The Sustainability Communicator with Mike Hower

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.

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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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
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• Sign up for Hower Impact's ENGAGE newsletter
• Visit the Hower Impact website.
• Contact Mike.