Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
Corporate Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility Professional with a decade of experience in the financial services industry. Skilled in Sustainability Strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Media Relations, Brand Marketing, Corporate Communications, Stakeholder Engagement and Environmental and Social Risk Management.
Background: During COVID I sought experiences that put me back in the outdoors where I first found my passion for the environment and ecology. The first few months of COVID I worked on a friend's organic farm that needed extra support due to staffing challenges from the pandemic and an increase in demand for their produce. There I learned the basics of operating a small, organic, no till farm while putting in hours of physical labor harvesting crops, transplanting crops, amending soil, constructing hoop houses and washing and packing produce for CSA members. After a few months of working on the farm, I met John Newman, principal of John Newman Garden Design and a renowned landscape architect in Western North Carolina. After explaining my newfound interest in horticulture and landscape design, he offered me an entry level position where I could learn more about residential and commercial landscape design, native and non-native plants, and the basics of building and maintaining gardens, hardscapes and water features. Over the course of the next 5 years my role expanded to manage and lead projects, design and pitch proposals, and manage operational and administrative duties across the business.
Independent consultant and contract work for sustainability agencies, renewable energy companies and energy tech startups. My work with sustainability agencies focused on supporting their work with clients in the financial services industry. Those projects for financial services companies focused on ideating and pitching new sustainability product ideas, internal sustainability initiatives and goals, and establishing key partnerships with NGOs.
Responsible for: - Stakeholder engagement - Sustainability strategy development - Enhancing environmental and social risk management policies and practices - Marketing and communications for sustainability initiatives and the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing
Responsible for: - Sustainability reporting - Sustainability strategy development - Marketing and communications for sustainability initiatives and the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing
- Manage communications and PR for the bank's Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability activity globally. - Manage communications and PR for Citi Ventures, Citi's global corporate venturing and innovation arm. - Manage and produce Citi's annual Global Coporate Citizenship Report. - Plan and execute Citi's activation strategy for the global FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action program.
Provided research support for the bank's sustainability policies and strategy, coordinated employee engagement efforts and managed administrative responsibilities for the unit.
Worked in a team conducting research and client interviews, helped establish a relationship with Kiva.org to expand the organization's donor base.