Kellogg Chronicles: Bridging Business & Sustainability At The Abrams Climate Academy

Before coming to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, I spent several years working in advisory and in-house roles at the intersection of strategic communications, sustainability, and business transformation. I entered my MBA program with the goal of building a well-rounded business toolkit, while deepening my sustainability knowledge and skill set. Kellogg’s collaborative culture and commitment to real-world, experiential learning made it a natural fit.

Now, two years into my MBA, Kellogg has more than delivered on that goal. A highlight of my experience has been joining the inaugural cohort of the Abrams Climate Academy (ACA), a new experiential learning program connecting graduate students across Northwestern with companies tackling real climate challenges.

Here’s an inside look at the ACA and the broader sustainability community at Kellogg.

INSIDE THE ABRAMS CLIMATE ACADEMY

Launched in 2025, the Abrams Climate Academy is a year-long fellowship that brings together graduate students from across Northwestern to tackle complex climate challenges. As Climate Fellows, 30 classmates and I represent fields ranging from business to engineering to policy, forming a deliberately interdisciplinary cohort built to approach climate from multiple angles.

The program runs on two parallel tracks. In the classroom, we explore a different sustainability topic each week, spanning areas such as climate science, emerging technologies, and responsible leadership. Outside the classroom, we work directly with seven partner companies, consulting on climate business challenges alongside the practitioners addressing them.

For me, the heart of the ACA is the cohort itself. My classmates bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives that have broadened my understanding of sustainability and challenged how I think about the energy transition.

It’s inspiring to learn among students who don’t simply attend an evening lecture on, say, renewable energy but are actively working in the field during the day. Take a recent class on sustainability-focused startups: I was energized to hear from a classmate who is a founder herself. Harini Ramakrishnan, inspired by the ACA and Kellogg’s broader sustainability ecosystem, is building a technical apparel brand for women, rooted in sustainable production processes and principles. It is perspectives like these that have helped me appreciate both the depth and breadth of the sustainability landscape.

The ACA cohort reminds me, time-and-again, why this work matters, and this is especially true of my project team, which we’ve playfully dubbed the “Net Zero Heroes.”

INTRODUCING THE NET ZERO HEROES

A core component of ACA is the partner project. My team is designing an operational process to help a financial institution measure portfolio-level carbon emissions. In practice, this means tracking evolving climate reporting standards and translating complex technical guidance into a practical Scope 3 data management tool.

Our team of five spans students from Kellogg’s Full-Time and Evening and Weekend MBA programs, as well as Northwestern’s McCormick Master of Engineering Management program.

I asked my fellow Net Zero Heroes to share what ACA has meant to them:

Malik Ballout, ‘26 Full-Time MBA: “ACA made me realize that Climate isn’t a department; it’s a lens. As innovation and technology advance, the leaders who keep one eye on the planet and one eye on what’s possible aren’t just doing good — they’re staying ahead.”

Scott Fuller, ‘27 Evening and Weekend MBA: “ACA has been a uniquely rewarding experience that has deepened my understanding of sustainability and climate through direct engagement with industry leaders, while also challenging me to tackle real-world issues head-on. Coming from the Evening and Weekend MBA program, the experience has been truly transformative where everyday lessons from ACA inform my work the very next day, and my professional life, in turn, enriches what I bring to the program.”

Piyush Rathi, ‘26 Master of Engineering Management: “Coming from India, where sustainability is rooted in resourcefulness and resilience, the ACA has been the ultimate sandbox to bridge that perspective with the data-driven complexity of the US climate landscape. I’ve been able to apply a computational lens to sustainability, encompassing everything from risk modeling for data centers to the precision of calculating financed emissions. It has reinforced my belief that the next generation of climate leaders won’t just be policy experts; they will be the people who integrate climate-first thinking into every decision they take.”

Akash Patil, ‘26 Master of Engineering Management: “ACA came at the right time for me. Coming from a nontraditional path, I knew I wanted to move closer to the climate space but wasn’t sure where I fit. Through real world projects and conversations with leaders and my peers working at the frontlines of change, ACA showed me that climate is not a niche conversation but one of the most defining challenges and opportunities of our time. It reinforced my belief that climate leadership will belong to those who can turn awareness into action.”

LEARNING FROM THE PRACTITIONERS SHAPING THE ENERGY TRANSITION

The ACA’s extensive network brings leading voices in climate into the classroom. Each week, we hear directly from the practitioners shaping the energy transition, spanning corporate sustainability leaders, policy experts, impact investors, and academics at the forefront of climate research.

One guest lecture that stood out to me was from Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mastercard and ACA Advisory Board Member. She challenged us to see sustainability as a driver of business value, not just a compliance mandate. She walked us through what an effective sustainability organization looks like, and how embedding it across the business – rather than in a silo – separates leaders from laggards. She left us with an idea that has stayed with me: any job can be a climate job, if you apply the right lens.

BEYOND ACA: KELLOGG’S BROADER CLIMATE COMMUNITY

The ACA is just one part of a broader sustainability ecosystem at Kellogg. What strikes me about the Kellogg community is the sheer number of people who genuinely care about sustainability, and the shared belief that business can be a powerful force for progress.

Beyond the fellowship, I’ve been fortunate to join the Kellogg Energy & Sustainability Club, pursue a climatetech-focused internship through Kellogg’s Venture Lab, participate in a faculty-led climate book club, and host sustainability-themed small group dinners. I’ve also sampled the expansive energy and sustainability curriculum, with standout courses including the Economics of Energy Markets and Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance.

Later this month, I’m excited to attend Kellogg’s annual Climate Conference, which brings together students, faculty, and practitioners to explore the intersection of business and climate action. It feels like a meaningful way to round out these two years of learning.

CONCLUSION

As I near the end of my time at Kellogg, the ACA stands out as one of the experiences that has shaped me most. The fellowship has given me a network of peers I’ll carry throughout my career, deeper expertise in the tools and strategies driving the energy transition, and hands-on experience that no classroom alone can replicate.

If I had to distill it down to one thing, it’s this: the ACA is more than a curriculum. It’s a community of people who believe businesses can rise to the challenge of climate change. For any Northwestern graduate student who shares that conviction, I can’t recommend it enough.

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Hannah Gould is a full-time MBA candidate at the Kellogg School of Management and a Fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Abrams Climate Academy.

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