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Through Boulder Climate Ventures (BCV), Leeds graduate students collaborate with climate-tech innovators to accelerate solutions for our planet’s future.

When Leeds graduate students join BCV, they step into an experience that reaches far beyond the classroom. They work with real climate ventures and collaborate with engineers, PhD students and investors. And they begin to see how their business education can help solve some of today’s most pressing challenges.

A Collaborative Model

BCV is a collaboration between Leeds’ graduate programs, Leeds’ Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR), the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship and the �鶹��Ѱ�����College of Engineering and Applied Science. It’s funded by Breakthrough Energy’s University Climate Ventures, which also supports programs at Stanford, MIT, Technical University of Munich and Nanyang University in Singapore. �鶹��Ѱ�����was the first U.S. public university invited to join.��

BCV launched in fall 2025 with a seminar series exploring opportunities in climate tech topics such as electricity demand, critical minerals, ag tech, nuclear power and geoengineering. More than 190 participants heard from 22 speakers, including investors, CEOs and industry experts. In spring 2026, 30 �鶹��Ѱ�����students continued in the program, forming teams in an incubator for early-stage climate startups.

Connecting Across Campus��

Katherine Ratledge

Cross-campus collaboration is part of what makes the BCV experience distinctive. “It’s not often that an MBA student gets to work on a project, much less be in a class, with a doctoral chemistry student,” said Katherine Ratledge, program manager at CESR and a member of the BCV team.��

“BCV teaches engineers and business experts to work together,” said Mike McGehee, professor of engineering and a member of the BCV team. “It teaches them to identify a promising opportunity, do premarket research, refine a business plan and pitch an idea to investors and customers.”��

For Katrina Grosek (MBA’26), BCV has been one of the most energizing parts of graduate school. She joined the program while working as an intern helping to launch TerraForge Capital, a venture fund focused on the energy transition.��

“Working with the general partner to build out the fund, while attending BCV sessions in parallel, was the most impactful form of experiential learning I’ve encountered throughout my MBA,” Grosek said.��

Katrina Grosek

She connected with the founder of AnodeWorks, an engineer developing an electrochemical manufacturing platform designed to solve the bioplastics scale-up problem, at a BCV event last fall. That conversation got her involved in a chief of staff capacity during the spring incubator, helping build the team and leading business development, strategy and investor relations.��

“Talking about BCV is honestly what gets me going each day,” Grosek said.

Deepening Real-World Experience

For Jared Haltom (MBA’27), BCV has become a bridge between classroom learning and the realities of venture building. Although he first heard about the program during orientation, he wasn’t sure how his business background would fit into what seemed like a highly technical environment. Joining BCV quickly shifted that perspective.

After completing the fall seminar series, he also joined AnodeWorks, where he translates complex technical research into a clear market narrative—helping the team understand production costs, commercial potential and how to effectively communicate with investors.

“Case studies are great, but we’re trying to solve a real problem for a real business here,” Haltom said.

This hands-on problem-solving builds skills that carry across industries and roles, from startup leadership and commercialization to venture capital and climate strategy. It also builds confidence in navigating ambiguity and contributing meaningfully to early-stage ventures.

“BCV is helping position �鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder as a talent pipeline for the climate innovation economy. It offers the opportunity to help build the next generation of climate founders, operators and investors.”

—Betsy Klein, Associate Director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship

Empowering Emerging Climate Founders

Working with graduate students offers tangible benefits for technical founders as well. Marc Manyé Ibáñez, co-founder and CEO of AnodeWorks and a PhD student in chemical engineering, said the biggest value of BCV has been working with people who bring a different skill set.��

“Working with MBA students forces us to really think about this as a real business, rather than just as a science project,” Ibáñez said. “They bring a lot of rigor to our market research, but more importantly, they challenge our assumptions.”��

BCV has also become a meaningful space for business students who want to build ventures of their own. Alex Kaindl (MBA’26), who joined the fall seminars and participates in the incubator, said the program has given her structure, accountability and a community committed to climate-focused innovation. She’s using the experience to develop long-held ideas, including community-based wildfire insurance models and biodegradable packaging made from low-grade wool.��

“BCV offers a support system for being an entrepreneur and someone who cares about climate change and improving the quality of life for people, planet and animals,” Kaindl said. “The facilitators are invested in our growth and success. They give honest feedback and connect us with experts who pressure-test our ideas.”��

Betsy Klein

Cultivating Next-Generation Innovation��

For Betsy Klein, associate director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, the community connections and experiential learning at BCV are central to its value. In addition to giving students hands-on experience, it strengthens �鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder’s broader ecosystem.��

“BCV is helping position �鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder as a talent pipeline for the climate innovation economy,” Klein said. “It offers the opportunity to help build the next generation of climate founders, operators and investors.”

More than an extracurricular opportunity, BCV is a space for students to explore how business skills can drive innovation and impact, preparing them to build meaningful careers and solutions that matter.

This article was originally published on the CESR website >>.