-
Oct 11, 2024 | 
trellis.net | Shannon Houde
It’s a common challenge that internal sustainability leaders working at corporations face: How do you create an ESG strategy that aligns with the wider business goals? Too often there’s the perception that two agendas are in conflict. Many clients I’ve worked with have faced significant pushback to their plans from the C-suite, or struggled to engage other stakeholders across the business, many of whom fail to see the relevance to their department or role.
-
Sep 19, 2024 | 
trellis.net | Tove Malmqvist |Joel Makower |Heather Clancy |Shannon Houde
Bending the arc: The surest path to a circular economy This past May, Circularity 24, the premier conference for visionaries and practitioners building the circular economy, convened leaders from across the sustainability community—including future leaders.
-
Sep 18, 2024 | 
trellis.net | Shannon Houde
Many organizations are opting to channel their philanthropic work via a stand-alone corporate foundation. This structure can have many benefits. It provides more consistent support to third parties and creates a framework for longer-term initiatives with an extra degree of credibility, given the separateness from the core commercial organization. But based on my conversations with clients, this same separateness can also create challenges for the sustainability leaders at their helm.
-
Jul 31, 2024 | 
trellis.net | Tove Malmqvist |Tensie Whelan |Shannon Houde
-
Jul 12, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde |Joel Makower
How do I achieve buy-in from senior leadership? It’s the question I hear over and over again from those in senior positions within ESG. Many say they’re met with resistance or indifference from both board members and other C-suite execs as they push for change. This stands in the way of progress and can breed both frustration and a sense of disempowerment.
-
May 29, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde
Asset management and private capital fund managers have a unique value chain that shapes their culture, key performance indicators and customer. That is why generic corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) approaches, developed for traditional service industries, don’t work, and why you need a custom asset-management sustainability strategy.
-
Apr 25, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde
With the number of chief sustainability officers appointed at publicly traded companies increasing from just 29 in 2011 to 183 in 2023, , a significant proportion are the first to step into CSO shoes. That can create immense pressure for a CSO to carve out the scope of the role, deliver tangible impact and convince the remaining C-suite that they’re an invaluable addition to senior leadership within a relatively short time frame.
-
Apr 1, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde
"A conscious leader is someone who understands their role in creating a world that works for everyone and takes action to make it happen."— Gabrielle BernsteinConscious leadership connects many of the most inspiring changemakers. There’s former Unilever CEO and Dutch businessman Paul Polman, who prioritized social and environmental responsibility at the consumer goods giant, resolutely carving out a path for the good of the planet rather than solely commercial gain.
-
Feb 20, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." This proverb couldn’t be truer than for those working within sustainability leadership. Yes, individual companies, governments or nongovernmental organizations can have a material impact. But to achieve genuine scalable transformation, organizations must work in tandem toward common goals or to inspire others within their sphere of influence.
-
Jan 22, 2024 | 
greenbiz.com | Shannon Houde
We all know that it’s not enough for sustainability teams to act in a silo. To achieve real change, an organization must embed ESG commitments across all products and teams, and draw on the efforts and engagement of everyone from the CEO to frontline staff. Yet for so many sustainability leaders, this level of integration remains one of their biggest challenges.
