Our Difference

New Leaders for a New World

Nestled in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, Presidio Graduate School draws our inspiration from San Francisco’s signature span. In a world in search of direction, Presidio is the pathway to a new destination, a new society in which people, prosperity and the planet are united in a singular vision called sustainability.

Among the world’s first and leading sustainability graduate schools, Presidio was founded on the simple premise that we inhabit a world increasingly defined by our shared destiny, not our differences, where private enterprise and the public sector, commerce and the common good, are companions, not competitors.

In 2003, Presidio pioneered the field of sustainable management education with 22 students and a handful of faculty. Today, Presidio has an accomplished team of over 40 faculty and staff, 250 students, and a global reputation. We offer three pathbreaking degree programs — MBA, MPA, and a Dual MBA/MPA — as well as an Executive Certificate, all in sustainable management. With more than 500 business and public administration alumni at the forefront of the field, Presidio has become a hub for sustainability innovation and impact, helping forge a new sector at the intersection of for-profit and for-benefit.

How has Presidio achieved this in just ten years? Through the power and promise of Sustainable Management.

Sustainable Management is not just a concept. It is an integrated, applied approach to learning that sees problems as a whole and designs solutions that account for human, economic and environmental concerns. Presidio embeds sustainability into every course – from leadership to accounting, marketing to economics. Through our renowned Experiential Learning program, students apply sustainability frameworks and methods to real cases in large and small companies, government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Presidio students learn professional competencies—economics, finance, governance, operations and so forth—required in every graduate management program. What distinguishes Presidio is our commitment to help students learn and apply their sustainable management skills to join profitability, community and ecology in new business models and public policies.

Presidio is producing a new kind of leader for a new kind of world.