This ongoing Q&A series profiles a few of the speakers we're looking forward to seeing at this year's Net Impact Conference. Jennifer is the Director, Environmental Initiatives at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center and will be speaking in our Environment & Natural Resources track.
If you could spend 15 minutes with one impact hero past or present, who would it be and why?
Paul Polman, the Chief Executive Officer of consumer goods giant Unilever. He is a true leader of the sustainable business movement. He constantly challenges the status quo about what it means to do business in ways that continue to meet the needs of society without overwhelming the planet’s finite resources. He inspires and motivates, leading by example -- notably through the company’s Sustainable Living Plan that aims to double sales and cut in half the environmental impact of its products. Paul Polman leverages the brand and power of Unilever as a positive force for good, from tackling deforestation to eradicating extreme poverty.
What’s one surprising stat or emerging trend anyone looking to make an impact in your field should know?
According to a recent report funded by the Water Research Foundation and the Water Environment Research Foundation, the water sector (water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities) will contribute $524 billion to the economy over 10 years, supporting 289,000 permanent jobs. One-third of the current water sector workforce is eligible for retirement, and the industry is actively onboarding and training the new workforce to fill these jobs, which include engineering, business management, and customer service. This is a great opportunity for students and professionals looking to make a career switch to have a positive impact in a field that is vital to maintaining public health and improving our environment.
What do you love about your work?
I love our team, and how we work with businesses to help make the world a better place. Through our research, convenings, best practice publications, and other programming, we help companies maximize their positive environmental and social contributions on issues they care about, including energy and water use, managing waste, disaster response and resilience, women’s economic empowerment, and nutrition and obesity prevention. My work is very dynamic and constantly changing, and I love working with so many different business leaders committed to leveraging their time, talent, and treasure to making a difference.
What's your best advice for someone who wants to create positive change through their career?
There’s a well-worn adage to do one thing a day that scares you. Take risks. Don’t think you are qualified for that job? Apply anyway. For example, many skills are transferable and many jobs build in training so if you don’t know all you need to know when you take the job, you soon will! Don’t think you are qualified to speak on a particular topic? Do it anyway. Don’t let the fear that you haven’t been in the field for 30 years like the other panelists or that someone will ask you a question you don’t know how to answer stop you from getting up there and adding value to the conversation. Set your sights on what you want to accomplish, and put your foot on the accelerator – it’s an amazing ride!
When have you found yourself breaking boundaries in your work?
The Corporate Citizenship Center is launching a new program on waste and recycling. We have been working very closely with our corporate supporters and other partners in the field to identify the priority opportunities where we can join the conversation and help accelerate replicable and scalable approaches around critical waste challenges. This program will serve as a model for other new programs CCC has in the pipeline, including food security, so it’s exciting to be leading this new and ambitious effort for the Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
How has being part of the Net Impact community or attending the conference in the past made a difference in your world?
I served one term as the Vice President of Partnerships on the DC Net Impact Board of Directors. It was a great leadership opportunity to shape our work and make a real difference in my community, workplace, and personal life. I loved working with our partners – such as Honest Tea and Weber Shandwick – to develop and implement programming on a variety of CSR topics. I highly recommend serving on a Net Impact Chapter Board of Directors to get more involved with Net Impact, further develop leadership and strategic planning skills, and drive positive change.
What’s your best advice for first-time conference attendees?
Plan ahead! Before the conference, spend time reviewing the agenda, identifying which sessions you want to attend, and which speakers you would like to meet. I often reach out to speakers and attendees I know ahead of time and arrange quick side conversations while we are both at the conference. When the conference starts there’s so much going on and it can be a bit overwhelming, so I find planning ahead of time to be quite useful. When you are at the conference, absorb as much as you can, ask questions during the Q&A, and don’t be shy about going up to people and introducing yourself. It’s all about networking, learning from each other, and forming new relationships and partnerships in our continual efforts to tackle the world’s most pressing global challenges.
About Jennifer
Jennifer Gerholdt is the Director, Environmental Initiatives at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center (CCC). In her role, Jennifer directs high quality programming for business leaders, including The Dow Chemical Company, Microsoft, and more to help maximize their positive contributions to address pressing environmental issues. Prior to CCC, Jennifer was the Senior Manager of Conservation International’s Business & Sustainability Council (BSC) and the Program Officer with World Wildlife Fund’s Global Forest & Trade Network-North America program. Jennifer holds a Master of Science degree in environmental sciences and policy from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from New Mexico State University. She'll be speaking at the Managing Risks and Advancing Solutions at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus session at our upcoming conference.
Want more?
This year's conference is over, but you can also catch up with video of several sessions on our site. Watch now!
