Since I’m too young to remember it, I’m sure that many of you are too. In 1989 “a major environmental disaster shook public confidence in corporate America—the Exxon-Valdez oil spill.” It made the environmental costs of business finally feel real to many people, and it resulted in the founding of a non-profit organization called Ceres. They are “a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups” that work “with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change.” With the BP oil spill among other environmental crises, it’s quite clear that Ceres has lots more work to do after 20 years of operations. Still, Ceres, which is based in Boston, MA, has accomplished quite a bit in their mission to “integrate sustainability into capital markets.” They launched both the Global Reporting Initiative, which is “now the de-facto international standard used by over 1300 companies for corporate reporting on environmental, social and economic performance,” and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, which is “a group of more than 70 leading institutional investors with collective assets of more than $7 trillion.” They’re obviously a major player in sustainability, and they’re taking the right approach by working with businesses instead of fighting them.

Get Ceres About Your Job Search

One of the key ideas behind Ceres is their ten principles. It’s a code of corporate environmental conduct that has been adopted by more than 50 companies (13 of which are in the Fortune 500). These principles include: Protection of the biosphere; Sustainable use of natural resources; Reduction and disposal of wastes; Energy conservation; Risk reduction; Safe products and services; Environmental restoration; Informing the public; Management commitment; and Audits and reports. Interestingly enough, many of these principles mirror general good business practices. By endorsing or adopting these principles, a company can “actively commit to an ongoing process of continuous improvement, dialogue and comprehensive, systematic public reporting.” If you like this approach, then you should check out jobs at Ceres. The only position that really seems suitable for a new grad is actually posted on Idealist, and it’s for a Corporate Programs Associate. It looks like a great position, so give it a look.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• Ceres.org
• Jobs at Ceres
• About Ceres
• Staff at Ceres
• Ceres Principles
• Ceres News
• Ceres Annual Reports

What do you know about Ceres?

We've identified Ceres as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• administrative
• all employers
• environmental
• green
• investment
• Massachusetts
• non-profit
• program development
• sustainability

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