Sustainable Nation

Josh Prigge: CEO of Sustridge Sustainability Consulting

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The Sustainable Nation Podcast delivers interviews with global leaders in sustainability and ESG. Our goal is to provide sustainability and ESG professionals, business leaders, academics, government officials and anyone interested in joining the sustainability revolution, with information and insights from the world's most inspiring change-makers.

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167 episodes

Norman Vossschulte - Director of Fan Experience & Sustainability at the Philadelphia Eagles

Norman Vossschulte is originally from Berlin, Germany. His culturally rich background included ten years living abroad in Africa, Iraq and Spain before moving back to Germany to finish High School and College. He studied Biology and Physical Science before deciding to move to New York City in 1996 to attend the Herbert Berghof Institute for Fine Theatre Arts and Drama. Norman’s work experience is as eclectic as his upbringing. He has worked in the hotel industry, the non-profit industry, as well as both sports and entertainment industries. 25 years of practicing customer and client relations, has given him an overview of which techniques consistently enhance guest experiences. Norman has over 16 years of staff training and team leadership experience working with The Walt Disney Company and currently the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2014, Norman became the official GO GREEN spokesperson and began leading the green team for the Philadelphia Eagles. During his tenure the Eagles obtained LEED Gold certification and were the first sports team in the world to obtain ISO20121 certification. He organized and re-branded the initiative as the GO GREEN ECO Committee (Engagement, Communication, Operations) to involve the entire organization. One of the main missions of the ECO Committee is to Innovate & Sustain. The Eagles are now the first sports team to actively invest in the ocean by offsetting carbon emissions from player travel by planting sea grass. Norman Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Norman’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I love this question. Sustainability professionals are at heart, a lot of the ones I meet at least, scientists. They're folks that have either studied this or are really in tune with some of the data and some of the science behind sustainability. A lot of those folks that really live and breathe sustainability every day, their language doesn't necessarily easily translate into sports because we speak the language of fans and teams. So in the sustainability sector, you have to find people that can bridge that gap and literally put into very simple terms some of these sustainability practices that you are trying to bring to a sports team. Every one of us has to figure out how we can translate a lot of this incredible sustainability language into an everyday language so that everyone will understand it and actions. Because actions have to be taken. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm excited that finally it seems like everyone is talking about it. We have some of our mainstream partners that come to us now and say, “Hey, we want to work with you on sustainability.” That's exciting to me because before that, if you had a sustainability partner that was already working in the sustainability space, of course they would talk about sustainability with you, but mainstream partners necessarily didn't. My biggest excitement is Gen Z, the new generation who are now the majority in the workplace and are the ones that are really pushing this agenda. I don't want them to stop because it's important, and because it's their kids who are going to inherit this planet when a lot of these predictions about climate change are going to come true. Gen Z is really pushing this agenda because they're the consumers, they're the clients now, they're the fans. It's important to us and it's important to them and their generation. They're the information generation that loves to post on social media, and it excites me. I think there's a real movement happening, and I don't want it to stop. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability leaders read? The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Sustainable Development. It basically dives into the United Nations climate pledge document that was written a few years ago that we actually were part of and that a lot of sports leagues and sports teams in the world have signed onto now. It addresses pretty much every area of sustainability, like waste and climate. We wrote one of those chapters in that book. Anthony Bonagura, one of our directors, actually wrote it and I helped a little bit. It was used in college education, but it’s now available for purchase. It dives into a lot of the science and the data, the United Nations force for climate change pledge program that's out there, and that a lot of leagues in the world, including FIFA and the NFL have signed on to. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Our sustainability consultant! We have an amazing sustainability consultant, Lindsay Arell. She was the CEO of Honeycomb Strategies that was recently sold to SMG,, a huge global venue operator. She now helps us with FIFA 26. The World Cup is coming to Philadelphia, and there's quite a few sustainability initiatives that we're working on with FIFA, and she's helping us work through that. She helped us with our LEED certification and she's in the middle of helping us to be recertified. I'm not an expert, we're no expert, she is. We always go to her for all the advice. I think it's really important to find someone who lives and breathes this stuff, but who can translate like I said that earlier, that language to us so we can understand it. What should we, what shouldn't we invest in? What should we spend time on, what should we bring to our partners? We really run everything by her. It's really important to have partners and to have folks in your corner who know what they're talking about and who you trust, because again, we don't know what we should and shouldn't be doing. It's really important to ask professionals in this space. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at the Philadelphia Eagles? Philadelphiaeagles.com. If you go there and you click on community, there is a page called Go Green, pun intended. We call our sustainability program Go Green. We are all about innovating and sustaining and the website is a really good source of information.

37m
Mar 12
Thomas Stanchak - Director of Sustainability at Stoneweg US

Thomas Stanchak is a seasoned Commercial Real Estate professional with over 20 years of diverse experience. He began his career with his current employer, Stoneweg US in 2017 as an Asset Manager, where he was responsible for overseeing operations, maximizing occupancy, and maintaining budgets for 17 assets in the Midwest region. In 2019, he was promoted to Senior Asset Manager assuming operational responsibility for more than 50% of total AUMs; where his operational leadership was hugely impactful in Stoneweg US’ ability to deliver healthy returns to its investors that year. In 2020, Tom began focusing his efforts on implementing various energy-efficient and innovative practices to his portfolio by introducing water conservation, LED lighting retrofits, and effective recycling methods that would not only incorporate sustainability, but also provide key value-add for residents. Thomas Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Thomas’ Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Not everybody is going to agree with you, and not everybody is going to like you, but over time, I've found that if you really work hard and you really do the math around the data and reporting and linking it to finding opportunity, that's the wedge to do things at scale. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Real time energy monitoring and being able to get responsive feedback from these sorts of technologies as we make improvements. The simple example is, as I change HVAC systems, I can actually see the difference in how the property is functioning. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? I'm thinking more about multifamily and ESG and that place because I'm sort of responsible for encompassing all of those, as many people in my place are. I bought a book called Safe and Sound, it's by a trans woman named Mercury Stardust. The reason I bought this book is that I read in an article that she is a maintenance professional at an apartment community. She wrote this book because people like her or LBGT people often have to overcome an anxiety or a fear of having people come into their homes to even do minor repairs or do services and that sort of thing. It’s a great book because it opened my mind. I have hundreds of people working in our communities. We have tens of thousands of residents. It kind of opened my mind to a perspective that some people, just to ask for their dripping faucet to be fixed, have to overcome an anxiety; will they be accepted? Will they be treated with dignity? I really found a great affinity with this. I felt like I learned something from the article when I bought the book. I think that more people should be more in tune and more focused on the people that they're trying to serve, the people that lease from you and occupy your real estate. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? If everyone is not using Energy Star Portfolio Manager is nuts, because they should be using it. It's something that the DOE and the EPA are really investing in bringing to the next level. We use several softwares for physical climate risk. We use separate softwares for modeling transition risk and finding opportunities to model how our investments are going to change our carbon intensity over time. We use different software for warehousing the enormous amount of data when it comes to having a large real estate portfolio with separate funds and strategies and that sort of thing. In putting all this data together for measuring the success or the shortfall of how we're investing, how it impacts the stated goals in terms of decarbonization or energy efficiency, it’s a number of technologies that we're employing. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at Stoneweg US? I'm really proud that we've relaunched our website, https://www.stoneweg.us, and there's an ESG optimization section. This is something that I really worked really hard to provide a deep dive into how we're approaching all the material subjects around ESG and how we're making it tactical, going beyond good intentions. It's something that I'll maintain and share our progress and what we learn over time. Part of that is there's no point in me having a Net Zero portfolio, we all need to do it. That's part of the collaboration and that's why our company makes it front facing on our website.

35m
Feb 09
Camille Richard - Head of Sustainability at Back Market

Camille Richard is Head of Sustainability at Back Market, the leading marketplace dedicated to refurbished devices and reducing electronics’ negative impact on the environment. She has led the company to become a Mission-Driven Company in 2022 and a B Corp-certified company in 2023. Working in the environmental sector for 10 years, prior to Back Market Camille was Sustainable Performance Manager for Suez, a waste and water recycling company, in Brazil, Mexico, and France. She received in 2021 the Hub35 Sustainable Award from the Hub Institute. Camille Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Camille’s Final Five Question Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Be pragmatic and patient. When you work in the sustainability department of a company, you may understand that not everybody in the company is as mature as you wish on this topic. Sometimes you need to be ready to take one step backward today to be able to take two steps forward in a year. So it's something that you have to have in mind all the time, and it's not because you have to compromise at some point or that your project is not going to come out at some point. I would say as well to push sustainability strategy as an efficiency factor in the company. As a sustainability professional, working corporate, you are the defender of a long-term vision and it's not always the easy way, but nine times out of ten adopting sustainable practices leads to reduced cost and risks in the company. So you have to be patient and pragmatic and keep pushing it like it's actually what it is, a way to be more efficient and to last longer as a company. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? It's almost like a rising movement around the recognition of the contributions of certain companies like us to the fight against climate change. The recognition of scope four to avoid emissions like we mentioned a bit earlier today. There is more and more investor interest in it, saying that the value of the company is not only about money, but it's also about the impact it's actually generating. So I am very excited to see what is going to happen in the next month and years about that. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? I would say Grow the Pie from Alex Edmond. The idea of the book is to say that creating value is not only about choosing between financial value and the planet and the people, and that a successful company is the one that actually manages to grow the pie for all its stakeholders. A responsible business is actually one that innovates to last longer. I really liked this idea about this book. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? A tool that has helped me a lot and I wish I had known about it when I started at Back Market it's a B Corp self-assessment. It's not a resource per se, but it's a really good tool to run a diagnosis of where you are at in terms of sustainability in your company. What are your strengths? What are your actual weaknesses and what are your progress margins? I would recommend to anyone that wants to start a sustainability approach in their company to run a self-assessment on B Corp. I would say as well, I read a lot of the strategy from the French Agency for Environment that I was mentioning before, because recently they had made a really good one about carbon neutrality that was super interesting. And I look very closely as well as a UN report on waste because of course it's very close to our topic, but I would say mostly the better source of information and good practices for me is to talk with my peers in other companies. Sustainability teams are never huge teams. So it's always very interesting to talk about what you are doing, what are the best practices with people doing your job, but in other companies. So you can actually grab a lot of information and it's super interesting. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Back Market? We are about to launch our corporate website which we are going to feed with a lot of information, but it's not online yet. So I would recommend to follow me on LinkedIn. I'm trying to post regularly. And you can go on our website backmarket.com where we have some information about the company as well.

30m
Dec 22, 2023
Rachel Kaufman - Senior Director, Global Sustainability at Avantor

Rachel Kaufman is the Senior Director, Global Sustainability at Avantor, a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences and technology industries. In this role, Rachel is responsible for establishing the company's environmental sustainability strategies and targets related to operations and products. She also oversees Avantor's broader Science for Goodness Sustainability Program and leads ESG reporting and customer and investor ESG engagement. Rachel's sustainability industry experience spans over 20 years. Before joining Avantor, she served as the Global Director of Environmental Sustainability for Johnson & Johnson's Consumer Health and Vision Care segments and managed communications and environmental policy for non-profit and government agencies in Washington, DC. Rachel holds a B.S. in NaturalResources from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Rachel Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Rachel’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?  Hopefully this doesn't come across as something that is obvious, but I would say, I view corporate sustainability quite differently than I view nonprofit work, environmental, conservation work. There is a business side of it. I decided to go back and get my MBA. I'm not saying that's what you need to do, but somehow really beef up that understanding of: what are the challenges that your functional and cross-functional partners are facing. What is it like to be the CFO? What might be their barriers to being able to approve the investment that you need to achieve your sustainability goals? Getting an understanding of the Head of Sales and HR and where their challenges are I think is really key to being able to have those conversations and progress quickly on sustainability goals.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?  It's the spotlight, the debate and the day-to-day. The fact that in mass media right now, when you hear about these severe weather events, there's a mention of climate. When there's talk of the economy, there's a discussion of equity. It's really encouraging to see these topics get into the mainstream conversations on the related topics because they are so integral and so interrelated.  What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read?  I actually am not a huge reader of books. I get a lot of my information from reading articles, current events and podcasts. I would recommend folks follow some of the newsletters such as GreenBiz, Corporate Eco Forum, Sustainable Brands, and a top one I really like is actually the New York Stock Exchange. They do a top five ESG weekly roundup. I find that that's just a really great quick summary of what's happening in this space, particularly from that investor perspective. So I'm going to actually do a surprising plug for some of those email newsletters  What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?  One answer is the newsletters and the distributors that I just mentioned, but actually the sustainability network. We all have it, but I've joined a couple of sustainability groups of peers where we've been able to have these honest conversations of the challenges in a safe space. It is so helpful to hear that you are not alone in these challenges, and to be able to share learnings you have and be able to share confidentially and hear from others on how they have overcome some of the challenges. Find that network. Some are more structured than others where you can ask for those honest conversations. There's a few that I'm a part of that other folks you’ve had on the phone are a part of and we have spoken to about achieving these targets together.  Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Avantor? Our corporate website, which is avantorsciences.com. It's actually getting an overhaul soon, but it has a bunch of sustainability information under the “About Us.” Then of course you can follow myself or Avantor on LinkedIn. We do post quite a bit about our sustainability, DEI, and the work that we're doing in this space on LinkedIn.

32m
Nov 24, 2023
Jamie Horst - Chief Purpose Officer at Traditional Medicinals

Jamie joined Traditional Medicinals in 2019 as the Chief Purpose Officer. She manages Traditional Medicinals sustainability efforts including risk assessment, Zero Waste Project, regenerative and carbon strategy, and supply chain data management. Jamie is a recognized leader with expertise in corporate responsibility, sustainability, shared value creation and employee and community engagement. In January 2022, Jamie’s role officially expanded to include the Human Resources team. Previously, Jamie was the Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at McKesson, a Fortune 6 healthcare company. Prior to that she was the Senior Director, Employee Engagement and Corporate Responsibility at Visa and served as the Director of Community Engagement at the Alcoa Foundation for 10 years. Jamie earned a MS, Leadership for Sustainability, from University of Vermont, an Executive Certificate in Strategic Reputation Management from Dartmouth College, and MBA, Strategic Management, Organization Behavior from The University of British Columbia and a BS in Business Administration, IT, Finance and Accounting from Duquesne University. Jamie Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Jamie’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?  Understanding communication skills and influence skills really matter. What I found, especially working in large companies, is that most leaders are not ill-intentioned, but they may be preoccupied and they may be out of their depth on some of these sustainability topics. So the more you can meet them where they are, think about the scope of responsibility they have as well as their personal values and the company values, and then help move them in the direction of the change that you want to see, the easier it will be for everyone.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?  This might be specific to me, but I think we're probably seeing it across the board as hiring managers, is that environmental courses and topics are much more prevalent today than they were when we were in school. What I find now is that many people have degrees or minors in environmental sustainability. They may be working in marketing or R&D or procurement, but they have a real passion for environmental sustainability. We used to have to convince people, we had to do a lot of selling internally to get our initiatives bumped to the top of the priority list. Now we have ready allies across the organization who are really agitating for change. I think that's great, but it does require us as sustainability leaders to change our skills from leading from the front to coordinating and collaborating across departments. But I'm excited to see how many people have skill and passion.  What is one book you'd recommend sustainability leaders read?  I love The Shareholder Value Myth by Lynn Stout. We can't talk about the future health of the planet without talking about the way that our capital markets work. There's a real case to be made for long-term thinking, and I think she does a really good job discussing that.  What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?  The Fair Wild Foundation. If you care about conservation or plants, it's a great one to learn from. They produce really great, thought leadership pieces. For those in the food industry, we use a tool called HowGood that allows us to understand the environmental footprint and impact of our products. That helps us when we're innovating as well. We want to deliver specific impact to our consumers, but if we can do that in a lower environmentally impactful way, that's great. So HowGood is another great tool. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Traditional Medicinals? Our website is https://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/. If you go to the impact section, you can find our impact report. You can find lots of stories about what we're doing in the world and our approach to business, and I hope you enjoy it. I think it's a beautiful site. It also teaches a lot about plants.

33m
Oct 30, 2023
Amelia DeLuca - Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines

Amelia DeLuca serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines, leading the airline on its journey to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and deliver a more sustainable and elevated travel experience along the way. Prior to her appointment as Chief Sustainability Officer, DeLuca served as Vice President, International Customer Experience and Partner Sustainability. In that role, DeLuca led cross-divisional efforts to deliver a consistent premium customer experience across Delta’s partners. She also supported the development of Delta's partner sustainability strategy across Delta’s global partner network to enhance and accelerate the alliance’s leading sustainability position and provide greater collective impact across the Delta network. During her 17-year career with Delta, DeLuca has held varied leadership positions within the Sustainability, Global Sales, Revenue Management and Network Planning teams and has been based in Mexico City, Minneapolis, Amsterdam, New York City and Atlanta. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and has her M.B.A. from the University of Amsterdam. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and two daughters.   Amelia Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Amelia’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give to other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?  I have two for this. I think first and foremost, take care of yourselves. I think that goes for anyone who is alive today, but especially those that are working. Obviously we've all been through a lot. I love that the world has shifted into talking about mental wellbeing more frequently. I think sustainability professionals need to really double down and think about that, because while optimism and passion takes us forward in what we do every single day, this is one of the most daunting things that I've ever been a part of. You open the news, or you go outside and you see a climate catastrophe. Some days it just feels really sad and depressing. So first off, take care of yourself. Make sure you have all the tools you need to feel good, and then secondly, lean into your peers and your sustainability friends. The incredible partners that I've made from my airline counterparts, extending beyond just the airlines, all sustainability counterparts that I've met, there's not a greater group of people than those in the sustainability profession. I've never reached out to someone and asked for advice or asked for their time and they’ve said no. Find a couple of people that you just really enjoy in this space, whether in your industry or something else, and build a relationship with them and it will stand the test of time.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?  One of the things I struggle with the most in sustainability is when I feel like we make it really difficult for consumers to know what is right, what is up, what is correct. The news provides different viewpoints, which I think is super helpful, there shouldn't just be a “yes, this is the answer,” and no one disputes it. I love that there are people out there that challenge every part of sustainability from “what's the best product in terms of what to put on board? Is it a plastic water bottle because it's lighter weight or is it aluminum?” There's a fierce debate and I love debate, but the theme I like the most right now in sustainability is transparency. I don't mean transparency in the way that we think about it through the SEC climate rules, for example. I think about it as, not only are we taking time, and this podcast is such a great example, to educate consumers on how to think about sustainability trends. We're all walking towards a world where consumers are essentially empowered to make choices because brands and products and activities, you name it, offer information and transparency about the impact that consumers can make and the choice that feels most right to them personally. I'm personally really excited about the transparency that we're building as a community.  What is one book you'd recommend sustainability Leaders read?  I have two. The more common one, which is one of the first books I read when I moved into sustainability, was Drawdown. My guess is, if you're listening to this, you probably already read that by Paul Hawken, but I liked Drawdown because it really helped me take what felt like a really daunting subject that I was starting in and it broke it down into concepts, and it had a lot of numbers. It really was focused not on what the problems were, but what the climate solutions were. I’m a big fan of drawdown. Separately though, I'm a big fiction reader, and I do always encourage people, including our sustainability professionals, to make sure you continue to read fiction. Not only can it be uplifting if you've had a daunting day, but I think it also challenges our brain to think about things just more broadly, in different terms or from different angles. So another book that I am in the midst of reading right now, which is one of the top books from last year, is called The Candy House. It's a really trippy book. It's essentially this concept of social media that could allow us to upload and share our memories with each other. That just seems really weird. But the reason I say that is I like to read books that make me think about the world and where society is going from a different lens. Candy House is a really great example, it seems like the craziest idea ever. But then you're also like, well, with AI and where we're going, we could be there before we know it. I like to read books that just challenge me to think about the world a little differently.  What are your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?  Podcasts, and that's not just a plug for this one, but I typically listen to a sustainability or climate podcast coming into work and leaving work. I'm a big fan of just kind of diving in topically on things that are interesting to me. Or if I've had something I've come across from a work perspective that I'm like, “Hey, I don't know that much about X,” I'll just listen to a podcast about it. It's such a great way to get a little bit deeper. My second thing of course is my team. I have an amazing team who all know so much more about this space than probably I ever will because many of them have come through college focusing on the environment or sustainability, or they have masters in the topics, or they've worked in the oil and gas industry. We have a woman who's come from Nike and stood up a big portion of their sustainability work a number of years ago. I rely upon them a lot on all things. I think that's what any good leader should do, build a team that knows more than they do and make sure that you’re tapping into them as they go.  Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at Delta?  I hope that you will learn more about Delta's sustainable journey and also look out for some of these sustainability enhancements that you're going to see on board going forward. You can also learn more about our path to sustainability and the progress we're making by going to https://news.delta.com/path-to-sustainability. You can also follow me on LinkedIn. I would love it if you follow me on LinkedIn and engage with me there. I always want to hear your thoughts and opinions on what Delta is doing.

36m
Oct 23, 2023
Scott Tew - Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies

Scott Tew is the leader of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies (CEES) and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives aimed at transitioning to more efficient and climate-friendly solutions and minimizing resource use within company facilities. He serves as a thought leader in linking public policy, economic impacts and a value-stream approach to sustainability. His efforts have led to the development of world-class initiatives, including introduction of the company’s comprehensive 2030 Sustainability Commitments with the largest customer-facing corporate commitment to combat climate change with the Gigaton Challenge; and as a pioneer in integrated reporting. Scott holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in environmental science and ecology from Livingston University. He serves on the Advisory Council of the Corporate Eco Forum; as the board chair of the World Environment Center; and as the chair of the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD). Scott Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Scott’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? The power of commitments and the power of public goals; I can never underestimate the power of that. Helping leadership get behind a public commitment is a huge game changer. If you're with a company where that hasn't happened yet, that needs to be the front and center of your focus. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I believe we're about to move into a new era of regenerative thinking. I think attaching sustainability to a company's purpose like we did at Trane Technologies was what was needed to get us to where we are today. There are some great companies out there thinking “how do we actually have a regenerative mantra so that we actually can redo anything bad from the past and think very differently about solutions in the future?” That means that we are more open to innovation and partnerships than ever before, so that has me very excited. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read? I have to be selfish on this one; After Cooling is one by Eric Dean Wilson. That is a really interesting one because it talks about the cost of comfort to the world, which is exactly the problem that my company is trying to solve. In a world where we have an increasing number of heat waves and heat domes, it might be time for us all to step back and think about how cooling is delivered and what we should do differently in the future. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? There are a few outside organizations that I get a lot of value out of hearing from other practitioners. For your listeners out there, I think you really should explore groups where you can be amongst your peers to find out how they're accomplishing whatever they're accomplishing. I get a lot of value from chatting either one-on-one or hearing a presentation of practitioners of how something worked in their company. Those are the things that I bring back to apply within my company, and I can point to lots of examples of that through the years. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Trane Technologies? You can go to tranetechnologies.com and the opening page will have a link to our sustainability progress. My group is featured with its own section of the website including my email address. I’m always happy to engage with anyone who might have questions or want to follow up.

35m
Sep 26, 2023
Tara Brown - Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Jack Henry

Tara is Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Jack Henry. She leads the strategy and execution of the organization's corporate sustainability efforts, including corporate ethics, the transition to a low carbon future, philanthropy and sustainability related reporting. Prior to focusing on advancing Jack Henry's sustainability efforts, Tara launched Jack Henry's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, created an internal mobility program, led the learning and development team, revamped the performance management program, and developed Jack Henry's talent analytics approach. Tara Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Tara’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers Figure out how to make complex ideas simple. If you don't take the time to do it, your communications can fall flat. The world of sustainability is so complicated. You're spanning so many different topics from cybersecurity and information security to greenhouse gas emissions to philanthropy and so on. Really being able to distill all that complexity into simple statements, into communications that people can understand without needing to be experts in the field, and not only understand, but know what to do with that information- if you can figure that out, then you'll easily create impactful reporting and momentum internally within your organization. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Particularly as a sustainability professional, I think we are so privileged to have a role in which we have the opportunity to impact every single person on this planet through our work. That may seem a little bit Pollyanna, but it's true. I think the work that we're doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to do work around philanthropy, to do work around corporate ethics, all of that really matters. I think that it’s incredibly exciting to be in a field that can have that sort of large scale impact. That and the talent that is coming up. Two members of my team, they are new graduates and they are so passionate, so knowledgeable, and I know they're two of many that are coming out in the field. It's incredible to see what these folks are going to do and how they're going to take us to the next level. So I'm excited about that. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read? It's a classic, and it's not really a sustainability book, it's a book about leadership: Good to Great by Jim Collins. If you can't speak the language of business, and you will hear the concepts in these books spoken about constantly at the C-suite level and with executive leadership, you're not going to be taken seriously. You've got to be able to speak the language of business. In particular, I like Good to Great because of that concept of the flywheel; the idea that consistent action over time really can create momentum and that it's easily sustained and energizes people over time. I think that's so applicable to the world of sustainability. It's a slow roll in the beginning, but once you get things going, if you're thoughtful and consistent, it takes off, and your job is just to tap the rut or make sure you’re on the right course over time. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I'm a big reader of ESG Today. They have a weekly summary email that gives you the highlights. I think it's important to know what's going on in the field. But the most helpful resource is networking. It's finding other people in this field that you can talk with and share ideas with. I've done that through conferences or through webinars. I'll reach out and say, “I like what you said about this. Could we have a quick conversation?” Just building those relationships so that you have thought partners to bring ideas to and help you make your work more impactful. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Jack Henry? You can find me on LinkedIn, Tara Brown at Jack Henry. If you go to jackhenry.com on our investor relations site, you'll find a link to our corporate sustainability reports and previous reports and highlights of our most recent initiatives.

34m
Aug 22, 2023
Liliana Esposito - Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Wendy's

Liliana joined Wendy’s in June 2014 and has served as Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer since February 2021 to reflect her range of responsibilities across Communications, Quality Assurance, Customer Care, Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility. She previously served as our Chief Communications Officer from June 2014 to February 2021. Liliana sets the vision and strategy for all communications with franchisees and employees, public relations, government relations and corporate responsibility. Her work with the Quality Assurance function involves developing quality and safety procedures throughout our supply chain and restaurants to provide a safe and quality dining experience for all Wendy’s customers. Liliana prides herself on building diverse teams and empowering them to find solutions – a leadership style that has produced notable results. Her team recently restructured Wendy’s corporate responsibility efforts under one united banner, Good Done Right, and created our Supplier Code of Conduct. Under her direction, Wendy’s also launched The Square Deal, Wendy’s blog to provide a point of view on issues that are important to our Company and our customers. Prior to Wendy’s, Liliana served as Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Dean Foods in Dallas, TX. Her previous experience includes tenure as Public Affairs Manager with Mars, Incorporated in New Jersey, and as a public relations consultant for eight years in New York City. Liliana Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Liliana’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? The advice that I would give is just to be a sponge for learning and for relationships and networking with others in the field. I would not have considered myself a sustainability professional even 10 years ago. There is so much to learn. There is so much to absorb. I don't think anyone can be an expert in all of it. I think really broadening your aperture so that you have the benefit of expertise from others that are in different aspects of your field is something that I really value. Probably the most important resource that I see in the field is people. Hopefully you can provide some value to them in terms of the expertise and the knowledge that you have, but also continuing to build those relationships and reach out and network to increase your effectiveness. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? The biggest is just the awareness and the general knowledge and interest in this area. That takes a lot of different forms and different parts of the industry, different stakeholders are coming at it with different points of view. But I think that there's never been a better time to really be demonstrating the value and the importance of sustainability work within the business community. I feel like the conversation I'm not having anymore is around “why should we care about this?” Does this actually add to our business value? Is there a strong rationale for being focused on ESG or sustainability? Now the conversation is much more around, “where should we be putting our precious resources?” Where can our efforts be most successful and most effective?  What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I'll go to the classics. There's certainly lots of more contemporary examples, but I think Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. I was in college when I read it. That really started to open my eyes around not just the importance of a focus on the environment and on sustainability, but a factual, well researched, analysis of what was happening and what we as a society could do to make a more positive impact. I know that's a classic, but I think it's still relevant today. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? To repeat myself, people. I really do collect and curate a great network of people that come from all different backgrounds and perspectives and areas of expertise. The more that I can connect and engage with people that do things that are very different than what I do professionally, I just grow and learn from that. And then a plug for you Josh and your colleagues for podcasts like this one. I usually go for a run every day and I've got a collection of podcasts and other things that, that that's the soundtrack to my daily runs because I feel like there's always something new coming out to help us just learn and get better. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at Wendy's? We would love for you to hop over to wendys.com and click on the what we value segment of our website. You can find our corporate responsibility reports for 2022 and the years in the past, and then certainly a wealth of information about the company and our commitments overall.

34m
Jul 27, 2023
Pam Klyn - Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations and Sustainability at Whirlpool

Pamela Klyn was named Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations and Sustainability, on January 1, 2022. Klyn was most recently a Vice President in Whirlpool Corporation’s Global Product Organization. During her time with the company, Klyn has held advancing roles in engineering, product development, global innovation, and marketing. From 2013 to 2015, she lived in Italy and served as the Vice President of Products & Brands for Whirlpool EMEA.  Klyn was hired into the company’s Technical Excellence Program in 1993 after graduating from Michigan Technological University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1995 and has an Executive MBA from Bowling Green State University. Klyn is currently a Board member for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor and a Trustee for the Whirlpool Foundation. She serves on the Michigan Technological University External Advisory Board for the Dean of Engineering and on the Board of Directors for Patrick Industries. Pam Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Pam’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give to other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I think it's always important to look at all the data and information you have. Don't get analysis paralysis, but create a roadmap. Understand what kind of traditional problem solving you can apply. Where do you need innovation? Where do you need partnerships? Where do you need a different way to solve it? Think about who else has this problem or this accountability and how you could jointly solve it together. Anytime there's an inflection point, like the focus on sustainability, that breeds opportunity, in my opinion. Use the skills you have, the problem solving skills, the experience you have, but be open to how this can be a completely new opportunity for you and your organization. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Opportunity for partnerships. If you look at our 111 year history as a company, it's been about key partnerships at the right time in a continued evolution of doing the right thing, keeping the consumer at the center of it, and finding ways to reinvent for the future. What's outstanding is we have such a strong base to start from, but we know we can do better and we can make a huge impact and really lead the way here. I’m really excited to see what comes out of it, especially as you start to look at recycling and partnering with consumers in their homes. How do we get the message across that if you run this dishwasher at night, if that is workable for you and your lifestyle, you save 30% energy? How do we enable consumers to use appliances in the smartest way possible that doesn't compromise their lifestyle? What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I don’t know if it only applies to sustainability professionals, but I recently read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, which is about the Nike journey. I'm very proud of Whirlpool's 111 year history and the reinvention that it's taken, as I mentioned. But a company like Nike, which is such a powerhouse, came so close so many times to not making it, despite amazing orders and all the business they could handle. It really points to: sustainability means so many different things, but it really centers all around ensuring the longevity of a company. It points to the tenacity that it takes and the belief in doing the right thing for the customer, and keeping the customer and quality at the center of it all. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? It's the team, the cross-functional effort. It's our people here and the fact that people want to do the right thing. It's my team's job, the sustainability team's job to guide them and say, overall, here's our targets as a company. Manufacturing, we need this from you, procurement, we need your help here partnering with suppliers. What are our suppliers doing to think about the next level? Are there new suppliers to partner with? For example, information technology, we need systems to measure our emissions in a reportable way. Legal, how do we make sure we're managing the governance aspect? Product, our engineering organization, how do we continue to evolve our product in new and different innovative ways? It really is that aspect that we get to partner with every part of the organization, and our people come through time and time again. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work and check out your new 2022 sustainability report? You can find our sustainability report on whirlpoolcorp.com, and we have a lot of great tips and tricks on how to use your appliances more efficiently. We have a consumer facing website called improvinglife@home.com and that talks about making sure you don't open your refrigerator too often, run certain appliances at night, don't hand wash, use your dishwasher, etc. It really gives a lot of those things that people haven't been told and so they're not doing routinely, but that can really make a difference in your water and energy bill.

34m
Jun 14, 2023
Emilio Tenuta - Chief Sustainability Officer at Ecolab

Emilio Tenuta is senior vice president of Corporate Sustainability and chief sustainability officer for Ecolab. For the past 11 years, he has led Ecolab’s strategic sustainability journey and is actively involved in advancing global sustainability practices, with a significant focus on water stewardship and climate action. In recent years, he’s become a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and reporting. Partnering with investor relations and Ecolab’s Chief Executive Officer, Tenuta has advanced Ecolab’s reputation as an ESG leading company. He is chair of the board of directors of the World Environment Center, a global non-profit, non-advocacy organization. Emilio is also on the leadership council of the Corporate Eco Forum.  Emilio Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Emilio’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? If you really want to make a difference from a sustainability impact, work in the private sector. I believe there is this myth that the only place people can make a difference is by working for an environmental nonprofit. I think today in our discussion we've proven that Ecolab is living proof that more and more companies can deliver a positive impact in the world while driving profitable growth and helping communities thrive. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? The rise of ESG over the last five years. I'm most excited about the tremendous investment in sustainability, climate and water by the capital markets and investors to help the world decarbonize. I think mobilizing finance is a huge catalyst to driving the change we need to see in the world. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I'm a big fan of Thomas Friedman, the author of The World is Flat. His latest book is really good called Thank You For Being Late. It's an interesting perspective on the convergence of technology, climate, and geopolitical challenges facing the world; something that is obviously very relevant today. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I'm a big fan of The World Resources Institute, which is a think tank out of Washington DC. I'm also a big fan of CDP, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Water Resilience Coalition. After two and a half/three years now, there are a plethora of resources available if you go to the Water Resilience Coalition website that support not only the actions we need to take for a water constrained world, but also driving climate resilience. Where can people go to learn more about you and the work being done at Ecolab? Ecolab.com. It's a tremendous resource and I really commend our global communications team and our digital enablement team. They've done a great job of providing some tremendous resources there. I would encourage folks to follow me on LinkedIn. I'm very passionate about sharing the incredible things going on in the world not only with Ecolab, but with all of our partners, and then Twitter as well. Then I'll shout out to a publicly available tool called the Smartwater Navigator, which is available on smartwaternavigator.com, which is another great place to really learn more about the work that we're doing. 

35m
May 17, 2023
Josh Raglin - Chief Sustainability Officer at Norfolk Southern Corporation

Josh Raglin has dedicated over 25 years in the fields of conservation, forestry, and environmental stewardship. As chief sustainability officer at Norfolk Southern, he leads efforts to transform the company’s sustainability strategy. He champions initiatives that integrate sustainability practices into daily operations to achieve efficiencies, control costs, generate revenue, and reduce environmental impacts. These efforts include close collaboration with department leaders company-wide, along with external stakeholders such as customers, investors, regulators, and communities. Josh Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Josh’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I would say network. You can't know too many people. The more you network, the more connections you make. Not only internally within your company but externally as well. That's going to increase your knowledge base. Many of our customers have just started their sustainability programs in the last three or four years, and so I can be a resource for them in helping them start their journey, and I really enjoy doing that. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I think it's the excitement, the corporate commitment that you're seeing, and where we've gone in such a short period of time. And it's voluntary. We're getting the support of all of our stakeholders. It's important to our customers, our investors, our regulators, and it's important to our employees as well. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read? It's actually one I just completed. It's called How the World Really Works, and it's by an energy scientist Vaclav Smil. He's written a number of books over the years, and he's not a pessimist, he's not an optimist, he's a scientist. He really does a great way of explaining the science, particularly when it comes to energy. I really highly recommend that to anyone. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I would say probably my engagement with outside groups. I really enjoy engaging with conservation related groups or environmental groups and understanding our natural environment more and how Norfolk Southern can be a part of that. Whether it's employee engagement, whether it's financial support, or volunteering. A number of our employees, we volunteer on boards, we attend events, and it's not just about doing railroading, but it's also about how we can engage with the community to really make a difference. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at Norfolk Southern? I'm on LinkedIn, so if you look up Josh Raglin Norfolk Southern, you'll find me pretty easily. And our website is http://www.nscorp.com/betterplanet.

31m
May 01, 2023
Yogesh Chauhan - Director of ESG at HubSpot

Yogesh Chauhan is director of ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) at HubSpot. His brief is to develop a new and impactful ESG strategy covering all HubSpot’s operations. He oversees a range of environmental, community engagement, reporting, innovation and thought leadership initiatives designed to embed sustainability and responsible business across the company. Prior to HubSpot, Yogesh Chauhan was director of corporate sustainability at Tata Consultancy Services for nine years. He was also the BBC’s chief adviser on corporate responsibility and environment and worked for the corporation for 12 years. Yogesh Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Yogesh’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Authenticity. My advice to all sustainability professionals is don't get tempted to say and do things that really are not authentic and genuine in terms of how you are driving the sustainability agenda, because you will get caught in the greenwashing mill. Authenticity would be my key advice. Be authentic as much as you possibly can. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I would say sustainable innovation is something that I'm really getting excited about. Whether that's things like green aviation fuel, more sustainable building materials that are coming on stream, scaling renewable energy and the dramatic reduction in costs for renewable infrastructure, and what we see visibly now amongst most populations is the change in lifestyles that people are beginning to adopt and consumers making individual choices. Those are the things that really excite me. As part of that innovation, there's obviously a whole leap of technology that is being built to drive a more sustainable future, whether that's digital technology or engineering technology, and those are the bits that really do excite me. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Just looking at my bookshelf at the moment, what caught my eye is the Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom. It's just a tiny little book with a few quotes on each page, and it isn't about sustainability. It's rather about the broader concepts that drive sustainability, the essence of being. What does contentment mean? What does joy mean? What does the art of giving and receiving mean? I think once you get that into your system and start to live and breathe those core beliefs that are ingrained in us as human beings, from that flows a sustainability mindset. I would recommend people have that by their side and consult that now just to get a sense of realism about what life is all about. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Well, actually HubSpot has a number of publications that are part of independent publications but are owned by HubSpot. There's something called The Daily Hustle and the Weekly Trends, again not directly about sustainability, but actually very much about innovation, new ideas, and really capturing the essence of the energy behind startups and small and medium-sized businesses, and all the creative ideas and innovations that are coming out from that. That always gives me a huge amount of inspiration, because nearly always there are things that are going on that people are inventing, developing new business models, new business ideas that have a sustainability focus. At the professional end for the sustainability practitioners, I would say McKinsey's website and podcasts tend to be my go-to on a regular basis. Finally, friends and colleagues that I've kind of nurtured and developed over the years and the opportunity to bounce ideas off and have conversations all things sustainability with. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the sustainability work being done at HubSpot? HubSpot has a website which is engaging, lively, and has lots and lots of information. I would encourage everyone who's interested to go there. We have a sustainability section that's got lots of information about what we are doing, including the current report as well. If anyone wants to connect with me directly, then LinkedIn would be the place I would recommend.

32m
Mar 27, 2023
Bridgette McAdoo -Global Sustainability Officer at Genesys

Bridgette McAdoo leads the Global Sustainability practice at Genesys. She is responsible for sustainability as a management approach that holistically optimizes our economic, social, and environmental impact. In her role leading sustainability at Genesys, Bridgette drives our stakeholder engagement, education, and the evolution of the sustainable strategy and programs across Genesys. She also leverages sustainability metrics to track our non-financial performance and deliver integrated reports to our stakeholders Bridgette has over 20 years of experience in sustainability leadership roles across multiple sectors, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where she most recently led corporate strategy and engagement for WWF’s Freshwater and Food goals, Global Director of Sustainability for KFC, where she headed all sustainability issues for the brand, internally within Yum! Brands and externally with various sustainability stakeholders, and operations roles that were part of NASA’s Space Shuttle and Mars Rover programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and an MBA in Strategy from the Drucker School of Management. Bridgette Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Bridgette's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Don't underestimate the power of two words: value and differentiation. Value, because one, it's usually not a group that has P&L responsibility, but you need to show that you can drive pipeline, help with attrition and retention. You have to show all the value that sustainability brings to the business so that it's a value proposition, not just a buzzword. Differentiation is how do you use it to set you apart from your competitors? Use it as a way to help put the company in a different lens than it usually would, and show that value. Show all the intangible values of sustainability, not just the tangible ones, all the qualifiable values, not just the quantifiable ones. That will help you to really get it elevated versus it sitting in the middle of the organizations as some people struggle with. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm excited that I'm starting to see a lot of emphasis on intersectionality. For so long I felt that people felt like they could only talk about one pillar at a time. It's either an environmental conversation or a diversity conversation or a governance conversation. But those should be integrated. There should be an integrated, holistic approach to how we look at sustainability, because when those things are looked at in tandem, when we integrate it, we get the real wins. I'm glad to see that even organizations are starting to restructure to be that way and not silo out the work. When that happens I just feel like the work is really not as impactful as it should be. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Because of all the time reading all these white papers and case studies, I like to read things that are way more inspiring and motivating and so far away from sustainability. However, I just started reading Net Positive by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston. I'm enjoying that book. It highlights the way we look at traditional CSR or philanthropy or impact, however your organization refers to it, is just not adequate for where we are today. That we, as leaders in this space, really need to rethink about how we drive the business differently and how we can be the change that we want to see. Another book that has been extremely impactful is Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi. It talks about and it details how racist ideas were created, spread and deeply rooted in society. It's thought-provoking and intense, but it's a fantastic read. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I have a few different distribution lists that I'm on like GreebBiz Weekly. I get a lot of things where I can see a lot of articles. Our marketing team also does a fantastic job of scouring the industry or all the latest sustainability news to make sure that we can have a pulse on what's happening. So that's been extremely useful for me as having that inside outlook and then getting it from different shareholders or key stakeholders across sustainability when I get to see different articles. The climate pledge also being a part of that; you get to see what's happening across different signatories. It's always good to be able to benchmark and look how you're trending against all the different other companies that have the same commitments. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Genesys? You can always go to our website and you can visit genesys.com/sustainability to learn more about our sustainability initiatives, read our latest report, and stay up to date on our progress.

36m
Feb 23, 2023
Michael Cooke - Vice President, Social and Environmental Responsibility at Jabil

Michael Cooke has held senior EHS positions in various industries ranging from pharmaceuticals and chemicals to inks and coatings and engineering. In these roles he has led businesses to world-class performance against industry peers and the top centile when benchmarked against all industries.   Michael has also held senior positions outside of EHS – as business director for a pharma division and Strategy, Mergers and Acquisition director for EMEA/Asia regions. Currently, Michael is the Vice President of Social and Environmental Responsibility for Jabil, based in Zurich, heading EHS and Sustainability globally. In this role, he balances various functional activities, from site and people, social responsibility and human rights, HSE, health and wellbeing — linking this to a clear and effective sustainability strategy creating business value.  Michael earned his BSc (Joint Hons) in Chemistry and MSc in Environmental and Pollution Control from the University of Manchester and his MBA from Henley Management College.  Michael Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Michael’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give to sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Make it real. If it's window dressing or something like that, you will very soon lose traction within the employees or your other stakeholders. So make it real. Understand what your stakeholders want. Not that you can always do things for all of the stakeholders, but you can prioritize the ones where you can do that. By doing that, look to create some real value, both in terms of the companies that you work for, but also in the communities and the people in and outside of the business which will also be impacted by what you do. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? You might find this actually a bit strange; greenwashing, or the fact that greenwashing is now being looked at more closely. Right now, as I said earlier, we really are doing things in a way that is having a positive impact. We want to continue doing that. It is also important that people who make big announcements about things but aren't really delivering anything are called out. You see in the SEC in the USA that's already happened. There has been some falling out in terms of greenwashing. I also think that the way that legislation is changing in the EU, the European Union Corporate Sustainability Reporting Director, for instance, and link to the taxonomy, means that you can't make claims as easily as you could do before without actually backing them up better. For me that's a really good thing. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? This is something actually when I was doing my master's degree I was referred to and read and that is Small is Beautiful. It's a book by E. F. Schumacher. He entitled it Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. I love that part because if people matter in what we do, then we generally respect the social dimension of things and the environmental and the financial aspects of what we do. Within that book, he talks about the use of natural resources and how we actually value those things, along with how people contribute negatively or positively to those things. What reminded me a bit of it was, I was actually at a conference on putting people into sustainability in London last week. What I thought was quite an interesting point: on the balance sheet, a robot is seen as an asset, but on the balance sheet, a person or people are seen as costs. That seems a bit strange that people are seen as a negative and a robot is seen as a positive. Looking at how we put people into sustainability discussion is a very important thing. And hence, I like that book. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? There's lots on the internet that you can use, but I get most of my inspiration from other companies and other people and listening to what they're doing. I think networking and that respect is probably the most beneficial way of actually being challenged and seeing how we can do things better. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Jabil? The best thing is to go to our sustainability pages on our website. You'll see we have some great resources there. We've got some blocks from my team and other members on circular economy, on how to create a strategy for carbon reduction. We really would like some feedback on that and to see if other people are finding the same challenges, and also, I think our solutions may be helpful.

33m
Jan 18, 2023
Fawn Bergen - Corporate Sustainability Manager - Intel Corporation

Fawn Bergen leads Intel Corporation’s Global Water Stewardship program. Using her 21 years of experience as an environmental engineer, she manages Intel’s global water strategy and their commitment to achieve net positive water use by conserving water in operations and restoring more than 100% of their global water use by 2030. Under her leadership Intel has been honored with the 2018 US Water Prize by the US Water Alliance, 2019 Sustainability Champion by Arizona Forward, and 2019 Innovative Partnerships in Philanthropic Giving by the Portland Business Journal, for their achievements in water stewardship. Fawn is a graduate of the University of Florida. Fawn Leads Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Fawn’s Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I would say: keep an open mind. I've known so many people that I went to school with; they had their career path set and of course, things changed. A lot of people would have no idea who they would be working for. That's been a fun part of my journey, the unexpected changes. The sustainability field itself is changing and growing so rapidly as the world realizes that sustainability is not a nice to-do, it's critical. Keeping yourself agile and learning new things is really important in this field. Just keep fighting the good fight. Sometimes it feels like you're only moving the needle a tiny bit, but then when you look back at what you've done, you realize that it really was a big impact. It can be daunting when you're just making that incremental change because sometimes it's one step forward, two steps back, but you have to keep trying to make just that little step forward and you will make progress over time. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Other than our net positive water goal, our net zero greenhouse gas bill. That is going to be an immense challenge, not just for Intel, but our whole industry. What excites me is thinking about the huge impact it's going to have by getting Intel there and working with other companies as well to get everyone there. It's a huge hill to climb, but I think once we get there, it's going to have a profound impact. That potential has me very excited to work through all of these challenges. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? I think my favorite sustainability book is called Let There Be Water by Seth Siegel. It was a fantastic book, very well written, and I just kind of flew through it. The book is all about how Israel built one of the best (probably along with Singapore) role models of what a country can do to value water. It's a really fascinating story about how Israel did that and how they're in a desert now, but they're a very water secure country. They can even at times share water with neighboring countries. Really fascinating; it just opens your eyes to what countries can do. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Our resources that I love are our partners; our external partners, our nonprofit environmental groups like the Nature Conservancy, the National Forest Foundation. Why I consider them a resource is because they're experts in building and supporting natural resilience of our watersheds, reforestation after wildfires. We really look to them as the experts and they shape a lot of the projects that we fund. I take back what I learned from them as far as water challenges and what companies like Intel can do from a broader sustainability standpoint. Water is so connected to climate, so a lot of our investments in water projects also have a climate benefit, they have biodiversity benefits. I learn so much from all of them. They're just a tremendous resource. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at intel. Intel.com/responsibility is where you can get our corporate responsibility report and a lot of other details, and intel.com/water where you can read all about the projects that we funded.

27m
Dec 13, 2022
Amanda Cimaglia - Vice President, ESG and Corporate Affairs - AZEK

Amanda Cimaglia is currently serving as our Vice President, ESG and Corporate Affairs. Prior to joining us in January 2021, Ms. Cimaglia served as the Managing Director of Solebury Trout’s ESG 360 platform, where she advised private and public companies on the development and communication of ESG strategies, including investor relations and corporate communications initiatives. Prior to that, Amanda served as the head of investor relations and ESG at Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI), the first U.S. public company solely dedicated to investments in climate solutions, providing capital to leading companies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable infrastructure markets. During her seven-year tenure at Hannon Armstrong, Amanda built an award-winning investor relations program, garnering the Best Overall Investor Relations (Small Cap) Award by IR Magazine, as well as being named a finalist for both Best ESG Reporting and Rising Star of investor relations. She has served as a member of the ESG working groups for both the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Amanda Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Amanda's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I would again say ESG is a journey and not a destination. Focus on what's impactful and prioritize your ESG initiatives accordingly. We will always have the opportunity to evolve. Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Having been in this space for the last decade of my career, the momentum that we've experienced over the last two years alone is remarkable. ESG and ESG stewardship is no longer optional. It's table stakes for everyone. I would add to that, that I am constantly encouraged and inspired by what innovations are being brought to the market, what partnerships are being created to drive circularity, drive sustainability, and the conversations that are being had across companies from the senior level of the organization to the manager level, to other employees and even hourly employees across the organization. It is a point of empowerment and a point of conversation and a point of inspiration for all of us. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I just finished a brand new book written by the Harvard Business School professor and ESG rockstar I like to call him, George Serafeim, who I had the opportunity to host for a fireside chat a couple of years ago. The book is called Purpose and Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World, and it offers a roadmap really for people at any stage of their career who seek to align their professional aspirations with their personal values. It's relatable no matter where you are in the organization, and no matter what level you are in the organization, it's relevant to both corporates and investors alike. George really discusses how the purpose of business has changed over time, how we can implement more purpose-driven strategies, and how companies can capture value. I think my favorite part of the book is how he highlights that we all have choices on what we buy, how we invest, and where we work. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I like to keep up to date on ESG issues by reading the many newsletters that are published in the ESG space such as Bloomberg Green and Harvard Law School's Forum on Corporate Governance and ESG. I would also say, being an NYSE listed company, the ESG team at the New York Stock Exchange, they do a great job on ESG programming and best practices. And finally, LinkedIn. I find a lot of inspiration from LinkedIn and I seem to wake up every day to find out something new and exciting that is happening in the field of sustainability. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work? I'm on LinkedIn, so your listeners are welcome to find me and follow me there. Then, of course, our website, azekco.com. We have our full circle ESG report on there and a lot of additional resources to learn more about the AZEK company and how we are revolutionizing outdoor living to create a more sustainable future.

42m
Nov 23, 2022
Clarke Murphy - Board and CEO Leadership Advisor at Russell Reynolds Associates

Clarke Murphy is a leadership expert who advises the world's top companies on leadership strategies that fuel profitable growth and value for all stakeholders. He has particular expertise helping boards include sustainable competencies and track record into multi-year CEO succession processes. As the former CEO of Russell Reynolds from 2011-2021, he spearheaded a purpose-driven approach to business and led the firm through its greatest period of growth. In his new book, "Sustainable Leadership: Lessons of vision, Courage, and Grit from the CEOs Who Dared to Build a Better World," Clarke tells the stories of dynamic business executives who are using their position to solve the most complex social and economic challenges of our time. Since 2021, Clarke has co-hosted the Redefiners podcast, interviewing courageous leaders who are redefining their organizations—and themselves—to deliver extraordinary results. Clarke Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Clarke's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Start the action. Don't be a hundred percenter. Hundred percenters want all the answers. They wanna manage all the risk. They want to know all the answers. That doesn't work. Perfection slows down progress and sustainability. Just take the first step. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I think the energy around several younger generations, not just the Gen Zs and millennials, but thousands and tens of thousands of young executives who want to be involved or are getting involved. That will accelerate the pace of change.  What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Well, I hope they read mine! Sustainable Leadership by Clark Murphy. But there's another one that Henry Timms wrote called New Power. It talks about the dynamics of these generations and kind of the way companies are run. Henry Timm's New Power is a great book. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I read a lot of the research by BCG, McKinsey and the World Economic Forum, which I think are really at the moment around processes, marketing and data that's real information, not anecdotes or popularity. I like having real time data as it happens. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work and maybe find your book? They could go to the website russellreynolds.com or they also could listen to our podcast Redefiners on wherever you get your podcasts.

28m
Nov 02, 2022
Stacy Kauk - Head of Sustainability - Shopify

Stacy joined Shopify in January 2020 where she is the Head of Sustainability and oversees and leads the company's sustainability initiatives. She also serves on the advisory board of the Carbon Management Research Initiative (CaMRI) at Columbia University. Prior to joining Shopify, Stacy was Head of the Ozone Layer Protection Program at Environment and Climate Change Canada. Stacy has worked on several chemicals management regulatory initiatives and represented Canada as a member of delegations for the Stockholm Convention and Montreal Protocol. Stacy Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Stacy's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I started this off by talking about how I came to the job that I'm at and I'm not a typical sustainability professional. What I have done is prioritized impact over everything else. That's clear in how we're trying to set up our sustainability fund and the companies that we choose, but it's also in how I've made my career choices. I've always wanted to make sure I'm in the best position at the right time to use my specific skill sets to have the most positive impact possible. I think everyone knows in the pit of their stomach when they're not playing for the right team. I think it's really important to act on that and to be strong in the skills that you do have, and to find ways to apply those to a career in sustainability or climate. There's a lot of people who are transitioning from accounting or marketing or communications and want to use their skills in sustainability or in climate. I think that it's really important to find your spot and use those skills for good. I think that's the most impactful way to drive change. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? This isn't something to be excited about, but I'll get to why I'm bringing it up. This past year we've seen a lot more of the negative effects of climate change, and they're not just being felt by populations around the equator or populations that live on the coastline. We're starting to see mainland Europe experiencing very intense heat waves, we're seeing these things become more and more commonplace in a larger swath of the planet. I'm not excited about that, but what that brings me to is the fact that a larger component of the world's population is now experiencing the negative effects of climate change that other countries and other populations have been experiencing for decades. I'm hopeful that this is going to bring this topic to the forefront and we're no longer going to be seeing the effects of climate change as somebody else's problem and we don't need to change our day to day existence or how we're operating our businesses. I think we're seeing early signs of people taking notice, because we're getting a lot of momentum in terms of funding commitments from government and the private sector to really start addressing climate change in a meaningful way. I'm hopeful that these unfortunate events are going to catalyze an acceleration in action. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read? I thought a little bit about this one because you've had a lot of guests and I don't want to pick the same book. I really loved The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson. He's an American biologist known for speaking a lot about how behavior in the natural world combined with natural selection can alter biology through evolution. The book describes the the breadth and depth of the planet's biodiversity, but then also talks about the effects that we're seeing on biodiversity worldwide and how this is going to be detrimental to the planet. It also offers some solutions. What I get most from this book is that our natural systems are very complex and the interconnectedness of an ecosystem is super complex. That complex system to me is almost analogous to how complex the system is that we need to drive change in to solve climate change. When we're thinking about biodiversity, the effects of one small action can have an immense impact on an ecosystem, but it's only because of its second, third and fourth order effects. It's not that one action that causes the problem. It's everything that happens after it. I think about that when I think about how to solve climate change, because it's not one action that's going to solve climate change. It's the knock-on effects of that single effort that drives more change and gets momentum. Then that complex system starts to shift and adapt. I like to hold both together. That's a great book I'd recommend it if you're wanting to think about systems and also learn more about biodiversity. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I love reading research papers and reviews specifically related to carbon removal technology; I'm a bit of a tech nerd when it comes to things like that, being an engineer. I get a lot of my information from the AirMiners community and that's a little play on words about mining the atmosphere for carbon dioxide. They have a great community that they've set up where everybody working on carbon removal can come together and they put on all sorts of excellent webinar programming and there's publications and things like that. One of the things that works really well for me that's really basic is a list serve mailing list, almost like a Google group. It's run by professor Greg Roe who is one of the leading experts worldwide in ocean alkalinity enhancement. Again it's that connectivity that's provided. Everybody shares new journal articles or new findings from different research projects, so it's a great way to stay up to date. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Shopify. We mentioned this earlier, but I'd recommend hitting up Shopify's website www.shopify.com/climate. You'll see what we offer in terms of services for our merchants and how we're building sustainable commerce. You'll also be able to click through and see our playbook and read up on the 22 companies in our fund. If you want to get the play by play and stay up to date, I'd recommend following myself on Twitter and you can get up to date news and announcements there as well.

35m
Sep 22, 2022
Bérénice Lasfargues - Sustainability Integration Lead - BNP Paribas Asset Management

Bérénice Lasfargues is Sustainability Integration Lead at BNP Paribas Asset Management. In this role, she is in charge of the implementation of the firm's ESG integration policy, working closely with portfolio managers across all asset classes to more purposefully integrate ESG criteria in their portfolios; and manages the internal firm-wide network of ESG Champions in investment teams. The changing regulatory environment is placing increasing importance on ESG data, and in her role, Bérenice works on the evolution of the firm's ESG research platform (including development of BNPP AM proprietary ESG rating and SDG data models) and provides strategic guidance on the optimal flow of ESG data through the company. She also coordinates the firm's approach to impact investment, and leads on its ESG analysis in the ICT sector.  She is the representative for BNPP AM’s sustainable investment capabilities across the Americas, promoting the firm's expertise with clients and externally across the region. Previously, she worked at the OECD, undertaking economic research on green and blended finance. She was also a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives and conducted fieldwork on climate change and development in emerging markets. Bérénice holds masters' degrees in engineering and environmental management from Ecole Centrale Paris (now CentraleSupelec) and the National University of Singapore, respectively. She is an EFFAS CESGA (Certified ESG Analyst) certificate holder. Bérénice joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Bérénice's Final Five Questions Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? One piece of advice would be to get involved or keep up as much as you can with collaborative working groups and networks. Depending on your focus area or sector, there are so many. For example, if you are within the investment management industry, you could get involved with Principles for Responsible Investment, the Global Impact Investing network, or the Initial Investors Group on Climate Change, just to name a few. I was collectively marched towards mainstreaming sustainability for more cognitive diversity to solve common challenges and raise the bar across the board. So number one is get involved. Number two would be to put in the work into the training and knowing your stuff on sustainability. It may seem from the outside, the ESG landscape is a bit fuzzy. We just talked about the fact that the market is fragmented. But ESG is now part of a firm's license to operate. Therefore there is a need to engage and upscale your workforce on this topic. There are great trainings that exist, the CFA Institute, the Fundamentals for Sustainability Accounting from SASB, the European Federation of Financial Society also has a training. Within BNP Pam we have a network of ESG champions. Each client and investment facing team has one, and they're required to get some formal certification on ESG. So it starts with people and upscaling your people so they have expertise to make the right judgment calls. Maybe a final one would be: develop your leadership skills as they relate to change management. All ESG jobs at the moment, unless you're working at a pure player firm, and even then, involve some element of persuasion and winning hearts and minds. ESG is a journey, and along the journey you will need people and you will need to be able to convince people in other parts of the firm on the foundation of ESG. That is what change management is all about.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? The momentum of the space, but also the increased scrutiny from a new set of stakeholders- regulators, retail, investors, consumers- clearly they shine the light on the fact that we have made so much progress. But there is still so much progress that we still need to make. In the current environment, there is a strong and very important push against greenwashing and that is welcome. I think it will make us only better as practitioners. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? One short book, which is really a call to action, would be On Impact: A Guide to the Impact Revolution by Sir Ronald Cohen. This book is kind of a prelude of sorts to this much longer book titled Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change. So you can either read the short manifesto or the longer book depending on your bandwidth. But both books talk about the advent of the impact entrepreneurs and the potential paradigm shift from the risk return equation to a risk return impact equation in investment analysis, and also from measuring activities and inputs to measuring outcomes. Also how at each level as consumers; citizens, employers, we can facilitate this transition in thinking on impact investing. Another book, I have to confess I'm only halfway through, but another book which I find very interesting is Moving Beyond Portfolio Theory by Jon Lukomnik James Hawley. We truly look at how modern portfolio theory has been instrumental in shaping traditional investment but also how it falls short in terms of including a consideration of systemic risk and market ecosystem impact. So that's a very tall order, tackling modern portfolio theory. That's what you're trying to do in this book. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? In terms of resources, keeping up with market developments related to ESG investing. There are a few newsletters and resources that I would say most of us in the industry tend to read. There is Responsible Investors, Environmental Finance, Bloomberg Green, the Financial Times Moral Money newsletter just to name a few. Another resource for us is academia as well as looking at work done by international organizations, such as the IEA, the OCE or the World Bank Group. We at BMP Pam are a founding supporter of GRAFSI, which is the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investments. It is a global network of leading research universities founded in 2017 that aims to develop academic collaboration on the topic and they have aan annual conference. The next one is in September at the University of Zurich and next year will be at Yale university in September 2023. I think one of the reasons we are very keen to support academia is that as sustainable investment practitioners in such a growing and emerging field, we really need to rely on high quality academic research to make sense of this ESG alphabet to support development of new methodologies, as well as inform development of our new policies in a way that is transparent. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work being done at BNP? They can find information regarding our approach to sustainability on our corporate website https://group.bnpparibas/en/. On it you can find global sustainability strategy, all our policies on integration, stewardship, regulatory documentation. We have a sustainability report but also have profiled members of our firm on what it means for them in the day to day sustainable investor for a changing world. I can also be reached out to directly on LinkedIn and Twitter.

37m
Aug 29, 2022
Clare Doyle - SVP & Chief Sustainability Officer - Masonite

Clare Doyle has served as Masonite’s Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer since August 2021. Previously, Clare held the roles of Senior Vice President and General Manager – UK Business from 2018 to 2021, and Senior Vice President, Business Leader – Components from 2016 to 2018. Prior to joining Masonite, Clare was with Elementis plc from 2010 to 2016 most recently as Vice President of Marketing. Prior to joining Elementis plc, she spent 11 years with Rohm and Haas Company in various roles in Corporate Development, Electronic Materials and in Architectural and Functional Coatings. Clare Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Clare's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?  I would tell them to focus, focus, focus on developing your leadership skills. What the world needs from us right now is absolutely leadership. Focus on developing your leadership skills each and every day because that is what I see as being in really, really short supply in the sustainability world.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?  I'm really excited about the innovation that's coming, the emerging innovation. We are in a climate crisis right now, and times of crisis can be the catalyst that we need for great innovation. There's so many things where the answer is just not there yet, but I have to believe. I'm so optimistic that in this time of crisis we are going to see great innovation that's going to allow us to make the world a better place.  What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read?  I'd almost rather tell you what I'm reading now versus what has made the great impact. Only because every time I read something new, it puts what I did read in a better light, a new light; maybe puts together more understanding. I'm currently working my way through Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva, which I highly recommend to everybody. Earlier this year I had read Net Positive by Paul Polman and Andrew Winston. Every time I read another book, it really does add some strength or new insights to what I read before. So I wouldn't say that there was any one thing, it's just one of those current things I'm working on.  What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?  The network. The community of sustainability professionals who are out there, the community of corporate social responsibility people who are out there. It's just those dialogues and being able to reach out to everybody is just so powerful. Just keep working on your network, keep talking to people. There are so many people who are so willing to share their knowledge, their experiences. It just adds so much.  Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Masonite? They can read our sustainability report at masonite.com/esg, and I'm on LinkedIn.

29m
Jul 18, 2022
Emma Stewart - Sustainability Officer - Netflix

Emma Stewart, Ph.D., is Netflix’s first Sustainability Officer, where together with teams from across the company, she seeks to bring Netflix's carbon footprint to net zero, raise environmental awareness through film and television series, and spur conversation on climate action among our hundreds of millions of members in 190 countries.  She previously led World Resources Institute’s global work on urban efficiency, climate, and finance. She served on the Board of the U.S. Green Building Council and software company Ecomedes.  She has been a member of the professional faculty at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Stanford Graduate School of Business where she taught “Intrapreneurship for Sustainability”. Emma was rated a “Badass Woman in Sustainability” by GreenBiz, a "top 3 speaker" by The Economist Summits, and has been named a “one of the most powerful women under 45” and an “urban pioneer” by FORTUNE Magazine, a “sustainability insurgent” by MIT Sloan Management Review, and one of the “Top 10 Women in Sustainability” by American Builders. Her work has been featured in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Reuters, L.A. Times, and Environmental Law Journal, among others. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Management from Stanford University and a B.A. with Honors in Human Sciences from Oxford University. Emma Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Emma's Final Five Questions Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Always look for ways to become a profit center. I remember in a past company I worked for, and also those that I've had the privilege of advising, there's often an assumption that this is a cost center. It's maybe a cost of doing business, it helps the company maintain its license to operate. But I think that's often a lack of creativity. When you look at the product portfolio of most companies, there's a way to make money, to delight your customers, and to align with environmental needs. My advice is always find that journey from cost center to profit center. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? There's been a real global awakening as to how this touches every living thing, humans of course, as well as non-human species. It's now front page news in every region of the world. Unfortunately, often because it's taking the lives of the most vulnerable with a heat wave or a climate fueled natural disaster or grid outages or sea level rise. But it's not just the impacts that are making headlines. It's now also the fact that companies are mainstreaming this as a way of doing business. The largest financial institutions in the world are setting targets and starting to align their investment portfolios with climate science, and it has become a political dealbreaker. In many parts of the world. You see elections hinge on this topic in many countries. So for better or for worse, it has become front page news, which means there are many more voices in the room. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? My team and I just finished a book called Generation Dread, which I can highly recommend. It's written by Dr. Britt Wray. It's a survey of the latest research on how climate is manifesting as anxiety among the majority of the population, with the most vocal being gen z and the millennials, but it turns out they're not alone in feeling this dread. On the flip side, they are harnessing that anxiety and that helplessness into action as voters, as consumers, as employees. We found it very helpful and we actually had a team meeting with the author to unpack what it means for us as individuals and how we can better serve our consumers and members. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I am an avid reader of Bloomberg News. They cover the intersection of business technology and climate with real sophistication, and they also had the wherewithal to acquire new energy finance. The BNEF outlooks as they're called, on electric vehicles on the energy sector on carbon pricing, you name it, those are excellent. On a more regular basis, I read updates from Fortune. They have a CFO Daily that often touches on sustainability and ESG topics. Carbon Brief is very good. Ceres and NRDC are strong on policy related developments. Energy Weekly and Climate Tech Weekly are really good on the clean tech side. The Hill I find to be quite useful also in terms of the politics, at least in the United States. And lastly, Project Drawdown’s work, which was so seminal in a multi-year multi-scholar model of the top climate solutions and how they could be executed. Project Drawdown continues to produce research that we rely upon. Where can and our listeners go to learn more about you and your work at Netflix? Sustainability.netflix.com and also LinkedIn.

35m
Jun 09, 2022
John Rogers - U.S. Chief Sustainability and Procurement Officer - Anheuser-Busch

Passionate about creating a better world and enabling growth among Anheuser-Busch employees and business, John is responsible for leading teams to deliver a more sustainable future and a resilient, dynamic and efficient supply chain. John joined Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2012, and has since held various positions across Europe and Africa focusing on agricultural development, procurement, technology and business operations.   John led the design and launch of Anheuser-Busch’s SmartBarley program, a global platform supporting farmers across the world, and most recently was responsible for leading the business operations and digital transformation agenda in Africa before stepping into the role of U.S. Chief Sustainability and Procurement Officer. Prior to his time with Anheuser-Busch, he worked with Root Capital, providing business and investment support. John holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from NC State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. John Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ John's Final Five Questions Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? For me it would be to really learn the business. To my last thoughts on our sustainability team, I think it's so important to learn the business, to understand the different elements of our strategy, of how we're connecting with consumers, to customers, to all the aspects of our value chain. I think this integration is really relevant to driving change and to ensure that we understand the intensions and we understand the value propositions, we understand how we can bring innovation into sustainability. Sustainability is not on the side. It's totally integrated within and it's a part of our management system. It's a part of our strategy, it's a part of our actions. I think as a sustainability professional, having that knowledge and experience is really important. My last role before coming back to the United States was in Africa leading technology in our business operation. There was nothing in my title that was sustainability, but that experience for me was so meaningful to learn different parts of the business. Obviously in a different market like Africa that has different challenges and different opportunities. Learning technology by leading the technology team in Africa— super relevant now to come back to a more formal sustainability role incorporating that knowledge and applying that to the impact and the acceleration of our agenda. Think of sustainability broadly, don't think of it as a narrow niche, think of it as something that really needs to be enabled across the entire business that requires that business experience and understanding. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I think the energy. Ten years ago when I joined Anheuser-Busch and we were talking about agriculture, we were talking about it in a very different way. We were talking about how meaningful it was and how important it was, where now it's fundamental. Sustainability is our foundation. It's gone from important to fundamental. I think the energy within our business is represented in many other organizations that are really leaning in and integrating this into their core strategy. For me that's incredibly exciting. I think we see it in the ambitions set forward by many around net zero and taking the risk, knowing that there's a lot to learn, there's a lot that we don't understand, but we all know that that's such an important mission. Seeing that energy is incredibly exciting. Seeing the evolution of the work of sustainability, something that was maybe niche a decade ago, that's now core, fundamental, and at our heart is awesome. We've got to make sure that deliver on that opportunity. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? A book that was really meaningful in my life was The Blue Sweater written by Jacqueline Novogratz. This was personally at a really formative period when I was transitioning from being a design engineer to get back into agricultural development. I was thinking about what that would look like and what that would mean. That book opened my eyes and mind to thinking about business in a very different way - social enterprise and the role of business and society solving really meaningful societal challenges. Ultimately that's at the core of sustainability- how as a business do we solve the problems and the needs of our consumers and our customers so that our business can sustain and grow and achieve all of our missions and goals. That book really brought that to life through really relevant innovation and pushing a frontier on how do we bring finance to the missing middle especially in markets such as Africa where those institutional voids are so relevant and pressing, and the role that business can play in funding and investments, taking the right risks with a triple bottom line mindset. That would be one book I'd recommend. It meant a lot to me and certainly shaped the last 12 years of my life and career. What are some of your favorite resources or that really help you in your work? The power of networks is so important. I've had the opportunity to stay connected to different sustainability networks and colleagues. I have a learning group of sustainability professionals that I met many years ago. I think those types of networks are just so important. There's always so much to learn in this space as it evolves. Having people that are close to us that are in a different company, in a different industry, but connected to this ever growing and broadening topic around sustainability has continued to be where I really find a lot of inspiration and learning. I would recommend strengthening those networks if you have them. If you don't have them find them and contribute to them, and certainly you'll value from those networks. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Anheuser-Busch? Our website anheuserbusch.com. That'll also link you to our global websites as well. You'll find some good information around our sustainability goals and some of our use cases and stories of progress. Certainly feel free to follow me on LinkedIn. I always try to share some of the interesting work that we're doing and what we think can be an inspiration to others.

40m
May 01, 2022
Ira Pearl - Vice President - Environmental Sustainability - Cox Enterprises

IRA Pearl is the Vice President of Environmental Sustainability at Cox Enterprises. Ira is responsible for leading Cox's sustainability strategy, including driving ambitious goals to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2024 and to become water and carbon neutral by 2034. IRA has more than 25 years of experience, both in consulting and leading environmental departments at large Fortune 500 companies, as well as in operational leadership roles. He spent most of his career developing and executing strategies in the areas of renewable energy, sustainability, climate change, and environmental compliance. Ira Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Ira's Final Five Question Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Understand the business side of things. Having a passion for sustainability is great, but you need to make your work economically sustainable as well. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? So many companies are now coming to the table and seeking to reduce their footprint. The accompanying level of investment is driving innovation and cost reduction and it helps all of us get there faster. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability leaders read? I would recommend Confessions of a Radical Industrialist by Ray Anderson, who was the CEO of interface. It talks about how running your company sustainably is just good business. I think Cox has proven this by delivering double digit returns on our sustainability investments. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? There's so many it's difficult to list them all. My web browser has so many bookmarks, but one of the ones I use a lot is the EIA website, the Environmental Administration website, because it is such a credible source of truth and data that helps identify trends and lends credibility to the analyses behind these resources. I also listen to a lot of business news, which more and more is covering ESG. I keep abreast of a lot trends and what other companies are doing and evolving technology by subscribing to a bunch of email list servers that that give me that data and feed it to my inbox every day. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Cox? They can go to coxenterprises.com/cox-conserves where they can learn more about our programs. If you want to learn about the investments we're making in Cleantech, you can go to https://coxnewinvestments.com. Our vision there is to take the problems facing the world and transform them into business opportunities. At Cox, we want to run a business that gives employees a better life, gets the return on investment and has a positive impact on society.

31m
Mar 31, 2022
Ellen Weinreb - Founder - Weinreb Group Sustainability and ESG Recruiting

Ellen has worked at the intersection of sustainability and human resources as a recruiter and consultant for 20+ years. A super connector, Ellen’s passion for sustainability and ESG was sparked while obtaining her MBA from Yale and interning at L.L.Bean. Ellen is a regular speaker at industry events, as well as a contributor to Forbes, Huffington Post, and has her own column with GreenBiz entitled “Talent Show.” Ellen Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Ellen's Final Five Question Responses What is one piece of advice you would give to other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Network. Especially in this covid pandemic period where we're getting out of the house/office less often, it's important to keep your network going and those relationships with great other sustainability professionals alive. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? The investment and energy that's going into building sustainability programs from the corporate side and from the investment sector is very exciting. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Profession and Purpose by Katie Kross. It's a guide for sustainability professionals wanting MBAs/wanting to go into sustainability. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? The GreenBiz conference and the Sustainable Brands conference. Certainly conferences are good opportunity to get out and see a great deal of people. And also LinkedIn as a resource, especially as a recruiter. We use LinkedIn for all of our searches. So even if we have resumes or we know people, we're still looking at their LinkedIn profiles. Also the feed- to see who's got a new job or what they're doing, who's speaking, who has some accolade. It's a valuable tool so we're on LinkedIn a lot. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work? Www.weinrebgroup.com http://Www.weinrebgroup.com, our website. We're also on Twitter at Sustainable Jobs and also on LinkedIn.

28m
Feb 22, 2022
Kristen Sullivan - ESG and Sustainability Services Lead at Deloitte

Kristen B. Sullivan is a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and leads Sustainability and ESG Services, working with clients to help address their sustainability and non-financial disclosure strategy needs. Kristen also serves as the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s Global Audit & Assurance Climate and Sustainability Services Leader and the Integrated Reporting Community of Practice Leader. Kristen brings extensive experience in delivering sustainability risk assessment, governance, strategy alignment, measurement, reporting, and assurance services.   Given the growing market emphasis on the importance of ESG standards and frameworks, Kristen serves as a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Community, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Assurance Task Force, the Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) Initiative Corporate Working Group, and as Chair of the AICPA Sustainability Task Force. She previously served on the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Working Group.  Kristen has authored a number of publications around the value of sustainability and ESG disclosure and assurance. She was #10 on the 2020 Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders list. Kristen has more than 25 years of experience with Deloitte, beginning her career in Deloitte’s Audit and Advisory Services, working in Deloitte’s National Office in several capacities, and working with the deputy CEO of Deloitte LLP focused on regulatory and public policy matters. Kristen is a CPA (CT, MO) and CGMA and earned SASB’s Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential. Kristen completed the Berkeley Law Executive Education Certification: ESG: Navigating the Board’s Role.  Kristen also serves as a member of the Eureka College Board of Trustees and the Financial Women’s Association. Kristen lives in Greenwich, CT, with her three year old daughter. Kristen Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Kristen's Final Five Questions Responses WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE OTHER SUSTAINABILITY PROFESSIONALS THAT MIGHT HELP THEM IN THEIR CAREERS? I love this question. As I reflect on my journey and the fact that I didn't come to this space with an expertise or an ESG education, I always encourage professionals no matter where they are in their career to really look at, in a traditional corporate context as an example, where is that discipline that you align with? For me it was accounting. Whether it's marketing or operations, finance or legal, complementing a traditional discipline within an organization to really bring that depth and a perspective of the way ESG or sustainability overlays to bring a differentiated perspective to that discipline. We've seen that this “ESG expert” doesn't really exist per se, because we know that ESG performance and priority areas are so broad and diverse. So, bringing that perspective to an existing discipline within an organization is that tool, that effective way to help an organization drive integration within all parts of the business.  WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT RIGHT NOW IN THE WORLD OF SUSTAINABILITY? The momentum, the energy, the passion that we're seeing by not the usual suspects in the market. For those of us who have been working in this space for a long time, the commitment and energy that we're seeing from within organizations. It's not just the sustainability team; it's the finance teams, operations, the supply chain, the talent teams that are all really engaging and driving this momentum. And then naturally, it's a reflection of where the market is headed more broadly, but I would say very simply that the momentum and the recognition that ESG is not a fading movement; it's really here to stay and it's going to become increasingly central to companies. It’s the license to operate and the license to grow. WHAT IS ONE BOOK YOU'D RECOMMEND SUSTAINABILITY PROFESSIONALS READ? It's hard to choose, but the first is . It's a great book that came out not too long ago. Michael O'Leary creates and provides some practical examples of the way that the capital markets are evolving and the way in which ESG is so central to strategy. I've also always been a fan of John Mackey. and are two of his books that provide great perspective and examples for those participating in this space at different levels of maturity. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCES OR TOOLS THAT REALLY HELP YOU IN YOUR WORK? This will likely come as no surprise. While it's not super sexy, looking to the developments in the whole standards landscape. The largely voluntary standards today - standards and frameworks - there's a tremendous amount of guidance and practical tools that are provided for public use that really help translate these concepts into actionable business priorities, and really help guide companies along this journey toward preparedness for greater scrutiny. The work that that we do is naturally grounded in standards, and the value of a number of these resources is somewhat underplayed given that there's a wealth of accessible information out there. WHERE CAN OUR LISTENERS GO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOU AND THE WORK BEING DONE AT DELOITTE? Visit our website, deloitte.com. We have information about our sustainability ESG services, our thought leadership, and the way in which we engage as a professional services firm. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter and search #deloitteESGnow. I'm very active in sharing our thought leadership, our perspectives, and the role that we feel is so critical that we play in contributing to this market momentum and ultimately our public interest role.

32m
Jan 31, 2022
Braden Kay - Director of Sustainability - City of Tempe

Braden Kay is the director of sustainability for the City of Tempe. He was recently the sustainability project manager for the City of Orlando, where he led sustainability implementation in waste diversion, urban forestry, and urban agriculture programs. He received a PhD from Arizona State's School of Sustainability for his dissertation work on stakeholder engagement and strategy building within the City of Phoenix. Previously, Braden managed community engagement, sustainability assessment and strategy building for the City of Phoenix's Reinvent Phoenix grant, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Sustainable Communities program. Braden's academic and professional experience in urban planning, sustainability assessment, and sustainability implementation make him an asset for innovative urban sustainability efforts.  Braden Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Braden's Final Five Question Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?  The power of networking to me is so important. I derive so much value from the Sustainable Cities Network, the Western Adaptation Alliance and the Urban Sustainability Director's Network. I know that if I need something, I can call Chris Castro in Orlando or Dan and Melissa and Jill and the team in DC, or Kizzy in New York or Leah and Providence. It's so great to be able to rely on the fact that we are a network of professionals. I think the worst thing that our profession does sometimes is say, "Well, this has never been done before. We're just building the plane as we fly it." I think we hear that in cities all the time, and I think that's a terrible perspective to have. There is something along the lines of what you want to do somewhere out there. Really having conversations with the people that have gone through that and learning from them as to how they handled that change and what they did is so valuable. Recently, we've been struggling through how we incorporate the International Green Construction Code into our city. Scottsdale, on the private development side, and Boise, on the city building side, have been so great. They've been willing to come in and have meetings with our senior management. They've been willing to have more technical meetings with our technical staff and be willing to actually meet with our consultants. We just had a meeting of 40 people listen in to Boise, Idaho and learn what they've learned from building their first three buildings with the International Green Construction Code. That kind of network, the importance of having the network and then using the network - not just new using the network for yourself, but using the network for all the other people in your city, so that your city engineer has tapped into the network, so that your city manager and mayor are tapped into to the network. I think it's a huge part of us being successful. Our profession is still only about 20 years old, and most of us have been in our positions for five years or less. It makes that networking piece such an important part of what we do. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?  I'm most excited sustainability professionals are finally understanding that the sustainability movement exists out in community. Community-based organizations, activists, young people, students, they're making sustainability happen on the ground. It's up to us as sustainably professionals to help local government, state government meet the movement. Ten years ago, a lot of people that were sustainability professionals thought they were the movement. Now I think there's a lot more of us that are understanding that government should not be at the center of climate action and climate change work. Government plays an incredibly important convening and supporting role, but it's really about government being more accessible to people, and sustainability professionals need to be those guides. We need to help people understand how to navigate government and how to make change happen efficiently and effectively instead of thinking that we alone can fix it. I'm really excited seeing those examples out there from Fort Collins, Colorado, and from the Bay area, and from Portland, Oregon, and from Orlando, Florida, where people are doing these authentic city community-based partnerships, making change happen where it's really community led and government supported. That's how we're building our cool kids work with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It's designed to be youth-centered with the university and city supporting in the background. This work with the NEA, our town grant is meant to have the artists and tribal members lead the work with the city in support. This is a really exciting model for how we do climate action in cities an I can't wait to see what our colleagues around the country and their community-based partners are able to do. It also seems like both the federal government and national philanthropy like the Bloombergs and Bezos's of the world are starting to understand, "Hey, we need to really support community-based organizations in this work. We still should support cities, but we need to also support community-based organizations in working together with cities so that the movement happens." Then the cities can come behind with the infrastructure, with the policy, with the programs that support what community members are asking for. Another great example of that is the work that's been happening with the climate action work in Denver. They have their new climate tax that was city led and government followed. The work in Portland where they now have a green new deal fund that was done in that same community-forward government second kind of way too. It's a really exciting trend. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Right now I'm reading Braiding Sweetgrass. It's a book about indigenous knowledge specifically around plants. I'm finding that book to be very inspiring and helping me understand more around how indigenous perspectives and indigenous concepts of resilience and indigenous knowledge of plants and ecology can inform our collective work to save the planet. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Well, like I said, the network work I find very, very useful. The other thing I want to pitch to all the sustainably directors out there, we're trying to do this with the Western Adaptation Alliance, we have federal agencies that we need to be working more closely with - your EPA region and with your FEMA region and with DOT and DOE. We went through a phase where the federal government was not as interested in climate action and now it is. Right now is a time to make sure that we're really strengthening our relationships with federal agencies and with our local regions for each of those agencies. They have a lot of great tools. We're constantly hearing about new tools and new opportunities from our federal agencies. We've gotten some small grants from FEMA and EPA in the past. DOE is funding some really exciting stuff. Tempe would not be where it is now without some of the partnerships we've had with the Department of Transportation. Those federal agency relationships, that's one tool I'm really focused in right now. Especially with the infrastructure bill coming and the potential for a reconciliation package, it's really important that all of us are tapped in to our relationship with federal agencies making sure that as those programs are coming out. We're really thinking about how to make sure that those programs are getting tied to community-based organizations as quickly as possible, and that we're getting more federal resources out into our community. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work at Tempe? You can check us out at tempe.gov/sustainability. You can go to our annual report which reviews what we've been doing at the city as well as our first Climate Action Plan. That's up there now, and then this winter we'll have our Climate Action Plan update, and that's what we're working on right now. Please stay out and look for our new update. I think it's a new way of thinking about how to create climate action planning that is really people-centered and centering the agendas of specific stakeholders, as opposed to just being a government document that sits on the shelf and kind of waffles around the politics of who cares about what. We've really come up with a way of presenting to our mayor and council the broad diversity of work that's happening in the city and the broad diversity of perspectives and actions that our business community and our residents want to see. That should be coming out in February. 

43m
Dec 02, 2021
Chris Kline - Global Senior Principal for Sustainability and ESG at Cardno

Chris serves as Global Senior Principal for Sustainability and ESG where he is responsible for leading Cardno's corporate sustainability initiative and in particular, providing ESG support to institutional investors. In addition, Chris supports Cardno's Science and Environment division by delivering great project outcomes for our clients, developing new  business, growing existing client relationships, fostering staff development, and aiding in strategy and planning. Chris also chairs Carno's Sustainability Task Force and has over 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors working on environmental and sustainability issues.  Chris Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Chris' Final Five Question Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Some advice that I got when I was getting started in this game from a Congressman named Jim Cooper who's a centrist from Tennessee. I was a general generalist coming out of college and he said "That's okay, it's okay to be a generalist. But get really good at one topic or one thing. Become an expert to the extent that you can in one topic and become indispensable." That I think can apply to ESG. It's very much potentially a generalist field because you need to be able to think broadly. But there also is that element that you need to be able to dive in pretty deep so that you're not just a mile wide and an inch deep. So that's my advice: get really good at one thing where people can count on you to know how to navigate that one thing. Then obviously keep your eyes open for other changes in the industry. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? We kind of touched on it. It's this investor shift into ESG factors. I think that has fundamentally altered the landscape. The fact that now these investors are looking for solid advice, science-based advice. That's where I think the opportunity is for not only for Cardno but for lots of other companies as well. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? A lot of this is about communication, and a book that really changed the way that I think about how to interact with people is a book called Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The people that were awarded the Nobel Prize for economics earlier this week are students of Kahneman. This idea of behavioral economics and how people make decisions in the real world is essentially what behavioral economics is all about. Kahneman was the foundation of that. It's a fantastic book; it will change the way you look at the world. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? In terms of resources, the newspapers of record are part of my daily reading; The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post. Axios and their various newsletters are also becoming part of that regular daily read for me. Industry specific; the Canary Media's a fairly new entity out there. I find them really interesting on energy issues. Corporate Eco Forum, GreenBiz, Cypher; there's a number of ESG specific streams that are out there that I really depend on. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work at Cardno? I have a LinkedIn page course, but certainly go to cardo.com and there's a sustainability link there. I'm happy to talk to anybody about it. I enjoy talking with colleagues and other professionals with people who are just getting started in this space; I think it's exciting.

37m
Oct 28, 2021
Cecilia Nord - Sustainability Strategy Director at Electrolux

Cecilia is the Sustainability Strategy Director at Electrolux in Sweden. Her role includes supporting the continued development of the company's sustainability strategy. She is responsible for implementing the strategy in the various Electrolux organizations, including defining ways of working and establishing relationships. Cecilia is also responsible for governance development and coordination, coordinating development of KPIs and other activities, as well as continuous improvement, assessment and development of the scope of the sustainability framework. Cecilia Joins Sustainable Nation To Discuss: __ __ Cecilia's Final Five Question Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? For a younger person, I would say that an important thing is not to lock on having a career in sustainability, but really to decide what field you want to be active in. Get a good degree in the field that you're interested in and then combine it with sustainability. I think the era of sustainability generalists might be coming to an end. I think the future will need more really good experts in the different fields. We need good industrial engineers to set super energy efficient operations. We need great designers to design products for refurbishment and recycling and for this new circular society we're working in. We need financial experts to work on sustainable finance. Make that combination; that will give you a faster career and I think stronger results in your work. For a person that's sort of come a little further in their career, I think be really true to the materiality analysis that you've done in your company. Even if things are hard or seem hard to solve or will take a long time. There is no way around really focusing on what makes most sense and what is needed to be addressed from a sustainability perspective. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? After 25 years in this business, I'm really excited; it really seems to be crunch time right now. I see it in my own company. We were the geeks, trying to knock on doors and bring our message to everyone. But now everyone's talking sustainability and we're struggling to keep up with everything with all the activities that are going on and all the interest. I hear the same things from my friends working in sustainability and from other companies. I see it in the news, I hear from my neighbors, and in policymaking. Above all I see it in the financial world, which is the real game changer. Just take an example: Electrolux this year is renewing its long-term incentive program. For the first time, the top two, three hundred managers and key people within Electrolux will be incentivized based on our SBT roadmap. There will not be a full long-term incentive payout for our top management unless we fulfill our science-based targets. That will be a game changer. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I'm reading two books in parallel. Right now we're realizing that we won't just have to change our products and tweak our business. We're going to have to rethink our whole society. There is a book by Kate Raworth called Doughnut Economics, and another book called A Finer Future by among others Hunter Lovens and Stuart Wallace and John Fullerton. They're both talking about a new economic concept: the way we value materials, the way we value work. We will have to make new economic models, we'll have to rethink our business models and how we calculate investments. We'll have to redo it all. I think these two books give me a lot of happy thoughts that actually it's going to be possible before we run out of time. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? By now you've understood that I I'm a stickler for science, so I tend to go to the sources. We have a lot of good resources in Scandinavia; Stockholm Environments Institute, Stockholm International Water Institutes, the Stockholm Resilience Center. They publish a lot of stuff that is really good and front edge thinking. I read a lot of IPPC stuff, WWF stuff and from the Potsdam Institute as well. The other is creativity and turning it into what fits your business, but you really have to stick with the science. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Electrolux? You'll just have to go to our webpage www.electroluxgroup.com/sustainability. We'll be launching a new sustainability report in just a few weeks covering the 2020 work that we've done, so look out for that. For the Better Living Program: www.betterlivingprogram.com. For the 50 Liter Home: 50Lhome.org. There hopefully will be lots for you to read in the year to come.

36m
Sep 08, 2021
Lauren Riley - Managing Director, Global Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at United Airlines

As Managing Director, Global Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at United Airlines, Lauren is responsible for leading United’s efforts in environmental compliance, waste, water and energy management, sustainable aviation fuel, and overall environmental sustainability strategy. These initiatives are designed to support United’s goal of achieving a 50% reduction of carbon emissions by 2050.   Lauren is a business leader focused on the relationship between innovation and environmental sustainability. With 20 years consulting experience, Lauren has led a variety of initiatives addressing business and digital transformation, strategic planning, and change management that yield environmental and operational benefit.  Lauren Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: __ __ Lauren's Final Five Question Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Please start with your passion place. I have talked to so many folks that have said to me, "but I'm not an environmental engineer, but I didn't grow up in the ESG space, well I don't quite understand greenhouse gas accounting protocols." That is fine. If you have a passion and desire to learn and a willingness to really affect the conversation and make change happen around climate change, you have a role in this world right now. This whole space is just blossoming, so don't stand down, stand up and lean in because it's a really great time to be considering a professional career around sustainability. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm excited because what used to be a single group of folks having almost singular conversation in isolation of business and in isolation of broader economic discussions is now becoming mainstream. We're hearing not just from the environmental community who has always cared about this issue. We're actually hearing from the C-suite and we're hearing from our corporate customers and we're hearing from our investors and we have a government that is really leaning into all things de-carbonization and net zero. There's a huge opportunity for us to come together and really find pathways forward that enable us to realize the goals that were set out with the Paris Agreement. That's exciting. I'm an optimist; I see a ton of potential through technology as well as the nature based solutions. I think we're going to solve for this, but I've never seen this kind of momentum and passion and focus before. Now all of a sudden what used to be the folks hugging the tree in the corner has become really about business strategy and changing the economy. That is just wildly exciting to me. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I just finished Bill Gates book. I do recommend anybody who wants to learn about the challenges facing us in the next couple of decades take a look at that book. It breaks down quite frankly and simply the opportunities facing us in the next couple of years. But it also conveys a bit of urgency. We do need to work together to address some of these hard to abate industries, including aviation. We do need to work together to assert to goals that makes sense and are measurable and we can actually commit to. We do need to work together to figure out the infrastructure around accounting and making sure that there's integrity in what we're trying to accomplish. The last thing we want to do is think we're on the path to success and then find out a couple of decades too late that our numbers are wrong and the way we're approaching it is inaccurate. I believe there's a ton of opportunity for us to get over that threshold and really get on the positive path to address climate change through a variety of solutions. Bill Gates book was really clear and crisp in defining the Green Premium and those industries that we really need to laser focus on and the roles that not just you and I, but government and corporations and everyone can play in really facilitating this change. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Quite frankly, and this is probably going to sound quite lean, but conversations like this and conversations across a variety of audiences where you learn about the barriers, you learn about the challenges that each industry and each sector is uniquely facing. Quite honestly, it probably isn't unique to that industry. It probably isn't something that another group has not overcome before. I spend a lot of time talking; I spend more time listening. That's really important because this whole issue around climate change and the science and the solutions evolves every single day. It's an opportunity for those of you out there that are passionate learners, but then also enthusiasts for the climate and this beautiful planet we live on to reach out to one another and find the right communities and conversations to engage in. It is equally balanced between listening and learning and acting and doing right now. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at United? I encourage everyone to go to united.com/sustainability. You can learn about engaging our corporate customers in their quest to reduce their scope three emissions. You can learn about all of our fun and amazing investments in electric aircraft, as well as sustainable aviation fuel and direct air capture. You can hear from our CEO, Scott Kirby about his vision and his commitment to combatting climate change and United as a leader in this space. If anyone wants to reach out to me I encourage you to reach out through that website as well.

31m
Aug 10, 2021