Bainbridge Graduate Institute offers a unique MBA in Sustainable Business. Our innovative program prepares graduates to create and manage successful, dynamic enterprises that build a better world.

Today, most MBA students receive little exposure to social and environmental issues in their program of study and consequently can be led to believe that these issues are peripheral to business success.  Our program provides the core competencies of a traditional MBA program while infusing sustainability into every course.

Our MBA in Sustainable Business is offered in a 2 or 3 year Hybrid distance learning and in-person format or an Evening weekly format. Both programs are designed for working professionals and adult learners.

BGI’s academic calendar uses the quarter system. Students in the Hybrid MBA program attend class during the fall, winter and spring quarters, while students in the Evening MBA program attend classes in the summer quarter as well.  A typical quarter in the Hybrid program consists of weekly online distance learning class sessions and three weekend intensives.  A typical quarter in the Evening program consists of weekly face-to-face class meetings.

MBA program credits are awarded for graduate course work in a combination of 3-credit and 1-credit courses. Individual courses may vary as to the distribution of lecture, lab and practicum.

Directed instruction can include a combination of
•    faculty lecture and presentation
•    faculty-moderated analysis and discussion
•    case studies
•    simulations
•    faculty-led exercises with debrief
•    online conferences
•    guest speakers and panels of experts
•    threaded online discussions
•    other option

Lab/practicum includes team-related work and collaboration to address assigned structured problems, beyond individual time reading and writing.

MBA Program Categories

The MBA course offerings fall into four categories that cover the program goals of the academic program.

• The MBA Core covers specific, traditional MBA topics, with an infusion of environmental responsibility and social justice in every course.
• Business & Sustainability is taught more explicitly in the Foundations, Systems Thinking, Social Justice, and Dal LaMagna Series courses.
• Management and Leadership courses, inspired by the work of co-founder Sherman Severin, cover the human side of business from the individual level to the organizational and societal levels, with an emphasis on methods and capacity for productive change.
• Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship & Innovation covers the process of developing a business from the creative vision of the individual through team-building and maturation into a business plan presented to potential investors.

MBA Program Comparison

Hybrid MBA  2-year or 3-year

Students and faculty meet in intensive classroom sessions for a 4-day weekend once a month, October through June, at the IslandWood environmental learning center on Bainbridge Island, 35 minutes by ferry from downtown Seattle. Between sessions, classes utilize a variety of distance-learning technologies to support student learning. This hybrid format combines our emphasis on building an immersive learning community with the flexibility, focus and self-paced engagement afforded by distance learning. BGI’s academic calendar uses the quarter system. A typical quarter at BGI consists of weekly online distance learning and three weekend intensives.

Evening MBA

BGI’s Evening MBA program offers the Institute’s leading-edge MBA curriculum in a more traditional delivery format and students typically complete their degree in 2 ¼ years.  In the Evening MBA program, students attend class two to three evenings a week each term at the Seattle Learning Site in Seattle, Washington.  Courses are conducted chiefly via face-to-face instruction, with distance learning technology used as an additional resource where helpful for course management and inclusion of guest speakers from outside the Seattle area.  The Evening MBA format combines our emphasis on cultivating a learning community with the additional interaction afforded by weekly in-person class sessions.

Program Highlights

Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship & Innovation

The fourth category of the MBA Program Goals is a unique offering at BGI, the Innovation & Entrepreneurship series in the final year. These courses build on insights from our co-founders Gifford and Libba Pinchot on the process of change initiatives in large corporations, including the relationship of intrapreneuring to entrepreneuring. Building from the individual level up, students start with personal experience in Creativity & Right Livelihood, move into building a specific creative business plan with a team in Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship I, then develop the plan fully for a culminating presentation to potential investors at the close of Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship II.

Learning Community

The most commented-upon feature of BGI’s education is the learning community. BGI students are, literally, a community of adult learners committed to changing the world. Students consult each other widely to leverage the value of their diverse experiences. The learning community feeds and shapes the academic experience and continues to provide a framework for lifelong learning among the alumni and extended BGI community.

Course Delivery

To develop the learning community to best advantage, the Hybrid MBA courses are delivered through a combination of online and in-person experiences. In-person classes are held in the monthly 4-day intensives, and online structured distance learning activities are hosted on The Channel, BGI's powerful collaborative learning platform. The Evening MBA courses are held in a traditional face-to-face weekly format. Both programs access and utilize the Channel. This format optimizes a combination of personal relationships, teamwork and community, together with the flexibility, focus and self-paced engagement afforded by distance learning.

Library and Information Services

The BGI library is a vital part of the community of students, faculty, and staff. Its purpose is to provide access to the world of knowledge and information. Our virtual library is available to BGI students and faculty wherever they are, 24/7. BGI Library and Information Services currently licenses several full-text databases that provide students and faculty with access to scholarly work in the field of business, as well as archives of the leading newspapers in the country. We have an Inter-Library Loan arrangement with the major academic libraries in Washington State. The main physical collection is enhanced by the online library available through The Channel.   Open access databases in the online library include business, market, statistics, general reference, justice, legal, government, census, small business, e-commerce, resources for women and minority entrepreneurs, business plans, company information, social, health, diversity, and career-related resources. BGI has also developed a rich inventory of business and sustainability-related websites and resources, which are continually updated on The Channel. 

All students are provided with access to virtual classroom tutorials on locating, retrieving, and evaluating relevant information, critically assessing information from mass media, and understanding information in a larger systems context.

Online Virtual Classroom

Our virtual classroom, which is available to the Hybrid and Evening program, allows groups to hold real-time meetings with audio and web sharing. This includes a shared whiteboard, slide show sharing, application sharing, and the ability to work directly on a classmate’s computer. Conversations take place using Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) technology, allowing participants to talk without incurring long distance fees. A computer headset is required to use this technology.

Change Agents in Residence

At each intensive, BGI hosts several Change Agents in Residents. These leaders are advancing sustainable business practices, researching social and ecological sustainability, or engaging in social activism.

Action Learning Projects

Action learning is a central component of BGI’s curriculum. Action Learning Projects (ALPs) are designed to bring real value to an organization as well as to meet course objectives for MGT 551 Foundations of Sustainable Business, MGT 567 Social Justice and Business and MGT 552 Systems Thinking in Action.  We believe that working with community and business organizations not only deepens students’ educational experience but also provides a context for coursework beyond traditional syllabus expectations by immersing students in the challenges businesses face every day as they try to implement sustainability practices. Past ALPs have included work for Nike, Nature’s Path, REI, the City of Corvallis, OR and others.

Industry Concentrations

Joining an industry concentration gives BGI students the opportunity for focused learning and greater impact in selected critical industries. Students enrolled in a concentration work with BGI’s regular faculty and a committed Industry Advisory Council to analyze challenges and implement on-the-ground solutions to sustainability within a particular industry. Industry concentrations allow interested students to come together for industry specific workshops, mentoring from industry leaders, and access to industry internships and placements.

Licensing

Bainbridge Graduate Institute is authorized by the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and meets the requirements and minimum educational standards established for degree-granting institutions under the Degree Authorization Act. This authorization is valid until November 5, 2010, and authorizes Bainbridge Graduate Institute to offer the following program: Master of Business Administration. Any person desiring information about the requirements of the Act or the applicability of those requirements to the institution may contact the HECB office at P.O. Box 43430, Olympia, WA 98504-3430.

Washington State authorization must be renewed every two years. Bainbridge Graduate Institute intends to apply for re-authorization during the fall quarter of 2010.

Accreditation

The Bainbridge Graduate Institute is a graduate school accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools to award the degree of Master of Business Administration in Sustainable Business and Certificates in Sustainable Business and in Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship.  The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools is listed as a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the United States Department of Education and is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

To speak with someone about the program, please contact our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

BGI is now accepting applications for 2010-2011. Apply on-line.