Teaching at UC Berkeley

Learn to lead change, from wherever you are.

I teach students and executives across business, public health, climate, and more. Together, we build the mindset, practical skills, and everyday courage to turn ideas into meaningful action.

What you’ll Learn

From Possibility to Impact.

Changemaking is not a personality type or a job title. It's a mindset, a set of leadership practices, and a commitment to act.

1/ Changemaker Mindset

To begin, you will learn how to develop the mindset of a changemaker. You’ll explore resilience, smart risk-taking, and empathy. You’ll also challenge the status quo and discover how a growth mindset can help you lead positive change, no matter your role.

2/ Changemaker Leadership

Next, we will focus on leadership skills that don’t require a formal title. You’ll learn how to lead with empathy, build trust, and inspire others to join you in creating change. You’ll become the leader you’ve always wanted to follow.

3/ Changemaker Action

Finally, you will take action. Using tools like the Changemaker Canvas, you’ll turn your ideas into reality. You will learn how to spark change, overcome obstacles, and sustain your impact over time, whether working on big or small challenges.

Oh, and we’ll also have some amazing guest speakers, experiential exercises, individual reflections, small group discussions, full-class case studies, and a lot of fun along the way!

For UC Berkeley Students

Find Your Changemaker Classroom.

Each course is shaped for its particular community, while sharing the same goal: helping you become ready and able to lead meaningful change.

Course Info: Becoming a Changemaker (UGBA 159)
2 units / 15 weeks
This is the original course that was the inspiration for the creation of the Berkeley Changemaker campus-wide program, now featuring 50+ classes.
In a world that is rapidly changing before our eyes, learn to navigate, shape and lead positive change for yourself and others and gain leadership skills to thrive amidst uncertainty.
Anchored in change leadership and bringing together the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, and social impact, the courses focus on helping you move from ideas to action. Grounded in research and case studies of what makes change happen, “Becoming a Changemaker” teaches you how to identify opportunities for and create positive change at an individual, organizational, and societal level. It teaches you to become a changemaker: able and ready to lead change, not just be led by it.
UC Berkeley students can enroll in “Becoming a Changemaker” offered as UGBA 159.
Read this article about the course and our unique failure exercise!
Course Info: Becoming a Changemaker (FTMBA/EWMBA 259)
2 units / 10 weeks
Designed similarly to the Undergraduate course, this course is useful for anyone whose success depends on thriving in a highly-dynamic environment and who would benefit from learning fresh leadership skills and how to make change work for you and your team. Alumni of the course have commented that it’s especially helpful for new managers, intrapreneurs, those leading (or seeking to lead) agile teams, product owners, and leaders who work cross-functionally.
UC Berkeley students can enroll in “Becoming a Changemaker” offered as FTMBA & EWMBA 259.
Read the Course Overview
Currently offered as part of orientation.
Climate change is not just a scientific or policy challenge—it’s the defining leadership challenge of our time. Solving it requires courage, creativity, and collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and geographies.
This course equips you to step into your own role as a climate solutions leader by exploring three essential questions:
WHY am I choosing to lead on climate?
Climate leadership is personal. How will you draw on your values, skills, and lived experiences to contribute to climate solutions? What motivates you to step up in this moment of urgency?
HOW am I choosing to lead on climate?
Climate solutions demand new ways of working. What approaches, tactics, and mindsets will you bring to catalyze impact—whether through policy, technology, finance, community action, or corporate transformation?
WHAT climate solutions am I choosing to lead?
From carbon removal to just transitions, climate leadership means turning vision into action. What specific solutions will you champion, and what positive impact will your leadership make possible?
This course combines lectures, case studies, group projects, guest speakers, individual reflection, and experiential learning activities.
Because climate is inherently interdisciplinary, our course will integrate insights from science, business, policy, economics, psychology, and social movements. Throughout, we apply a changemaker lens, helping you not only study climate solutions but also practice leading them.
Our goal: that you leave as a Climate Solutions Changemaker, equipped with the leadership skills, mindsets, and tools you need to go make an impact in addressing the greatest challenge of our lifetime.
Course Info: Leadership for Public Health Changemakers
1 unit / 7 weeks
This is the core leadership class for all Berkeley Master of Public Health (MPH) students!
Leadership is not a title. Leadership is an act. It’s a conscious choice to step up, serve others, and make a difference in our organizations, communities, and our world.
This course helps you find your unique leadership voice and step into your own leadership potential in the field of Public Health by exploring three fundamental questions, no matter your background, experience level, or familiarity to date with leadership:
- WHY am I choosing to lead? Leadership is personal. How will you apply your values, your strengths, your qualities, your motivation, and your lived experiences toward your choice to lead?
- HOW am I choosing to lead? Leadership is not one-size-fits-all. What approaches, tactics, and mindsets will you bring into defining your own leadership style?
- WHAT am I choosing to lead? Leadership is a lens for creating positive change, whether within your career, community, team, or organization. What impact will your leadership make possible?
This course will include a combination of lectures, group discussions, individual reflection, case studies, and experiential learning activities.
Leadership is multidisciplinary, so our course will draw from fields ranging from engineering to economics to psychology to art, and we’ll apply a changemaker lens throughout the semester to help you become a leader ready and able to lead positive change from wherever you are.
Our goal: that you leave this class as a Public Health Changemaker, equipped with the leadership skills you need to go make an impact in the field.
Students can join by enrolling in Public Health 291 (PBHLTH 291).

For Professionals & Organizations

Leadership for this moment.

Berkeley Executive Education programs help emerging and experienced leaders navigate uncertainty, mobilize others, and create cultures where more people can lead change.

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Open enrollment

Berkeley Changemaker Program

A three-day, in-person experience at Berkeley Haas featuring research, reflection, case studies, coaching, and an extraordinary community of changemakers.

LEARN MORE AND ENROLL→

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Custom Programs

Designed around your moment

Workshops, full-day sessions, and multi-day programs customized around your organization's people, priorities, and change opportunities.

EXPLORE A CUSTOM PROGRAM→

Inside the classroom

A classroom built for participation.

The research matters. So does what happens when you try it, question it, discuss it with someone unlike you, and connect it to a change you care about.

→ Experiential Exercises

→ Case studies

→ Guest changemakers

→ Individual reflection

→ Small-group discussion

→ Changemaker Canvas

Oh, and a lot of fun along the way!

Guest Speakers

We’re all in the pursuit of positive change together. I am exceedingly grateful to these friends who have joined us as guests.

We welcome leaders with different backgrounds, perspectives, and paths to impact, so every student can see a bit of themselves in the people out there creating change.