The Top 15 Influencers in Corporate Sustainability
As organizations face increasing pressure to integrate sustainable practices into their products and services, the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) role has become a critical and established position.
No greenwashing or greenhushing here: CSOs play a pivotal role in today’s organizations, balancing economic growth and social responsibility. By identifying risks and opportunities related to sustainability, these professionals help organizations mitigate environmental impacts, enhance their corporate reputation, and comply with evolving regulations and mandates.
Sustainability mandates are guidelines, goals, or requirements set by organizations, governments, or international bodies that dictate how a company or industry should operate to minimize its environmental impact, promote social responsibility, and ensure economic sustainability. These mandates can include reducing carbon emissions, conserving natural resources, adopting renewable energy, improving waste management, ensuring fair labor practices, and promoting diversity and inclusion within the organization.
As the primary stewards of sustainability, CSOs ensure that their organizations comply with these mandates and take a proactive approach to advancing sustainability goals.
Some companies have bigger mandates than others. For instance, publicly traded companies are increasingly required to report their Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, a regulatory shift that has created the need for dedicated teams to manage and report their emissions-related activities.
The importance of CSOs in fulfilling sustainability mandates is more than just in their ability to align these goals with the company’s overall mission and objectives. Still, in doing so, they help the organization navigate the complex landscape of sustainability regulations, consumer expectations, and market demands. This strategic alignment ensures compliance, drives innovation, improves operational efficiency, and enhances the organization’s reputation, ultimately contributing to long-term business success.
The Role of Influencers in Sustainability
Technica has been keeping tabs on influencers in the field of sustainability for some time now, starting with our late colleague Jake Wengroff’s first listicle, Top 25 LinkedIn Influencers in Climate Tech, Mobility, and Sustainability. Many of the influencers below have also appeared on this list but we wanted to create a separate list focused on those leading sustainability within their organizations.
Many of these sustainability influencers work for real estate companies (e.g., Susan Uthayakumar of Prologis) or companies with a large retail or real estate footprint (e.g., Kathleen McLaughlin of Walmart).
The road to net zero relies on decarbonizing billions of square feet of office buildings, warehouses, shopping centers, schools, medical centers, and other properties. Decarbonizing buildings is critical to our net-zero goals: according to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings consume 35% of electricity and emit 16% of carbon dioxide.
But sustainability leaders aren’t solely focused on physical spaces. Manufacturing and transportation are also resource-intensive businesses, and stakeholders are keen to know that the products they buy or modes of transportation they use are by companies trying their best to deliver the most sustainable product or service possible.
Our Selection Criteria
We did not keep strict criteria, such as the largest number of LinkedIn or X followers or the most speaking engagements. Some might be more popular offline than on. Almost all hold influential roles in their organizations; some have blazed the trail by keynoting or leading panels at key industry events or making prestigious lists, like the TIME100.
Simply put, we wanted to find individuals in the industry doing great things at their companies or in their industries and sharing compelling stories, content, and messages surrounding these efforts.
How To Use this List
Read their bios, click on the links, subscribe to their podcasts or newsletters, or follow them on LinkedIn. Read the news and content they post, and like, share, forward, or comment if you feel it is compelling enough. Don’t be afraid to engage! That’s why we provided the necessary links to their profiles.
Driven by his passion for sustainability and social media, Jake Wengrogg was inspired to start this series on influencers in our sphere. Throughout his time at Technica, he dedicated himself to crafting listicles that spotlight pioneers of change across various industries, including the built environment, sustainability, and more. It’s in his honor that we bring you this piece highlighting those such individuals and how they are making a difference for our planet.
Did we miss anyone? Let us know! Contact us here.
1. Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Google
As the Chief Sustainability Officer at Google, Kate Brandt holds a highly visible senior position in one of the world’s largest and most valuable companies. In her previous role as the nation’s first Federal Chief Sustainability Officer in the Obama Administration, she was responsible for promoting sustainability across federal government operations.
Brandt received the Distinguished Public Service Award for her sustainability work with the U.S. Navy and was named one of the Top 46 Sustainability Leaders by Forbes and Fortune magazine named Kate to their 40 Under 40 list in 2021.
Brandt is a veteran on the speaking circuit and serves on the boards of BSR, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, the Roosevelt Institute, Planet Forward, Stanford International Affairs Network, the NSF Committee for Environmental Research and Education, and the Corporate Eco Forum. Recently, she spoke at COP28 and on the Outrage + Optimism Podcast.
Source: LinkedIn
2. Kathleen McLaughlin, Chief Sustainability Officer, Walmart Inc. / President, Walmart Foundation
Kathleen McLaughlin is Walmart Inc.’s Chief Sustainability Officer and President of the Walmart Foundation. In her role, she is responsible for programs that help Walmart create opportunity through jobs and sourcing, advance the sustainability of supply chains, and build inclusive and resilient communities.
McLaughlin serves on the board of the Council on Foundations, the World Wildlife Fund, and the World Resources Institute and is an advisor to The Nature Conservancy’s Impact and Financial Markets team.
Fortune named her one of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” and she is a frequent speaker about the role of sustainability in business at forums hosted by the New York Times, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, and S&P Global.
Source: World Wildlife Fund
3. Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability, Amazon
As Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon, Kara Hurst leads the development of environmental sustainability and social responsibility at Amazon globally, including executing the work of The Climate Pledge.
Hurst aims to drive connections at the intersection of science, consumer products, technology and sustainability and to make Amazon the most sustainable company—becoming net zero by 2040.
Before joining Amazon, Hurst was the CEO of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), which was named one of Scientific American’s “Top Ten World-Changing Ideas” of 2012. She also spent eleven years at Business for Social Responsibility, where she served as Vice President. Kara was named to the TIME100 Climate List in 2023 and recently spoke at the U.S. Climate Action Summit and COP28.
Source: TIME Magazine
4. Katherine Neebe, Chief Sustainability Officer, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, Policy, and Philanthropy, Duke Energy
Katherine Neebe has a big job: she serves as Chief Sustainability and Philanthropy Officer and Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Policy and Philanthropy for Duke Energy. She serves on the strategy advisory council and leads Duke Energy’s strategic engagement efforts to develop solutions to meet customer needs for continued reliable and affordable energy – while simultaneously working to achieve the company’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. She also leads Duke Energy’s engagements at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP).
Before joining Duke Energy in 2020, Neebe led ESG strategy at Walmart and worked for the World Wildlife Fund, where she managed one of the world’s largest corporate-NGO partnerships, a $97 million sustainability-driven initiative focused on water, agriculture and climate that was active in over 45 countries.
Source: Duke University
5. Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Apple
Lisa Jackson leads Apple’s environmental initiatives, global community education programs, product accessibility efforts, corporate giving, and worldwide government affairs.
Since Jackson arrived in 2013, Apple has transformed its environmental footprint. Under her leadership, the company reached the goal of powering its operations around the world with 100 percent renewable energy and is now implementing its industry-leading supplier clean energy program—responsible for adding over 5 gigawatts of new clean energy around the world—to drive the transition to renewable energy with Apple’s manufacturing partners. In addition, Jackson spearheads Apple’s circular economy programs, which are grounded in the company’s ambition to one day make its products using only recycled or renewable materials.
Before joining Apple, President Obama appointed Jackson as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009. She was the first African-American to hold the position. As Administrator, she focused on reducing greenhouse gasses, protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination, and achieving environmental justice by expanding environmental outreach to underserved communities and communities of color.
6. Rebecca Marmot, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever
Rebecca Marmot is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever. She is responsible for driving through advocacy and partnerships as part of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan: climate change and eliminating deforestation; sustainable agriculture and smallholder farmers; water, sanitation and hygiene; opportunities for women; plastics and the circular economy; impact finance; and health and wellbeing. In her role, Marmot also leads the next chapter of Unilever’s sustainability journey beyond the USLP.
Before joining Unilever, Marmot served as Global External Affairs Director at L’Oréal and in External Affairs at the UK Department for Trade and Industry, where she was responsible for stakeholder management on UK government projects. She is a Non-Executive Director at Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor.
Source: Sustainability magazine
7. Amelia DeLuca, Chief Sustainability Officer, Delta Airlines
Amelia DeLuca re-joined Delta’s Global Sustainability team as Chief Sustainability Officer in August 2023, leading the airline to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and deliver a more sustainable and elevated travel experience for consumers.
She also supports the development of Delta’s partner sustainability strategy for a stronger and more measurable impact across the airline’s network. DeLuca has established the airline as an industry leader by securing vital sustainable aviation fuel agreements, setting science-based emissions targets, forging impactful coalitions across industries and setting a gold standard for transparency. Under her leadership, Delta was also recognized as a top airline in the ESG category by Airport Technology.
Amelia is a Top Voice on LinkedIn, with over 13,000 followers.
8. Amy Springsteel, Chief Sustainability Officer, Bloomberg
Amy Springsteel joined Bloomberg late last year as the publisher’s Chief Sustainability Officer and is responsible for helping the company develop and execute its climate strategy.
The climate space “requires dedication to setting validated short- and long-term corporate targets toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” says Springsteel. “In our case, we have gone beyond and set a target to operate with net zero emissions across relevant areas of our value chain by 2040, ten years ahead of the 2050 Paris Agreement timeline.”
Springstell is no stranger to sustainability, having previously held corporate social responsibility (CSR) roles. Prior to joining Bloomberg, she spent four years as Global Head of Enterprise ESG of BNY Mellon and, before that, close to eight years at investment management company Voya Financial.
9. Susan Uthayakumar, Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer, Prologis
Susan Uthayakumar is the Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer of Prologis, the largest owner of industrial real estate in the world, managing 1.2 billion square feet of space in 19 countries and enabling 2.8% of the world’s GDP.
As an ESG leader, Susan leads the company—and, by extension, the industry—in selecting the best practices for customer-facing sustainability and energy solutions. Her team includes people with expertise in grids, energy generation, building green and mobility projects, measuring Scope 3 emissions, and supply chain improvement.
Before joining Prologis last year, Susan spent more than 17 years at Schneider Electric, most recently as the President of the company’s Global Sustainability Business division.
A sought-after speaker, Susan recently spoke on a panel on decarbonization at the WSJ Pro Sustainable Business Forum and is a member of MIT’s Climate & Sustainability Consortium.
Source: Prologis
10. Mina Hasman, Sustainability Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Mina Hasman leads the sustainability practice of global architecture giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and is co-leader of the firm’s Climate Action Group.
Aside from designing hundreds of iconic buildings, such as One World Trade Center and the Burj Khalifa, SOM is also well known for its leadership in sustainable design and development in urban planning. Hasman has been part of the SOM sustainability practice for almost 12 years.
With experience in several projects in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, she deeply understands how sustainable design works globally in different economies and cultures. She led the Cross-Industry Action Group, which developed the Climate Framework. She is actively involved in the UKGBC Board of Trustees and the Practice & Policy Committee, RIBA’s Council, CAA Council & Chair of Practice, LETI Steering Committee, UNEP/GlobalABC’s COP Task Force, CIC Climate Change Committee, WorldGBC Advancing Net Zero Steering Committee, CIBSE Intelligent Buildings (as Vice Chair), and IWBI’s Health Equity Advisory Group. Recently, she was included in the TIME100 Climate 2023.
Source: USGBC
11. Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President, Mastercard
Ellen Jackowski recently joined Mastercard as its Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President.
Before joining Mastercard, she spent almost 15 years at HP, ultimately serving as the company’s Chief Impact Officer and Head of Sustainable Impact. At HP, Jackowski led a global team overseeing the company’s Sustainable Impact strategy, governance and programs focused on ESG industry imperatives: climate action, human rights, and digital equity.
Jackowski helped build one of the first scalable ocean-bound plastic supply chains in the world for HP, where she oversaw the purchase of more than a million discarded plastic bottles per day from Haiti (the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) to produce printer cartridges and personal computing parts.
She points out that her career in sustainability started in high school when scooped ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. There, she saw firsthand how a company can integrate environmental and social impact directly into the core of its business.
12. Dr. Evan van Hook, Chief Sustainability Officer, Viridi
A career sustainability and renewable energy advocate, Dr. Evan van Hook is currently the Chief Sustainability Officer of Viridi, a provider of battery energy storage systems for commercial buildings.
From 2004 to 2023, van Hook served as Corporate Vice President and then Chief Sustainability Officer at Honeywell, where he led the company’s more than 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the approval of a science-based targets Initiative and carbon reduction target.
Last year, van Hook was named by Constellation Research as one of the world’s 50 most influential executives in the field of ESG and also one of the American Energy Society’s 500 Global Sustainability Thought Leaders. He is also a former Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Source: LinkedIn
13. Christian Whitaker, Global Head, Sustainable Operations, JLL
Though he has been at the commercial real estate services firm JLL for less than two years, Christian Whitaker is no stranger to sustainability and energy management. He spent over ten years at Siemens, most recently as Global Head of Energy Services for Siemens Smart Infrastructure.
An influential leader in the space, Whitaker helped JLL receive recognition as a 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for the company’s achieving $259 million in accumulated client savings from completing over 1,500 energy conservation projects.
Source: Propmodo
14. Tim Fitzgerald, Chief Sustainability Officer, American Seafoods
Tim Fitzgerald joined American Seafoods in 2021 as the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, aiming to attain best-in-class environmental performance in all business areas. This includes leading initiatives on carbon accounting and decarbonization, packaging and operational waste, technology innovation, sustainable finance, and ESG reporting.
Prior to joining American Seafoods three years ago, he worked for over 18 years at the Environmental Defense Fund as the Director of Impact. While at the EDF, he managed partnerships and advisory programs with investment funds, seafood companies, certification programs and non-profit institutions.
15. Natalie Kozlowski, Manager, ESG Strategy and Support, West Pharmaceutical Services
A rising star in corporate sustainability, Natalie Kozlowski recently joined the pharmaceutical manufacturing company West, where she manages sustainability reporting. Previously, she served as Amtrak’s senior sustainability and climate specialist, where her data analysis skills were instrumental in delivering insights for the New York Times article published earlier this year tracking the rail operator’s actual carbon footprint.
Kozlowski also serves as the Channel Champion for sustainability in the My Climate Journey online community and is a Top Corporate Sustainability Voice on LinkedIn.
