Kevin Eckerle is a sustainability strategist with more than 15 years’ experience proving the commercial value of integrating and operationalizing sustainability across an organization. In his experience with more than 40 Fortune 500 companies, he advocates for and shapes corporate policies in matrixed organizations to mobilize cross-functional teams and implement their sustainability strategy. Across his career, Kevin has been drawn to budding sustainability organizations, where he has worked to develop and build the foundation for future success. Whether the start-up Esty Environmental Partners, Accenture or NYU’s Center for Sustainable Business that were start-up entities building sustainability consultancies within well-known organizations, or joining the Consumer side of a large bioscience company when the company had just re-envisioned what it could be as a sustainable organization, Kevin has helped to build the foundation and support organizations in their first steps towards sustainability maturity. Over his scientific and strategy career, Kevin has authored or co-authored 15+ peer-reviewed papers on the value of sustainability, integrating ESG performance into the earnings call, the impacts of climate change on global biodiversity, and the life-cycle economics of coal-powered electricity. Kevin earned his Ph.D. from Illinois State University and his MBA from The George Washington University, and lives with his wife and son in New York City.

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Books recommended by Kevin:

• On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
• Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead by Barry Barnes
• Green to Gold by Andrew Winston and Daniel Esty

Joel Makower is chairman and co-founder of Trellis Group Inc., (formerly GreenBiz Group), the leading media and events company at the intersection of business, innovation and sustainability. An award-winning writer, speaker, and advisor on corporate sustainability and climate tech, Joel has authored more than a dozen books and previously served as a nationally syndicated columnist.In this episode, Joel shares the story of what sparked his journey into sustainability — a path that led to the founding of GreenBiz Group — and reflects on the state of sustainability today: what’s changed, what’s endured, and the lessons he’s learned throughout his remarkable career.

Show Notes

• Follow Joel Makower on LinkedIn
• Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
• Two Steps Forward Podcast - Joel Makower and Solitaire Townsend
• Drawdown, the Book edited by Paul Hawken
• Biomimicry by Janine Benyus
• God Storm by Solitaire Townsend (preorder)

Through the advisory firm she founded, Aimée leverages deep expertise and a diverse network of relationships to build a just, resilient and thriving world. She develops, accelerates and scales solutions in key impact sectors, including with climate solutions innovators such as Aleph Farms, Hempitecture and RiskThinking.Ai, global impact initiatives including Apparel Impact Institute, Clinton Global Initiative, Global Ocean Commission and Sustainable Energy for All, major corporations such as Duke Energy, Ford Motor Company, Google, Microsoft, Swiss Re and Virgin, and philanthropies including Mastercard Impact Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the United Nations Foundation. She is Senior Adviser for Climate Finance to the Milken Institute and partnered with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to release at the UN climate talks at COP29 an award-winning report and call to action, “Unlocking the Power of Small Business to Deliver Climate-Smart Inclusive Growth.” She was the first climate hire at Google as Climate Maven at Google.org, and negotiated the first US bilateral and regional agreements on climate change. She is also the founder and curator of the Sun Valley Forum, where she gathers a community of global leaders and innovators to accelerate impact together.