Green Mountain College Offers Online Sustainable MBA

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Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont is offering an accredited distance education program in sustainable business.

With two short intensive residencies and a series of six-week sequential online courses, the program is well suited for busy professionals and people wanting access to valuable sustainability education. The program focuses on leadership and team building skills to build responsiveness to environmental, employee, and organization stakeholders.

Students can focus on one of two concentrations: General Business Administration, or Non-profit Organization Management.

The General Business Administration Concentration prepares students for management of commercial enterprises, emphasizing sustainable business practices. Courses teach students to think critically about conflicts and trade-offs, and to use accountability for social and ecological outcomes as a source of competitive advantage. Courses in this concentration include:

• Leadership, Values, and Decision Making
• Competitive & Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach
• Field Application Project

The Nonprofit Organization Management Concentration focuses on the business of nonprofit organizations. It is intended for individuals who seek to develop skills in best-practices management and leadership specific to nonprofit organizations, and who want to learn to apply specialized theories, models, and tools to concrete managerial problems in such organizations. Courses in this concentration include:

• Strategic Management of Nonprofit Organizations
• Nonprofit Organization Financial Statements & Performance Evaluation
• Marketing & Brand Management Strategy for Nonprofit Entities
• Field Application Project

If you’re looking for a good background in sustainable business management, Green Mountain College may be just the place to start.

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Fair Trade: It's Only .....

Fair Trade partnerships work to provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work.

In today's global economy, how we spend our hard earned cash affects people all over the world. Unfortunately, the products we currently enjoy are often made in conditions that harm workers, communities and the environment. The good news is that, increasingly, consumers are demanding more humane and more environmentally sensitive products.

In a world where profits rule, small-scale producers are often left out of the bargaining process. Buying Fair Trade Certified products helps exploited producers escape from the cycle of corporate bargaining that often leaves farmers, craft producers and other workers with little to no resources to build into their futures; and your efforts give people a way to maintain their traditional lifestyles with dignity.

According to the Fair Trade Federation, the criteria to be recognized as being truly fair trade is:

• Paying a fair wage in the local context
• Offering employees opportunities for advancement
• Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices
• Being open to public accountability
• Building long-term trade relationships
• Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context
• Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible
• Ensuring that there is no abuse of child labor

So how can you be sure you're getting what you pay for? One way is to look for this logo:

And here's a way you can get involved and contribute to the movement.

Visit the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store and look deeply into their philosophy and products. Then, for ways to take further action, be sure to visit the Global Exchange Website , an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting environmental, political, and social justice.

@peace