Jason Jay

Jason Jay, PhD, is the Director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative and a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His teaching, research, and community-building help people navigate the tensions that arise as we simultaneously steward our own resources and the long-term health of people and planet.

 Jason’s work has advanced the fields of corporate sustainability, sustainability-oriented innovation, and systemic investing. His research is available in leading publications including Academy of Management Journal, California Management Review, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and World Economic Forum. His international bestselling book, Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World (co-authored with Gabriel Grant), provides a roadmap for having effective conversations about sustainability issues.

Jason’s current research in the Owning Impact Project explores how investors can drive systems change and holistic positive impact in arenas like climate change, biodiversity, and social inequality. His field-building efforts in systemic investing include leadership roles in CSP, TransCap, TWIST, and FEST networks, and in the Shareholder Democracy movement. He is an advisor to venture capital firms including TO VC and Vectors Capital.

 Jason’s executive education courses have reached thousands of leaders globally, from C-suite executives to family offices to professional services firms. At the Master's level, he teaches flagship courses for the Sustainability Certificate, including Innovating for Impact and Business Strategies for a Sustainable Future.

 Outside MIT, Jason facilitates strategy development for companies, civil society organizations, and business families, building alignment and shared commitment to ambitious sustainability goals. His clients have included Sun Life, EFG Asset Management, Novartis, Bose, Environmental Defense Fund, US Forest Service, BP and the World Bank. He is a faculty affiliate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Innovation and Change Initiative.

Prior to MIT, Jason ran an edtech startup, traveled around the world, taught kindergarten, and worked as a consultant with Dialogos International. He holds a PhD in Organization Studies from MIT Sloan, an AB in psychology and a Master’s in education from Harvard University. He enjoys hiking the White Mountains, sculling on the Charles River, quality time with his wife and two children, and travel to visit family in Italy and India.