NEXT SUMMIT: February 3-7, 2025, in San Diego, CA

SUMMIT GUIDE  |   WHO SHOULD ATTEND?   |  FAQS   |  TUITION   |  SPRING 2025 SCHEDULE

Earn Your Certificate in CSR/ESG 

At the Summit, we enable you to achieve progress toward your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals by helping you develop strategic and actionable corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. You'll come away with valuable tools, competencies, and connections, all of which can help you grow and succeed throughout your corporate citizenship career. Use the button below to reserve your spot before space runs out, or continue reading to learn more about how this unique program works.

What Is The Summit?

The Summit is an opportunity to step away from your desk and focus on your professional development. It's designed to help busy professionals complete a big chunk of the Certificate of Practice curriculum all at once, while offering plenty of time to network with peers and discuss your specific goals/challenges with expert instructors. 

This week-long event brings together a wide variety of professionals (DEI officers, community relations people, sustainability executives) from every industry and from companies across the globe. Attendees can expect a deep dive into CSR best practices, while exploring core skills and any applicable electives that align with their work. 

By attending the Summit, professionals make major headway into our most popular certificate—The Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice. The event combines valuable networking, live-learning courses, and the flexibility of online classes. (Any remaining coursework can be completed at your convenience, after Summit week ends.)

Who Should Attend?

The Summit is valuable for corporate citizenship professionals at all stages of their career journeys, enabling participants to select the learning path that works best for their style and schedule. Summit sessions cover a variety of topics related to companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Attendees will come away with a greater understanding of key concepts, a broader network of peers, and a major portion of their CSR certification completed.

PLEASE NOTE: Program registration is open exclusively to corporate citizenship practitioners, working inside of for-profit companies or corporate foundations. In some cases, eligibility extends to nonprofit healthcare organizations, credit unions, and consulting firms (if they have a dedicated corporate citizenship/sustainability department). Nonprofit professionals, consultants, students, and academics are not eligible. If you're interested, but have questions about what's involved or who typically attends this program , please don't hesitate to contact our team: ccc@bc.edu or 617.552.4545. 

Summit FAQs

You'll find there is quite a lot of flexibility surrounding the Summit--just one of the reasons it's our most popular program. For example, you can attend as much or as little of the week as suits your calendar. You can complete online course units beforehand (so sessions at the Summit reinforce the topics you've already covered), or come to the event with a completely fresh perspective. You can push yourself to earn the full Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice by week's end (having completed required online coursework in advance), or you can use the Summit as a jump start, giving yourself as much time as you need afterwards to complete required components. 

But let's back up and review the most common questions people tend to ask:

What is the Summit?

The Summit is like a five-day "jump start" to our most popular certificate program, The Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice. It's a way for participants to dive into course concepts best suited to in-person instruction, while also benefitting from valuable networking and group discussions.

When and where is the Summit held?

The Summit is offered twice each year in various cities around the U.S. Our next Summit session will be:

February 3-7, 2025 in San Diego, CA, at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. See below for room block info.

NOTE: You don't have to attend a Summit in order to earn your certificate, but the learning experience is definitely more engaging and robust than completing the work entirely on your own.

Do I need to book a room? What is the hotel rate?

Yes, you will need to book a hotel room at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. 

Reservations can be made (up until January 6, 2025) by calling (844) 226-8262. Guest will be asked to identify themselves as part of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship room block to receive the group rate ($299/night) .If you have any questions about booking your room, please contact our team at ccc@bc.edu.

Is the Summit the same thing as the Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice?

No. The Summit is an event at which participants can  pursue that credential in a dynamic learning environment. They will still have independent work to complete online either before or after the Summit is over , but there is no deadline or required timeframe on any remaining work.

What are the required components of the Corporate Citizenship Practice Certificate? 

In order to earn this certificate, participants must complete five courses (three required, two elective). Required courses include Communications, Measurement, and Strategy.

Browse all required and elective courses here.

Each of these five courses is comprised of 10-12 modules (or course units). By attending the Summit, you'll have an opportunity to complete some of these modules together with a group of peers and a world-class expert in CSR. Exactly how many modules you'll complete during the Summit depends on how many days you attend (More about the daily learning sessions below.) 

If you have additional questions about how Summit sessions correspond with certificate courses, or which courses you should be taking, please don't hesitate to contact our team. You can reach us at ccc@bc.edu.

Will I get my certificate when the Summit is over?

Not unless you invest time before the event, completing most of the coursework online.  Again, Summit learning sessions offer a deep-dive into one or two topics within a course. They don't cover any course in its entirety. Within each learning session, you'll interact with a group of peers and an instructor guiding the discussion. However, the remaining units of each course need to be completed independently, before or after Summit week is over, in order to meet the requirements for the certificate.

What is the advantage of registering for the Summit (versus earning the certificate on my own time)?

Participants tell us the peer learning and networking portion of the Summit is immeasurably valuable. Real-time feedback and live answers to your questions are also benefits you might miss if you opted to complete the five required courses all on your own.

There's also a cost benefit. When you bundle multiple courses together as part of your Summit enrollment, you'll pay less than if you registered for them individually.

Finally, many participants tell us there's an added layer of accountability when they begin the certificate program alongside peers. Most program participants keep in touch long after the Summit week is over. Classmates can be a motivating force to keep working toward the finish line.

Okay, so where do I start?

Start by choosing which course(s) you'd like to register for. If you’d like to earn your certificate, make sure you’ve selected the three required (Strategy, Communications, and Measurement), and two electives. 

Join Us in San Diego for the 2025 Spring Summit!

Choose from these courses, available at the 2025 Spring Summit. You may select one course option per day. You can choose to attend for one day (which would allow for one course) or up to all five days. NOTE: Summit participants do not complete a full course during one day's attendance at the Summit. There will be some at-home work to complete, per course, either before or after the event. 

2025 Spring Summit Course Schedule

Register EARLY to save your spot and to secure the best tuition rates for this program! Added bonus: as a Summit attendee, you automatically get the best rate on the annual International Corporate Citizenship Conference, which could save you hundreds!

Spring 2025 Summit Pricing & Discount Deadlines

Testimonials

Read What Past Participants Are Saying about This Experience

Every year, CSR professionals from national and global firms come together to form a new Summit cohort. And every year their post-Summit reviews confirm how well this program aligns with real-world work challenges and today's most pressing issues. Curious to know which companies will be represented at the upcoming Summit? Drop us a line, we're happy to share a preview: ccc@bc.edu.