Picker Center for Executive Education

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Professors Steven Cohen, William Eimicke, and Guo Dong

Columbia University Press (April 2026)

In recent years, increasingly sophisticated metrics have been created to measure sustainability. First devised to address environmental concerns such as greenhouse gas emissions, they now also assess organizational governance, community benefits, and hiring practices, among others. The field of sustainability management uses these metrics to track and advance progress on environmental, social, and business goals. How can an organization incorporate sustainability metrics into performance measurement and decision making? Which metrics should different organizations adopt, and why? What should sustainability management do to adapt in the face of political hostility, economic volatility, and technological change?

Sustainability Metrics and Management is a comprehensive guide to sustainability metrics and management, introducing readers to key concepts and techniques. It details the measurement process needed to produce reliable and verifiable sustainability metrics and discusses the relationship to financial performance. The authors show how to integrate sustainability into the core of organizational management and make it a routine part of administration. They also emphasize the importance of metrics for measuring, assessing, and managing risk. Written for practitioners, students, and managers of organizations of all sizes, this book gives readers the tools and understanding they need to lead the journey toward sustainability.

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We’re pleased to share that Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), through the Picker Center for Executive Education, and the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration and deepen institutional ties. This agreement lays the foundation for future joint work focused on macroeconomic and financial stability, policy dialogue, and knowledge exchange across Latin America.

For Columbia SIPA and the Picker Center, the partnership reflects a commitment to deepen engagement with Latin America and foster long term connections with institutions at the heart of the region’s macroeconomic and financial policy landscape. For FLAR, this represents an important milestone in their ongoing efforts to collaborate with one of the world’s leading public policy schools, and a valuable opportunity to enhance capacity building efforts for its member central banks and ministries of finance. We look forward to what’s ahead. Stay tuned for updates as we continue working together on this important collaboration.

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The 2024 International Conference on “Health and Sustainable Development,” sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and organized by the Institute of National Planning (INP) of Egypt and the Picker Center for Executive Education at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), was held from June 24 to June 25 in Cairo, Egypt.

The 2024 International Conference on “Health and Sustainable Development,” sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and organized by the Institute of National Planning (INP) of Egypt and the Picker Center for Executive Education at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), was held from June 24 to June 25 in Cairo, Egypt. The conference focused on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Well-being, which endeavors “to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”

This year’s conference brought together key stakeholders, including ministers of government and representatives of international and regional organizations focused on health and sustainability. SIPA was represented by Professor William B. Eimicke, director of the Picker Center and professor of professional practice in international and public affairs; Professor Micheal Sparer, chair of health policy and management at the Mailman School of Public Health; and Nuoya Wu, research scholar at Columbia SIPA.

This annual conference serves as a vital platform for intellectual exchange, with the goal of advancing global efforts towards achieving the SDGs. The collective knowledge of diverse perspectives and the sharing of innovative ideas are expected to contribute significantly to global health and sustainable development initiatives in Egypt and other regions.

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Professor Zachary Tumin and Madeleine Want

Columbia Business School Publishing (May 2023)

If you want to win an election, improve the health of a city, or thrill your customers, you’re going to need precision systems – the highly engineered working arrangements of teams, processes and technologies that put data and AI to work creating the change that leaders want, exactly how they want it.  Big tech firms like Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook have mastered their own precision systems, building trillion dollar businesses using data driven tools from mass-market nudges to industrial grade recommendation systems.

In Precisely: Working with Precision Systems in a World of Data, Columbia SIPA professor Zachary Tumin and Madeliene Want, SIPA ’21 and Vice President of Data at Fanatics Betting and Gaming show how leaders in every domain are taking precision systems into the marketplace, the political race, the combat space – every contested and competed- for space on the globe, from Columbia’s New York Presbyterian Hospital to the New York Times, the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens to BNSF Railroad, the Biden-Harris campaign to the NYPD. In each domain precision systems reveal elusive patterns, perform repetitive tasks fast and with high accuracy, run a play, or tailor a message to a voter or shopper one at a time or by the millions. Precisely provides insights that will help leaders choose the system that’s right for them, decide which problem to tackle first, sell the importance of precision to stakeholders, power-up the people and teams, and accomplish change that delivers precisely what’s needed every time. 

Published by Columbia University Press/Columbia Business Press Publishing, Precisely was a Bronze Medal Winner, 2024 Axiom Business Book Awards, Emerging Trends / AI.

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Professor William B. Eimicke, Soulaymane Kachani, and Adam Stepan

Columbia University Press (September 2023)

Will the COVID-19 pandemic be remembered as a turning point in how universities deliver teaching and learning? How might the widespread use of digital tools change higher education?

This groundbreaking book explores the role of digital education at this crucial crossroads. Built on interviews with more than fifty leading practitioners from major universities and ed-tech firms, Leveling the Learning Curve is an indispensable guide to the inner workings of digital education. Written for university managers and leaders, it explores how new tools can allow universities to reach new audiences and address long-standing imbalances. The authors examine challenges to implementing digital education programs and provide insight into how universities have managed to balance the needs of faculty and on- and off-campus students. 

The book traces the history of digital education initiatives from Khan Academy, TED Talks, and MOOCs through the pandemic, examining both successes and failures. It offers compelling examples of what a “connected university” looks like in practice, sharing ways digital tools can bring in wider audiences, expand interdisciplinary teaching and learning, connect students to real-life issues, help meet equity goals, and open new revenue streams. Designed as both a manual and an in-depth study, Leveling the Learning Curve is required reading for educational leaders looking to navigate the complex waters of postpandemic digital education.

The Leveling the Learning Curve: Creating a More Inclusive and Connected University conference was organized by Columbia SIPA, Columbia Online, the Open Society University Network, and the Teagle Foundation in May 2023 to mark the publication of the book. The two-day conference brought together thought leaders from the EdTech industry, international development, and Academia to explore the use of digital education tools to address issues of equity and inclusion, both on campus and off. The conference included talks from CEO's and senior leaders from edX, Coursera, Google, YouTube, PBS Learning Media, UNDP, the World Bank, Columbia, Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgia Tech, Washington, Michigan, ASU, UC Irvine, and UC Berkeley.

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Professors Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke

Columbia University Press (May 2018)

Social Value Investing presents a new way to approach some of society's most difficult and intractable challenges. Although many of our world's problems may seem too great and too complex to solve -- inequality, climate change, affordable housing, corruption, healthcare, food insecurity -- solutions to these challenges do exist, and will be found through new partnerships bringing together leaders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.

In the book, Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke present a five-point management framework for developing and measuring the success of such partnerships. Inspired by value investing -- one of history's most successful investment paradigms -- this framework provides tools to maximize collaborative efficiency and positive social impact, so that major public programs can deliver innovative, inclusive, and long-lasting solutions. It also offers practical insights for any private sector CEO, public sector administrator, or nonprofit manager hoping to build successful cross-sector collaborations.

Social Value Investing tells the compelling stories of cross-sector partnerships from around the world -- Central Park and the High Line in New York City, community-led economic development in Afghanistan, and improved public services in cities across Brazil. Drawing on lessons and observations from a broad selection of collaborations, this book combines real life stories with detailed analysis, resulting in a blueprint for effective, sustainable partnerships that serve the public interest. Readers also gain access to original, academic case material and professionally produced video documentaries for every major partnership profiled -- bringing to life the people and stories in a way that few other business or management books have done.

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Virtual Speaker Series
Food for Thought is a speaker series that welcomes a distinguished lineup of EMPA Faculty approaching the Covid-19 crisis and social justice reform. 

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