Profile:
Raz is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management at the School of Design Strategies, where he is exploring sustainable business models and design solutions for the climate crisis. Currently, he is working on a book on redefining sustainability in business in the context of the climate crisis.
Raz teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in innovation, leadership, sustianable systems, business models, and strategic design and served for three years as the Co-Director of the graduate program in Strategic Design and Management. He is involved in research projects focusing on developing sustainable business models, climate action, and sustainability-as-unusual tools and frameworks for business (Sandbox Zero), and led a collaboration between Parsons students and refugees in Berlin, working together on entrepreneurial initiatives to address refugee needs in cities and refugee camps.
Raz is the co-founder of two green startups - Hemper Jeans and Eco-Libris, and has been writing regularly on issues related to sustainable business, climate change and strategic design. He holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Communication and Economics from the Hebrew University.
Recent Publications:
Book chapter: Raz Godelnik and Jen van der Meer, “Sustainable Business Models in an Entrepreneurial Environment” in Sustainable Business Models: Innovation, Implementation and Success, ed. Annabeth Aagaard (Springer International Publishing, 2019), 239–76.
Articles:
5 Corporations say they support a green recovery. Their PAC donations tell a different story, Heated, June 2020
Can Companies Move Beyond "Sustainability-as-Usual" in their Response to the Protests?, The Startup, June 2020
Could Reducing Air Travel Be a Prompt To Fight Climate Change?, Age of Awareness, May 2020
Corona Redesign - A Pre-Manifesto, Medium, April 2020 (co-written with Prfo. Peter Stephan)
Connecting the Dots: 12 Perspectives On Coronavirus Lessons For Climate Change, Blog Zero, March 2020 (co-written with 11 collaborators)
Offsetting The Coronavirus And Other Lessons For The Climate Crisis, Medium, February 2020
Long-term matters: Financial sector employees can help win the climate change fight, IPE, December 2019 (co-written with Dr. Raj Thamotheram)
To Fly Or Not To Fly: That Is The (Wrong?) Question, Medium, October 2019
Can Cities Be Greta, The Nature of Cities, October 2019 (co-written with Dr. Peleg Kremer)
Design For The Climate Crisis At The Age Of Greta, Prototypr, August 2019
What Is The Value Of The Circular Economy Without Sustainability, Medium, July 2019
Research Interests:
sustainability in business, climate change, business models, strategic design, circular economy, sharing economy, platform coops, refugee crisis.
Current Courses:
Bus. Model&Strat for Soc. Imp.
Bus. Model&Strat for Soc. Imp. (Spring 2021)
Design Innovation + Leadership (Spring 2020)
Design of Business (Spring 2021)
Econ & Ethics of Sust Design (Spring 2021)