UC Net Impact presents student-led green jobs and entrepreneurship work to Cincinnati council

On Earth Day, April 22, 2025, University of Cincinnati student organization Net Impact presented to the Cincinnati City Council about its semester-long sustainability programming and asked the city and local employers to partner on career pathways and entrepreneurship supports.

Net Impact’s external vice president, Anna Burke, told the council the chapter’s mission is to “shift students' view of sustainability, integrating not only environmental thinking, but concepts of business design, engineering, and community practice.” Burke outlined the chapter’s four pillars — education, career development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and consulting — and described programs that connect students with employers and community partners.

The presentation matters because the city is pursuing the 2023 Green Cincinnati plan and has set local goals for green jobs; student pipelines and employer partnerships are one practical way to help meet workforce needs as city and regional sustainability initiatives expand.

Burke said Net Impact runs a Green Jobs Initiative that vets listings and connects students to internships and entry-level positions in clean tech, sustainable procurement and environmental finance. At the spring UC career fair, the group identified 37 sustainability-related employers that accounted for about 14% of the fair’s employer representation, she said.

Net Impact also runs a recurring small-business market for student vendors and reported recruiting more than 40 student vendors over two years at a 20% growth rate per market and $15,000 in cumulative vendor sales. The most recent market in Uptown featured 25 vendors, a DJ and a food truck. Burke said the group has partnered with campus units such as the Lindner College of Business’s Center for Entrepreneurship and local businesses including Viva Coffee Roasters, and with firms and organizations such as Kinetic Vision and Fuse for student consulting projects.

Councilwoman Mika Owens, who convened the session and serves on Net Impact’s external advisory board, praised the students and said they are “the brilliant minds of the future.” Councilmembers asked how Net Impact interfaces with University of Cincinnati administration and about student outlooks for green careers amid federal policy uncertainty; Burke said the chapter consults the university’s climate action plan and noted campus structures such as the facilities department and the School of Environment and Sustainability.

Burke described quantitative measures for the chapter’s recent year: 60 events including 19 general-body meetings, 27 executive-team meetings and 12 consulting sessions; roughly 1,300 social followers; representation from seven UC colleges; and alumni engagement starting with about 16 alumni. She also described awards and recognition the chapter has received, including Net Impact Central gold status for 2023 and 2024 and campus organization awards.

On partnerships, Burke told councilmembers the group is open to workshops, speaker events, advisory-board participation and work to localize and expand the Green Jobs board currently run by a Californian developer partner. She encouraged city staff and employers to “show up” to make hiring connections and said students are concerned about federal rollbacks but remain active and organized.

No formal council action or vote was taken on the presentation; the council accepted the presentation for the record at the meeting’s close.

Net Impact asked for contacts and collaboration from city departments, employers and community partners and said it will continue succession planning and leadership training over the summer to expand programming in the coming year.