The Sustainability Communicator with Mike Hower

In this episode, Mike sits down with Erik Hansen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday, to explore how CSOs have evolved into the lead communicators for corporate sustainability. Erik shares insights on building trust through transparency, making the business case for sustainability initiatives, and how companies are increasingly being asked detailed sustainability questions in hundreds of RFPs. The conversation covers practical strategies for working with legal teams on compliant communications, measuring the success of sustainability storytelling, and thinking beyond company silos to advocate for industry-wide change. Connect with Erik Hansen on LinkedIn. Learn more about Workday's sustainability strategy. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike sits down with Alexandra Talleur, an internal communications lead at HP who specializes in sustainability engagement. While companies often focus on external sustainability communication, internal communication frequently receives less attention. Yet effective employee engagement is crucial for implementing sustainability strategies and maintaining talent. Alexandra shares insights on creating meaningful internal sustainability communications, connecting sustainability to employees' roles, and navigating challenges like the "green gap" between stated values and actions. Connect with Alexandra Talleur on LinkedIn Learn more about sustainability at HP Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

In this episode, host Mike Hower sits down with Dan Strechay, a seasoned sustainability communications professional who has worked across private companies, public organizations, and NGOs. They discuss the evolution of sustainability communications, how to navigate difficult topics like palm oil and climate change, and the balance between transparency and greenwashing. Dan shares insights from his career journey and offers practical advice for companies looking to communicate authentically about their sustainability efforts. This conversation, recorded in late 2024, remains relevant as sustainability professionals navigate the changing landscape of reporting requirements and stakeholder expectations. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn Check out the Mars Net Zero Roadmap Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

At a time when corporate sustainability faces unprecedented headwinds, last week's GreenBiz25 conference proved that sustainability leaders aren't backing down – they're doubling down on their commitments and getting more strategic about their communication. In this special episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike Hower sat down with six sustainability leaders from diverse industries to understand how they're navigating these challenging times. From Aileen Lerch at Allbirds discussing the power of "applied hope," to Elizabeth Eldridge at Kaiser Permanente sharing how they're moving beyond buzzwords to build trust, to Marcella Thompson at CBRE explaining how they're making sustainability visible in the built environment, each conversation revealed how companies are evolving their sustainability storytelling for 2025 and beyond. These candid discussions, recorded live at GreenBiz25 in Phoenix, offer a unique window into how leading companies are balancing compliance, credibility, and compelling narratives in their sustainability communications. Read GreenBiz 25 takeaways: Telling a sustainability story that doesn’t suck Follow the interviewees on LinkedIn: Aileen Lerch, Allbirds Elizabeth Eldridge, Kaiser Permanente Marcella Thompson, CBRE Daniel Pellegrom, Leidos Sarah Beaubien, Mondelez Learn more about GreenBiz conferences Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

As corporate sustainability teams shift to focus on regulatory and compliance, more sustainability professionals are spending a lot of time creating sustainability reports. These massive PDFs can sometimes be up to 100 pages or more and take many months to develop. Love them or hate them, sustainability reports are here to stay. And the process can take its toll on the people who create them – both for in house folk and consultants. In this Brain Exchange episode, Mike sits down to talk with Dunia Namugayi, a sustainability reporting expert who has gone through many reporting cycles and can speak to how she maintains personal sustainability through the ups and downs of creating effective reports. Follow Dunia Namugayi on LinkedIn Read Mike's Trellis piece about finding personal sustainability in corporate sustainability. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

In this timely Thinking Out Loud episode, host Mike Hower examines the evolving landscape of corporate sustainability as we enter 2025, offering a candid assessment of the shift from the "ESG Golden Age" to today's more complex reality. Drawing from his extensive experience in sustainability communications, Mike presents six key strategies for companies to reclaim their sustainability narrative: acknowledging trade-offs, focusing on material impact, bridging economic and environmental concerns, emphasizing practical solutions, breaking out of echo chambers, and embracing humility about private sector limitations. Despite highlighting significant challenges, including missed emissions targets and record-breaking temperatures, Mike maintains optimism, pointing to strong public support for corporate climate action and advocating for a more mature, honest approach to sustainability communication that balances acknowledging difficulties with maintaining commitment to necessary change. Read 6 strategies for finding corporate sustainability’s lost narrative in 2025 Check out the recent Pew poll on climate change sentiments in the U.S. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The profession of being a sustainability communicator is relatively new – and seems to be evolving with each passing day. Success in this emerging field requires understanding the intricate goals and objectives of both sustainability and marketing teams, and developing the unique skill of translating between these often disparate organizational functions. In this episode, Mike delves into the field's evolution over the past few decades through the lens of Jessica Appelgren, a remarkable professional with unmatched depth and breadth of experience in sustainability communication. Follow Jessica Appelgren on LinkedIn. Read "AI Can (Mostly) Outperform Human CEOs" on Harvard Business Review Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election came as a shock to many in the world of corporate sustainability and beyond. In one night, it seemed like years of progress on social and environmental issues were shattered. With a corrupt, climate-denying convicted criminal with blatant authoritarian ambitions heading to the White House in 2025 – corporate sustainability professionals are feeling disheartened at best and horrified at worst. While we don’t know for sure what will happen, we do know that the strength of our democratic institutions will be put to the test and federal efforts to address the climate crisis will likely be deflated in the coming years. But it’s during times like these that we need to come together most, and on November 8, 2024 we organized an open door Zoom event called “Corporate Sustainability in a Second Trump Term.” In less than 24 hours, we had gathered interest from over 500 sustainability professionals, with more than 350 showing up for the call. During the call, in a series of fire starter chats we heard from Heather Clancy of Trellis, Matt Sekol of Microsoft who also is author of ESG Mindset, Jennifer Allyn of ClimateVoice, Patrick Flynn of Switchboard, and Anne Kelly of Ceres. In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, we showcase some of the conversations from the call to give sustainability professionals the boost they need during these uncertain times. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

As global temperatures continue to rise and we see the negative effects of a warming world, it’s becoming clear that businesses can’t address the climate crisis through voluntary action alone. Businesses need good policy to shape the rules of engagement that unlock private sector innovation to tackle tough sustainability challenges like climate. Many companies with sound corporate sustainability strategies aren’t speaking up in the policy arena for fear of alienating customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders. In this episode, Mike speaks with Bill Weihl and Deborah McNamara of ClimateVoice a nonprofit that leverages the power of corporate influence from climate-positive companies to win crucial policy battles. Without getting too political, we explore the challenges companies face around advocating on climate policy, and the opportunities they face in ensuring that they back up their sustainability communication with policy action. Follow ClimateVoice on LinkedIn. Sign the LEAD statement calling for more climate action from the corporate sustainability community. Check out the Climate Policy Obstruction Scorecard spotlighting how 15 U.S. based companies are obstructing climate policy by financially supporting the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and hiring lobbyists who also work for the fossil fuel industry. Find your local polling center and VOTE. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

While food isn’t always the flashiest sustainability topic, with agriculture being a significant driver of the climate crisis, strong sustainability communication is needed to educate and engage consumers to act. KIND is leading some cutting-edge work around regenerative agriculture – which comes with its own set of sustainability communication challenges. In this episode, Mike speaks with Lindsay Philpott, Sustainability Communication Manager at KIND to learn more about how the company navigates communicating complex sustainability topics to consumers. Connect with Lindsay Philpott on LinkedIn. Learn more about the KIND Almost Acres Initiative. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The role of the CSO has changed significantly over the years, from a backroom marketing function to being key figures in their company’s business operation and growth. Roughly 183 public companies in the U.S. now employ a CSO, up from 29 in 2011, according to a recent report from recruiter Weinreb Group. Of those, more than three-quarters sit on the company’s leadership team while just over a third report directly to the CEO. With this elevated status comes increasing responsibility for CSOs to be the chief communicator of a company's social and environmental efforts — both internally and externally. Yet with many CSOs coming from technical backgrounds, they aren’t always prepared to be the person behind the podium. In this episode, Mike connects with Ellen Weinreb, one of the world’s leading sustainability recruiters who has worked with countless CSOs over the years, to better understand the ever-evolving role of the CSO and what this means for sustainability communication. Connect with Ellen Weinreb on LinkedIn. Follow Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting on LinkedIn. Read "Sustainability Chiefs Say Their Roles Have Become More Complex and Relevant" on The Wall Street Journal. Read the 2023 Weinreb Group Chief Sustainability Officer report. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

Greenwashing law is still in its nascency, but recent regulations in Europe and case law in the U.S. is beginning to shape its future. In Europe, companies must prove that they aren’t greenwashing, while in the U.S. the burden is on the consumer to prove that a company is making false claims. As companies navigate this new legal landscape, they must tread carefully with their sustainability communication efforts. In this episode, Mike connects with legal and ESG expert Christine Uri to better understand this emerging legalese, and how sustainability communicators should proceed. Follow Christine Uri on LinkedIn. Read " EU Moves Closer To Regulating Greenwashing By Businesses In New Green Claims Directive" on Forbes Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

Now that we’re halfway through 2024, it’s safe to say that ESG has been having a “complicated” year. With the anti-ESG backlash having been largely successful scaring many companies to backtrack or downplay their social and environmental work, the future of ESG remains unclear. Despite all of this, companies must strive to maintain an “ESG mindset”, according to Matt Sekol, author of the book “ESG Mindset” and Sustainability Global Black Belt at Microsoft. And in this effort, sustainability communicators have an important role to play. In this episode, Mike speaks with Matt about his new book, ESG Mindset , to help us better understand the confusion around ESG – and how sustainability communicators can help clear it up. Follow Matt Sekol on LinkedIn Buy ESG Mindset Check out Microsoft's 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

Companies have always been trying to engage young people on sustainability. But for some reason, this is getting harder. While Millennials were among the first to more heavily weigh social and environmental factors into employment decisions, Gen Z is taking this trend into hyperdrive. Companies hoping to attract and retain the best talent must tell authentic sustainability stories that are capable of persuading young people that they are committed to sustainability. In this episode, Mike speaks with Daniel Gonzalez — a recent Master’s graduate from the Yale School of Environment — to get a deeper understanding of what Gen Z is looking for when it comes to sustainability communication, and offer some candid advice to companies looking to do better. Follow Daniel Gonzalez on LinkedIn. Read "Gen Z cares about sustainability more than anyone else – and is starting to make others feel the same" on World Economic Forum. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The fashion industry faces its own unique set of ESG and sustainability challenges. Understanding how to communicate complex sustainability challenges to diverse consumer audiences is critical for companies as they progress on their journeys. In this episode, Mike speaks with Ali Mize, an ESG and sustainability expert to learn more about Neiman Marcus Group’s approach to sustainability storytelling, and how companies can improve sustainability communication overall. Follow Ali Mize on LinkedIn Check out Neiman Marcus Group's ESG website Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The words used to describe sustainability work have morphed and changed over the years — from corporate philanthropy to CSR, to sustainability and ESG. This constant change in terminology confuses even those who live and breathe it everyday and poses a big problem for sustainability communicators. What exactly should we call this “thing” we do? In this episode, Mike interviews Raheem Cash, vice president of Corporate Sustainability at Moody’s Corporation, to better understand where we've been, where we are and where we're going when it comes to sustainability terminology and discourse. Useful Links: Follow Raheem Cash on LinkedIn. Check out Moody's sustainability page and report. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

Over the past few years, the surge in energy in corporate sustainability has been fueled by renewed investor interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG). Sparked by Larry Fink’s 2020 investor letter, this seemed to signal a new era of investor enthusiasm for ESG information from companies they invest in. However, the anti-ESG rhetoric and increasing politicization of ESG has caused many companies to backtrack. Many companies continue to guess at what investors want from them on the ESG front. In this episode, Mike chats with Grant Harrison, Vice President of Sustainable Finance and ESG at GreenBiz, to better understand the current ESG investment landscape and how companies can better engage investors with non-financial information. Follow Grant Harrison on LinkedIn Register to attend GreenFin 24 (Use Code GF24MHP15 to receive a 15% discount) Read "Does the SEC climate rule really matter? Investors will still demand disclosure" (GreenBiz) Check out Larry Fink's 2024 letter to investors Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

With several new rules and regulations around ESG communication, sustainability storytellers must adapt. In this episode, Mike speaks with global ESG leader Tim Mohin of Boston Consulting Group to learn more about how sustainability and communication professionals can best navigate this new era. Episode Notes: Unpacking The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule (Boston Consulting Group) Changing Business from the Inside Out by Tim Mohin Subscribe to the ESG & Climate News newsletter Follow Tim Mohin on LinkedIn Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

The video game industry is just now “pressing start” on corporate sustainability. With comparatively low levels of resource intensity and often complex chains of custody and responsibility for social and environmental impacts, many video game makers are just now figuring out their sustainability strategies. Even still, communicating sustainability in this sector faces its own challenges and opportunities. To better understand how the video game industry is approaching sustainability storytelling, Mike connected with Neil Patel, Senior Director of Sustainability at Take Two Interactive Software — owner of Rockstar Games, which produces the popular Grand Theft Auto Franchise. Episode Notes Connect with Neil Patel on LinkedIn Read Take-Two Interactive's 2021 ESG report Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

After two years of consideration and more than 24,000 comments, on March 6, 2024 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted its “rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings.” These rules are part of an effort to respond to investor demand for more “consistent, comparable and reliable” information about the financial effects of climate-related risks on a company’s operations — and how those risks are managed while balancing concerns about mitigating costs. To better understand what made it into the final SEC climate rules, and how this impacts sustainability communication moving forward, Mike caught up with Derek Young, VP of ESG at the REIT CBL Properties. Episode Notes SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (press release) Connect with Derek Young on LinkedIn SEC passes new emissions rule: Here’s what you need to know (GreenBiz) Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

Sustainability storytelling is more important — and complicated — than ever. With so many changing expectations and regulations around sustainability storytelling, knowing how to effectively social and environmental impact is a top challenge for companies across the globe. In this episode, Mike brings in the expertise of a fellow sustainability communications expert — Whitney Dailey, Executive Vice President, Purpose at the global public relations firm Allison Worldwide — to better understand how companies can navigate sustainability storytelling in 2024. Episode Notes Follow Whitney Dailey on LinkedIn Why Corporate America Has Gone Quiet on ESG (Wall Street Journal) A Huge Win for Activists Puts Climate on the 2024 Agenda (The New York Times) Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

- Follow Mike on LinkedIn - Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter - Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter - Visit the Hower Impact website. - Contact Mike.

Writing is a lost art for many sustainability professionals. But the ability to write well continues to be critical for communicating social and environmental challenges effectively. In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike discusses key learnings from over a decade as a write and editor in the corporate sustainability space that form the fundamentals of effective sustainability writing. Episode Notes Learn more about the Writing for Impact Masterclass . Read "The five fundamentals of effective sustainability writing." Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

With the stakes of communicating sustainability higher than ever, it's important that companies get their story straight. But many continues to fail to tell authentic and engaging stories that resonate with their key audiences. In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike explains common reasons why businesses struggle to tell good sustainability stories - and how to do better. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.

If there's one things corporate sustainability professionals love more than a healthy serving of alphabet soup with our many acronyms, it's trying to make predictions about what will happen in this truly unpredictable space. But in this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike takes a crack at it anyway. Here are some things to look for in sustainability communication in 2024. Follow Mike on LinkedIn Subscribe to The Sustainability Communicator LinkedIn newsletter Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter Visit the Hower Impact website. Contact Mike.