serve as advisory, non-voting board members of local nonprofit organizations throughout Washington State as well as California and New York.
Students develop a technology plan or data dashboards, or assist with succession planning and plan onboarding for new board members, as well as advise on strategies for fundraising, engagement, recruitment, or changes in bylaws and best practices. Students who are passionate about supporting environmental justice, human rights, equity, strong communities, health, food access, the arts, and many other causes help to affect change while gaining valuable leadership experience.
Pursuing Careers in Sustainability
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act and the Inflation Reduction Act have started pumping billions of dollars into renewable energy, decarbonization and other solutions to the climate crisis. As headlines have covered layoffs in big tech, other headlines have told a different story of hiring by companies focused on climate tech, and sustainability.