By Dominic DeGrinney, Staff Writer

Xavier senior Luke Bernsen, is currently working with economics professor Justin Roush to implement Net Impact at Xavier, a new student-run movement dedicated to offering sustainable business opportunities to college students. 

On Sept. 17, Xavier’s chapter of Net Impact held a kickoff meeting to gauge the interest of faculty and students in participating in the program. Net Impact is a new group formed this year by senior Economics, Sustainability and Society and marketing double major Luke Bernsen after an epiphany during a Cincinnati Green Business Council meeting last semester. 

“The idea first kind of came to me back in the spring. I attended a meeting of the Cincinnati Green Business Council, which is a representative of different sustainability managers and coordinators of the biggest firms in the area. Companies like Fifth-Third, Kroger – among others – were all there, and it was super interesting because I was able to represent Xavier,” Bernsen said. 

“I was one of several students, but they were clearly trying to pitch to us. It wasn’t a situation where we were coming to them asking what jobs are available. They clearly were demanding the skills that students required and their perspectives on things. The big thing was that University of Cincinnati students came to that meeting as well, and they have their own Net Impact chapter,” Bernsen said.

The University of Cincinnati (UC) chapter of Net Impact is in its third year connecting its students to several different community partners already. Some of these local firms are Hamilton County Resource, as well as Green Umbrella, which has accepted several UC students and given them practical skills in the “Green Jobs” industry. The UC chapter presented a semester-long project to those firms during the aforementioned meeting. 

“By the end of the conversation in the presentation, I turned to my advisor Justin Roush and just asked him, how do we do something like this at Xavier? So that’s kind of where this all started. Over the summer and then throughout the fall, I’ve been working with a bunch of faculty,” Bernsen said.

“I held the kickoff event, gauging interest in who would be interested in green jobs, because the point of Net Impact is to be a career development chapter. To find people that are interested in business, sustainability or policy, and give them a streamlined area where they can find jobs and they can find skills that are very relevant to their areas of interest,” he continued.  

Bernsen mentioned how it was difficult to break into the sustainability field in Cincinnati, stating that he applied many to many positions only to be rejected. The goal of Net Impact is to make the process easier for those students seeking jobs in the sustainability industry by giving them the skills and experiences necessary to take the next step in their career. 

When asked about the future of Net Impact, Bernsen is hopeful thanks to interest from students and faculty during the kickoff. He stated that while UC is several years ahead they are already holding significant conferences and sending students to New York for Climate Conferences, their success is something for Xavier to aspire to.