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Sara Soderstrom

Sara Soderstrom
Associate Professor of Organizational Studies and Program in the Environment; Director of Program in the Environment; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
Sustainable Systems
Cities + Mobility + Built Environment
[email protected]

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About

Sara Soderstrom is interested in how corporations engage in societal sustainability challenges.  She studies how individuals within organizations mobilize others, develop coalitions, and access key decision makers when they are trying to implement sustainability initiatives. Further, she studies individual and organizational responses to the ambiguity and uncertainty that surrounds sustainability, such as making sense of emergent issues, prioritizing and agenda setting, and balancing multiple goals.

Professor Soderstrom was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan. She completed her PhD at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Prior to obtaining her PhD, Professor Soderstrom worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company serving retail and financial services organizations and led a business transformation team in post-merger activities at The Auto Club Group, a AAA umbrella organization.

Publications

Research

Organizational theory, corporate sustainability, organizational change, and social movements.

Accolades

2011 Organizations and the Natural Environment, Academy of Management Best Dissertation Award

Education

Ph.D. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

MSE Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan

BSE Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan

In the News
Alena Olsen seen celebrating after winning Olympic Bronze in rugby sevens at the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
March 24, 2025

Olympian and PitE alum Alena Olsen puts sustainability front and center

It’s a common experience—you come to the University of Michigan with one course of study in mind, but the adventure leads you elsewhere. Such was the case for Olympic...

U-M, Mellon Foundation announce new Environmental Justice + Humanities Hub
December 13, 2024

U-M, Mellon Foundation announce new Environmental Justice + Humanities Hub

The Mellon Foundation has awarded nearly $4 million in a first-of-its kind grant to bolster the University of Michigan’s leading work in environmental justice. The grant...

In the Media
02/16/2024
Sara Soderstrom
Sara Soderstrom named 2024 Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
09/15/2022
Sara Soderstrom
PitE associate professor Sara Soderstrom's project receives award from the Graham Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program
05/18/2022
Sara Soderstrom
PitE associate professor Sara Soderstrom receives Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award
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