Business & Environment

John Doerr

MBA 1976
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

John Doerr (MBA '76) worries about the climate crisis yet sees huge potential for green technologies. Potential so huge, in fact, he and his partners have funded more than $200 million in innovations, with more to come. A leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Doerr helped back technology successes such as Compaq, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems and now serves on the boards of Google and Amazon.com. Spurred on by his daughters, Doerr's passion has focused on policies and technologies for alternative energy, transportation and efficiency. In 2006, he led a group of business entrepreneurs in support of California's Global Warming Solutions Act. In focusing on the environment, he has not forgotten capitalistic roots; quite the opposite. Quoted in Forbes and Newsweek, Doerr describes the green-energy market as "the largest economic opportunity of the 21st century."

Alumni Achievement Award 2008

Aileen Lee

MBA 1997
Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

President of her section at HBS, Aileen Lee joined KPCB in 1999, where she works with a team of venture capitalists investing in energy and environmental technologies. Lee worked previously as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley and in business strategy and development at Gap, Inc. At KPCB, she has brought in green deals with a range of companies such as Lilliputian Systems, a company producing microfuel cells, and Miasolé, which focuses on thin solar panels. A strong supporter of technical careers for young people, Lee was named a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute, which aims to develop a new generation of civic leaders.

Andrew Murphy

MBA 2007
Director of Enterprise Planning, World Wildlife Fund

Large-scale conservation work requires an understanding of the markets and economic drivers that impact critical ecosystems, according to Andrew Murphy, MBA '07. Murphy joined the World Wildlife Fund in 2007 as an HBS Leadership Fellow. With joint degrees from HBS and the Harvard Kennedy School, Murphy wanted a position that expressed his passions while incorporating his diverse experience as a change management consultant, Peace Corps volunteer, and manager of donor-funded tourism projects. All three were put to use at WWF.

Like many large nonprofits, WWF recruits private sector talent to develop in-depth corporate partnerships. A business education can provide students with a portfolio of innovative solutions to apply in the conservation sphere "Multi-sector approaches are required to solve some of the more intractable problems we face as a society," said Murphy. He works with WWF's COO and staff across an international network to create market-based strategies to protect ecosystems in Coastal East Africa. "It has been a great place to start," he said.

Carter Roberts

MBA 1988
President and CEO, World Wildlife Fund

When Carter Roberts mixed his love of nature with corporate management experience and an HBS degree (MBA '88), the results took him to some amazing places. The Bering Sea, the Galapagos Islands, the dry landscapes of Mozambique - and the presidency of World Wildlife Fund, the largest network of conservation organizations in the world.

Early in his career, Roberts led marketing and management efforts at Procter & Gamble, Dun & Bradstreet, and Gillette. After completing his MBA, he charted a new course with The Nature Conservancy, where he ran their Boston office, opened programs throughout Latin America, and eventually served as Vice President for Strategic Planning and Global Priorities. Since joining WWF in 2004, the organizations's work linking large-scale conservation of the world's great landscapes with global policy work and making markets more efficient and sustainable has helped attract partnerships with corporations such as Coca-Cola, Wal-mart and Staples. The companies are revamping operations to reduce emissions and "green" their supply chains.

"The smartest, most strategically focused companies are calculating climate change and resource risks into their operations," Roberts said. "True visionaries know that if their business practices aren't sustainable long term, their businesses aren't either."