Jason Jay

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Jason Jay is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Director of the Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan.  

He teaches courses on leadership, strategy, and innovation for sustainable business. Jason engages students and alumni in hands-on projects with leading companies and organizations. These efforts help build a community of innovators for sustainability that includes MIT students and alumni, faculty and researchers, with partners in business, government, NGOs, and hybrid organizations. 

Jason’s research focuses on how people navigate the tensions inherent in the quest for sustainability, as they simultaneously pursue their own self-interest and the flourishing of human and other life. This work includes deep case studies of cross-sectoral collaboration and hybrid organizations that combine social and business goals. These case studies have been published in the Academy of Management Journal and California Management Review. He also contributes to the MIT Sloan Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Greenbiz on the topic of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). A key finding of his research is that social innovation occurs through authentic conversations that hold the tension between divergent values and perspectives. With Gabriel Grant, he is the author of Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World.

As a facilitator and consultant, Jason has helped advance sustainability strategy with companies like Biogen, Novartis, and Bose. He is a research partner and facilitator for the EDF Climate Corps and its network of companies. He has contributed to the strategy and curriculum of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Innovation and Change Initiative as a faculty affiliate.

Prior to MIT,  Jay ran an internet startup, traveled around the world, taught kindergarten in a progressive preschool, and worked as a consultant with Dialogos International, where he consulted on leadership development and organizational change for major international corporations and NGO's including BP and the World Bank. 

Jay holds an AB in psychology and a Master's in education from Harvard University, and a PhD in Organization Studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Honors

Jay’s team wins 2022 Allocators’ Choice Award

November 30, 2022

Publications

"Environmental Sustainability in Cardiovascular Practice: Current Challenges and Future Directions."

Rajagopalan, Sanjay, Scott McAlister, Jason Jay et al. Nature Reviews Cardiology. Forthcoming.

"Getting Strategic about Sustainability."

Jay, Jason, Kate Isaacs, and Hong Linh Nguyen. Harvard Business Review, January 2025.

"The Signal in the Noise."

Berg, Florian, Jason Jay, Julian Kölbel, and Roberto Rigobon. EconPol Forum, CESifo Vol. 24, No. 1 (2023): 23-27.

"Attracting Venture Capital to Help Early-stage, Radical Cleantech Ventures Bridge the Valley of Death: 27 Levers to Influence the Investor Perceived Risk-return Ratio."

Michelfelder, Ingo, Marvin Kant, Sergio Gonzalez, and Jason Jay. Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 376, (2022): 133983.

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For many companies, the topic of sustainability is at the forefront of business agendas. Consumers and stakeholders are demanding greater accountability from organizations, and the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly stringent. However, pursuing the environmental, social, and governance impacts of business is often met with tension. Leaders now need to manage the misconception within business that meeting sustainability goals means compromising profits.

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