Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School

Mission/Purpose: To promote and strengthen sustainable ethical leadership to enhance civil society

The Institute for Ethical Leadership (IEL) seeks to create awareness and education about the importance of ethical leadership. Part of a broad-based academic institution, the IEL understands that a sure means for improving the conduct of leaders is through cultivating, and rewarding sustainable ethical practices. The IEL, under the direction of co-founders Alex J. Plinio and James Abruzzo, aspires to establish itself as the place that leaders, across all sectors, look to for guidance, partnership, and support to develop and improve the ethical culture among their executive and board leadership and within their organizations.

Working with business and government entities, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and within the University, the IEL provides leaders and future leaders with the education, training and critical-thinking tools needed to make ethical decisions for real-world challenges. The IEL believes that ethical behavior drives good business and that merely operating a business within the legal confines of compliance can fail to address the complexities that constitute ethical conduct and considerations. Leaders must be prepared to deal with the more complicated and subtle critical-thinking and decision-making processes required to create an organizational culture where ethical practice and behavior become habit.