Hotel Rooms Affect Your Health & The Planet – JoAnna Abrams, Founder/CEO of MindClick
Release Date: 09/22/2025
Managing IT in the Midst of a Tech Revolution - Elizabeth Hackenson, Chief Information Officer, Schneider Electric
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“We realized early on with our digital transformation that really what we're trying to do is digitize processes and …we really want to transform. But the people that own these business processes are stakeholders, they're in sales, they're in operations, they're in HR, finance, supply chain, so we needed them before we could get started on digitally architecting a solution. So… we take a senior leader from a function and ops or a business unit and ask them to be the business process leader…. and we match you to an IT leader who's also quite senior. So these are VP SVP roles and they're...
info_outline
Earth Day Career Advice From 6 Extraordinary Women Leaders
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Try as best as you can not to be fear-driven. I think we are so driven by fear that we're never going to be enough, that we aren't going to contribute enough….(Y)ou actually are enough just as you are, right? Take this day, do what you can. Impact the people around you.…Become partners in your career with unlikely people, people who don't think like you, people who aren't doing the same career as you. You'll get a lot more joy out of, I think, your career because of the cross-pollination.” Dr. Katherine Gergen-Barnett on Electric Ladies Podcast This Earth Day, we want to share...
info_outline
The State of Energy Today Might Surprise You - Lisa Jacobson, BCSE on the 2026 Energy Factbook
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“You see corporate procurement of clean energy, predominantly renewable energy, but there's fleet investments, there are efficiency improvements in buildings and on campuses underway….but it was a little different than what we'd seen in recent years. It wasn't just solar and wind. There was an interest in 24/7 reliable clean energy in particular by the tech industries, which won't surprise you, but things like nuclear, geothermal, other integrated technologies like solar and storage…So that's kind of an interesting set of dynamics because it's really diversifying the players in the...
info_outline
How To Talk "Climate" To Keep People Safe – Allison Agsten, USC Center for Climate Journalism & Communications
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“If there are people who are willing to talk to you about it, the first thing you got to do is listen….I grew up in a very rural area and it's very conservative also. And when I go home, I don't talk about climate change. I do talk about what's going on with hunting season. 'Oh, there's no deer this year. Why do you think that is? Tell me about the rain'….It is again about that pivoting and you have to understand what's important to the people you're talking to… I might say, 'I just upgraded my mom's generator. It's great because with all the outages we're having out here, now she can...
info_outline
How Carbon Credits Work – with Donna Lee, CEO & CoFounder, Calyx Global
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
"What I knew about Carbon Credits having watched them for many years is that they're not always what they seem...So, Calyx Global was founded in 2021 to help companies navigate the space, to really understand….(i)t's a promise that somebody has reduced methane in that landfill or planted some trees thousands of miles away. So that's what Calyx Global is, we're a Carbon Credit Ratings Agency. But really what we're doing is, for every one of these assets, helping buyers understand what's underneath that, what the quality of that asset is. Donna Lee on Electric Ladies Podcast You've...
info_outline
Creativity & Relationships Help Secure Grants – Megan Pater, CEO/Founder of Fund Nation & ECE Solutions
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Number one reason that people get denied and they didn't read the eligibility criteria. So yeah, very, very important …If you don't have the qualifications or something for something, you partner with somebody who does and you guys go after it together.… If you don't know something, that gives you a reason to call the vendor and start that conversation and get that personal relationship with them.…Relationships, relationships, relationships. It really is the key to grants. It's really not about what you write, it's about who you're speaking to ahead of time." Megan Pater on Electric...
info_outline
"Healthcare Without Harm" to People & Planet – Dr. Katherine Gergen-Barnett & Dr. Anna Goldman, Boston Medical Center
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Healthcare Without Harm is more of an advocacy organization that works with clinicians and other healthcare workers to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare and pollution as well as climate impacts. And then Practice Greenhealth advises hospitals on how to get there and they do this awards process…(which is) about having people aware of all these different metrics that impact your operational sustainability…(and) raise awareness among the people who are running the hospital and leadership about how they're using water, food waste, where they're buying their food from, their...
info_outline
New Nuclear Energy Is Growing Fast – Maria Korsnick, President and CEO, Nuclear Energy Institute
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“I've been in this industry for 40 years and we have never been at a moment like we are today. …About 10 years ago, a little bit more than that, the narrative at that time was we were closing down plants…. Now the narrative today is, Hey, you know what? Some of those plants you shut down, we've changed our mind. How hard would it be to restart that?... All of these hyperscalers (Google, Amazon, e.g.) are figuring out partnerships and marriages, if you will, with nuclear and trying to help nuclear be brought to the marketplace….I mean, the demand is off the charts, and that's really the...
info_outline
How To Pressure Electeds For Climate, Clean Air – Dominique Browning, Mom's Clean Air Force
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“We, the people we can definitely keep the pressure on, not only on our lawmakers, our governors, our mayors, our senators, our Congress people. We have to keep reminding them that we care about these issues…There's a real key also to the future reimagining, asking companies to reimagine themselves as energy companies, not oil companies or gas companies, but energy companies. So all of these pressure points are incredibly important. We all have favorite stores, favorite brands that we shop on. If you love Walmart writing to the customer services and to the president of Walmart saying,...
info_outline
How Hospitals Can Juggle 24/7 Care & Climate Impacts – Carol Gomes, CEO & COO of Stony Brook University Hospital
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“I believe in the power of people wishing to volunteer for initiatives rather than assignment of duties and responsibilities and having people feel as though it's a chore… (They) serve as champions in their areas to educate their fellow peers on what it means to be sustainable, what they can do that's in their power to contribute to the outcomes….And then as we started to become more mature…we formed structured committees, we leveraged those champions on the units to participate. We made it enjoyable in terms of participating. We actually have contests… (I)t just breeds excitement...
info_outline“We did do a study where we shared the story of the careful thought that went into products that were better for people and the planet … Then we administered the standard guest satisfaction survey, and what we found, Joan, was 150% increase in satisfaction, loyalty numbers… Why?...They equated it to service. They said, a hotel that goes out of its way to choose products that are better for me and the planet is a hotel that I have confidence is going to take better care of me while I'm there.”
JoAnna Abrams on Electric Ladies Podcast
As conference season begins and then the holidays, a lot of us are traveling. The American Hotel and Lodging Assn. (AHLA) says 56% of American adults stay in hotels per year, and 77% of business travellers do. What’s the impact on our health – and the planet of being in those hotel rooms?
Listen to JoAnna Abrams, Founder/CEO of MindClick in this fascinating conversation with Electric Ladies Podcast host Joan Michelson. MindClick is a supply chain product intelligence company specializing in the hotel industry. They tell us if furniture, carpets, beds, etc. in hotels have toxic chemicals, were made with renewable materials, if hotels use clean energy, etc.
You’ll hear about:
● How MindClick measures the impact of the furnishings in hotels on our health and the planet.
● How corporate travel buyers decide which hotels their executives and employees need to stay in when they travel – and how MindClick intelligence helps keep their teams safe & sustainable.
● How consumers can find information on hotels verifiably adhere to ESG-related standards.
● Plus, career advice, such as:
“First of all, don't give up on that, wanting to make a difference. I remember early in my career saying that that's something I wanted to do, and the response was, no, you don't. You just want to make money. The truth is, you can find opportunities to make a difference and make money. The key is, being very clear in communicating that out to your network, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how many people actually share that same sentiment. We all want to feel good about the work that we're doing, and by being open about that you'll find that people will be open in return and refer you to those that are on that path.”
JoAnna Abrams on Electric Ladies Podcast
Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
You’ll also like:
· Japan’s Expo Embraces Sustainability & Clean Energy – Yvonne Burton, Burton Consulting gives a tour of the Osaka Expo’s many sustainability features and exhibits
· Recycled Steel Goes Mainstream – Tabitha Stone, G.M. of Energy Solutions at Nucor Steel Corporation
· Green Cement Is Changing How We Build – Marci Jenks, Eco Material Technologies
· Sustainable Business Is Good Business – Tensie Whelan, Director, the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.
Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review!
Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson