By Kamilla Korsnes, FMS Fellow June 2015
During my five years as a business student at NHH in Norway I always felt like something was missing. I found business and economics interesting, but I was looking for some meaning beyond the focus on cost savings and profit maximization. That is how I ended up focusing on business ethics – studying how business can become more sustainable and ethical. However, business ethics has for me so far been mainly academic research. The philosophical and existential approach to business ethics is very interesting, but I would like to learn more about how to solve these problems in real life. I would like to learn more about how business can be used as a tool for solving social and environmental issues, rather than mainly focusing on how existing companies can do less damage. This is a more innovative, positive and future oriented approach. I think business can be a key to solving some of the problems we are facing today, and I strongly believe this is the future of business!
So why FMS? Because I believe I have the skills, knowledge and passion to contribute to a better world. The FMS Program will provide me with new and valuable insight supplementing my business skills and knowledge and help me utilize this knowledge in the best possible way. Why now? I just graduated and I am at the very beginning of my career. I cannot think of a better way to start my career than to do the FMS Training and Fellowship to learn about social entrepreneurship and impact investing.
What kind of social and environmental impact is most meaningful to you?
All kinds of social and environmental impacts are meaningful to me, but closest to my heart is gender equality. I come from one of the most gender equal countries in the world, but even in Norway there are still differences between men and women when it comes to income and career opportunities – and we should continue working towards complete gender equality. Related to this, one of my interests in my business studies has been to understand how to increase the proportion of women in business manager and board positions. I am grateful for growing up in a country where gender equality is taken for granted and something most people don’t fight for anymore. On the other hand I see an issue with taking things for granted – gender equality is something we should fight to maintain and something we should work to accomplish around the world. Empowering women is a key to economic growth and development and I think it will create synergies that can solve other social problems as well. This underlines the importance of giving women the same opportunities and rights when it comes to education, employment, financial inclusion and influence in society.
