Joe Laur and Sara Schley

In partnership with the Society for Organizational Learning, Interface, and British Petroleum, Sara and Joe along with their colleague Peter Senge established the SoL Sustainability Consortium, an active group of industry leaders in learning and sustainability.

They are co-authors of "The Sustainability Challenge," published in The Systems Thinker and "Creating Sustainable Organizations" published in the Pegasus' Innovations in Management Series. Sara and Joe are charter members of the Society for Organizational Learning and The Natural Step US and work in close collaboration with other organizations dedicated to sustainability in business. They have spoken at numerous business gatherings including the Natural Step Conference, The Power of Systems Thinking Conference, and the Systems Thinking in Action conference on issues of sustainable business. Participants in their work in organizational learning and sustainable business have included AT&T, BP/Amoco, BSR, Burlington Chemical, California EPA, Chrysler, CERES, College of Notre Dame, Detroit Edison, Ford, Interface, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett Packard, Monsanto, Missouri Botanical Gardens, MIT, Nike, Northeast Utilities, Ontario Hydro, SC Johnson, Shell Oil, United Technologies, Visteon, World Bank, Xerox, and more.

Sara was an organizational consultant with MIT Organizational Learning Center from 1992-1997. In that capacity she created, implemented and facilitated in-depth learning and organizational change process at such companies as Shell Oil, EDS, and Philips Electronics. Sara studied with Dr. Karl Henrik Robert in Sweden, founder of The Natural Step (TNS), and was on the founding Steering Committee, responsible for bringing TNS to the United States. She has led team and community development experience for 15 years including as an instructor for Outward Bound, and through training with "Sherut LaAm," the Israeli analog to the Peace Corp. She has an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a BA from Brown University.

Joe was the Executive Director of the Inner Resource Development Corporation from 1992-1996, expanding the organization into Canada and Europe, doubling the number of training facilities and tripling revenues during his tenure. As a consultant to corporations, his work focuses on organizational learning, personal effectiveness skills and sustainable development. In this capacity, his clients have included Shell Oil, Bristol Meyers/Squibb, Northeast Utilities, Burlington Chemical, Nike, and Harley-Davidson. He studied with Dr. Robert of The Natural Step and applies these principles to his work in business. Joe has worked with whole systems change for over 20 years and is a certified practitioner of Structural Integration, an applied physiology practice invoking whole systems change in human body structures. He received his BFA in 1975 from the University of Wisconsin.

You can reach Joe by email at seedjoe@aol.com.