Day: February 29, 2020

Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission Leader Teaches UVM Students of the Breakthrough Leaders Program About Creating Consensus

How do stakeholders find common ground when they share the same goals but hold vastly different opinions?
Simone Washington, the social mission strategy and policy manager at Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, shared a pragmatic and productive approach to building consensus in her 2018 workshop, “How to Become Allies Fighting the Same System, Role Play, Power Analytics, Conflict and Resolution Techniques.” Her session was presented to students in the UVM Breakthrough Leaders for Sustainable Food Systems Program last June.
This year Washington is teaching a variety of workshops including What is Social Equity Work and How to Lead It? during the 2019 program.
Photo Credit Ben & Jerry\'s 1978Photo Credit: Ben & Jerry’s
Washington is responsible for helping Ben & Jerry’s translate its three-part mission, progressive values, and linked prosperity framework into innovative, inspirational internal programs and initiatives, and external partnerships and projects. A dedicated social justice advocate and self-professed “innovation junkie,” Washington has over 16 years of experience challenging conventional thought and practices in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Her work is focused on creating progressive structural change using a racial equity lens with an emphasis on systems thinking and design.
We talked to Washington, an instructor for UVM’s Breakthrough Leaders program, about the art of building consensus. 

How do stakeholders find common ground when there are very different points of view?

We are quick to position ourselves as adversaries, as opposed to positioning ourselves as people with needs to be met. Often when people have divergent perspectives and identities, it’s hard for them to find commonalities on which to build trust, and to use those differences to work toward building creative solutions.
For Breakthrough Leaders students, I focus on how to build consensus with large multi-stakeholder groups who share a common goal or set of goals but have a difference in opinion on how to achieve them. Participants develop an understanding of how power dynamics and cultural differences can affect a situation, and how to apply an equity lens when addressing complex conflict.
We use Ben & Jerry’s negotiation process with Migrant Justice to implement Milk with Dignity, a worker-driven social responsibility model, into its existing dairy supply chain. Participants in the Breakthrough Leaders program hear accounts of the process from actual stakeholders, and engage in a role play scenario where they engage in their own negotiations process.

What will students will take away from this exercise?

It’s my hope that this type of exercise will help the participants develop a pragmatic approach to engaging with stakeholders who hold different opinions, identities—such as racial, cultural, gender, socio-economic status—that will equip them with the skills to actively listen to one another, isolate the people from the problems or issue, and identify the unique attributes and resources that each party brings to the table that can be useful in addressing the problems. Additionally, participants gain practice in being self-aware when working with diverse groups and learn to take on the hard conversations that lead to building relationships across differences.

Do you include lessons that Ben & Jerry’s learned from working with Migrant Justice?

Yes, we invited Rob Michalak, director of social impact, and Cheryl Pinto, global values-led sourcing manager, both of whom led the negotiations for Ben & Jerry’s to talk to the group. They provide insight into what we felt worked, what we would do differently, and how this experience transformed the company. For example, because of this process, we recognized that we needed to overhaul our dairy sourcing model. The new model has been evolving to truly embody our Linked Prosperity model.
Milk with Dignity is an apt illustration of how we are working diligently to lift the voices and meet the needs of the “invisible” stakeholders in our value chain. This process will potentially change how we approach business from hiring to how we support systemic change in communities, globally. This marks a new era in how we will show up in the world as a social justice company and carry forward the vision of our co-founders.

Can you share examples of any other socially-driven projects Ben & Jerry’s is working on?

The company made a commitment to embedding racial and economic equity into its policies, practices, and programs. We have partnered with Race Forward and Frontline Solutions to conduct our first-ever racial equity assessment. This will help the company to identify ways that we can actively create inclusion and access through our Linked Prosperity philosophy for historically marginalized and underrepresented communities touched by our value chain.

How long has Ben & Jerry’s had a social mission?

The social mission has always been at the heart of the company. The co-founders were committed to finding a new way to do business. Their vision was realized in 1988 when they developed the Linked Prosperity Model which states all three parts of our mission— product, economic, and social—must thrive equally in a manner that commands deep respect for individuals in and outside of the company and support the communities of which they are a part
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Graduate School Applications: What Do They Include?

While every program will have specific requirements, there are some common elements to grad school applications. When planning to apply to grad school, prepare to meet the following requirements for most programs:

Transcripts

You’ll need to send in your transcript from DU (and any other institution you’ve attended in the past) when you apply to grad school. Make sure to get your requests in to the Registrar’s office early so that your applications will be submitted and complete by the deadline.

Standardized Tests

A person behind a laptop writing on a tablet.Many grad programs require a standardized test, such as the GRE or GMAT, as part of the application package. Research ahead of time which test you may be required to take, if any, and begin studying early. Resources to help prepare for standardized tests include study guides, practice exams, and preparation courses, as well as information from the testing companies themselves:

Resume or CV

Your resume or CV (depending on your field) is the key document to highlight your academic achievements and relevant experience going into your program. Be attentive to whether programs ask for a professional resume or a CV.
A resume should be a short, effective summary of your relevant experience, usually no more than one page long. A CV, on the other hand, should be as long as necessary to include relevant information pertaining to your academic career, such as research projects, conference presentations, publications, and fellowships and grants you have been awarded.
If you are creating a CV using your undergraduate experience, make sure to have a mentor or advisor in your field review the CV to make sure it meets the standards for your specific discipline.

Statement of Purpose

A common element of the graduate school application is the statement of purpose or personal statement. For some programs, there might be a series of essay questions instead.
This document should inform the admissions committee about who you are, what has influenced your academic or career path so far, your professional or research interests, and how you plan to utilize that specific program to reach your future goals. When writing the statement, it’s crucial to plan ahead and start early, so that you can get feedback. These resources can help:
  1. The DU Writing Center
  2. Career and Professional Development: Schedule an appointment with us by visiting Pioneer Careers.
  3. Additional tips and samples are available at statementofpurpose.com

Letters of Recommendation & References

It is common for a program to request 3-4 letters of recommendation or references from past professors or supervisors. When reaching out to references, be sure to communicate as early as possible the deadlines, prompts, and what you would like them to focus on. Include your resume with your request as a helpful reminder of your achievements, and follow up with a formal thank you, as well as with an email letting them know your final decision of where to attend.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzOJDJZHoBttdHAjJsnN9w?sub_confirmation=1

Hard Cider Production on the Rise, But Challenges Remain

By Terry Bradshaw
Hard cider production in the U.S. has increased an average of 73 percent annually since 2008. That’s a lot of apples, and Vermont fruit growers and cideries (businesses that make hard cider) are capitalizing on this market expansion. Sales of cider nationally topped 54 million gallons in 2014, which required 18 million bushels of fruit, or the equivalent of 7 percent. of the nation’s total apple production.
However, the supply of fruit available to cideries is getting tight.
Growers in Vermont have traditionally sold their apples to the fresh market, where prices are significantly greater than for cider apples. This has created a disconnect between the cider and apple industries in terms of fruit supply, and has opened up an exciting field of research and outreach.
The timing of this expansion of the cider industry is serendipitous. After the retirement of Dr. Lorraine Berkett, who led the UVM Apple Research Program for 32 years, I assumed leadership of the program in 2014 as a faculty research associate in plant and soil science, where I have been a research specialist since 1999. I have been an “advanced amateur” cider maker for over 20 years, and research in this unique niche in the apple and value-added industries will be a major focus of our work for the foreseeable future.

Hard Cider Production in Relation to Pomology

For the past century, pomologists and growers have been working to avoid production of cider apples by developing production systems that focus on production of large, blemish-free fruit. Therefore, research on cider apple production is at the ground level, and evaluation of economic characteristics of cider apple production is just as important as assessment of horticultural conditions.
Together with Community Development and Applied Economics Agricultural Economist David Conner, I was awarded in 2014 a Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Fund grant to study economic and horticultural constraints and opportunities for apple growers and cideries in the state. Surveys conducted by CDAE research specialist, Florence Becot, were sent to growers and cideries last summer to assess characteristics of each industry.
The survey generated several findings:
  • Vermont continues to have a robust apple production industry. Growers report yields in line with published averages for the state and most anticipate increased production in the future. Growers were more likely to sell to local markets than the state as a whole. They see opportunity in the growth in popularity of hard cider, but receiving adequate prices is a perceived threat.
  • Cideries are also growing, with all of the survey respondents anticipating increasing production in the future. These cideries see opportunities in the growth of the hard cider’s popularity, and a corresponding increase in cider quality. Adequate fruit supply was identified as a major risk to their operations. Presently, cideries pay an average price above the growers’ mean target price for specialty cider apples, but lower than the growers’ target price for dessert apples.
  • Cideries and apple growers have both expressed interest in dual purpose varieties for cider-making that may also be sold to the fresh market. Apple growers have expressed limited interest in growing specialty varieties suited only to cider-making, while cider makers have expressed strong interest in purchasing them. Planting new specialty apple varieties is a long-term investment and commitment that growers most likely will not do unless they have the assurance that cideries will buy the apples when the trees start producing. This might imply entering into more formal agreements than just handshake agreements, which are currently the norm.
The survey results have generated more questions than answers.
Growers and cideries both question what apple varieties are best-suited for making high-quality commercial ciders, while providing adequate and sustainable crop yield that make their production economically feasible.
Orchard planting, training systems, and pest management programs for cider apples need to be evaluated. Business structures, price points, contracts, and other arrangements between orchards and cideries must be investigated to ensure profitability for both parties.
Fermentation practices that improve and maintain cider quality need to be researched and the results extended to the industry.
These questions demand a long-term research and outreach program that I am building at UVM. In addition, we are working with like-minded collaborators at other institutions, including Washington State University, Virginia Tech, Michigan State University, and Cornell University to coordinate projects and share knowledge across regions.
This is an exciting time to be working on hard cider projects that focus on the ‘apple to glass’ production chain, and I look forward to presenting results from this research for many years to come.
Terry Bradshaw is a Tree Fruit & Viticulture Specialist at UVM, and director of the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center