Sustainable Operations Initiative Student Roundtable: Grace Farms’ Mission-Driven Model: Turning Ethical Supply Chains into Business Practice

Join Sharon Prince, Founder and CEO of Grace Farms Foundation, and Adam Thatcher, Co-Founder and CEO of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, for a student roundtable on how businesses can build more ethical and sustainable supply chains. From addressing forced labor in the building materials industry through the Design for Freedom movement to advancing responsible sourcing in tea and coffee, Grace Farms is exploring how business can be a force for positive change. Learn how Grace Farms Tea & Coffee’s nonprofit-owned business model connects commercial operations with a broader social mission, and what it takes to put ethical and environmental commitments into practice.

This Sustainable Operations Initiative (SOI) roundtable discussion is co-presented by the Green Business Club and Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School.

The event will be driven entirely by student questions, so please come prepared!

Speaker Bios:

Sharon Prince is the visionary, founder, and CEO of Grace Farms Foundation. Sharon is passionate about creating more grace and peace in our world by bringing people together to solve complex humanitarian problems.

In 2020, Sharon started and leads the Design For Freedom movement to end forced labor in the building materials supply chain.

Sharon is an avid coffee and tea drinker and co-founded Grace Farms Foods in 2021.

Sharon was recently recognized as one of the most Creative Leaders in Business by Fast Company.

Adam Thatcher is co-founder and CEO of Grace Farms Tea & Coffee. He envisioned the model of a nonprofit-owned business after learning about the innovative social enterprise structures possible under the IRS code while getting his MBA at NYU.

Prior to Grace Farms Tea & Coffee, Adam served as the Director of Operations and Sustainability for Grace Farms Foundation from 2015 – 2020. With a passion for ethical and environmental sustainability efforts, Adam led Grace Farms’ LEED Silver Certification for Operations + Maintenance. Before joining Grace Farms, Adam served as the Director of Food and Beverage at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts in Lake Tahoe, California. In 2014 Adam was named of the 10 most impactful leaders in the ski industry under the age of 30.

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Co-hosted with: Green Business Club