What is your personal definition of sustainability? 

When I think about being sustainable, I think about reducing consumption and increasing mindfulness. Growing up, I was taught to never waste my food and to reuse the plastic grocery bags. It made sense because these actions could save money. However, it isn’t just about the money saved now but the cost of the environment to be saved for the future. 

Sustainability to me includes recognizing the interconnectedness of our actions and long-term consequences. By making active decisions, we can invest in a healthy and green future.

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

In my professional career, I will strive to consider sustainability in every action. Ultimately, I would like to work in a sustainability-specific role since I believe that it is important for all business functions to work both sustainability itself and consider environmental factors when making decisions.

As I have learned and explored sustainability through conversations and events, I have learned that there are so many different opportunities for a career in sustainability. From being a sustainable program manager organizing transformative projects to a data analyst analyzing carbon footprints to ESG consultants researching circularity I think that there are many ways to work in sustainability. My mentor told me that I just need to find what I am good at, and do that either for a sustainable company or team. 

What sustainability projects have you been engaged in?

Starting university, I was super excited to learn and get involved in sustainability because in highschool all I knew about it was global warming and recycling. In my first year, I joined EnviroWestern as a first-year representative where I was able to work with the team to bring initiatives to residences. One social media campaign I made was called “Meatless Mondays” where we showed vegan/vegetarian meals and explained the environmental impact of eating less meat. During this, we did giveaways to engage students and had a partnership with Reimagine Co. 

I have worked two internships that focus on sustainability. At a mission-focused start up I helped reduce food waste and provide affordable healthy options to my community. At Lululemon, I worked on the Be Planet and Sustainable Claims and Labels project that make up Lululemon’s backend sustainability efforts.

In HBA1, I am a conference sapling for the Ivey Social Impact Club (SIC). This year’s theme Bloom included bringing in speakers and workshop hosts that covered different industry’s approaches to sustainability. From an Impact Investing workshop to a Regeneration speaker presentation, my team and I had a lot of fun learning and planning SIC’s biggest event of the year.

Please list any sustainability-related interests you want to explore during the certificate. 

• Sustainable fashion and retail
• Climate change and transportation
• Renewable energy and supply chain