Learned On | gender, consumer behavior and sustainability

Learned On...

Call for Submissions: Women at the Forefront of Sustainability

March 8th Update: Submissions/nominations are closed.  Readers named more than I could fit in the poll widget (no surprise given the talent/pioneering pool), which could only manage 64.  Find the poll here.

My friends at WhatWomenMake recently posed a question that made me stop and think: who are the 2-3 women at the forefront of sustainability, and why?  My first response, and that of pretty much all the smart sustainability-focused friends I quickly emailed, was – “wow – good question.”

So that made me think on it a bit more.  In all the sustainability-related books/case studies I’ve read, and in all the conversations I’ve had with so many friends in the field, there has never been a resounding woman’s name or two that surfaces.  Instead there seems to be a long, collected list of extremely accomplished women who should be getting a lot of recognition but may not be bothered by it.   It reminds me of the much pondered (lately) question: “why are there so few female CEOs?”

So, I decided to poll my broader readership on their thoughts.  I’ll start the discussion by listing some of the submissions I got from an informal email survey.  In a week or so, I will publish a follow up post including any submissions that came from more than one reader, and then offer that list up for a larger vote.

The background: given commonly cited sustainability “pioneers” or “thought leaders” such as Ray C. Anderson (Interface Inc.), Paul Hawken (founder of Smith & Hawken, and one of the earliest names associated with sustainability), or Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, which women come to your mind as quickly?  It’s not about who is “top” or “best,” in my mind, but about the ways that people get known for their work and why. That’s why I’m using the term “forefront” as in – at the forefront of your mind.

I realize that you’d need to be following sustainability in the first place to have ANYONE come to mind (male or female).  And, I’d say that that basically gives us all (the sustainability choir) reason to be more driven with sharing the stories and case studies we come across.  We need to bridge the topic for those we want to JOIN the choir!

But, I digress.  Following are the initial round of submissions I’ve received.  Please add your own ideas (please keep it to the 1-2 that first come to mind) via comments below or via Twitter (I’m @AndreaLearned) – and please use the hashtag #sustywomen (if you remember).

Thanks! I look forward to seeing the results and starting a conversation or two.

The initial submissions, in no particular order:

***

Bookmark and Share

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 in Announcements, Events and Miscellany, Green/Sustainable Marketing | Tags: , , , ,

  • AndreaLearned
    Nominations/submissions are closed - but, feel free to post the name(s) you think need to be recognized here anyway, if they aren't already on the poll http://learnedon.com/2010/03/poll-women-sustainability/

    One that came to me via LinkedIn, GreenBiz group: Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.
  • Hi Andrea, I know submissions are closed but I have to share with you my podcast called Women Of Green. It highlights the women who are the movers and shakers in green. This seems in alignment with your call for submissions. Maybe we can collaberate on this and share some of the voices of the winners on Women Of Green? Check out my podcast and website here: www.womenofgreen.com or go to iTunes. Feel free to call me at 505-231-2342 or 505-989-4004.
  • Nigel
    Pat Featherstone at 'Soil For Life' in Cape Town, South Africa has been a dynamo in her quest to teach masses of people, who live in very meagre conditions, to grow their own veggies using their organic waste in clever composting techniques. They use other waste such as car tires to hold soil in which to grow potatoes and so on.
    By showing people on the bread-line how sustainability, and 'up-cycling' of waste can improve their own food security, I would guess that Pat has built a solid platform from which to grow 'sustainability' as mantra. Interestingly, this work at the lower end of the LSM spectrum has begun to percolate upwards to the leafy suburbs where food safety issues are creating the drive for home grown food!
    Pretty significant cross-sectional influence in my mind.
    PS. Thanks to Tom for the link!
  • AndreaLearned
    The main gist I get from this call for submissions (remember - we haven't even done the actual poll yet!) is that there are tons of women doing incredible work but who are perhaps not so concerned with being KNOWN/recognized for it. I applaud and can relate to that perspective. In sustainability perhaps more than a lot of other realms, it's all about just doing it! Figuring out how to be recognized may just slow the whole process down... More in future posts on the topic, I'm sure.
  • kiragould
    I am co-author, with Lance Hosey, of Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design (Ecotone Publishing). I have MANY names to add to this list, but I'll try to sent them in small batches. Nina Simons, co founder of Bioneers should be on the list. And Janine Benyus of biomimicry fame (and infectious, joyous spirit); those two participated in a conversation with Hunter Lovins in our book and it was powerful! (We felt lucky to be along for that ride!) Many of my examples are in the building/design world but we thought about that world broadly--it's really about all aspects of human settlement. I'll suggest others soon. Perhaps I should just post the list of EVERYONE we quoted in the book... (don't worry, just kidding). The best thing about the hundreds of interviews we did was hearing from so many influential women about who ELSE they thought we should talk to.

    Architect Gail Lindsey must be mentioned here: She inspired many in the green building movement with a durable joy they draw on today. Her passing last year was a huge loss.

    Donella Meadows' writing (esp. Leverage Points in a System) is absolutely SEMINAL for so many in the field...

    Okay, I'll stop now.
  • AndreaLearned
    2 more submissions - Kira Gould, co-author of Women in Green, and Joyce LaValle, former Senior Vice President of Interface, Inc. and founding member of Women's Network for a Sustainable Future.
  • kerrymitchell
    I don't even know if this is appropriate but I am a woman promoting energy and green building education. We are young but have educated 6,000 in the real estate industries and have many more on target for the coming year.

    I founded Green Real Estate Education after being diagnosed with the very beginning stages of emphysema and realizing no one was training real estate agents in green building or sustainability issues. This sector needed to start understanding more of indoor air quality and helping clients to know how to lower utility bills. We established a certification program 4 years ago for those professions in the real estate industry and haven't looked back. but all should knoweducation is sorely needed

    Thanks,
  • kerrymitchell
    I don't even know if this is appropriate but I am a woman promoting energy and green building education. We are young but have educated 6,000 in the real estate industries and have many more on target for the coming year.

    I founded Green Real Estate Education after being diagnosed with the very beginning stages of emphysema and realizing no one was training real estate agents in green building or sustainability issues. This sector needed to start understanding more of indoor air quality and helping clients to know how to lower utility bills. We established a certification program 4 years ago for those professions in the real estate industry and haven't looked back. but all should knoweducation is sorely needed

    Thanks,
  • Getting this conversation to reverberate outside the inner sustainability circles is one of my goals. On that front, http://www.TomPeters.com linked to both my post on working women/energy efficiency and this call for submissions. If there are other broader business/management-related sites you think might be interested - please pass this link along. It'd be great to figure out how to make sustainability universally interesting/engaging for smart business minds!
  • Lola Oje
    Thanks Andrea, it is very interesting to see that a lot of us share your passion for environmental sustainability, indeed it is not a gender issue, those of us in developing countries awareness is low and government policies are weak,for me living in Nigeria the first name that comes to my mind is Wathai Maangari, she is refreshinly genuine.
  • What a fabulous idea! As vice chair of the San Diego Regional Sustainability Partnership and a long time professional in the field, I'd nominate three woman from California: Celeste Cantu - general manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority for her One Water One Watershed initiative; Martha Davis - Executive policy strategist for the Inland Empire Utilities Association for her efforts to promote awareness and understanding of climate change; and Frances Spivy Weber - Vice Chair at California Water Resources Control Board and former executive director of the Mono Lake Committee for her leadership in sustainability.
  • Thanks so much - all of you! There's a lively discussion going on via the GreenBiz.com LinkedIn group too - if any of you are interested in that community's perspective (I am incorporating what people say there onto my larger list too).
  • Susan Ditz
    Andrea, thanks for starting and sharing this great list! Many of those I would include are already noted. But I'd also add Sandy Skees founder/CEO of Communications4Good, former partner at Porter Novelli. Communications4Good is a triple bottom line agency that creates effective communications strategy as part of the solution to global economic, environmental and social challenges. They work with innovative entrepreneurs, early stage and legacy companies, NGOS and governments in developing their sustainable brand promise.
  • Hazel Henderson should definitely be on this list. She is the founder of Ethical Markets Media, creator of its TV series, co-creator of the Calvert-Henderson Quality-of-Life Indicators, and author of the award-winning book, "Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy" (2006) and other books. See ethicialmarkets.com.
  • I agree with Cara: Jill Dumain, Director of Environmental Strategy, Patagonia
  • Andrea, Thanks for asking and sharing this...I am impressed with the responses and knowing there are so many great influencers out there that happen to be female...
  • Carry Somers of Pachacuti, the 1st (and still only) company in the world to be certified against the World Fair Trade Organisation's Sustainable Fair Trade Management System, creating sustainable fashion and providing sustainable livelihoods for over 1000 women in the Andes.
  • Great list. I'd also point you to Jill Fehrenbacher - Founder of Inhabitat.com, and Sophie Thomas of sustainable design agency thomas.matthews and greengaged.com.
  • It has been my privilege to work briefly with:

    Dr. Hazel Henderson - world renowned futurist, economic sustainability expert and author of six books including Growing the Green Economy.


    Hazel has been working to give the Earth and her inhabitants a voice tirelessly for decades.

    www.hazelhenderson.com

    Thank you Hazel!
  • Great names on the list - must include Hazel Henderson since so many of the women on the list have gone to her for advise, support, encouragment, networking and leadership!
  • Jaimie Cloud, Founder of The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

    Ashley Orgain, Manager of the Sustainability Institute at Seventh Generation
  • Three more anonymous submissions:

    Margot Fraser
    Amy Domini from Domini Social Investments Mandy Cabot from Dansko
  • Great addition to the list, Jennifer. I was wondering when Hunter's name would come up (I knew it had to!).
  • I would have to add Hunter Lovins, founder of Natural Capitalism Institute and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

    From her bio: Hunter’s areas of expertise include Natural Capitalism, sustainable development, globalization, energy and resource policy, economic development, climate change, land management, and fire rescue and emergency medicine. She developed the Economic Renewal Project and helped write many of its manuals on sustainable community economic development. She is currently a founding Professor of Business at Presidio Graduate School, one of the first accredited programs offering an MBA in Sustainable Management.
  • Natalia - So true.. part of what I'm trying to do is to measure if there are perhaps a few names that are already starting to be more universally recognized.. EXACTLY so we have those names at the ready when we talk about Anderson, Hawken, Elkington and so on... So far I have many names, but really not many that several people are submitting. That may be the point of this exercise... if even those of us really interested in sustainability don't have a few of the same women in our minds as leading the charge (even if just by a few years!), how can we hope that others will become aware that there even are any women in the mix to point to?

    And - a reminder - men, we need to hear from you so this isn't solely a "women for women" exercise. There is no gender about great minds in sustainability!
  • Hi Andrea,

    We need to start recognizing each other as the experts that we are and giving each other credit for our work. Women and men have the opportunity to highlight women's contribution, in general, and in sustainability, specifically, at any point in time: whether it be sharing an anecdote at a cocktail party, making a referral, recommending a book, or organizing a panel.

    Ladies: When was the last time that you made a point of including a woman's perspective into the conversation without being prompted? What if each time you mentioned Hawken, Hollender, or any other guy, you made sure to include a woman? We have the opportunity to use each conversation and encounter we have as a platform to increase the visibility of "women at the forefront of sustainability." Your informal poll demonstrates that there isn't a lack of examples. There's a lack of visibility.

    Thanks for providing a platform.

    Best,
    natalia
  • Nicole Rousseau
    Many of my submissions were already named, but I don't see Florence Hudson, Energy & Environment Executive, IBM Corporate Strategy

    Florence Hudson is the IBM Energy & Environment Executive in IBM Corporate Strategy, responsible for strategies and execution plans for “green” solutions to benefit clients in their goals to improve their impact on energy & the environment worldwide. These “green” solutions include energy efficient technologies and services, green datacenters, water management, intelligent transportation systems, intelligent utility networks, carbon management, intelligent buildings, cap and trade systems, and alternative energy research.
  • P.S. Name of CEO of New Belgium is Kim Jordan
  • Thanks Sara, Hallie and Heather. And, Gregor! Welcome to the first guy - sheesh, no one said only women knew of great women in sustainability. This is not a women's thing!!! Hopefully you'll start a trend in more men submitting names!

    I love how so many of you are taking time to comment or tweet!
  • Gay Browne, Founder/CEO of Greenopia, has taken on the challenge of aggregating green businesses, applying science based rating to the business, and providing mainstream consumers with a trusted resource to eat, shop, live green
  • I wd add:

    Marci Zaroff @ Underneath the Canopy
    Sarah Sevren @ Nike
    Sylvie Blanchet @ Forest Trade
    CEO at New Belgium Beer (her name is slipping my brain)
  • Heather
    I would add Dr. Vicky Sharpe, President and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Her company is on the forefront of sustainability research and funds smaller groups for their research and innovation.
  • Hallie
    Barb Brown & Margie Flynn, co-founders of sustainability consulting firm, BrownFlynn
  • Margaret Lydecker, founder Green Drinks USA and director Green Drinks NYC greendrinks.org

    Margaret Watson, founder and president Green Schools Alliance
    greenschoolsalliance.org
  • Thanks Micheline!

    And, to all of you reading this - please nudge some of the men you know to submit their thoughts! The influence and power of this conversation is lessened if it becomes a "women's thing" rather than a smart, innovative, sustainable business topic.
  • Another anonymous submission: Jacquelyn Ottman
    http://www.greenmarketing.com/about-us/j-ottman/

    So many really good names, and - as may well end up being my point - they aren't getting enough notice beyond our tight little sustainability corners!

    More to come...
  • Andrea - Great Post. Please add Karen Alonardo. She is the founder and CEO of CSRware - Sustainability Management software. www.csrware.com
    ~Micheline Birkhead
  • Yes, Cara!.. Jill is a great addition. And, Chauncey... Anita Roddick is a good one in that her work was so visible/accessible outside of "insider sustainability" circles and she may well have raised some consumer awareness about it. Thanks to all of you!

    Hazel Henderson, futurist and founder of Ethical Markets Media is another fantastic addition!
  • Wow this is great. Keep 'em coming. You should also check out New Frontiers and Melissa Sterry in the UK. As I told Andrea, I think the UK is way ahead. That needs to change. I think the late Body Shop founder Anita Roddick is certainly a pioneer that needs to be mentioned. I'm looking forward to Andrea's interview. Look for it on wwm soon..
  • Cara
    I would add Jill Dumain, Director of Environmental Strategy, Patagonia
  • To be clear - none of the initial submissions came from me (though I do have my own ideas). They were all generated by the question I posed to a few friends, and are in no particular order! Very unscientific by design! Add yours!

    And, thanks Elaine for the quick input!
  • Hi, here is my top of the mind list:

    Gail Kelly, CEO Westpac
    Sybil Goldfiner, CEO comme il faut
    Yehudit Bronitzki, CEO Ormat
    Ofra Strauss, Chairwoman, Strauss
    Indra Nooyi, CEO Pepsico
    Hanna Jones, VP Nike

    elaine
blog comments powered by Disqus