Forced labor in global supply chains may decline in coming years as Generation Z—today’s teens and young adults—gain financial influence. Unlike previous generations, they are more willing to pay a premium for products manufactured ethically.

These and other findings are the result of a two-year study by the University’s (DSL) on behalf of Thomson Reuters, a global content and technology company based in Canada.

In addition to revealing data that helps inform industry leaders, policymakers and the public, the collaboration provided valuable research and experiential learning opportunities to numerous University students engaged with the DSL.

It also laid the groundwork for a strategic collaboration that DSL Director Jay Golden says will complement the lab’s endeavors while giving students opportunities to interact with industry thought leaders and examine critical sustainability issues under the mentorship of Thomson Reuters experts.

“Given the impactful and positive experiences our students have had with the forced labor in global supply chain collaboration, we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with Thomson Reuters,” says Golden. “It provides student and faculty researchers within the Dynamic Sustainability Lab greater opportunity to tackle important real-world challenges in companies and governments around the world and come up with innovative, next-generation solutions, models and tools.”

Golden founded the Maxwell-based DSL in 2021 after he joined the school as the inaugural Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance. He describes the lab as a cross-disciplinary, nonpartisan think tank that examines the “opportunities, risks and unintended consequences” that arise from the adoption of new technologies, new strategies and growing dependence on foreign-sourced resources and supply chains used in energy, climate and sustainability transitions.

Students engaged with the DSL represent a wide range of programs including many Maxwell majors. They share their data findings in government reports and technical bulletins and at sustainability symposiums the DSL hosts annually in major cities like Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C.

A Student and National Thought Leader

The DSL’s connection with Thomson Reuters began with Maxwell graduate student Heather Panton G’26 when she enrolled in the executive master’s in international relations program in Washington, D.C. Today she is senior advisor for human rights crimes and social impact at Thomson Reuters.

In 2023, Panton was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship to advance her study of forced labor—a form of human trafficking—in global supply chains. She traveled to Malaysia and Thailand to study best practices and drive public awareness to educate consumers about making ethical purchasing decisions. She received academic guidance from Golden and shared with him a growing interest in the potential impact of up-and-coming consumers.

“When I was abroad, so many people asked about demand from the next generation,” Panton says. “Historically, American baby boomers often prioritized price, without fully considering how cost-cutting would ripple through suppliers and vendors across the supply chain. That has put pressure on companies to reduce costs in ways that sometimes affect workers’ wages and living conditions abroad. We believe Gen Z will play a critical role in shifting that dynamic by asking tougher questions, such as, ‘Was this product made with slave labor?’”

Golden was excited for the opportunity to work with Panton. Her resume included roles with the McCain Institute, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House. Among them: special advisor for human trafficking and the inaugural human trafficking czar during the first Trump administration.

“She was not only our student but also a thought leader in the country,” says Golden. “I’ve learned a lot—probably more than she’s learned from me.”

Golden brought Panton’s Eisenhower Fellowship research to the DSL, where students spent the next two years expanding her work, studying generational purchasing trends, gathering data and refining her findings.

“They’re such smart students—they’re right on the mark,” she says. “We’ve worked to expand the scope of what they’re thinking about. We want them to be focused and driven, thinking about exposing things that I don’t know that many people are talking about in the mainstream. We want them to be able to present in a way that’s not only academically rigorous but also digestible—something that industry or government can consume right away.”

Presenting Research to Global Industry Leaders

The students produced a by the DSL, and a has been posted on Thomson Reuters’ website. Both share that by 2030, Generation Z will represent 17% of retail spending in the U.S., and 81% of consumers in the age group have changed their purchasing decisions based on brand actions or reputation, with 53% participating in economic boycotts.

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in policy studies, 2024 Maxwell alumnus Ka’ai I worked as a student researcher with the DSL. He gathered information about forced labor laws across the globe, collected related policies for multi-national corporations and assisted with surveys.

“We basically did a level-set in terms of ‘How do we understand where we are at now, where are we at in terms of forced labor, and how that is affecting the market?’” says I.

The experience was empowering and prepared him for his current work with Deloitte Consulting.

“As a young professional, I’m working on many of the same things I did with the Dynamic Sustainability Lab—data analysis, survey development, stakeholder engagement,” I says. “As I navigate the professional workspace, I feel much more confident and capable going in to a pretty competitive workforce.”

Another outcome of the DSL forced labor collaboration with Thomson Reuters: two events in the 2024-25 academic year at which data findings were presented and expanded upon by subject area experts. The symposia in Washington, D.C., and in Portland, Oregon, drew representatives from footwear and apparel companies as well as government officials.

“Our students helped push the notion, ‘We are your growing customer segment,’” says Golden.  “The leadership from these companies that were in attendance really acknowledged that and were receptive. The work that started with Heather has expanded to where we have the attention of the global footwear and apparel industry. It’s a rare occasion that the type of research finds its way into the mainstream in consumer decisions and draws the attention of international governments and especially the top leadership of global companies.”

Panton says the collaboration with DSL is mutually beneficial.

“The academic rigor is unbeatable,” she says of the research and resulting data. “It’s a great combination of practitioner-meets-academic—we’re taking substantive work and making it very easy for anyone in a C-suite to look at it.”

Ken Pontarelli ’92 credits the University for changing his life, opening up opportunities to pursue his passions and achieve professional success that allows him to focus on the public good. In return, he and his wife, Tracey, are paying it forward by supporting Syracuse students pursuing meaningful careers in the vital field of sustainability. Their recent gift endows the Pontarelli Professorship in the . It builds on their years of support that have helped position the University as a thought leader in sustainability. As part of the Forever Orange Faculty Excellence Program, the University has committed additional funds to support teaching and research activities in environmental sustainability, finance and public policy.

“Our goal is to build a sustainability program that ties together distinctive strengths from across the University, allowing business, policy and environmental science to work together to solve problems and tackle global challenges,” says Pontarelli. They are well on their way, thanks to previous support from the Pontarellis that a five-year funded professorship in 2019 and a scholarship fund in the , and helped create a unique master of science joint degree from the Maxwell and Whitman schools in sustainable organizations and policy, and the .

“When I (in 2022), Syracuse University was ranked No. 11 nationally for environmental policy and management by U.S. News & World Report,” says Jay Golden, Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance. “Each year our rankings have increased, and the most recent 2024 rankings have us tied with Harvard for No. 6. Certainly, our goal is to continue to rise in the rankings through the recognition of our peers of all the great programs we have going on at Maxwell and the other colleges at Syracuse.”

Growing Interest in Sustainability

Pontarelli graduated from the University with a bachelor of science in finance from the Whitman School and in economics from the Maxwell School. He immediately began what became a long career at Goldman Sachs, initially focusing on energy markets. “We made one of the first large-scale investments into renewable power back when few such investments were being made,” says Pontarelli. “As I gained more understanding of the field, I realized how critical private capital is, together with government policy, in addressing environmental issues. The business case for investing in sustainability is incredibly strong.”

In an interview with Private Equity International (November 2023), Pontarelli pointed out that sustainability was just a niche market with $20 billion of assets under management just 10 years ago and ballooned over the decade to more than $270 billion of assets under management.

At Goldman Sachs, where Pontarelli is partner and managing director, he leads the firm’s private equity impact investing efforts within the Asset Management Division. He was appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees in 2021, serves on the Whitman Advisory Council and, last year, was awarded the for Sustainability by Maxwell. His investments in academic and experiential programs are designed to ensure that environmental policy research is well-grounded in an understanding of markets and financial mechanisms.

“This is a pivotal time,” says Pontarelli. “There are so many things that could be done if we don’t get caught up in political issues. Everyone would agree that these are common sense business things to do.” He cites the example of one recent investment in a company that provides control panels to big data centers to manage power generation usage. The product can reduce usage by 10% for the average data center. “I’m focused on pragmatic solutions.”

That’s why Pontarelli is so impressed with the work being done by students in the which, according to Golden, is “a nonpartisan think tank and research lab focused on examining sustainability imperatives at the nexus of industry and government.” The lab launched in 2021 with just six students.

“From that early start we have maintained every semester 40 to 50 paid undergraduate and graduate sustainability research fellows spanning almost every college across the University,” Golden says. “In fact, we have more students interested than we can currently financially support or mentor with our current staffing levels. Not a week goes by that I don’t receive numerous emails from students interested in joining the lab.”

Inspiring More Philanthropic Support

It’s easy to see why students are so interested. They are doing what Pontarelli calls “eye-popping work” in partnership with industry or government, and he hopes to inspire more philanthropic support so that more students can participate. Golden cites a few examples:

• Students from the Maxwell School, Whitman School and are doing research in energy systems, biotechnologies and carbon capture technologies for various industrial sectors. This includes providing technical, finance and policy insights to develop recommendations for government agencies, policymakers and business leaders that would benefit the U.S. economy and the environment.
• Students are working with Thomson Reuters as well as the global footwear and apparel industries researching innovative best management practices and policies that can eliminate the utilization of forced labor in the global supply chain.
• A team led by Golden and School of Architecture Assistant Professor Nina Wilson is working with architects, engineers, design/build firms, insurance, government and finance on developing innovative strategies, policies and professional practices for resiliency in the built environment. They are holding workshops throughout New York state.
• Students have developed an energy dashboard to quantify and visualize energy consumption on campus, by buildings and by energy source, that is continuously updated while also modeling economic impacts and opportunities for the University to manage energy consumption and other environmental impacts. This also involves working with Campus Dining to quantify food wastes across the campus and modeling the economic and greenhouse gas opportunities by implementing new strategies.

Preparing Future Leaders for the Public Good

The new joint master’s degree from Maxwell and Whitman, supported by the Pontarellis and directed by Golden, offers an intensive professional sustainability consulting course each spring through the lab, in which students work in project teams to provide high-level research and consulting to public and private organizations, including Fortune 500 global companies and smaller start-ups domestically and globally.

“I am grateful to Ken and Tracey for continuing to promote the values of high-quality teaching, experiential learning, evidence-based research, engaged citizenship and public service impact, which we hold dear at the Maxwell School,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “This professorship, endowed in their name, will make certain their commitment to climate, energy and environmental sustainability and working across levels of government and sectors of the economy continues to be a hallmark of the instruction and scholarship the Maxwell School pursues in preparing future leaders that seek to promote the public good.”

Golden says that “we have an incredible job placement rate for students even before they graduate” with organizations as diverse as Morgan Stanley, KPMG, the State of New York and the Department of Defense. “They stand out in the job market because they have learned to take theory from the classroom and apply it in the real world, with plenty of opportunities to do the work thanks to Ken and Tracey Pontarelli,” Golden says.

“We want students to get excited about careers in the sustainability field,” Pontarelli says. “It’s purposeful, meaningful work as they become problem-solvers who can change the world.”