ESPAE Graduate School of Management signed a cooperative agreement with the Ecuador Chapter of the Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEMDES, in Spanish), to develop a Breakfast Seminar Series on Sustainable Business Development. The sessions would address mostly environmental issues, and the intended audience were students, alumni, and faculty. Since 2009, the school has held 21 conferences, with 950 individuals attending, and 25 organizations represented among the speakers.

The Sustainable Business Development Breakfast Series consists of three annual conferences held from August through October. The series began in 2009; 2015 marks its 7th year. In 2015 the Series was devoted to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The series engages students, alumni, faculty members and staff, as well as the business community. A distinctive format is implemented, having a faculty member or expert present the main topic, followed by a business case or best practice presented by a company executive or government official. The initiative quickly became a learning space for the business, local government, and NGO communities. Originally, the series was completely funded by the school. However, given its increasing appeal to local firms, some firms have partly funded the event in the last years.

CEMDES (Business Council for Sustainable Development), ESPAE-ESPOL, ESPOL, Paz&Horowitz, San Carlos, Cervecería Nacional, Servicio Holandés de Cooperación (SNV), Nestlé, MASISA Internacional, Véritas DDB, Equilibre, Cámara de Industrias, Fidecomiso Grasas Unicol, Cooperación Alemana para el Desarrollo (GIZ), Energy Palma, Syngenta Corp, Ministerio de Agricultura, Inclusys, Grupo Siembra, Unilever, San Carlos S.A., Pronaca, DHL, Ministerio del Ambiente, CO2mpensa, PNUD de Senplades, PNUD Ecuador