My name is Emma Tehrani and I’m from Oakville Ontario. My active interests include playing basketball and using biking and running to explore local trails around my area. Before joining the Ivey community, my previous two years of study have been in BMOS with a specialization in Consumer Behaviour. I am pursuing an HBA degree to acquire the skills to become a contributing member of an organization that’s able to understand the business and to use that understanding to build and implement sustainable practices into the organization and their culture.  

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

To me, sustainability means developing an approach that incorporates much more than the bottom line. It is approaching all situations and business problems with a consideration of the environment in which it operates, both in terms of social and ecological factors, and then using these factors to create solutions that benefit both the profitability of the organization as well as its surrounding environment. Sustainability is keeping in mind that every decision we make today has direct implications on tomorrow and we must prioritize future impacts and longevity in order to make responsible and sustainable decisions.  

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career?

My career aspirations are to explore the sustainability consulting and strategy areas. Developing business strategies has always been a passion of mine. The opportunity to combine that with implementing sustainable practices and using sustainability to promote longevity and long term considerations in business decisions is one that excites me.  

I would love to use sustainable strategy to bring about positive environmental and organizational change, particularly within organizations that are more resistant to change or have not had the opportunity or adequate resources/expertise to implement sustainability into their own practices. I want to help inspire change in reluctant organizations and continue growing the popularity of sustainable practices.  

Sustainable practices are no longer optional for organizations, and I aspire to be part of the movement that makes all practices sustainable and blurs the line between business and sustainability and determine which one we will use moving forward to measure conventional “success”. 

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

My interest in sustainability and helping conserve and protect the environment began in high school when I was a member of the environmental club for multiple years, eventually joining the executive team as Vice President, organizing and participating in events such as garbage clean ups of areas within our local community. Seeing the positive environmental impact that I could make at such a local/small scale made me optimistic that with more tools and resources (provided by opportunities such as an HBA degree and this Sustainability Certificate), I could make an even greater and more meaningful impact, giving me hope and motivation to pursue this career aspiration.  

Most recently, I have also been a member of a local volunteer organization in my hometown and participated in environmentally friendly activities such as shoreline clean ups. This club also organizes positive social impact activities such as volunteering at homeless shelters and foodbanks. Doing this intensified  my passion for sustainability beyond solely environmental impacts, but social ones as well, as I was able to experience their impact first-hand. 

I would love to continue exploring sustainability (environmental and social) in terms of a business context and am very excited to learn more about this intersection.