This spring, Columbia University's School of Professional Studies presents its Frame Your Future 2026 public event series. The events are intended to address issues facing leaders, practitioners, and lifelong learners navigating a rapidly changing professional landscape.
Across conversations spanning sustainability, technology, biodiversity, and project management, the series brings together distinguished practitioner faculty and alumni to examine the forces reshaping organizations, redefining leadership, and raising the stakes on professional relevance. The series explores what professional education means in a volatile economy. Investing in yourself isn't optional; it's strategic.
Whether you're looking to sharpen your edge, change direction, or explore what Columbia SPS can offer, Frame Your Future is where timely ideas meet real-world experience. Join us to explore, discuss, and connect on this vital topic to frame your future.
How Sustainability Is Transforming the World of Management
Monday, April 6 | 6:00–9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Low Library Rotunda
The series will kick off with a book launch for Sustainability Metrics and Management: The Path from Innovation to Routine, co-written by M.S. in Sustainability Management (SUMA) Program Director Dr. Steven A. Cohen, Dr. William B. Eimicke, and Dr. Guo Dong. Hosted by the SUMA program, this event explores how sustainability measurement has evolved from experimental practice to embedded management systems. The evening begins with introductory remarks from Dean Troy Eggers and will be moderated by Senior Associate Dean Louise Rosen, followed by a conversation with the book’s authors, who will discuss how organizations can move sustainability from innovation at the margins to routine practice at the core. A book signing and reception will follow, offering attendees the opportunity to engage directly with the authors and continue the dialogue in one of Columbia’s most iconic spaces.
Unlocking the Return on Education
Tuesday, April 14 | 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET
Hybrid Event
This event, held at Pulitzer Hall on Columbia’s Morningside Campus, reframes professional education as a dynamic, cumulative investment. As technology reshapes work, sustainability redraws value and supply chains, and volatility becomes the norm, standing still is the fastest way to fall behind. In this conversation, Jessica Thurston, vice president of ESG and sustainability at Paramount Global; Len Elmore, M.S. in Sports Management senior lecturer; and Basil A. Smikle Jr., Ph.D., professor of practice and director of the M.S. in Nonprofit Management program, will examine career paths through the lens of return on education. Together, they argue that lifelong learning functions as a force multiplier—accelerating careers, sharpening judgment, and expanding influence across roles and industries—and make the case that education is not a one-time credential but a strategic, career-defining commitment.
Risk, Resilience, and Returns: Biodiversity as Competitive Edge for Business
Monday, April 20 | 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
Virtual Event
The focus shifts to nature and enterprise on Monday, April 20, in this virtual event hosted by the M.S. in Biodiversity Analytics (BIDO) program. While many companies now factor climate-related risks into their strategies, biodiversity is often overlooked despite its deep interconnection with climate systems and economic stability. This Zoom webinar will explore how biodiversity analytics translate nature from a perceived “nice-to-have” into actionable strategic intelligence. By integrating nature- and climate-related risks into core business, investment, and decision-making frameworks, organizations can uncover hidden vulnerabilities, strengthen resilience, and build competitive advantage in an increasingly complex risk landscape.
Tech-Driven, Human-Centered: Leading Through Disruption
Thursday, April 23 | 6:00–9:00 p.m. ET
Hybrid Event
This event, hosted by the M.S. in Technology Management (TMGT) program, will be held at Deloitte’s Midtown Manhattan office, with an option to attend virtually. As transformative technologies move from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, the most difficult challenges are often human rather than technical. Sherif Sakr, COO of New Ventures, Technology and Innovation (NVTI), Deloitte; Lauren Goodwin, former CIO of NASA and founder of Mission Ops; Francesca Rossi, IBM Fellow and global leader for responsible AI and AI governance at IBM; and Shahryar Shaghaghi, director of the TMGT program and professor of practice at Columbia University, will share practical insights drawn from real-time decision-making. Together, they will discuss how leaders assess value and risk, guide adoption amid uncertainty, and navigate the cultural, operational, and ethical shifts introduced by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies—demonstrating how organizations can remain both tech-driven and deeply human-centered.
Critical Junctures: Project Management at the Center of Growth
Thursday, April 30 | 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET
Hybrid Event
The April events will conclude with this program, hosted by the M.S. in Project Management (PMGT) program at WNYC's The Greene Space, with a livestream available. Great project leaders are defined not by flawless execution but by how they respond when plans break, assumptions fail, and complexity accelerates. Ed Hoffman, CEO of Knowledge Strategies, LLC, and former chief knowledge officer at NASA, joins Evangelia Ieronymaki, director and senior lecturer in discipline for the PMGT and M.S. in Construction Administration programs, along with additional speakers to be announced, for a candid discussion of missteps, near misses, and unexpected outcomes that became turning points for stronger leadership. Grounded in core principles such as risk awareness, stakeholder alignment, adaptive leadership, and decision-making under pressure, the conversation explores how experienced practitioners diagnose problems in real time, course-correct with confidence, and transform disruption into sustainable growth.
The series will continue throughout Summer 2026, examining topics including pedagogy in professional education and AI and student support. More details will be shared on the SPS events page. Frame Your Future 2026 is more than a collection of events; it is an invitation to sharpen insight, broaden perspective, and actively invest in the capabilities that will define tomorrow’s professional landscape.
