The Center for Ethical Business Cultures (CEBC) is a nonprofit organization that has been affiliated with St. Thomas since 1988, functioning within the Opus College of Business. The center works to equip current and future business leaders with the capability to build ethical cultures in their organizations and to operate with high standards of integrity in their communities. It accomplishes this by conducting public programs, working directly with leaders in organizations, engaging St. Thomas students in the classroom, and joining faculty members in conducting research.
Many high-profile ethical breakdowns in today’s business world dominate the headlines and erode the trust and confidence in America’s institutions. Poll after poll highlights people's desire to raise the level of ethical awareness and integrity, from the classroom to the boardroom. The Center for Ethical Business Cultures is uniquely poised to assist in this area through its programs and services and is seeking endowment funds that will provide stability and enhance its programming capability.
CEBC intends to use the income from the endowment to develop cutting-edge programs that will enhance greatly the process of learning ethics in the classroom, the executive suite and the board room. These tools will be applied in Aspen Institute-like settings, providing a great opportunity for shared learning experiences. In addition, the center intends to increase its use of student interns, "executive fellows" and distinguished speakers to conduct research, share the benefits of their experiences, and widely disseminate key lessons learned.
This endowment will benefit students and faculty members as CEBC increases its outreach activities in the business community and brings important lessons back into the classroom. Likewise, internships will allow students to engage in the building of ethical business cultures firsthand, while also complementing faculty research.
Through the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, the broader business community benefits in the short term by having direct access to programs and expertise that can help them build and sustain ethical cultures in the work place, and in the long term by having more potential employees available who come to them ethically equipped to contribute to the success and legacies of their organizations.