Chris Laszlo

Chris Laszlo, PhD, received his doctorate with distinction in economics and management science from the University of Paris. He holds a MPhil in economics and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, as well as a bachelor’s degree with honors from Swarthmore College. His research and teaching focus on business strategy, sustainability and organizational change.

As one of the originators of the concept of sustainable value, Dr. Laszlo reframes sustainability as a business opportunity, turning environmental and social risks into drivers of innovation, greater employee engagement and a new, inimitable source of competitive advantage.

As a co-founder and managing partner of Sustainable Value Partners LLC, he provides advisory services to senior leaders in some of the world’s largest companies. Laszlo has led hundreds of seminars and spoken widely on sustainability for strategic advantage both at companies and at leading business schools such as INSEAD, Darden School of Business, Cornell University and Kenan-Flagler Business School.

In addition to his academic experience and consulting work, Laszlo spent nearly 10 years as an executive at Lafarge, a world leader in building materials; he held positions as head of strategy, general manager of a manufacturing subsidiary, and vice president of business development. Prior to that, he spent five years with Deloitte Touche, where he consulted on strategy to global industry leaders. Laszlo is the author of five books, including "Embedded Sustainability: the Next Big Competitive Advantage," "Sustainable Value: How the World’s Leading Companies Are Doing Well by Doing Good" and of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is the general editor of The Business of Sustainability, the second volume of the Encyclopedia of Sustainability.