
Legacy initiatives
Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service Legacy Initiatives
In 2006, former Walmart chairman Rob Walton and his wife Melani joined Arizona State University’s efforts to become a global leader in sustainability education and research by guiding the ASU Sustainability Board. In 2012, the Waltons cemented their commitment to ASU’s sustainability efforts with an investment to accelerate scalable solutions to the economic, environmental and social challenges impacting the globe.
In the fall of 2018 the Waltons, through the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, continued that commitment to ASU as they increased their total investment in sustainability solutions to $31.8 million. The cornerstone of this extended investment was the permanent establishment of the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service.
Since 2012, the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service Initiatives have engaged more than 320 organizations whose work impacted more than 500,000 people across five continents. We have completed 86 projects, trained 7,271 students and professionals, provided continuing education for 816 teachers and science educators and engaged 114,182 event attendees around innovation and sustainability thus far.

The Initiatives were designed around
three core tenets:
1. Solve
global sustainability problems by creating a service that assembles custom teams of experts who transform research into action for global and local clients.
2. Educate
future leaders in real-world sustainability strategies through professional degree programs, rigorous international study courses and a solutions-focused fellowship program.
3. Engage
and inform the public, locally and globally, to build awareness around sustainability issues, celebrate innovative solutions to our challenges and encourage behavior change.
The initiatives
In addition to the Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, programs established
through the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives include the following:
A sustainable future requires leaders who can integrate sustainability into existing institutions and new enterprises. A particular knowledge base and skill set is required to drive this kind of transformational change. Professionals with tools and skills learned in sustainability leadership, as opposed to other degree programs, are in a prime position to establish sustainability practices in any type of organization.
The Executive Master of Sustainability Leadership program prepares professionals to advance social, economic and environmental responsibility. Designed to be completed in 12 continuous months, the program is created and delivered by people who have worked in and with companies making sustainability transitions and those who continue to be at the forefront of global sustainability leadership.
Study abroad, with support from the Rob and Melani Walton Global Sustainability Studies Scholarships, provided students the opportunity to witness and learn sustainability principles and solutions in international community, urban and political settings. Through condensed, rigorous courses set within a different culture, students gained skills like problem-solving, networking, intercultural collaboration and cross-disciplinary application.
Destinations and course topics changed every summer, adapting to current global sustainability developments. Past programs include:
- Sustainable energy solutions in Spain and Morocco
- Environmental tourism in Dubai
- Human rights in Brazil
- Mobility and transportation in the Netherlands
- Urban development in Hong Kong
- Environmental challenges in Trinidad and Tobago
- Sustainability policy in London and Washington, D.C.
- Human Development, Diversity and Sustainability in Ecuador
- Re-imagining Environmental Sustainability in Urban and Rural Nepal
- Sustainability Challenges of the Wildlife Economy in South Africa
- Coffee and Climate Change in Costa Rica
Scholarship awards were based on a competitive process that included an essay application, academic merit and relevance to the student’s field of study.
The Global Sustainability Studies program continues today through Study Abroad at the College of Global Futures.
The Teachers Academies program provides educators with the knowledge and resources they need to bring the science of sustainability into any K-12 classroom. This approach leverages the expertise of education professionals from across the nation to cultivate a community of sustainability change makers. These professional development opportunities incorporate contemporary research by sustainability professionals, scientists and scholars from Arizona State University’s College of Global Futures.
Since its inception in 2015, the Walton Sustainability Teachers Academies have provided professional development opportunities to more than 3,000 teachers across the United States. The Teachers Academies have established more than 50 partnerships with school districts, nonprofit organizations and local governments to support projects that seek to improve local sustainability efforts.
Science museums are trusted public institutions and perfect venues to engage the world’s citizens to learn about and address solutions to global challenges we face. Educational programs, exhibits, demonstrations and interpretive tools have the potential to help millions of museum visitors understand the social, environmental and economic impact of human behavior on the planet’s future.
The Walton Sustainability in Science and Technology Museums program supported science museums in their efforts to expand their sustainability programming through content-rich training, interactive activity kits and other resources that museums use to promote sustainability science and practice. Ultimately, this program developed a network of science centers and museums that have a shared goal of increasing public understanding and interest in sustainability action on a global scale. This work continues today as a part of the ASU Center for Innovation in Informal Science Learning.
As students learn in new ways, communities come together to support one another and businesses continuously adapt to changing demands, the Sustainability Solutions Festival engages the public and industry alike in exciting new ways to design a healthy and prosperous future. Building upon the notion that now and into the future we are all in this together, the Sustainability Solutions Festival recognized that sustainability solutions emerge when we work together, bringing our diverse thoughts, energies, talents and backgrounds to the table to co-create. The Festival’s many forums and events included conferences, community gatherings, film screenings and innovation competitions at the K-12 level.
One of the competitions supported through the Festival was the Sustainability Solutions Science Fair, a virtual opportunity in partnership with the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and open to researchers, innovators and engineers aged 12-18 from around the world. Arizona State University, in partnership with Wells Fargo Foundation and the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation, invited submissions for projects that would drive change for good and develop thriving communities. Awards of up to $2,500 in cash prizes and mentorships in advancing the application of sustainability solutions were handed out to top projects recognized by a panel of ASU scientists and scholars based on a set of criteria established in conjunction with the School of Sustainability. Winning projects came from across the US as well as Canada, India, Brazil, Peru, Spain and Zimbabwe.
Coming from across the globe to collaborate with the Arizona State University community on novel research, projects and solutions that identify scalable global impacts and benefits, Rob and Melani Walton Fellows represent the highest level of practitioners and scholars from business, government, non-governmental organizations, universities and public or nonprofit research institutions. Each fellow brought their unique expertise and perspective to sustainability to blend with ASU students, faculty, researchers and staff to explore, discuss and develop new approaches to the economic, social and environmental challenges that our planet confronts each day.
Emeritus post-doctoral fellows included:
- Andrew Bernier Designer of sustainability programs and systems
- Jennifer Hodbod Investigator of land use’s impact on food systems
- Alex Karner Developer of social equity through engineering
- Manjana Milkoreit Examiner of the mind and its influence in implementing climate solutions
- Nuri Onat Engineer of sustainable systems within the built environment