Funding Opportunities

Career Support

While many options exist to address environmental issues through traditional for-profit careers, some students make their marks on the world through other types of organizations. The following funding programs support a wide range of career choices:

Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship: Grants awards of approximately $10,000 to 7 to 10 first-year MBA students who have exhibited leadership and an extraordinary commitment to working in the not-for-profit sector.
HBS Summer Fellows Program: During the summer following the first year, generous support is available through this program to students who wish to explore career opportunities in roles or regions where compensation is generally lower than the traditional MBA level.
Reimbursement Grants: Where environmental sustainability is a core element of an Independent Project, students may be eligible for project-related expenses during their second year of study.
HBS Leadership Fellows (login required): Second-year students entering the nonprofit or public sectors may apply to the Leadership Fellows as a pathway to work with senior leaders and have meaningful impact at an organization focused on environmental issues.
HBS Forward Fellowship: Helps support students from lower-income backgrounds who have carried significant financial burdens or obligations. It helps ensure that students from all socioeconomic walks of life continue to be part of the rich diversity that fuels our community.

Loan Repayment

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Social Enterprise Loan Repayment Assistance Program: The HBS Nonprofit/Public Sector Loan Repayment Assistance Program was established in 1992 to reduce the educational debt repayment burden for alumni serving in managerial positions in the nonprofit and public sectors.
Rock Center Loan Reduction for Entrepreneurs: Rock Center, in consultation with MBA Financial Aid, eagerly supports their graduating entrepreneurs. One such way is through a one-time need-based award of $10,000-$20,000 to graduating MBA students who are committed to pursuing their own for-profit entrepreneurial ventures, including selffunded entrepreneurship by acquisition ventures.
HBS Loan Reduction for Private Sector Employees (login required): A loan reduction program for students working in the private sector at jobs that pay significantly below the HBS average. These awards offer a one-time loan reduction that typically ranges from $5,000 – $15,000. Award availability is determined based on an applicant's earnings and need-based debt, as well as employment and job fit criteria. Funds awarded can be used only to reduce existing need-based loans.

Conference Attendance

ClimateCAP: ClimateCAP is an annual event that brings MBA students and industry leaders together to learn what every MBA needs to know about the business implications of climate change. Each year, BEI sponsors students to attend the conference.
COP Student Observers Funding Program: The COP Student Observers Funding Pilot Program, supported by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, provides travel funding and related programming to Harvard University students who attend the annual Conference of Parties.

Project Funding

Harvard University Campus Sustainability Innovation Fund: Supports projects that use Harvard’s campus or the neighboring community as a test bed for envisioning and piloting innovative solutions to sustainability challenges. Projects lead to the practical application of emerging technologies or strategies that can be used to inform the University’s implementation of its Sustainability Plan. Up to $25,000 in funding.
Harvard University Student Grant Program: Provide students with up to $5,000 in seed funding to support new ideas and innovative projects that address global sustainability challenges with on-campus applications. Applications due in October.