Sustainable Nation

Bob Willard is a leading expert on quantifying the business value of sustainability strategies. He has given over a thousand presentations, has authored six books, and provides extensive resources for sustainability champions. He serves on the boards of Forum for the Future U.S. and the Future-Fit Foundation.  Bob joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Selling the business case for sustainability Communicating sustainability benefits The B Corp movement Learning from decades of experience in corporate sustainability Tips and advice for sustainability professionals What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Find an issue that you really care about and find an organization that you can partner with to have a lot of leverage on doing something about that issue but start with something that you really care about. It could be a social issue, it could be an environmental issue. You've got to have some energy around that at a personal level or

Nurit Katz joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Leading sustainability change in a large organization Updates on sustainability programs and research initiatives at UCLA Information on the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders Nurit Katz Final Five responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? One piece of advice,  it's interesting, this wasn't what I planned to say, but recently a colleague, one of our alumni who I regard very highly, um, Jamie Knack, shared a book that she had read called The Power of a Positive No. And I've now gotten it and shared it with my team. And I think in these roles you're pulled in so many different directions, that actually learning how to kind of prioritize how to say no. So many of us are such yes-people that we get really excited to help everyone at all times. And sometimes that in of itself is not sustainable. So as I say to many of my colleagues

Gil Friend, Chief Sustainability Officer at the City of Palo Alt, joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Leading sustainability in silicon valley The role of a Chief Sustainability Officer in government Addressing the complex issue of transportation in cities Advice for other sustainability professionals Gil Friend's Final Five responses: What is one piece of advice you'd like to give sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? For sustainability professional, I would say diversify your education and background. We need to be thinking about biology and ecology. We need to be thinking about business and finance. We need to be thinking about physics and engineering. Need to be thinking about a politics and persuasion and fundamentally how to have engaged powerful conversations, even with people who don't see things the same way we do. What are you most excited about today in the world of sustainability and regenerative development? Let me answer both of those separately. In the world sus

William McDonough is one of the most influential sustainability thought-leaders and practitioners in the world. McDonough joins the Sustainable Nation Podcast to discuss: Cradle-to-Cradle design principles and examples of the Cradle-to-Cradle work he is leading. Cradle-to-Cradle in the apparel industry and Fashion for Good. Moving beyond sustainability to a regenerative and restorative future. A new language for carbon. Advice for sustainability professionals. McDonough's Final Five Questions: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I would say one would be to pull back on the of resources and pull into the notion of relationships. So if we're talking about is economic resources or economic capital, we forget society and we forgot the environment. For sustainability people, we think about economic and social and environmental things, but as long as we keep calling it "resources" or "natural capital" or "social capital" or "human re

Aurora Winslade, the Director of Sustainability at Swarthmore College, joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Sustainability in higher education Swarthmore College's internal carbon pricing program Advice on implementing an internal carbon pricing program Advice and insights for other sustainability professionals Aurora's Final Five Questions (transcribed): What is one piece of advice you'd give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Learn how to design systems that engage others to be the problem solvers and the implementers of the solutions. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm excited about the way that those of us in sustainability are starting to embrace the idea of being change-facilitators and leading change, and integrating the work that we'd been doing on a more technical level, creating metrics and and implementing solutions with creating healthy organizations. Because that is fundamental to solving our challenges, is to be

Katie Wallace, CSR Program Manager at New Belgium Brewing Company, joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: The history of sustainability leadership at New Belgium Brewing The importance of life cycle assessment and materiality assessments The benefits of being a 100% employee-owned company Advice and insights to other sustainability leaders.  Katie's Final Five Question responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Stay informed and be bold. This is not a time to be shy about taking actions. Follow the passion because we need a lot of focused action right now and I would say ask for help. So many of us are kind of making it up as we're going along, and being vulnerable and opening up and asking for help is not a bad thing. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Just to pick one that's tough. I think emerging feminine leadership, and I don't mean that just for women, but I mean feminine attribute

Jay Coen Gilbert joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Creating and growing the B Corp movement Updates on the state of B Corp worldwide The importance of an inclusive economy Advice and insights for sustainability leaders Jay Coen Gilbert Final Five responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Reach out, reach out, reach out. There's power in community that doesn't exist inside your company and seek out or build for yourself a robust community of practice that can help you accelerate your learning and the progress that your company will make. You'll move much faster when you're working with people than if you're working on your own. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainable business? Actually, I would say what I'm most excited about is the work around building an inclusive economy. I think that the work in sustainability is beginning to orient itself more directly and clearly and explicitly with th