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Sustainability Leadership

Tuesday, February 9th, 2021

10:45am to 11:30am

Designing the Cultural Conditions for Regeneration

Breakout

The profound, intersecting issues of climate change, social injustice, and health require a new approach to systemic problem solving that empowers individuals to manifest their potential. To achieve this goal, we need to design for new cultural conditions in our organizations and communities that create the platform for more people to contribute fully and in reciprocal relationship with others. This session will explore how when we bring our full selves forward and connect as whole people, we give rise to biodiverse and resilient societies that have the capacity to thrive in the face of change.

Game On! Simulate the Future with Real-Time Decisions

Breakout

Imagine: You’re the CEO of a global food company. You wake up one morning to a concerning headline: “Water shortages threaten crop production, prices spike 40%.” You get nervous. You know that this can impact your supply chain’s productivity and key business outputs. What do you do? How do you respond? What’s the best course of action for your business today? In 10 years? 25 years? Quantis has designed an interactive simulation to help business leaders navigate these high-stakes situations while remaining within planetary boundaries. In all sectors, planetary boundaries are the backbone of business resilience. They give guidance on how to safely use Earth’s resources so that humanity can thrive for generations to come. Yet, businesses often neglect to consider these boundaries in their strategies. When leaders understand that aligning their business with planetary boundaries is the key to future-proofing their company, they see the necessity — and value — of taking action. In this session, get in the game! Test your ability to deliver business results while building the foundation for a resilient future. A responsive dashboard will help you discover how environmental and social challenges will affect your business decisions and their consequences. You’ll walk away from our time together with insights into how current decisions impact future performance, a clear vision on why aligning with planetary boundaries can help your business play the long game, and experience collaborating with other business leaders.

Climate Policy Advocacy: The New Bar for Climate Leadership

Breakout

From the early years of corporate action when “disclosure” was the mark of a climate leader, much has changed. Today, leaders are setting 1.5 degree aligned Science Based Targets, and many companies are committing to go even further by setting Net-0 and carbon negative goals. But achieving these goals will be impossible without supportive climate policies. That’s why it’s time for companies and their trade associations to get off the sidelines and advocate for strong policy. It’s also why several of the leading business-focused NGOs are aligned and collaborating to ensure that the climate leadership mantle is reserved for those companies who are using their voice and influence to secure supportive climate policy. Join this session to learn about the new bar for climate policy leadership called the “AAA Framework”, tools to make it easier for your teams to engage, EDF’s new Authenticity Meter, which assesses recent advocacy actions by companies and industry groups and rates them on how they obstruct or support progress, and engage in a robust dialogue about what you can expect in the coming years as workers and ratings and rankings organizations begin to account for your policy advocacy actions.

11:45am to 12:30pm

How Boards Can Manage Disruptive Risk

Breakout

The COVID pandemic and other disruptions of 2020 have reinforced the importance of clear-eyed risk assessment and sound decision-making based on science. This approach is particularly important when considering risks like climate change. This panel discussion will explore lessons learned by boards about how to address disruptive risk, the tools and resources available to them, and how it changes their approach to governance.

Linking Sustainability and Philanthropy

Breakout

Sustainability leaders are tasked with making positive impacts, both environmentally and socially, both within their companies and externally. The expectation that companies give back to society continues to intensify, and there are so many issues that need support, from the pandemic and human health, to social justice and equity, to climate impacts. How can you align your giving strategy with your company values and business impacts? How can you ensure you are maximizing your impact and creating meaningful ongoing relationships with the organizations you support? How can you design an overarching strategy to support causes on an ongoing basis, with the flexibility to react to unforeseen events? And how should sustainability and philanthropy relate and integrate? Join this session to learn how sustainability leaders should be connecting sustainability strategy with philanthropy and corporate giving.

Sustainable You: Maintain Your Energy to Pursue What Matters

Breakout

We spend so much time thinking about corporate sustainability and planetary sustainability. But what about human sustainability? How do we maintain the energy we need to pursue what matters most to us—especially when our life’s work is something as challenging as protecting the earth’s climate and natural resources? This interactive workshop will help you develop strategies to connect into your purpose, maintain your energy, and develop focus to continue the work that really matters.

Collaboration in Climate Action and Social Justice

Breakout

Climate action and social justice are inextricably linked, incredibly complex, and at a global scale and scope. While an individual organization can and must make progress on its own, cross-sector collaboration is essential for transformative change and momentum towards a world that is sustainable, just and equitable. How can companies and NGOs effectively partner to move the needle across industries and sectors? What are the primary levers and drivers of substantive change? What do sustainability professionals need to know to contribute to meaningful change at this intersection? How must companies support local organizations and communities, and how can the sustainability function drive maximum impact in these partnerships? Join this session to hear from corporate and NGO leaders on how to drive meaningful change towards an equitable and just society that benefits both planet and people.

2:00pm to 2:30pm

Roundtable: CSO 2.0 — The Changing Nature of Sustainability Leadership

Networking

How are organizations leveraging sustainability as a lens for business growth and consumer engagement? This session will discuss the evolution and future of sustainability leadership roles within environmentally and socially conscious companies from architects of mitigation strategy to advocates for consumer interest and stewards of responsible natural resource management. Participants will be invited to share their experiences distinguishing their ESG strategies, lessons on the role of marketing as a driver of change, expanding definitions of successful impact, as well as insights on the role of the private industry in responsibly tackling shared global challenges.

Join GreenBiz 21 roundtables to connect with like-minded participants for interactive virtual discussions around a big question or hot topic. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion hosted by experts. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!

Wednesday, February 10th, 2021

9:50am to 10:10am

Courageous Leadership

Keynote

Hear from global sustainable business icon Paul Polman, former Unilever CEO and now Imagine Co-Founder and Chair, on how companies can up their game on the climate crisis, social justice and other pressing issues — and the implications if they don’t. While CEOs and business leaders can't move industries and markets alone, collective action can yield tectonic impacts and unleash business towards achieving our Global Goals.

10:45am to 11:30am

From Risk to Vulnerability Management: What COVID-19 Has Taught Us About ESG Related Risks

Breakout

Traditional risk management approaches have failed to arm companies with the appropriate processes to address and strategically respond to high impact ESG-related events and risks. Despite recognition of the potentially catastrophic impact of a global pandemic, very few companies recognized infectious disease as a high-risk factor, and organizations were woefully underprepared to strategically and operationally respond to COVID-19. As organizations revive and revise their business models, they must implement more robust operational models and processes focused on resiliency and the management of business vulnerabilities. Organizations need to better plan and prepare for the impacts and challenges of addressing global disruptions and worldwide networks of interconnected ESG-related risks. Join this session for insights and tools to assess the vulnerability of your organization to ESG-related risk, extend traditional risk management activities to address dynamics and connectivity of risks, and build resiliency to critical and emergent ESG-risks.

Leading the Sustainability Transformation

Breakout

Join this session for a preview experience of GreenBiz’s new "Leading the Sustainability Transformation" Professional Certificate Program. In this session, you'll engage in the first step of a 10 week simulation, in which participants build their competence, confidence, and credibility in leading sustainable business. This multi-stakeholder role-play will bring the multi-faceted challenges of sustainability to life and provide participants the opportunity to explore the considerations of a major capital expansion of a manufacturing company in a new site. You'll be cast into one of the key roles within the company, including operations, supply chain, marketing and sales, human resources, and environment, health and safety or into a stakeholder role in the community (non-profit and government), with the opportunity to integrate sustainability approaches and considerations across functions and sectors. This will be a highly interactive session, with breakout discussions and group conversation on key decisions, bringing sustainability concepts and skills to life and replicating the impacts of decision-making on a business’s triple bottom line. The model extends beyond the four walls of the fictional company to include its impact on environmental, social, and economic systems in which it exists.

11:45am to 12:30pm

Align Your Company's Transformation Efforts to Go Far and Fast

Breakout

Many companies inadvertently create competition among their innovation and transformation efforts, but some are seeing the value in teaming up to drive better scaleable outcomes. Join this session to learn how company leaders are finding ways to connect diversity, equity and inclusion, corporate responsibility, sustainability and other transformation efforts to greater effect.

1:00pm to 1:45pm

Why Companies Must Invest in Communities

Breakout

Traditional global sustainability metrics are limiting our industry's reach, traction and ability to have an impact, especially in individual communities around the world. What "matters" to a mom or dad trying to raise a family isn't just the amount of carbon a local manufacturer may emit, but whether that family's neighborhood is walkable, has great parks and schools, provides affordable safe housing, has tree canopies that moderate extreme temperatures, addresses inequality, and other factors that contribute to the "livability" of a community. Join this session to learn about different approaches companies are taking to quantify the prosperity of the communities in which they operate, and how they can play a role in advancing the well-being of those communities. This human-centric conversation is a critical evolution of the traditional ways we measure the sustainability of a community, that both addresses equity and conditions that link directly to the daily lives of people in the communities we are trying to sustain.

How to Approach Employee Health and Wellbeing Holistically

Breakout

Health and wellbeing in the workplace is typically associated with a wellness program or an occupational health and safety initiative. However, as COVID-19 has demonstrated, companies need to take a bold and holistic approach to health and wellbeing — one that recognizes that health and wellness are driven by social, economic, and environmental factors. Taking a holistic approach starts with understanding the social determinants of health i.e., the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play and which affect a wide range of health and quality-of life-risks and outcomes. What role can companies play in impacting these conditions and advancing health equity, particularly in the workplace? This session will delve into a broad range of business practices that impact health outcomes, from pay practices and benefits to job security to the physical work environment, introduce the multi-stakeholder-developed Culture of Health for Business Framework for companies to use in developing forward-thinking strategies, and highlight critical issues for companies to manage as they prepare for a post-COVID-19 workplace.

I Am Woman, Watch Me Lead

Breakout

In spring 2020, GreenBiz research found the number of women in sustainability leadership positions had grown dramatically over the past decade: 58% of sustainability executives in large companies are female, as are 54% in smaller firms. But the economic downturn hasn’t been gender-blind. Layoffs triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic have hit women — especially women of color — hardest. Systemic workplace issues, such as the lack of affordable child or elder care, have been exacerbated, making historical work-life balance issues even more difficult. Join this session for insights from resilient, compassionate female sustainability leaders who are rising above this challenge. Our dialogue will address how to lead with empathy in a time of crisis; how to navigate systemic corporate obstacles such as pay equity and lack of diversity within management; how to address the heightened balancing act women face between housework, childcare and their careers; and how to develop effective mentoring networks for women and people of color.

2:00pm to 2:30pm

Roundtable: Let's Talk About Sustainability Burnout

Networking

From responding to the deluge of “rating and ranking” surveys, to setting increasingly aggressive and wide-ranging goals and targets, the expectations placed on sustainability leaders have always been high — especially when compared to departmental budgets. Then COVID-19 happened. And a racial justice reckoning. And climate-induced wildfires. And a wildly polarizing election. Over the past year, many sustainability leaders — particularly those with terms like "Health and Safety" or “Diversity and Inclusion” incorporated into their titles — have taken on an entire new job’s worth of responsibilities. Meanwhile, many are attempting to balance remote work with staying healthy, managing childcare, and all the other responsibilities of a “new normal.” The result has been a slew of early retirements, career pivots, extended leaves of absence, and resignations from sustainability experts across sectors. The risks to companies from these departures are enormous – institutional memory and relationships are lost. Team morale erodes. New program champions have to be cultivated. Issue expertise has to be outsourced or re-hired. In this session, we’ll ask the question — are we losing our movement's greatest leaders by asking too much of them? And if so, what can be done about “sustaina-burnout”? Participants will be invited to engage in a dynamic discussion, sharing experiences, best practices, and new ideas for improving workplace mental health, work-life balance, and employee well-being within the sustainability community.

Join GreenBiz 21 roundtables to connect with like-minded participants for interactive virtual discussions around a big question or hot topic. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion hosted by experts. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!

Thursday, February 11th, 2021

9:05am to 9:25am

ESG: The View from Wall Street

Keynote

There is no question that ESG reporting is on the rise. Sustainability, at the intersection of environmental and social issues, is driving a tectonic shift in investing. Once seen as a strategy that sacrifices returns, investors are now using this lens to mitigate risk and ensure resilience. Hear from Martina L. Cheung, President of S&P Global Market Intelligence, on why financial analysis is incomplete if it ignores material ESG factors, and the implications, and opportunities, for sustainability professionals in this transformation.

9:50am to 10:10am

How Youth Leaders are Cultivating and Empowering the Next Generation

Keynote

Youth leaders have become strong voices in the climate movement, advocating for climate action, justice and equity for all. Youth leaders are playing an important role, not only in making their voices heard and demanding change from governments and corporations, but also in educating and empowering new leaders and growing the next generation of engaged, informed and active advocates. Danielle Boyer is an indigenous teen entrepreneur, author, educator, and inventor working to increase STEAM education accessibility and affordability through innovative programs that promote technical competency and develop a tangible love for our Earth. Diego Arreola Fernández is on a mission to cultivate more environmental leaders prepared to raise their voices for the planet and inspire people towards a truly sustainable future. Hear from these inspiring young leaders about their stories and vision for the future.

10:45am to 11:30am

Modernizing Governance to Align Strategy and Purpose

Breakout

2019 saw many leading businesses take a renewed focus on the purpose of the corporation with the updated statement from the Business Roundtable and launch of the Principles for Purposeful Business. In 2020, the WEF focused on stakeholder capitalism and the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded a ‘great reset’ as business considers how it must evolve and respond to the societal challenges that the year has posed. What is the role of the board in understanding, managing, and responding to a crisis such as this? How can board members be better informed and equipped to ensure business resilience? How can the board ensure that it is taking account of all stakeholder views and using this to inform decision making and generate value for all stakeholders aligned with the purpose of the corporation, whilst still managing ESG-related risk and opportunity? This session will seek to answer some of these questions and provide attendees with an opportunity to hear from legal and corporate experts who will share their experiences on engaging with the board as they begin to reflect on how modernizing their approach to governance will support more successful and sustainable business.

How to Create the Future We Want

Breakout

The radical disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted deep interconnections between the societal, economic and environmental challenges we face, and provides an opportunity to radically rethink existing global systems. The decisions we make in the next six to 18 months will determine the future of our society, our economy, and the planet. Drawing on the belief that the future is not something that happens to us, but is something that we actively create through every action we take, this session will focus on the findings from Forum for the Future’s latest ‘Future of Sustainability’ report which maps out four distinct trajectories forward from this point, which are based on the mindsets and narratives we are already seeing emerge from the response to COVID-19. Join this session to explore the different futures that are open to us as we emerge from the crisis, and examine the role that you – individually, and through your organizations and initiatives – can play in ensuring that we harness this moment of radical change to transform the world around us for the better.

11:45am to 12:30pm

The Role of the Sustainability Professional in Advancing DEI

Breakout

The need for companies to address and improve diversity, equity and inclusion has long been a priority, and the events of 2020 have intensified the urgency of this imperative. In addition to prioritizing diversity in hiring, companies must cultivate inclusive and equitable cultures. What role should the sustainability professional play in creating inclusive workplace cultures? How should sustainability leaders collaborate with their colleagues in diversity and inclusion? What is the relationship between sustainability and D&I, and how should these be integrated? What will it take to achieve meaningful progress? Join this session to learn why this must be part of your work and the approaches companies and organizations are taking to drive transformative change.

How to Navigate a Successful Sustainability Career

Breakout

The role of the corporate sustainability professional is constantly shifting and adapting as the world we live in changes. Companies need sustainability professionals who can see what's on the horizon and devise strategies that position their companies as leaders on today's important issues. What existing skills should you continue to grow, and what new skills do you need to build in order to thrive? How can you continue to adapt, evolve and advance in your career as your role, work, and company change? What is the future of the sustainability profession? Join this session to hear from a group of leading sustainability professionals for their guidance and vision on what's next for corporate sustainability practitioners and how you can position yourself to succeed.

1:00pm to 1:45pm

Becoming a Purpose-Driven Company: Tales from the Trenches

Breakout

Join this session to hear from mainstream companies with strong sustainability and CSR practices on lessons learned in bringing purpose into their businesses and the impacts they're seeing on their companies. Using a story-telling approach, three business leaders will share the drivers of their pivot to purpose, how they engaged employees, management and the board, and how they are now implementing their purpose. They will share how and why this is a quantum leap from CSR and sustainability, and why becoming a for-purpose company has become so important to their brand. Finally, panelists will provide a few tips on how a sustainability practitioner can start this conversation going at their organization.

How to Grow the Next Generation of Sustainability Leaders

Breakout

Youth leaders have played a key role in the growing awareness of climate change and the imperative of climate action. How can we continue to grow the next generation of activists, advocates, and informed citizens to engage in this critical work? What is the role of corporations in cultivating this next generation, and how should they partner with NGOs and youth leaders to advance this work towards maximum impact? What do successful ongoing partnerships look like and how can they be mutually beneficial, beyond checking a box? Join this session to hear from youth, NGO and corporate leaders on how your company can be part of the solution and finish out your time at GreenBiz 21 with a strategy for engaging, educating and empowering the next generation.

Creating A Culture of Mentorship in the Sustainability Field

Breakout

Successful leaders do not sit back and wait for new, completely formed leaders to arrive. They consciously recognize people with leadership potential and find ways to cultivate that promise. Through storytelling and interactive discussions in breakout sessions, the panel will foster an important dialog about the lifelong impact of mentoring. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the values of leadership through mentoring and its lifelong impact and benefits, as well as tips on how to get started or deepen a mentorship practice you already have. Join this session to learn how to be a multiplier and amplifier, and leave a legacy beyond yourself.

2:00pm to 2:30pm

Roundtable: Enhancing Sustainability Culture in Your Business

Networking

What type of change management is required to integrate environmental sustainability in business operations? How can we best communicate the value of environmental sustainability in the workplace? And what are the performance indicators that show we have created a culture of environmental sustainability? Join this roundtable discussion to share ideas with fellow participants on what it takes to create long-term value and a culture for environmental sustainability at companies, including strategies for innovative thinking and engaging internal advocates throughout your company.

Join GreenBiz 21 roundtables to connect with like-minded participants for interactive virtual discussions around a big question or hot topic. Select your topic of interest to join a group discussion hosted by experts. Bring your own challenges, questions and ideas to these interactive discussions. Cameras on!