2020-2021 President’s Prize Recipients for Sustainable Projects: Dominique Hadad
February 4, 2021
Each year, two Ohio State graduating seniors are selected as President’s Prize scholars. The President’s Prize is the highest recognition Ohio State bestows on exceptional students who are committed to social change through elevating society through research. One of the recipients of this award is Dominique Hadad. Dominique graduated in December 2020 and was chosen as a President’s Prize winner for her founding of Green Scope Consulting. This company will provide services and funding to Columbus restaurants to implement sustainability practices focused on reducing food waste.
Dominique’s passion for sustainability was sparked during her first year at Ohio State. Since then, she has held a variety of roles regarding sustainability such as serving as the Director of Sustainability within USG and being employed by both ENGIE and Student Life’s Office of Energy Management and Sustainability. Dominique explained, “These experiences built upon one another, educating me about what ‘sustainability work’ looks like and how the city is in need of guidance around collective action for small businesses.” Dominique will work directly with small business owners to transform their day-to-day operations to not only ensure that they are sustainable, but also to ensure that they are wasting less food and saving more money.
According to Dominique, challenges arise as there are misconceptions that surround sustainability. She states, “One major building block of Green Scope is the relationship between profitability and sustainability. In most of my first conversations [with business owners], there is a good portion of the dialogue devoted to clarifying that profit can and will increase with sustainability measures.” Luckily, overturning the stigma surrounding sustainability has been rewarding. “I started Green Scope in the hopes of helping small businesses join the collective effort in Columbus to tackle climate change, but I am now able to do that while also educating the community about real sustainability in business,” she said.
Green Scope Consulting will also benefit the local community of Columbus. Two methods will be used to tackle both the issue of food waste and also food insecurity in Central Ohio. The first method is “food rescue”- food that a business no longer feels useful but is still good will provide sustenance to a community. An example of this would be a cafe donating day-old bagels to a food bank rather than tossing them out. Another method is by-product synergy, the idea that the output from one food business could be the input for another. An example Dominique provided was, “The cafes at Ohio State currently have a relationship with Land Grant Brewing where old bagels that are no longer good for sale are sent over to Land Grant to make bagel beer.” Green Scope will work with different food businesses in the community to build more mutually-beneficial partnerships like this, reducing food waste in the process.
President’s Prize recipients receive a $50,000 living stipend and a $50,000 start-up fund for their projects upon graduation. When asked how her $50,000 start-up fund would be allocated, Dominique explained, “Most of the operational funding will be going towards marketing, staffing, and seed grants. The seed grants will essentially help some small businesses to afford the initial transition into more sustainable practices, such as investing in reusable cups and utensils which will later save money by eliminating the need to purchase disposal materials.” Dominique recommends that anyone who is interested in being a potential President’s Prize recipient should believe in themselves, their ideas, and actively seek input. She shared that she did not initially think her project idea was a valid candidate, but it inevitably grew throughout the process. If you’re interested in learning more about the President’s Prize, you can visit presidentsprize.osu.edu for more information.
Congrats, Dominique, on receiving this incredible offer!