In Pursuit of Sustainability through Ethical Leadership - New Phases in Learning, Teaching, Service, and Writing.
Welcome to my blog: MariposaPaulette*
*Mariposa means "butterfly" in Spanish. See my blog posts #2 and #29 to learn about butterflies and their role in our ecosystem.
I started this blog in 2010, focusing on trade and sustainability as a Professor of International Business Law and Sustainability at Michigan State University. I focus on grassroots tools of sustainability, risk assessment, and international trade agreements, and I have led education abroad programs for MSU in Mexico since 1997. I transitioned to part-time as of 2020 in my role as Professor Emerita. Since then, I have continued to lead Education Abroad Programs. Additionally, I have deepened my work on the Grassroots Tools of Sustainability; B-Corporations; the Triple Bottom Line of Social, Environmental, and Economic Equity; and ethical leadership. Recently, I have studied and done public speaking on climate change.
My professional commitments as of 2025 include advising our microfinance organization, Spartan Global Development Fund (SGDF), service on the board of directors for SGDF, and leading and teaching students in an Education Abroad Program focusing on Business, Culture, and Sustainability in Mexico.
The following paragraphs provide background on the purpose of this blog.
This is how continuing activities as Professor Emerita relate to this blog.
Within this blog, I write about sustainability, ethical leadership, and international learning. Additionally, I include short essays about my methods and experiences in teaching. I am a teacher in my heart and soul, and I continue to seek ways to be as effective as possible.
We learn through stories.
I include stories about the people around the world with whom I have learned about sustainable ways of living and ethical leadership. I also include stories about my work with MSU students and my international teaching. Sries help me think more deeply, and I hope they will help readers reflect on their own lives and learning, too.
I have been going to Mexico since I was seventeen, first as a student assistant with an Albion College program, then as a high school teacher, and later (and for many years) as a professor and education abroad leader. Here are perspectives I strive to share with my students.
When we get to know people from other cultural backgrounds, it is much harder to hold onto our negative cultural biases. We find it easier to step aside from ethnocentricity when we connect with individuals and begin to appreciate the richness of their cultures. Thus, we combat white supremacy and U.S.-based ethnocentrism with each human and each friendship, one by one. In the process, our own lives are broadened and enriched.
How can we identify ethical behavior and ethical leadership? I ask that my students begin by defining ethics as "values or moral principles." The next step is to ask, "Which values or moral principles are at stake?" Several of my blog posts discuss how my students and I study and pursue ethical leadership.
How can we identify sustainable actions? We can examine any personal or business practice or decision through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The TBL looks at the economic, environmental, and social effects of our actions and practices.
How can we promote sustainability in trade and our everyday lives? Grassroots tools that promote sustainable trade include Fair Trade, direct trade, cooperatives, organics, micro-finance, and local production and purchasing. That includes teaching about B-lab certified corporations. This blog introduces you to some of those tools and the people who use them.
Each of us makes a difference through our daily actions. Sometimes the difference is harmful. A consumer who chooses the least expensive goods available without considering how they were produced ignores the fact that "someone pays" for the consequences of low wages for workers and abuse of the Earth's resources. Business managers promote unsustainable development when they focus on short-term profits and ignore the effects of their operations on the environment, employees, community members, and our economy. Ethical leadership demands that we work to make a positive difference, and that ethical leadership requires transparency, holistic analysis, long-term perspectives, and thoughtful choices.
I provide more about the tools of sustainability elsewhere. Please explore my website at www.tradeandsustainability.com. It lists my public presentations and provides links to some of my publications. Some are short and in plain language, while others are law review articles. They give an in-depth exploration of sustainability-related topics, yet they are in plain language, making them accessible to readers from diverse backgrounds.
In closing, I hope you will learn from the blogs you find here. Please return to enjoy new ones.
In pursuit of peace and a more sustainable world for all,
Paulette L. Stenzel
Professor Emerita of International Business Law and Sustainability
Department of Finance, Broad College of Business
Advisor to Spartan Global Development Fund, Registered Student Organization
Board Member of the Spartan Global Development Fund 501(c)(3)
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
email: [email protected]
.
Photo of Paulette Stenzel: Copyright © 2017 by Valerie Shaff and used with her permission.
Photos above: Copyright © 2016-2025 by Paulette L. Stenzel.
Welcome to my blog: MariposaPaulette*
*Mariposa means "butterfly" in Spanish. See my blog posts #2 and #29 to learn about butterflies and their role in our ecosystem.
I started this blog in 2010, focusing on trade and sustainability as a Professor of International Business Law and Sustainability at Michigan State University. I focus on grassroots tools of sustainability, risk assessment, and international trade agreements, and I have led education abroad programs for MSU in Mexico since 1997. I transitioned to part-time as of 2020 in my role as Professor Emerita. Since then, I have continued to lead Education Abroad Programs. Additionally, I have deepened my work on the Grassroots Tools of Sustainability; B-Corporations; the Triple Bottom Line of Social, Environmental, and Economic Equity; and ethical leadership. Recently, I have studied and done public speaking on climate change.
My professional commitments as of 2025 include advising our microfinance organization, Spartan Global Development Fund (SGDF), service on the board of directors for SGDF, and leading and teaching students in an Education Abroad Program focusing on Business, Culture, and Sustainability in Mexico.
The following paragraphs provide background on the purpose of this blog.
This is how continuing activities as Professor Emerita relate to this blog.
Within this blog, I write about sustainability, ethical leadership, and international learning. Additionally, I include short essays about my methods and experiences in teaching. I am a teacher in my heart and soul, and I continue to seek ways to be as effective as possible.
We learn through stories.
I include stories about the people around the world with whom I have learned about sustainable ways of living and ethical leadership. I also include stories about my work with MSU students and my international teaching. Sries help me think more deeply, and I hope they will help readers reflect on their own lives and learning, too.
I have been going to Mexico since I was seventeen, first as a student assistant with an Albion College program, then as a high school teacher, and later (and for many years) as a professor and education abroad leader. Here are perspectives I strive to share with my students.
When we get to know people from other cultural backgrounds, it is much harder to hold onto our negative cultural biases. We find it easier to step aside from ethnocentricity when we connect with individuals and begin to appreciate the richness of their cultures. Thus, we combat white supremacy and U.S.-based ethnocentrism with each human and each friendship, one by one. In the process, our own lives are broadened and enriched.
How can we identify ethical behavior and ethical leadership? I ask that my students begin by defining ethics as "values or moral principles." The next step is to ask, "Which values or moral principles are at stake?" Several of my blog posts discuss how my students and I study and pursue ethical leadership.
How can we identify sustainable actions? We can examine any personal or business practice or decision through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). The TBL looks at the economic, environmental, and social effects of our actions and practices.
How can we promote sustainability in trade and our everyday lives? Grassroots tools that promote sustainable trade include Fair Trade, direct trade, cooperatives, organics, micro-finance, and local production and purchasing. That includes teaching about B-lab certified corporations. This blog introduces you to some of those tools and the people who use them.
Each of us makes a difference through our daily actions. Sometimes the difference is harmful. A consumer who chooses the least expensive goods available without considering how they were produced ignores the fact that "someone pays" for the consequences of low wages for workers and abuse of the Earth's resources. Business managers promote unsustainable development when they focus on short-term profits and ignore the effects of their operations on the environment, employees, community members, and our economy. Ethical leadership demands that we work to make a positive difference, and that ethical leadership requires transparency, holistic analysis, long-term perspectives, and thoughtful choices.
I provide more about the tools of sustainability elsewhere. Please explore my website at www.tradeandsustainability.com. It lists my public presentations and provides links to some of my publications. Some are short and in plain language, while others are law review articles. They give an in-depth exploration of sustainability-related topics, yet they are in plain language, making them accessible to readers from diverse backgrounds.
In closing, I hope you will learn from the blogs you find here. Please return to enjoy new ones.
In pursuit of peace and a more sustainable world for all,
Paulette L. Stenzel
Professor Emerita of International Business Law and Sustainability
Department of Finance, Broad College of Business
Advisor to Spartan Global Development Fund, Registered Student Organization
Board Member of the Spartan Global Development Fund 501(c)(3)
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
email: [email protected]
.
Photo of Paulette Stenzel: Copyright © 2017 by Valerie Shaff and used with her permission.
Photos above: Copyright © 2016-2025 by Paulette L. Stenzel.
