Marco Tavanti

Dr. Marco Tavanti is a sustainability and leadership international scholar whose experience stretches over 30 years and whose work has taken him to more than 18 countries in Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Dr. Tavanti’s teaching in sustainable development, leadership ethics, intercultural diversity, and NGO management is grounded in Jesuit values and his scholarship is an embodiment of the University’s mission to be of service to humankind.

Dr. Tavanti is a systems thinker whose scholarship aims at providing practical and integrated solutions to issues in international development and poverty reduction. His research methods are participatory in nature and directed at building international capacity in leaders, organizations, and institutions. Through his teaching he inspires globally engaged leaders while building professional capacity through international managerial skills across sectors.

He is President of the Sustainable Capacity International Institute (SCII-ONLUS) and CEO of its subsidiary SDG.services. He is co-founder of the World Engagement Institute (WEI), an international organization providing capacity development services for sustainable human security. He designed and directed various professional training programs on sustainable community development, indigenous human rights, anti-human trafficking and refugee service management. He has been consulting and collaborating with United Nations agencies such as the Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Compact (UNGC), the Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Through his engagement with the UN Global Compact he contributed to the development of the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• Sustainable development
• Social economy
• Indigenous rights
• Refugee services

• Sustainability leadership
• SDG ethics
• ESG management
• NGO management

• Program Director, Nonprofit Administration

• PhD, Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 2001 (with distinction)
• MA, Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, 1999
• MA, Cross-Cultural Theology, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL, 1996
• MDiv Master in Divinity, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL, 1994
• BA, Philosophy, Gregorian University-Studio Teologico Fiorentino, Florence, Italy, 1991

• Director, Social Innovation, University of San Francisco's School of Management 
• Director, Refugee Service Management Program, University of San Francisco
• Chair, International Public Service, DePaul University's School of Public Service
• Director and Instructor, Chiapas Immersion Program, Loyola University Chicago

• Excellence in Teaching Award, Faculty and Student nomination. DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Science (LAS), 2006, 2014 

• Wicklander Business Ethics Fellowship Award. Institute for Business and Professional Ethics (IBPE), 2006

• Latino Students Appreciation Faculty Award, Latin American Studies, DePaul University, 2003

• Arthur J. Schmitt Fellowship Award. Loyola University Chicago Graduate School, 2001

• Editor in Chief, International Journal of Sustainable Human Security (IJSHS) 

• Associate Editor, Leadership and the Humanities Journal (LATH-ILA)

• Associate Editor, Journal of Management and Sustainability (JMS)

• Associate Editor, International Journal of Sustainability Policy and Practice (IJSPP)

• Associate Editor, International Research and Review (IRR-PBD)

Access and Marco's full list of publications can be found on his website.

• Tavanti, M. (2023). Sustainability Ethics: Common Good Values for a Better World. Ethics International Press.
• Tavanti, M. (2023). Developing Sustainability in Organizations: A Values-Based Approach. Springer Nature: Sustainable Development Goals Series SDG Series. Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature.
• Tavanti, M. Sfeir-Younis, A. & Wilp, E. (2022). Sustainability Initiatives for Management Education: A Roadmap for Institutional Integration. Journal of Management for Global Sustainability (JMGS). Volume 10, Issue 1, 87-118.
• Tavanti, M. & Wilp, A. E. (2021). A Common Good Mindset: An Integrated Model for Sustainability and Leadership Management Education. In Rimanoczy, I. & Ritz, A. (eds.), Sustainability Mindset and Transformative Leadership: A Multidisciplinary Perspective (pp. 241-266). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Tavanti, M. (2019). Social Economy Enterprises: The Third/Social Economy (TSE) Sector Classification for Advancing Shared Values for the Common Good. Entretextos 11/33 – Economía Social y Solidaria (December 2019 - March 2020), 51-64.