Elfenworks Center
Elfenworks Center
for Responsible Business
The vision of the Elfenworks Center for Responsible Business is to become a renowned leader for promoting business education and practice that advance the common good.
Our goals are to be:
- A thought leader and educational model in business solutions to problems of corporate governance, environmental degradation and social issues (such as poverty and inequality) as they impact business practices and policies.
- A community partner in events and practice that promotes responsible business performance.
- An educational incubator for student engagement that inspires social responsibility.
Our mission:
To foster and support the work Saint Mary's faculty in the area of responsible business and provide opportunities for faculty, students and community partners to collaborate on these issues.
- RESEARCH: Provide opportunities for faculty to generate fresh ideas and approaches on responsible business. "Responsible business" (RB) issues refer to work in the area of environmental, social (poverty, social justice issues, social enterprises) and governance aspects of for-profit and non-profit businesses.
- OUTREACH: Offer compelling events and programs that promote collaboration, shared inquiry and innovation in pursuit of responsible business performance.
- ENGAGEMENT: Provide opportunities for business students to build business acumen, inspire social responsibility and community engagement and extend networks.
Elfenworks Center Leadership
Director
In addition to being the Director of the Elfenworks Center for Responsible Business, Michal is the Guyette Endowed Professor of Responsible Leadership. She is the faculty advisor for the Saint Mary’s College chapters of both Net Impact and Marketing Club. She is also the faculty mentor of both the Elfenworks Student Fellows and the Guyette Responsible Leadership Fellows. Michal’s research, teaching, strong media presence, doctoral dissertation supervision, and service all focus heavily on areas related to sustainability, CSR, charitable giving and well-being
Michal has received multiple awards from Saint Mary’s College, including 2 Faculty Provost Research Awards and the CILSA faculty engagement award. She has also received multiple research awards from the School of Economics and Business Administration. Her multidisciplinary work has led her to publish in leading journals in the fields of marketing, business, psychology, transportation and healthcare. She is an official blogger on Psychology Today and has a Podcast about happiness and well-being. [Listen on Spotify]
Faculty Affiliate
Faculty Affiliate
STUDENT FELLOWS
Tyler McEwen
Tyler is double major in marketing and finance who looks forward to going into a business focused on sustainable energy. He is the President of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California and works on-campus in the dining room services.
Andrew Chang
Andrew is majoring in business administration and finance, with a minor in data science. He is the Treasurer of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California and is committed to social justice and environmental causes.
Julianna Wing
Julianna is the Director of Membership of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California and the VP of External Affairs for Gael Woman in Business. She is a marketing major and is passionate about working for a company that positively practices diversity, inclusion, and well-being at work.
Allison Drikas
Allison Drikas is a fourth-year Business Administration major with a concentration in marketing and a minor in dance. She is not only the Director of Marketing of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California, but is also the President of the Marketing Club. In addition, she is a high potential peer mentor at the college.
Amber Motekaitis
Amber is a marketing major and is the Program Director of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California. She is passionate about practicing sustainability and protecting the environment. She believes that we only have one earth, and it is our job to care for it.
Emily Quimby
Emily is a business administration major and is the Vice President of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California. She has a commitment to developing and expanding her knowledge in sustainable practices and is very passionate about environmental activism and social good.
Emily Heathcote
Emily is the Communications Director of the Net Impact chapter of Saint Mary’s College of California and a marketing major. She aims to incorporate better social and ecological practices into her future career and strives to explore more sustainable practices in her everyday life.
RELATIONAL EGALITARIANISM IN THE WORKPLACE
Bringing together scholars and experts in political philosophy and business ethics to discuss new, original research and look at the issue of workplace structures.
SUSTAINABILITY SERIES
Aly Khalifa, serves as the Project Director of Plastic Collective which works to expand micro-enterprise recycling for remote and vulnerable communities and reverse the tide of ocean plastic.
SUSTAINABILITY SERIES
Niki Zoli, former Director of Social Impact at Marriott International, Inc, helped lead several of their signature environmental conservation partnerships.
CORPORATE MORAL CREDIT
Grant Rozeboom, presented his work, 'Corporate Moral Credit' at the R:ETRO Seminar Series | Reputation: Ethics, Trust, and Relationships at Oxford. WATCH
SUSTAINABILITY SERIES
Jason Graham-Nye discussed his circuitous route to becoming co-founder & CEO of gDiapers, a diaper company with B Corp certification.
SOCIAL CAUSE MARKETING
John Koller 95', VP of Global Marketing at Twitch, discussed social cause marketing and fundraising for one of the largest social live streaming events - Twitch Stream Aid 2020.
THE NEW CORPORATION
The New Corporation: Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbot –– discuss whether our “socially responsible” corporation structure allow us to have other values besides profit
BUILDING THE NONPROFIT MARKETING STACK
Tim Adkins, Director of Marketing at Hands on Atlanta, gave a talk called "Building the Ultimate Nonprofit Marketing Stack: People, Tools and Resources."