Meet the 2024 Award Winners
The 2024 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards
honored ten amazing, inspiring and determined women. Meet them below!
Laura Bishop
Independent Corporate Board Director, Ecovadis
Laura Bishop has over 20 years of experience working in sustainability in both the private and public sectors. Currently, she is a corporate board director with Ecovadis, a purpose-driven company whose mission is to provide the world's most trusted business sustainability ratings. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota and leads her own consulting firm. Laura served as the chief environmental regulator for the State of Minnesota leading the Governor’s climate strategies. Prior to that she was the Chief Responsibility and Sustainability Officer at Best Buy where she established the company’s initial climate goals and helped develop and grow the consumer electronics recycling program. Laura’s executive experience and insights, having served both on the regulated and regulator sides, help shape her unique perspective in formulating strategies that drive growth, reduce risk, and protect the planet.
Natalie Blyth
Global Head of Commercial Banking Sustainability, HSBC Holdings Plc
Natalie is responsible for the sustainability strategy across HSBC Holding’s 1.3 million corporate clients, leveraging investment in propositions, partnerships, and people. Prior to this, as Global Head of HSBC’s market leading Trade Finance business, Natalie profitably revitalized the business, executed a $700 million transformation program digitizing trade and decarbonizing client supply chains. Natalie joined HSBC in 2007, held leadership roles in investment banking and the commercial bank, is Non-Executive Director on the Latin American holdings board and senior sponsor for Employee Research Groups.
Formerly Natalie served at Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. She holds a BS in Biochemistry from St. Andrew’s University and was named one of Financial News Top 100 Women in Finance since 2013.
Libby Johnson McKee
Founder, Nautilus Advisory Group
Libby Johnson McKee is a technology and business leader best known for developing pioneering strategies in the circular economy and delivering exceptional business outcomes. She started working on circularity while leading Returns, ReCommerce and Transportation Sustainability at Amazon, the world’s leading ecommerce company. By focusing on zero product waste to landfill from returns in global operations, Libby and her teams helped create one of the largest circular economy engines in the world to put items back into use. Notably, this engine reduced waste to landfill to less than 1% of returns and improved the lives of tens of thousands of people in need through automated product donations to Good360 and their partners.
Libby currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Optoro, the leading reverse logistics and returns management software company, Board Director at Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington which changes lives through job placement and free education, and Board Director at Good360, the global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving. These organizations are furthering circularity and reuse and align with Libby’s values of “using business for good.” A native of Seattle, WA, Libby holds an MBA in sustainable business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Seattle and a BA in International Studies and Economics from the University of Washington.
Desta Raines
Director of Sustainability, Sephora
Desta Raines is the Director of Sustainability for Sephora where she leads strategy and execution of Sephora’s North American roadmap. She works across Sephora Global as well as cross-industry to ensure Sephora utilizes its market position to create consumer awareness and change at scale.
In 2023 Desta led the rollout of Sephora’s Beauty (Re)Purposed program, an industry-leading initiative to reduce packaging waste. She has had an impressive career as an entrepreneurial, innovative executive across multiple industries, including fashion and technology, prior to joining Sephora. Desta also serves on multiple boards, including the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, Pact Collective, and several nonprofits.
Amy Roesler
CEO, Roesler and Associates
Amy Roesler is CEO of Roesler and Associates, a consultancy firm that works with private, public, government and indigenous stakeholders to deliver strategic solutions on some of North America’s leading sustainability and capacity building initiatives. She has 25 years of senior corporate sustainability experience in the utility, energy, and infrastructure industries working with large public and privately owned organizations such as Infrastructure Ontario, CLEAResult, BC Hydro and Canadian Pacific Railway. Amy has developed and led large teams in business transformation and technology-driven strategy development and execution in the areas of infrastructure-building, energy efficiency and emissions reduction programming, corporate social responsibility, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
As Chair of the Board at ZS2 Technologies, Ltd. (ZS2), Amy has led the development of ZS2’s environmental, social and governance practices at the board level. Based in Calgary, Alberta ZS2 develops and manufactures proprietary advanced building technologies and building solutions for the residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture, healthcare and assisted living industries in Canada and the United States, including fire-rated, non-toxic, low-carbon cementitious building materials and prefabricated structural panels. She holds an MBA specializing in Sustainable Development from the University of Calgary and a BS Honors degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Alberta.
Susan Hunt Stevens
Founder, WeSpire
Susan Hunt Stevens is the Founder of WeSpire, an award-winning employee experience technology platform focused on engaging people in environmental and social impact initiatives. Over the years leading WeSpire, she was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year for New England, a Meaningful Business 100 and Environmental Leader 100 leader, and a Boston Business Journal Woman of Influence. In 2022, WeSpire received a World Changing Idea award from Fast Company for their pioneering use of behavior design to improve impact outcomes and in 2023, the company was acquired by Bonterra Technologies, the world’s second-largest social good technology company.
Prior to WeSpire, Susan spent nine years at The New York Times Company, as a consumer marketing and digital executive, first for NYTimes.com, then as SVP of Marketing for The Boston Globe, and finally, General Manager for Boston.com, a $60M digital media division. She has an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where she was named a Tuck Scholar, and graduated with high honors from Wesleyan University. Susan also has a graduate certificate in Sustainable Design from the Boston Architectural College. She credits her class on LEED buildings for giving her the idea behind WeSpire.
Kristen B. Sullivan
Audit & Assurance Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Kristen B. Sullivan is an Audit & Assurance partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and leads Sustainability and ESG Services. She also serves as the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s Global Audit & Assurance Sustainability and Climate Services Leader and the Integrated Reporting Community of Practice Leader. She brings extensive experience in delivering sustainability risk assessment, governance, strategy alignment, measurement, reporting, and assurance services.
Given the growing market emphasis on the importance of ESG standards and frameworks, Kristen serves as a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Community, she chairs the AICPA Sustainability Advisory and Assurance Task Force and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)/AICPA Task Force. She previously served on the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Working Group.
Kristen has authored a number of publications around the importance of sustainability and ESG disclosure and assurance. She was #23 on the 2023 Onalytica top 50 ESG influencers list, recognized as an ESG, Diversity, and Climate Trailblazer as part of Diligent’s 2023 Modern Governance 100 nominees, and #10 on the 2020 Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders list.
Kristen has more than 27 years of experience with Deloitte, beginning her career in Deloitte’s Audit and Advisory Services, working in Deloitte’s National Office in several capacities, and working with the deputy CEO of Deloitte LLP focused on regulatory and public policy matters. Kristen is a CPA (CT, MO) and CGMA and earned SASB’s Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential. She completed the Berkeley Law Executive Education Certification: ESG: Navigating the Board’s Role and the Diligent Institute Climate Leadership Certification. She is a member of the Financial Women’s Association.
Mallory Taub, WELL AP, LEED AP BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador
Sustainability Director, Senior Associate, Gensler
Mallory is a Sustainability Director at Gensler, where she collaborates across disciplines to turn climate goals into strategic action across multiple scales of impact. At Gensler, she is a founding member of the firm’s first Climate Action Studio, the Northeast region practice area leader for climate action and sustainability services, and manager of the Gensler Product Sustainability Standards that set minimum sustainability criteria for materials. Mallory cultivates diverse, emerging sustainability leaders through serving on the Urban Design Forum’s Forefront Steering Committee and the Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Interior Environments (MPSS) Advisory Board at New York School of Interior Design and is a mentor for undergraduate women through the Brown University Women’s Launch Pad program.
Lourdes Salinas
Founder & Director, THREE Consultoría Medioambiental
Lourdes is an expert architect in the evaluation and implementation of environmental sustainability strategies. She specializes in research, analysis, and consulting focused on various types of projects, such as new and existing buildings, communities, and master plans, as well as the development of standards, training, and sustainability guidelines.
Lourdes has been involved in the green building industry since 2006 and has worked on internationally recognized firms and projects in the USA, Australia, Southeast Asia, Central America, and Mexico. With more than 17 years of professional experience in the sustainable building industry, she has led several national and international projects. She is the Founder and Director of THREE Consultoría Medioambiental, a company specializing in environmental technology consulting services. The company has participated in more than 190 sustainable projects in different countries and has certified more than 100 projects, of which 93 are LEED-certified.
In 2019, Lourdes received the LEED® Fellow designation, the highest recognition in her sector, in addition to participating in the United Nations in New York to develop commitments aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals for entrepreneurs. She has received other awards, such as Enlace E+E, BID Network, Santander Scholarship for SME companies, and the E-100 Prize for High Value Entrepreneurs. She is currently a member of the LEED Steering Committee, the Chipinque Board of Trustees, and the San Pedro Parques Citizen Council.
Christina Skonberg
Director of Sustainability & Mission, Simple Mills
As Director of Sustainability & Mission at Chicago-based food company Simple Mills, Christina leads the business’s strategy to advance human and planetary health. She oversees a series of global regenerative agriculture programs and an innovation framework that embeds ecosystem and dietary metrics of success into the product design process. Prior to Simple Mills, Christina held multiple roles at food companies and businesses supporting mission-driven food companies, including leading sustainability for the brands Annie’s and Cascadian Farm, and serving as the Director of Operations at the Good Food Awards. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Agricultural Science and Brazilian Studies from Brown University, and an MS in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from Tufts University.