University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) faculty member Brandon Schweitzer spent most of November 2024 in Colombia working on a Fulbright Specialist Grant. Schweitzer focused on the link between corporate profitability and responsible environmental, social and governmental business practices in Latin America.
Schweitzer, collegiate associate professor of accounting, was selected by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the three-week program in Medellin, where he worked closely with representatives from Uniremington, a private higher education institution, and the Mundo Organizacional research group within Uniremington’s School of Business. Mundo Organizacional was created to analyze socially responsible investing.
Fulbright is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program.
“The main objective is to raise awareness among participants about the importance of adopting sustainable practices in organizations and understanding their relationship with financial performance,” Schweitzer explained. “I provided workshops, lectures and guidance on future research around environmental, social and governance to Uniremington’s faculty, students and the community.”
According to the project report for the Colombia initiative, “The central hypothesis is that there is a positive correlation between ESG ratings, and the profitability of Pacific Alliance companies. This is crucial to understanding the impact of environmental, social and governance practices on the economies of these countries.”
Mundo Organizacional also evaluated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria in assessing the financial performance of companies. Fulbright specialists from U.S. universities collaborated in the research, as well as delegates from Chile, Peru and Mexico.
Schweitzer’s previous experience as a corporate vice president of accounting and finance and a financial controller assisted in his role in Colombia. In the past, he advised on a project for the U.S. Department of Energy with a former UMGC adjunct instructor to better understand the viability of hydrogen fuel as an alternative fuel source.
Schweitzer. who has taught at UMGC since 2017, also remotely taught UMGC’s new MBA course, Accounting for Managers, during his time in Colombia. He also teaches undergraduate accounting courses.
“Environmental and social governance issues are embedded in many UMGC accounting courses, and the reason for that is because it’s a growing area in accounting,” Schweitzer said. “On the social side, we look at the impact to local communities including carbon capture and wastewater and the cost associated with that, and on the governance side, it involves lawmaking, regulation, corporate reporting and internal structure.”
Schweitzer will complete a final project report as part of the Fulbright grant.
“I had never been to South America before and I was able to broaden my horizons when it comes to interacting on a professional level with other cultures,” he said.
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