The Sustainability Communicator

Mike Hower
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The Sustainability Communicator

The Sustainability Communicator explores the intersection of corporate sustainability and storytelling. Your host, Mike Hower, is a sustainability communication nerd with more than fifteen years of experience on both sides of the podium — as a journalist for media outlets like GreenBiz and a communication strategist for major global companies. During each episode, we explore interesting sustainability communication challenges, risks and opportunities facing folks in the business community and beyond. If you’re ready to talk your walk, then you’ve come to the right place.

  1. 05/12/2024

    So you want to be a sustainability communicator?

    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.

    35 min

  2. 14/11/2024

    What a second Trump term means for corporate sustainability

    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 last week Mike Hower of Hower Impact 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.

    25 min

  3. 22/10/2024

    Finding a voice for corporate climate policy action

    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.

    46 min

  4. 19/09/2024

    A new 'KIND' of sustainability communication strategy

    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.

    32 min

  5. 22/08/2024

    The sustainability communication woes of CSOs, with Ellen Weinreb

    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.

    34 min

  6. 08/08/2024

    Avoiding the legal landmines of greenwashing

    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.

    17 min

  7. 18/07/2024

    How Microsoft maintains an ‘ESG mindset’ in the era of AI

    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.

    20 min

  8. 26/06/2024

    What Gen Z wants brands to know about communicating sustainability

    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.

    26 min
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The Sustainability Communicator explores the intersection of corporate sustainability and storytelling. Your host, Mike Hower, is a sustainability communication nerd with more than fifteen years of experience on both sides of the podium — as a journalist for media outlets like GreenBiz and a communication strategist for major global companies. During each episode, we explore interesting sustainability communication challenges, risks and opportunities facing folks in the business community and beyond. If you’re ready to talk your walk, then you’ve come to the right place.

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