I would describe myself as a curious, passionate, and creative life-long learner. I grew upon the West Coast, surrounded by nature and active in outdoor sports. My dedication towards sustainability is largely motivated by a strong desire to preserve nature and pass on a livable world to the next generation. I can truly say my goal in life is to make the world a better place–and that starts with sustaining our natural world.

What is your personal definition of sustainability?

To me, sustainability is using our natural resources in a cyclical way that allows humanity to flourish while not compromising future generations. Westernized society has evolved to become incredibly consumptive and therefore heavily taxing on the environment. Instead of seeing nature as a finite resource we must take care of, like Indigenous cultures often do, we have come to see the environment as our property, which we can exploit. I believe sustainability must be the cornerstone for our individual daily life, including for business.

What role do you see sustainability playing in your professional career?

I have no doubt that sustainability will play a role in every career in the future. Sustainability must be at the forefront of every industry in order to mitigate and reverse the impacts of climate change. Sustainability has to be embedded in all levels of businesses–not just for environmental or perception’s sake, but to manage risk for business as a whole. Adopting sustainable practices isn’t an ‘if’ but a ‘when’ and a ‘how.’

I have become very interested in sustainable fashion and responsible investing. Growing up with a background in visual arts, I became interested in fashion. However, fashion is one of the most wasteful and unethical industries, particularly with rising trends of fast fashion and cheap labour practices. Fashion companies hold a huge responsibility to shift their practices and minimize their impact. There have been some incredibly innovative ways to do this, including upcycling compost into fabric.

I also believe responsible investing is the way of the future–companies will no longer be assessed solely by their market cap or bottom line, but also their ESG risk and carbon footprint. Companies that refuse to adopt such practices are exposing themselves to serious additional risk and resisting the inevitable.

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

Growing up, I spent a lot of time in nature and am very conscious about how my personal actions affect the environment. I’ve spent ours reading and attending workshops by Indigenous community members, learning about their environmental philosophies. My family has inspired my passion for sustainability. My father built green buildings and my mother works on numerous environmental projects including propelling regenerative agriculture.

In high-school, I was in an advanced art program, and I found ways to incorporate sustainability into my artwork. I did this through repurposing waste into art and using art to spark dialogue about how we treat our planet.

I worked for Unbuilders, a deconstruction company that takes apart houses in an environmentally-friendly way, rather than simply putting them in the landfill, and then repurposes and resells deconstructed materials. I worked on their labour team helping de-nail wood and repurpose materials.

I worked with Canopy Planet, a leading-edge environmental group committed to transforming the market (including the printing and fashion industries) to be less harmful to our natural environment.

Last summer, I interned at the Social Purpose Institute, who work with businesses to adopt a social purpose–vertical integration of social and/or environmental change within the company.