Sustainable Business Is Good Business – Tensie Whelan, Founding Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business
Release Date: 04/29/2025
Artificial Intelligence (A.I) And The Climate - Stephanie Hare, Ph.D., Researcher, Broadcaster and Author of “Technology Is Not Neutral”
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“(A.I.) is so energy intensive as a technology, and that's the thing that we have to get, the infrastructure of AI… Right now we do not have an electricity grid that is, that is built for this purpose. There's the water requirements of it as well. And we also need to just think about the energy, the actual fuel that's being used to fire up and power the electricity grid.” Dr. Stephanie Hare on Electric Ladies Podcast Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous today and advancing faster than we can imagine. It’s being used in many ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change, too, and...
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Energy Efficiency Saves Money & CO2 – Paula Glover, CEO of the Alliance To Save Energy
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Energy efficiency…is doing more, using less. The megawatt not used is the cheapest megawatt and there's so many things, either by using technology, old technology like insulation or digitalization, that allows us to really stretch what we can get out every single megawat, a kilowatt electron that we use. And so that's what we're talking about. If we had the kind of massive adoption that we need, we could get to a big 40% reduction.” Paula Glover on Electric Ladies Podcast With the Energy Star program and other energy efficiency programs under attack and misunderstood, we decided to...
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Career Advice From 5 Women Trailblazers – Hilary Doe, Cong. Chrissy Houlahan, Zara Summers, Tensie Whelan, & Claire Seaborn
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“For anyone, women especially who are interested in the energy and climate space, I would say that you shouldn't feel that you need to choose between the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. I've been able to continue to build my expertise in the energy and climate space, but from multiple different perspectives. My advice would be to just not feel that you need to pick one of those lanes and, and to take the risk to bounce between those different segments of our economy.” Claire Seaborn on Electric Ladies Podcast Summer is a good time to think about your next...
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Using Captured Carbon To Make Energy – Bjork Kristjansdottir, Carbon Recycling International
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Carbon Recycling International…is converting CO2 into sustainable methanol…(W)e have technology, which takes CO2 as a waste, and it takes hydrogen and turns it into methanol…and it is used today both like into chemicals. So, the chemical sector is a big consumer of methanol, which is a very large known product in the world today. …(and into) a sustainable fuel...playing a pretty big role in the energy transition.” Bjork Kristjansdottir on Electric Ladies Podcast As the Trump administration sends mixed signals on carbon capture technologies – keeping the tax credits for them...
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You Can Make A Difference Where You Are – Laur Hesse Fisher, MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a...
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Recycled Steel Goes Mainstream - Tabitha Stine, General Manager, Energy Solutions, Nucor Corporation
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Our job is to recycle so that we can recover all of that scrap and goods that you and I are recycling in our garbage bins every week or recycling as we get new cars. And our job is to recover that because we make steel in a very clean and efficient process through what's called an electric arc furnace. So, we take all of that scrap, we melt it down, and we make new steel. It does not degrade. It has a continuous reusable life.…Depending on the different products of steel, that actually determines the recycled content that goes into them for the finishes and the quality of the steel that's...
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Unlocking Capital For Women And Climate Solutions – Women Leaders In Finance And Investment, The Earth Day Women’s Summit
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“If you cannot change the system, change the frigging system… Women, when we have our money, are more likely to start an impact fund business or something. So, we have really got to get out of our way and just take the risk. " Tracy Gray at The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025 Innovative financing models are urgently needed to tackle the climate crisis, but significant gaps persist. Research shows that women and people of color deliver stronger returns yet continue to be underrepresented. Meanwhile, the insurance industry must confront the mounting risks of climate...
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Climate Is A Security Emergency – From A Top Climate Scientist & A Geopolitical Expert
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
"The climate crisis has roots in fossil fuels, but at the same time, fossil fuels fund this Russian invasion to Ukraine. So it means this is a fossil fuel war. If we will actually fight against our overall actually dependency on fossil fuels in the same way we will fight against climate change." Svitlana Krakovska on Electric Ladies Podcast The climate emergency is a security threat, and a “threat multiplier,” as former Defense Undersecretary Sherri Goodman has written. Looking at security in the same way as it has been is no longer working. The old view leaves us very vulnerable....
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Food, Fashion & Ag vs. Climate Change – Voices From The Earth Day Women’s Summit
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Food systems have to do with everything from production to processing, distribution, and the utilization. Then of course, end of life for food systems which includes food waste. In the United States, 40% of the food that we produce goes to waste. This means with distribution challenges that not everybody has equitable access to the kinds of foods that they need and want, at the times that they need them." Robin Currey on Electric Ladies Podcast Climate change is disrupting our food and agriculture systems, including the critical supply chains that feed and clothe us. Yet,...
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Business Leaders Bridging The Climate Gap – Voices From The Earth Day Women’s Summit
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Most things when it comes to corporate sustainability do not happen in a vacuum. I am part of an environmental sustainability team, but we would not be able to accomplish anything without our energy teams, our network teams, and more. The ability to take what can be a complex idea and translate that into a compelling business case often comes down to dollars and cents. While it takes time, that's how we've been able to drive change.” Rosie Austin on Electric Ladies Podcast In a poll at The Earth Day Women’s Summit in Dallas, Texas, 100% of respondents said that business is...
info_outline“Blue state pension funds are doubling down on sustainability while red state pension funds are firing you. Companies are challenged because for some constituencies, they have to demonstrate their sustainability credentials, and for others, they have to hide them. So it's a really challenging time. But if you can demonstrate the business case, then maybe you can navigate being more proactive with those constituencies that really want this, and alleviating the risks with those constituencies that don't understand why it matters.”
Tensie Whelan on Electric Ladies Podcast
Mother Nature isn’t waiting for politics to catch up – business leaders know it.
Building companies that stand the test of time and create lasting value for their stakeholders, no matter which way the political winds blow, is the true measure of strategy and vision.
Listen to Tensie Whelan, Founding Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. Drawing on extensive research across a range of industries from consumer goods to agriculture, Tensie speaks to Joan about how businesses can strengthen the financial case for sustainability and enhance their communications.
You’ll hear about:
- The nine key factors that drive financial value through sustainability.
- How to build a strong business case for sustainability.
- What effective sustainability messaging looks like.
- Plus, career advice for mid-career women in sustainability or those looking to break into the field.
“If you’re working strictly in a business function, but would like to have more impact, see if you can work for a business who's doing some innovative work around sustainability. The sustainability team is always looking for partners. So there's an opportunity for you to get more experience and over time, potentially parlay your job into more sustainability work. Secondly, you could get on a board, a non-profit board that does a lot of work on environmental or just sustainability with corporates.
“My whole career, I've advanced [because] I've always seen where the holes were, how to look at problem with an opportunity mindset and volunteer to attack that opportunity and be willing to take a risk to do that and feel comfortable, which women struggle with at times.”
Tensie Whelan on Electric Ladies Podcast
You’ll also like:
- Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, on how female farmers are transforming cotton.
- Dr. Stephanie Hare, researcher, broadcaster and author, on harnessing AI for climate action.
- Isabelle Grosmaitre, Goodness & Co, on how business models need to change to include their impact on society
- Jill Tidman from The Redford Center on how we can talk about the climate while ensuring a balanced narrative.
- Joan Michelson’s Forbes article on Death, Destruction — And Distraction: New Study On Media’s Climate Coverage Crisis
Read more of Joan’s Forbes articles here.
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