OnePointFive Academy:
 Sustainability Consulting Accelerator

Level-up your sustainability skills to help grow businesses without destroying the planet.

Cohort 5 Begins July 8, 2024

Learn With Top Sustainability Consultants & Expert Partners From:

Springboard into The business of sustainability

  • Hands-on learning with top sustainability consultants to perfect the skills required of sustainability leaders to win and execute projects.

  • Upon completion of OPF Academy, join our community of Fellows to network & support each other while accelerating your sustainability consulting career!

  • Cohort-based learning with handpicked peers and industry leaders to build your network, scheduled to complement your work calendar. Scholarships available for qualified applicants.

SCHEDULing - What to expect

OPF Academy is a 6 - 9 hour weekly commitment. Cohort 5 instruction begins July 8, 2024 and ends August 23, 2024 (with a 1 week break from July 29 - August 2).

Onboarding will begin on June 28th and Graduation will be on August 26th.

A typical schedule for our Fellows features four different types of sessions: ASYNC Curriculum modules, Lab Sessions, Speakers, and Office Hours.

All sessions are recorded!

MONDAY
Asynchronous Curriculum Modules

Monday’s are reserved for fellows to complete ~2 hours of interactive curriculum lessons at your own pace. These lessons are taught by expert instructors from OPF.

Tuesday / 11AM - 12PM EST
Lab Kickoff Session

1 hour hands on, Lab Kick-off session to prepare fellows for Wednesday's interactive lab. Instructors will offer industry-specific context for the lab, introduce and explain the real-world consulting and software tools fellows will be using, and start reviewing the Lab's reference material.

WEDNESDAY / 1PM - 3PM EST
Interactive Lab Session

2 hour hands-on, live session for fellows to engage in hands-on learning, applying their curriculum knowledge through a real-world case studies and group activities.

FRIDAY / 11AM EST
Expert Speakers

~1 hour live session for fellows with speakers, and/or panelists, related to the week’s topic area starting at 11am EST.

Office Hours

~1 hour live session for fellows to interact with course instructors and teaching assistants to get answers to additional questions and support on program content.

100% of surveyed alumni report that OPF Academy helped improve their skills and confidence as Sustainability Professionals

Network at our community events, study halls and more with fellow OPF Academy Fellows from organizations including:

OPF Academy course content

  • Week 1 Learning Objectives:

    • Understand Net Zero, the science behind climate change and the brief history of sustainability, including the rise of common reporting and disclosure frameworks

    • Articulate the intent, similarities & differences between the most common reporting and disclosure frameworks

    • Provide some examples of some of the barriers in getting to Net Zero

    • Understand the key skills of sustainability professionals and sustainability consulting

    • Express the different types of corporate sustainability goals (e.g., net zero, biodiversity) and establish an understanding of net zero strategy & climate transition plan and useful frameworks (SBTi, CDP)

    • Get familiar with the 9 Planetary Boundaries framework, and understand how other important issues such as GHG potency, climate justice can be incorporated into sustainability strategy

    • Understand course structure and next steps

  • Week 2 Learning Objectives:

    • Enumerate the key components of Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG emissions

    • Recommend GHG emissions calculation approach(es) to suit a company

    • Consider the most material GHG emissions categories for different industries

    • Discuss the limitations of GHG accounting

    • Explain how an organization’s baseline emissions are used to set targets and participate in carbon markets

  • Week 3 Learning Objectives:

    • Articulate three key differences between enterprise-level and product-level emissions

    • Recall the main environmental impact categories assessed through life-cycle analysis

    • Provide three examples of how changes in product design can impact overall footprint

    • Discuss the limitations of life-cycle analysis in GHG accounting

  • A halfway point break to help catch up on the content.

  • Week 4 Learning Objectives:

    • Summarize the global sustainability regulatory landscape to date and future trends

    • Discuss the high-level requirements of leading sustainability standards - i.e. SASB, TCFD, GRI

    • Break down the key components of a sustainability report, incl. metrics & KPIs

    • Provide 3-5 examples of physical and transitional climate risks for a given organization

  • Week 5 Learning Objectives:

    • List the key components of an effective decarbonization plan that creates long-term vision & incorporates sustainability into standard company / organizational practices

    • Explain the different ways carbon can be costed out, e.g., carbon tax, internal cost of carbon, marginal abatement curves and how those drive decarbonization approaches

    • Discuss the different components, key players & limitations of the carbon markets value chain

    • List the principles of investment into decarbonization, considering return on investment & environment

  • Week 6 Learning Objectives:

    • List sustainability professional trends, career pathways & the skill-sets needed to thrive in this profession

    • Recall best-practice frameworks & tools for sustainability professionals as takeaway reference

    • Breakdown the end-to-end sustainability project phases, from proposal scoping to close-out

    • Discern your next steps as a sustainability professional after the OPF Academy

Meet our OPF Academy instructors

  • Neil Yeoh // OnePointFive

    Neil is a climate expert, advisor & investor, and CEO at OnePointFive. He leads strategic direction and oversees project delivery across OnePointFive's offerings of climate services, finance, technology & training. He earned his Master of Environmental Management from Yale University, and Master of Business Administration from Oxford University. Neil is passionate about enabling a movement of business & environment professionals to act on climate today.

  • Matthias Muehlbauer // OnePointFive

    Matthias is a startup advisor, climate entrepreneur, writer, and Founding Partner at OnePointFive. He helps drive OnePointFive’s strategic growth and operations, including the commercialization of our climate expert advisory network that matches the right climate experts to climate problems. Matthias co-facilitates the OPF Academy alongside Neil and Julia.

  • Julia Akker // OnePointFive

    Julia leads sustainability strategy & measurement work at OnePointFive, serving our non-profit, financial, consumer product, and climate tech customers. She is passionate about sustainable food systems and the power of plant-based diets to reverse climate change, and recently taught a cohort of 150+ fellows on Food & Agriculture within the climate space.

  • Sarah Paiji Yoo // Blueland Co-Founder and CEO

    Co-Founder and CEO at Blueland. Blueland is revolutionizing conventional cleaning and personal care products to eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging, while prioritizing the planet and people. We believe that we should be able to have a clean home without sacrificing a clean planet and that sustainable choices should be effective, convenient, and affordable.

    Purpose-driven serial entrepreneur passionate about innovation and using business as a force for good. Previously, was a Partner at LAUNCH, creating and operating new consumer businesses including M.Gemi, Rockets of Awesome and Follain. Prior to LAUNCH, was co-founder and CEO of Snapette, the largest mobile platform for local fashion shopping, which was sold to leading e-commerce platform PriceGrabber in 2013.

    Sarah has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Forbes, Time, InStyle and Glamour, and previous speaking engagements and appearances include the Today Show, CNBC, ABC News, Harvard, and Shark Tank (Season 11, Episode 1).

  • Oliver ‘Ollie’ Haas // Magpie Aviation

    Oliver ‘Ollie’ Haas is an aviation nerd with a sustainability problem, or a sustainability nerd with an aviation problem – depending on your perspective. He is currently the Head of Partnerships and Strategy at Magpie Aviation, a San Francisco-based venture enabling long-range, zero-emission flight. Previously, he was a founding team member of Climate Impact X, a global marketplace for high-quality carbon credits based in Singapore. At Cathay Pacific, one of the world's leading airlines based in Hong Kong, Ollie led innovation teams developing everything from the passenger mobile app, to customer service AI assistants and a major customer experience program for the future flagship 777X aircraft. He helped to transform the thriving innovation consultancy PALO IT into Asia's first technology B-Corp. Ollie studied engineering and sustainable design at the quirky, innovative Olin College and completed a professional graduate program in innovation and environmental studies at Stanford University.

  • Alexandra Carlson // New Balance

    Alexandra is an illustrator, materials designer, and sustainability expert, infuses style into sustainability with her rich experience in product strategy at New Balance, Puma, and beyond.

  • Daniel Hill // Innovation Director at Environmental Defense Fund

    At Environmental Defense Fund, Daniel built EDF’s Innovation Fund - an internal incubator to unleash creative solutions to protect the environment. The incubator enabled conditions for innovation to flourish across the organization by investing in staff and creating an inclusive, repeatable process to incubate new ideas. He also worked to empower the next generation of climate leaders by leading corporate partnerships and an entrepreneurship initiative for EDF's Climate Corps fellowship program.

    Prior to EDF, Daniel cofounded and ran Green Impact Campaign, a nonprofit that trained students to conduct energy assessments for small businesses using cloud-based tools. His goal was to revolutionize the way students were learning and interacting with energy efficiency, while at the same time helping small businesses reduce their environmental impact and energy costs.

    In 2023, Daniel created the global social movement #OpenDoorClimate, a community of climate professionals making themselves available to speak with people interested in working on climate. Over 100 climate professionals connected with 2k green job seekers within two months - leading to connections, interviews, and breakthroughs.

    Throughout his career, Daniel has had the honor of being an Echoing Green fellow, Halcyon Incubator fellow, Clean Energy Leadership Institute fellow, and the recipient of the Alliance to Save Energy's Rising Star of Energy Efficiency Award and Net Impact's Force for Change Award.

  • Ashlyn Anderson

    Ashlyn Anderson // Cervest

    Ashlyn is a climate policy and tech strategist. Previously, she served as the policy and advocacy expert at climate intelligence company Cervest, where she helped customers and the public sector leverage climate intelligence to support high-quality, useful climate risk reporting and management.

  • Alexander Pfeiffer // Terralytiq

    Alexander earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in Environmental Sciences and has over a decade of experience at McKinsey & Company, most recently as Associate Partner. He co-led a global team of ~130 decarbonization experts and oversaw the development of SaaS products in the decarbonization space with a focus on the manufacturing sector.

    He’s currently Co-founder and CEO of Terralytiq, a cutting-edge clean tech start-up that specializes in helping companies identify and reduce their carbon emissions.

  • Shana Gallagher // Our 2050 World

    Shana brings her expertise to the forefront of corporate engagement and the adoption of ISO Net Zero Guidelines. In this collaboration between ISO, the UN Race to Zero campaign, and the UNFCCC Global Innovation Hub, Shana leads initiatives to create credible, high-ambition net-zero strategies.

  • Natalie Lavery // Climate People

    Natalie serves as the Marketing Lead for Climate People, a technology recruiting firm specializing in talent acquisition across various industry sectors, including mobility, carbon, climate, food, energy, and buildings. With expertise in navigating the ever-changing job market, Natalie offers invaluable insights on securing sustainability-oriented positions and guidance on adapting to dynamic employment landscapes.

  • Diane Osgood // Carbon Almanac

    Diane is a seasoned Corporate Sustainability Leader with three decades of experience, specializing in guiding companies through climate-related risks, identifying opportunities, and fostering strategic reporting. Diane, also a contributing author and editor for the Carbon Almanac, will cover embedding sustainability and ESG principles into operations to drive profitability, manage risks, and enhance environmental performance.

  • Miriam Roure // Founder and CEO at Kara

    Miriam Roure is the Founder and CEO of Kara. Kara is the system of record for sustainability compliance. Designed venture capital investors and technology companies, Kara streamlines ESG and impact reporting.

    Previously, Miriam was the Program Director of URBAN-X, the accelerator dedicated to startups reimagining city life. Over the course of five years, URBAN-X invested in and supported over 90 companies.

    Miriam also worked at MIT Senseable City Lab, a research laboratory dedicated to exploring the future of cities from a data and sensor-based technology perspective. She also worked at OMA and Continuum as a design strategist.

    Miriam is part of the board of Citibeats. She has served as a Member of the New York Technology and Innovation Council of the Urban Land Institute, and an advisor at CIV:LAB and Utopia. She holds degrees from Harvard University and Cornell University, and she co-founded the Harvard xDesign Conference in 2013.

Ready To Build Your Sustainability Toolkit?

Apply For Cohort 5 Today!

WHO IS OPF ACADEMY FOR?

Ambitious Climate-Curious Professionals

Individuals from all over the world with demonstrated, professional interest in climate. We’re seeking Fellows who want to level up their sustainability-focused tool kit for current or future jobs, representing the following industries:

  • Environmental Sciences, Business, and/or Operations backgrounds

  • Product / Project Management

  • Marketing and Communications

  • Academia

  • Finance

  • Technology

Climate-Curious Organizations

Organizations that want to take (or are taking) meaningful corporate sustainability action, and need to up-skill their teams. Organizations who have participated in OPF Academy represent the following industries:

  • Financial Services

  • Technology

  • Media

  • Consumer Packaged Goods and Fashion

  • Health / Pharmaceuticals

  • Food & Agriculture

  • Hard to Decarbonize Industries

Hear From Our Fellows

  • Azhan Rabi

    Through six weeks of OPF Academy, I’ve not only gained technical expertise, but also honed critical interpersonal and leadership skills that will significantly enhance my ability to drive sustainability initiatives within organizations.

    Azhan Rabi, Digital Marketing at Maybank

  • Alex DeMaioribus

    I feel more confident to make a push within my current consulting firm to commit to sustainability. It is a fifty-person team with a lot of latitude for new ventures and opportunities, and I now feel that I can have them voluntarily commit to net zero, document their emissions, and improve accordingly. I also feel that there could be the potential to have a small arm of sustainability consulting that might open the firm up to new logos and corresponding revenue streams.

    Alex DeMaioribus, Marketing Program Manager at Lions & Tigers

  • Deveeka Mutha

    Before joining the program, I had explored only the local standards limited to my country (India) but the program has expanded my knowledge and brought other relevant global standards to me. Also, I have never had people with such varied backgrounds, experience, qualifications & skills in my network before. This program has helped me connect with talented people from all over the globe and the amount of exposure I received with respect to what kind of work is happening in different countries with respect to sustainability and climate change is tremendous. Now I feel confident about applying my knowledge and skills like GHG accounting, LCA, risk assessment, etc. learnt from this workshop to creating sustainable solutions for businesses from various sectors. It has also helped me in developing my analytical skills.

    Deveeka Mutha, Sustainability Consultant at Eco Solutions

  • Leanne Hickman

    OPF has given me more confidence to [lead]. The information we have been exposed to reassures me that I can actually fulfill a sustainable professional role be it at my company now or at another consulting or tech firm. I will use my managerial skills and the resources I now have thanks to OPF academy to help navigate the change needed to implement actionable results.

    Leanne Hickman, Co-founder & Strategic Parntership Officer at The Climate PI

  • Shannon Geiger-Risdon

    Being accepted and participating in OPF’s Sustainability Consulting Accelerator program was a game-changer for me. Not only did I gain expertise in sustainability management to complement my existing skillset, it gave me something to share with prospective hiring managers to demonstrate capability, training, and experience. Ultimately, I believe this helped me get the job interview that led to my current role, which the OPF training has been invaluable for. I’d recommend anyone looking to transition into Sustainability Management take this course!

    Shannon Geiger-Risdon, Sustainability Program Development Manager at Qcells North America

  • The hands on sessions during OnePointFive Academy were awesome. I retained so much more vs if I was just listening to lectures. The collaborative structure of the course really helped, and the community is great. I connected with a lot of people very comfortably and everyone was super generous with their time. Everyone also seemed genuinely committed to contributing towards helping with climate change.

    Nalin Ahuja, Engineering Manager at Etsy

  • What I liked most about my OPF Academy experience was the incredible content and resources provided throughout the program, as well as the passion and dedication of the OPF team. The practical lab sessions were particularly helpful, allowing participants to apply the knowledge and skills learned in a real-world context. I absolutely loved all the speakers during Friday’s sessions! The OPF team's passion for sustainability was evident in every aspect of the program. OPF did an outstanding job of creating, an engaging and supportive community of experts. The small group sessions provided a safe space for us to share our experiences and learn from each other.

    Eva Morales, CEO Circular Advisors, Co-Founder at HyveGeo

  • OPF Academy content was easily accessible for people coming to the space from many different levels, areas of expertise, and career pathways. I was blown away by how well the format supported widespread engagement from such a diverse group of people. I also felt like we really learned— the sessions were engaging and challenging. I loved the frequent use of breakout rooms and got to know a lot of people through those experiences on a personal and professional level.

    Adam Breunig, Sustainability Strategy Consultant

  • Sustainability and the topics that revolve around and within it can be a bit confusing and broad. I love that OPF Academy found a balance by diving deep into detail, but always keeping us bound to the big picture and how that specific topic fit in. Additionally, the organization of Notion, Slack and Google Drive was incredible and helped a lot. I really appreciate the feedback culture and the effort of always trying to improve and provide the best experience to everyone involved. Thank you OPF team!

    Sofia Ferrigolo, Sofia Ferrigolo

  • The inclusive facilitation during OPF Academy was incredible. It's subtle, still I felt acknowledged when [the OPF team] instructed OPF Academy Members to consider engaging silent ones, introverted ones, & others who are often left out in group conversations.

    Nazmus Sadat, Consultant, Co-founder at BD Recycle Technologies Limited

  • I loved meeting people from all over the world with diverse interests and specialties… OPF made Sustainability Consulting digestible and also incredibly accessible for the modern lifestyle.

    Jamie Dwyer, Sustainability Consultant

  • The education I received from OnePointFive jumpstarted my career in the climate space. I quickly went from little understanding of climate change outside my own research, to being well versed in climate fundamentals, sectors, impacts, and major solutions. This helped my confidence and comfort level that has now translated to helping a multitude of climate organizations reach their goals. Without their training, I’d be lost trying to make my way around the complexities of climate.

    Jacob Simon, Content Creator for @jacobsimonsays

  • The OPF team was a core part of my journey to starting my climate career. It was the combination of their knowledge of the climate solution space, both broad and deep, with their willingness to teach and advise that helped me pinpoint exactly where I was trying to go in climate. I appreciate all they do!

    Anushka Makhija, Product @ Form Energy

  • The OnePointFive team helped me realize that a career in climate was possible for me through realistic, positive education. Their teachings helped spark my imagination, and before I knew it I was coming up with business ideas and meeting like minded people that believe change is possible. The OPF folks are courageous and compassionate leaders that will guide the next generation of climate professionals.

    Thomas Ebrahimi, Climate Consultant

Watch Our Latest OPF Academy Info Session

Frequently Asked Questions

  • OPF Academy applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Once you submit your application, you will receive an email from us within 2 weeks advising if you will move forward with out interview process. These interviews can be done
    asynchronously through VideoAsk (recommended) or live with an OPF Staff member.

    Once you have completed your interview, we will let you know within a week if you are accepted to OPF Academy. Payment timelines will be shared at that point.

  • The general time table of OPF Academy:

    Monday: 💻 Asynchronous Curriculum Modules (self-paced)

    • 2 hours of async curriculum, taught by OPF practitioners with real-world case studies

    Tuesday: 👨🏻‍🏫 Lab Kickoff (11am - 12pm EST)

    • 1 hour live session, to kick-off the Practical Lab, covering industry context, resources, software & tools

    Wednesday: 🧪 Practical Lab (1pm - 3pm EST)

    • 2 hour live practical lab to apply curriculum knowledge via a mock project case study

    Friday:
    🗣️ Expert Speakers (11am - 12pm EST)

    • 1 hour live speaker session

    🧑🏻‍💼 Office Hours

    • Office hours session facilitated by OPF Teaching Staff

    Varies: 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Optional Small Groups (across time zones)

    • ~1 hour curated small groups with ~4 to 5 other OPFA members

  • No prior consulting experience is needed to apply to the OPF Academy. We are looking for individuals who are passionate about addressing climate change and can bring value to the OPF Academy community alongside your learning experience. There is no ideal candidate for the Academy either, anyone and everyone is encouraged to apply!

    However, we expect most our candidates to be graduate level-mid career professionals

  • Yes, limited spots are available for the OPF Academy. We are targeting a cohort of around 150 professionals.

  • OPF Academy is a 6-9 hour weekly commitment for 8 weeks. 6 weeks of content, plus onboarding and graduation.

    We expect members to keep up to date with the course material and engage with other Fellows of the OPF Academy.

  • Definitely! The standards, regulations, and frameworks we are teaching are applicable at a global level and are the ones that are most commonly used around the world. That being said, when we dive deeper into specific regulations and standards, we will be focusing on the US, the EU, and some of Asia. This is primarily driven by where these standards originate from.

    • An OPF Action Kit including: A shareable credential (verified through Credverse) from OnePointFive that affirms your newly acquired skills as a trained sustainability consultant and one-of-kind takeaway slides & learning resources from the curriculum.

    • Ongoing access to a community-led Circle community of vetted Climate Business Professionals from the OPF ecosystem.

    • Hands-on sustainability consulting experience in our Academy labs - a less time-intensive version of a capstone project that you can leverage to advance your consulting objectives.

    • In-person regional meet-ups with your Fellows, the OPF team, and extended network.

    • Invaluable networking opportunities with OPF’s community of instructors, other Fellows, associates, and partners.

  • You can watch our Info Session that has further information or email us at info@opf.degree

Cohort 5 Tuition and Scholarships

Cohort 5 Pricing: $1,990

  • Early Bird, $300 off: $1,590 if you apply before 11:59p EST on June 9, 2024

Interest-free, monthly payment plans are available.

Scholarships for OPF Academy are awarded based on financial need, with the aim of elevating a diverse cohort of future sustainability consultants (regardless of socioeconomic status). We offer scholarships through our application process and proudly awarded over $90,000 in scholarships to Cohort 3 applicants.

dive into sustainability and unlock your dream career!

Applications are free to submit and take ~15 minutes to complete!