A Passion to Make a Difference

When Carter Roberts (MBA '88) arrived at HBS, he brought his love of the outdoors with him, driving north on weekends to hike in New Hampshire's White Mountains. "More often than not I found myself on top of a mountain somewhere," he recalls. "Over just a few years I saw the landscape change before my eyes, either from clear-cutting or from roads being built. I understood that unless you proactively seek to conserve open spaces, more likely than not they'll be lost."

Today, Roberts is in a unique position to act on that realization as president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a global organization working in more than 100 countries to save the earth's wild spaces and preserve its ecological diversity. It's a dream job for anyone with a passion for conservation; yet Roberts's career path hasn't been entirely straightforward.

"When I came out of HBS it was difficult to get a job in the nonprofit sector," he recalls. "The Social Enterprise Initiative didn't exist at that point, so you had to find and pursue opportunities on your own." After graduation, Roberts joined Gillette as a marketing manager, all the while maintaining volunteer ties to the Appalachian Mountain Club and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). "Volunteering is a great way for people in the private sector to learn about issues they care about," he says. "And when an opening comes up in the organization, you're well positioned to jump on it."

That's what happened when The Nature Conservancy launched a search for a Massachusetts state director-and found the ideal candidate on its doorstep. Roberts served as state director from 1990 to 1996, moving on to positions as vice president for TNC's Central America Division and vice president for strategic planning and global priorities. He joined WWF as chief conservation officer and COO in 2004, where he continues to utilize his MBA skills as the organization charts its course for the decade ahead.

"I understood that unless you proactively seek to conserve open spaces, more likely than not they'll be lost."

—Carter Roberts
(MBA '88)

There's a high demand at nonprofits for the analytical rigor honed at HBS, says Roberts. "People contribute to our organization less as donors than as investors and they expect to see a return on their investment." Sarbanes-Oxley-the 2002 legislation focused on corporate governance, financial disclosure, and accounting practices of publicly traded companies-has had reverberations in the nonprofit world as well. "Transparency and accountability are critical," Roberts states. "We need to prove that we're putting people's money to use and delivering results."

While his private-sector skills have served him well in his 15 years of conservation work, Roberts is quick to note a few characteristics that set the nonprofit world apart. "The process of making decisions and moving forward involves engaging the hearts and minds of staff at many levels-it's less hierarchical," he notes. The motivation and incentives are quite different as well. "People work in places like the WWF because they literally want to save the world," Roberts observes. "The reward is not financial; the reward is making a difference."