Key takeaways from industry leaders
For businesses committed to sustainable practices, creating actionable impact strategies is a top priority. Executing those strategies is another matter entirely. In a complex landscape of regulatory shifts, stakeholder expectations, and the stark effects of climate change, how can business leaders rise to the challenge and honor their commitments to sustainability?
To answer that question, Highwire hosted a webinar to explore the evolving sustainability landscape and provide insights into how organizations can adapt and thrive. Moderated by multimedia journalist Talib Visram, the webinar surfaced actionable insights from industry leaders Dana Beckman of Bread Financial, Mia Ketterling of Pinterest, and Kathy Mulvany of Pure Storage. Among those key takeaways is a critical revelation: Sustainability leadership is a dynamic, interdisciplinary field that requires adaptability and a proactive attitude.
Making sustainability a core business strategy
Chief Sustainability Officer. Senior Global Sustainability Lead. Global Head of ESG. These are the titles that Dana Beckman, Mia Ketterling, and Kathy Mulvany hold at their respective companies. “If you ask 10 different leaders in this space, you will get 10 different answers about what their title specifically is,” Mulvany pointed out.
The inconsistency in their titles highlights the relative infancy of corporate sustainability as a concept. As Mulvany put it, sustainability leaders’ official job roles are often based on “where you are in your sustainability journey as a company.” That said, “I think it’s more about the underlying work that is being done and the commitment that the company has to advance that work.”
That means not only appointing sustainability leadership at your own company, but integrating those roles into the day-to-day operations. Beckman, Ketterling, and Mulvany all report to C-Suite teams and are highly involved in executive conversations. “We have a seat at the table, and we’re very integrated into the business,” Beckman explained.
In order for ESG initiatives to succeed, companies must embed sustainability into their core business operations rather than treating it as an auxiliary project. That means aligning corporate strategies with sustainability goals to achieve measurable outcomes while meeting regulatory and stakeholder expectations. To build trust between teams, transparency and clear reporting frameworks should be company policy.
A creative approach to sustainability
In 2022, Pinterest announced that it was banning posts and ads containing climate change misinformation, including “Content that denies the existence or impacts of climate change, the human influence on climate change, or that climate change is backed by scientific consensus.” As the first major digital platform to take such a strong stance against misleading and harmful climate misinformation, Ketterling called the policy “really meaningful.” The Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition agreed, ranking Pinterest as “the best-performing platform” based on “its policies to mitigate the spread of climate misinformation.
This initiative serves as a shining example of how sustainability leaders can take a creative approach to advance their ESG initiatives. In Pinterest’s case, the social media outlet partnered with a diverse group of content creators from around the world “to inspire Pinners to learn more about thrifting tips, upcycling clothes, and minimizing food waste, among other topics.” By fostering this inclusive, informative content, Pinterest successfully aligned its sustainability and social responsibility goals. “I think that’s something really unique about Pinterest and the work that we’ve done to date,” Ketterling said.
Looking to the future
As the sustainability efforts at Bread Financial, Pinterest, and Pure Storage show, this movement has come a long way in the last few years — but there’s always more work to be done. The ESG landscape continues to evolve, and several key trends are shaping the future:
- Global ESG alignment: Despite whatever political strife is happening in any one company, international standards can help streamline corporate compliance and improve sustainability effectiveness worldwide. Given that Ketterling and Mulvany have “Global” in their titles, it’s clear that we’re already moving in this direction.
- AI-driven sustainability: Although its strain on the electricity grid is currently a cause for concern, AI may play a pivotal role in advancing sustainability metrics. This will be a key topic at CERAWeek 2025.
- ESG meets DEI: With the interweaving of DEI and ESG initiatives, such as in Pinterest’s anti-misinformation campaign, social equity and diversity will become central pillars of sustainability frameworks. In turn, this will drive more holistic approaches to big-picture corporate responsibility.
We’d like to thank Talib Visram, Dana Beckman, Mia Ketterling, and Kathy Mulvany for this informative, enlightening discussion. You can watch the full webinar here to learn more about the role of corporate responsibility in an evolving sustainability landscape.
