Della Wang, HBA ‘18, has immersed herself in a wealth of experiences that have been instrumental in shaping her successful career in sustainability today.
Della is currently a Manager in the Sustainability and Climate Change practice at Deloitte Canada. Her work focuses on climate and decarbonization strategy, nature-based solutions, capital efficiency and financial modelling. Della is also the global sustainability and climate learning lead for Deloitte Canada and a One Young World Ambassador.
How did the HBA program support your interest in sustainability?
The HBA program allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone, both through thinking critically and “out-of-the-box” on multi-faceted case problems and communicating my ideas in a structured and articulate manner. The opportunities to sit in classrooms with diverse and brilliant minds to work through thought-evoking challenge sets gave us a real-life example of what it would be like to work within teams in your professional career.
I selected a few electives in my second year at Ivey that focused on corporate sustainability and business ethics that helped contextualize what real business challenges are in the face of climate and sustainability topics. I will never forget one afternoon after a Business and Markets class taught by Professor Niraj Dawar around business ethics in the free market. My peer and I left class and held hands in the hallway, profoundly inspired and teary-eyed. Those are defining moments that you remember for the rest of your career.
How does the company you work for prioritize sustainability and how does it intersect with your role?
I am proud of how much Deloitte is doing in this space, both in terms of innovative cross-sector solutions for our clients and to internally drive commitments on Deloitte’s climate and sustainability targets. We have a dedicated sustainability and climate practice that focuses on ESG strategy and decarbonization but as a firm we are working across our disciplines to collectively solve the most complex sustainability challenges our clients face today.
One of the most exciting projects that I am working on right now is helping organizations understand their nature and biodiversity impacts and dependencies, and getting them ready to disclose risks, opportunities and targets associated with their nature strategy under the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Nature and biodiversity have a direct impact on everything we depend on to live, breathe, work and play and deserve to be at the forefront of an organization’s sustainability journey.
Tell us about your experience as a One Young World Ambassador.
The One Young World Summit is a youth leadership forum where exceptional young leaders from across the globe come together to discuss, debate and develop innovative solutions to some of the world’s most complex societal issues. I had the privilege to attend this conference in 2022 in Manchester alongside approximately 2,000 other global young leaders. The week was filled with inspiring young leaders telling their stories on how they took a seemingly insurmountable challenge and channeled their passion, discipline and dedication to not only come up with innovative solutions but inspire others to do the same, and in doing so, building a community of leaders.
What advice do you have for students wanting to enter a career with sustainability as the focal point?
Be curious and passionate. Every sector will be soon impacted by sustainability and climate if not already, so there are various ways to get involved within your career path to place sustainability at the center of your personal and professional mission. HBA students that become consultants, accountants, investment bankers, doctors, lawyers and so much more all have a role to play to generate positive impacts. Advice? Stop and think frequently, is what I am doing truly adding value to society? Am I unintentionally causing harm to the environment and ecosystems through my work? Does what I am doing align with my personal values? Am I spending my time and energy on things that really leave an impact on this world? These are all questions that I ask myself periodically to re-assess and re-evaluate my actions. HBA students are some of the brightest minds with unlimited potential to change the world, through business strategy, policy, education. One day each of you will be all be leaders within your respective sectors and disciplines so make your voice count.
To connect with fellow alumni, join Ivey's LinkedIn Sustainability Community.
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