Grace Hanley Wright is the Director of Sustainability for the College of Business and also teaches in the Impact MBA.
As the Director of Sustainability, Grace focuses on co-creating, managing and executing the College’s sustainability initiatives, which span research, curriculum, and engagement. The Director of Sustainability is a key member of the College's leadership team, helping to drive progress towards "Business for a Better Word". She leadrs the College's Green Team, is an appointed member of the President's Sustainability Commission and chair of the Academic and Research Subcommitte, is an advisory board member for the CSU Climate Initiative and serves on the SOGES Curriculum Committee.
In the Impact MBA, Grace is the faculty of record for and co-manages the Corporate Sustainability Fellowship Program (BUS 687), where (as of Summer 2024) they’ve placed 137 Impact MBA students in corporate sustainability roles in companies throughout the country. She also manages Pollution Prevention Fellowships as a part of a partnership & grant with the EPA and Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. In the Online MBA, Grace teaches BUS 639: Corporate Social and Sustainable Responsibility.
Grace studied Political Science at the University of Denver and received her MBA from CSU’s Impact MBA (formerly called the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA). Prior to working for CSU, Grace worked for We.Org (formerly Free the Children) and Whole Foods Market, two businesses that showed her the positive impact of business and the power of young people to make a difference. After graduating from CSU, Grace co-founded a international health nonprofit (Ascent), founded a software literacy training enterprise for business professionals (Aptitech), and launched Wright Ventures, which helps early-stage startups in Denver formalize, launch, and scale. Grace works to equip her students at CSU with the knowledge that they can be powerful entrepreneurs and change makers in business. Grace has been recognized as a CSU Career Impact Award Honoree (2024), CSU Best Teacher (2017), Colorado Woman of Influence (2010), and a Northern Colorado Superwoman (2016).
Read these two articles by the College of Business to get to know Grace a little better: Approaching Complexity with Compassion and Department of Management- Faculty Features
Courses Taught:
BUS 639: Corporate Social and Sustainable Responsibility, MGT 667: Global, Social and Sustainable Entrepreneurship, BUS 686: Summer Practicum, BUS 687: Corporate Sustainability Fellowship, BUS 690: Building Teams and Partnerships, MGT 340: Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship, MGT 360: Social and Sustainable Venturing, MGT 420: New Venture Creation, BUS 405A: Contemporary Business Topics- Entrepreneurship, BUS 479: Strategic Management, MGT 495: Independent Study (Impact Measurement), and MGT 495: Independent Study (Venture Launch).
Current Service:
Appointed Member, President's Sustainability Commmission
Chair, Academic and Research Subcommittee, President's Sustainability Commission
Advisory Board Member and Curriculum Committee Member, CSU Climate Initiative
Climate Across the Curriculum Planning Committee, CSU Climate Initiative
Curriculum Committee, School of Global Enviornmental Sustainability
Net Impact Chapter Advisor
Prior Service:
Faculty Mentor, Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA
Alumni Network President, Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA
One Health Institute Fellow
Net Impact Hybrid Chapter Advisor
Mentor, Institute for Entrepreneurship Venture Accelerator
Todos Santos Program Development Lead- College of Business