Meet the 2026 Award Winners
The 2026 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards honored ten amazing, inspiring, and determined women. Meet them below!
Cheryl Baldwin
Vice President of Sustainability Consulting, Pure Strategies
Cheryl is a sustainability leader who partners with global brands to develop and implement strategies that drive meaningful environmental and business impact. Her work spans some of the most recognized companies and complex challenges in the industry, including helping to shape a leading nature strategy for Toyota Motor North America, developing sustainability goals for TAZO, creating sustainable packaging strategies and tools for Walmart, and advancing sustainable chemistry initiatives for Sephora.
In addition to her client work, Cheryl collaborates with industry groups in food and retail and has authored numerous market research reports, including Realizing Sustainable Packaging. She is the author and editor of Greening Food and Beverage Services and Sustainability in the Food Industry, and also authored The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability, contributing significant thought leadership to the field.
Yasha Chaturvedi
Director of Sustainability, Cortland Investment Management
Yasha is a sustainability leader focused on integrating decarbonization, responsible investment, and ESG principles across complex real estate portfolios. Her work spans enterprise-wide emissions management, renewable energy procurement, and utilities optimization—translating sustainability strategy into measurable operational and financial outcomes.
A sustainability strategist at the intersection of real estate and environmental performance, Yasha is shaping how the built environment aligns ambitious climate goals with long-term business value. She is known for embedding sustainability into both high-level strategy and day-to-day operations, advancing data-driven governance and cross-functional collaboration to strengthen resilience and regulatory readiness.
Her thought leadership extends across industry councils, advisory boards, and global forums, where she champions innovation, transparency, and shared accountability to help build a more sustainable and equitable built environment.
Sheri Hickok
CEO, Climate Impact Partners
Sheri is a recognized leader advancing high-quality solutions through the carbon markets in support of a net-zero future. With a background in engineering and executive leadership at General Electric and General Motors, she brings a track record of growing nascent markets with strong operational discipline. She has led global teams to commercialize renewable energy projects and played a pioneering role in the development of autonomous vehicle technology.
Today, her work is focused on scaling carbon markets to deliver meaningful outcomes for climate, communities, and biodiversity. Known for her ability to connect innovation with execution, Sheri continues to shape how market-based solutions can accelerate global climate progress.
Her leadership has been widely recognized, including the 2025 Extraordinary Leadership Award from Kettering University, the 2022 European Power List by A Word About Wind, and the 2020 Women in Renewables award. She serves on the board of the International Emissions Trade Association (IETA) and on advisory boards for TAG Energy and the Kettering University School of CSLA.
Sridevi Kalavakolanu
Senior Director, Responsible Sourcing, Walmart
Sridevi is a leader in advancing worker dignity across complex global supply chains, with more than two decades of experience grounded in equity and empowerment. Her work focuses on integrating responsible sourcing and labor practices into core business operations to create meaningful and lasting impact.
At Walmart, she leads programs that position compliance as a business enabler, embedding it into day-to-day operations. She has driven transformative initiatives, including workplace safety programs in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, as well as women’s economic empowerment programs across multiple countries.
Her career spans pioneering work at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and board service with Nirapon, where she has helped shape industry-wide safety practices. Across industries, Sridevi is known for creating shared value that benefits both businesses and the workers and communities they touch.
Deeply committed to mentorship, she has founded women’s leadership and diversity councils that support professional growth for associates across Asia.
Florencia Librizzi
Deputy Director, Earth Insight
Florencia Librizzi is an international lawyer and sustainability leader advancing global efforts to safeguard critical ecosystems and Indigenous Peoples’ territories. Her work brings together research, policy, and stakeholder engagement to drive rights-based climate and biodiversity outcomes.
She has played a key role in shaping international environmental action, including co-leading the drafting and successful negotiation of the first global resolution focused on preventing ecological tipping points in the Congo Basin through the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Florencia’s career spans senior leadership roles across the United Nations, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations, including work with the UN Global Compact (PRME) and the SDG Academy of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. She also made history as the first woman and civil society representative to co-chair the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative.
In addition to her global leadership, Florencia serves as adjunct faculty at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, where she teaches sustainability and helps prepare future leaders to advance regenerative and equitable economies.
Ximena Ugarte Luiselli
Founder & CEO, ESG México
Ximena is a sustainability leader and founder driving ESG strategy and implementation across Mexico and Latin America. With more than 25 years of experience, her work has helped shape the evolution of sustainability and corporate philanthropy in the region, advancing large-scale social, environmental, and governance initiatives.
Through her leadership, Ximena has developed and guided impactful programs that bridge business, community, and public sector priorities. She founded and directed Fundación Grupo México, where she established sustainability governance frameworks and led educational initiatives recognized by the OECD and UNICEF and incorporated into Mexico’s public school system. She also created one of the country’s most ambitious social-health programs, Dr. Vagón, El Tren de la Salud, expanding access to care across underserved communities.
A pioneer in cross-sector collaboration, Ximena helped lead the first national congress bringing together civil society organizations and companies to advance corporate social responsibility. She has also been instrumental in building early large-scale corporate volunteering programs in Mexico, mobilizing more than 28,000 volunteers across three countries.
Susan McPherson
Founder & CEO, McPherson Strategies
Susan is a leader at the intersection of brands, communications, and social impact. With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and sustainability communications, she has helped organizations build purpose-driven strategies that strengthen both business performance and societal impact.
A respected voice on leadership, networking, and meaningful connection, Susan is the author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships (McGraw-Hill). She speaks regularly at leading industry events, including the Massachusetts Conference for Women, BSR, DLD, Worth Women, and Techonomy.
Her insights have been featured in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes, and she has appeared on NPR, CNN, USA Today, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times.
Her contributions have earned wide recognition, including Forbes 50 Over 50—Impact 2021 and Worth Media’s Worthy100. WSLA is honored to recognize Susan among this year’s distinguished honorees.
Shanelle Evans Montana
Chief Development Officer, Arevon Energy, Inc.
Shanelle is a renewable energy leader driving the strategic growth of utility-scale clean energy development across the United States. With deep expertise in large-scale project development, portfolio expansion, and market entry, she has built a strong track record of advancing renewable energy pipelines that accelerate the transition to a lower-carbon future.
Her leadership spans some of the industry’s most recognized companies, including executive roles at Lightsource bp, BayWa r.e., and EDF Renewables. At Lightsource bp, she oversaw a 20-gigawatt pipeline of solar and energy storage projects across the U.S. and led a 15-gigawatt development portfolio of clean energy projects.
Today, Shanelle continues to guide the expansion of a leading renewable energy portfolio through strategic vision and disciplined execution.
Beyond her corporate leadership, she has served on the boards of clean energy organizations, including Clean Grid Alliance, and is a board member and co-founder of the Du Nord Foundation.
Maria Perez
Sustainability Director, Gensler
Maria is a sustainability and design leader advancing high-performance buildings and climate-responsive development. With more than 25 years of experience as an architect and sustainability strategist, she is recognized for her expertise in LEED standards, sustainability rating systems, and performance-based design.
Her work has helped shape more than 100 million square feet of projects, including workplaces, mixed-use developments, high-rise buildings, corporate campuses, airports, public facilities, and net zero developments. She has also helped create innovative sustainability tools that support measurable outcomes.
Among her accomplishments are leadership on the largest LEED v4 Platinum project, Bank of America Tower, and the first LEED Zero Energy project in Texas.
A committed advocate for green building and sustainable living practices, Maria serves on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council Texas Chapter and the U.S. Green Building Council National LEED v5 Design and Construction Consensus Committee.
Heather Rosenberg
Associate Principal, Arup
Heather is a resilience leader advancing practical solutions that connect resilience, equity, and decarbonization. With more than 25 years of experience and a background in ecology, she helps organizations make stronger decisions and build the internal capacity needed to respond to disasters and long-term climate risk.
Her work focuses on strengthening the resilience of urban infrastructure and buildings, partnering with local governments, utilities, and nonprofit organizations to identify investments that better support frontline communities.
Before joining Arup, Heather founded and led her own successful resilience consulting practice, where she created the Building Resilience-LA Coalition.
Her leadership has been recognized through service on numerous boards and committees, including as a mayoral appointee to the Los Angeles Innovation and Performance Commission. She is also a U.S. Green Building Council Ginsberg Fellow and serves on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council of California.