Making a positive social impact as a leader

March 16, 2023 | 2 min read

Caio Garrido concluded the TIAS Full-time MBA in 2018. Caio is a Sustainability consultant at one of the biggest banks in the Netherlands. ‘’Learning about corporate social responsibility and how companies can impact society in a good way was the right approach. I now know how to naturally connect business with society and the environment’’.

Ambition to find a new professional field

After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Caio worked at an Oil and Gas company in various operational positions for five years. He gradually realized that this was not what he wanted as a long-term career. ‘Besides, I was never comfortable with oil exploration as an industry, mainly due to its environmentally harmful nature. I needed to find out how I could move to a different sector. At the time, I knew what I did not want, but not what I did want. My eagerness to learn more about business, combined with my ambition to find a new professional field inspired me to explore alternatives. This led me to consider an MBA as an instrument to enable that change.’

Why TIAS?

When Caio was looking for the right MBA, he checked the ranking of various business schools. ‘TIAS came across as one of the best. When I investigated the school and the actual MBA program, I found that TIAS would not only teach me the fundamentals of business, like how to make a profit and deliver results, but also how to generate shared value for society at a stakeholder level, not just for shareholders. For me, learning about corporate social responsibility and how companies can impact society in a good way was the right approach. In addition, I wanted to explore a field that was considered to have a huge impact. I felt that the TIAS MBA was a good choice.’

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

According to Caio, the most inspiring and eye-opening experience for him was his participation in Aim2flourish. This offers students the opportunity to discover how businesses can be transformational in creating societal value in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ‘Basically, during this assignment, students search for global initiatives that are adopting a sustainable approach in their business model with real societal impact. The objective is to publish success stories on how businesses can create shared value and affect the world positively. It was inspiring to me, because I saw the positive effects of actual initiatives in Brazil, my home country. Moreover, that experience led to self discovery. I finally found out which kind of activities bring me fulfillment. Ultimately, it led me to the sustainability domain as a career.’

Interview

Read Caio's interview about the experiences during his TIAS MBA, how he gained a deep understanding of his responsibility as a leader and how he was able to take a big leap in his career.

Read interview

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)

SDG Barometer How are Dutch organizations doing at the halfway point for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030? TIAS School for Business and Society conducted research.