Samantha McKeough - Sustainability Consultant at Health Partners
Release Date: 10/30/2019
Derek Young - Vice President ESG at CBL Properties
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Derek Young is an ESG, CSR, sustainability, and communications professional with over 25 years of experience. He is recognized as a thought leader capable of working across industries, analyzing and determining needs and opportunities for risk reduction, value creation, and building and delivering strategic ESG, CSR, Sustainability programs, messaging and branding campaigns, and community and stakeholder engagement efforts. Derek has led ESG consulting for Summit Strategy Group as well as served as the in-house CSR/Sustainability leader for a number of companies, including TGI Fridays, FedEx...
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Norman Vossschulte - Director of Fan Experience & Sustainability at the Philadelphia Eagles
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Norman Vossschulte is originally from Berlin, Germany. His culturally rich background included ten years living abroad in Africa, Iraq and Spain before moving back to Germany to finish High School and College. He studied Biology and Physical Science before deciding to move to New York City in 1996 to attend the Herbert Berghof Institute for Fine Theatre Arts and Drama. Norman’s work experience is as eclectic as his upbringing. He has worked in the hotel industry, the non-profit industry, as well as both sports and entertainment industries. 25 years of practicing customer and client...
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Thomas Stanchak - Director of Sustainability at Stoneweg US
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Thomas Stanchak is a seasoned Commercial Real Estate professional with over 20 years of diverse experience. He began his career with his current employer, Stoneweg US in 2017 as an Asset Manager, where he was responsible for overseeing operations, maximizing occupancy, and maintaining budgets for 17 assets in the Midwest region. In 2019, he was promoted to Senior Asset Manager assuming operational responsibility for more than 50% of total AUMs; where his operational leadership was hugely impactful in Stoneweg US’ ability to deliver healthy returns to its investors that year. In 2020, Tom...
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Camille Richard - Head of Sustainability at Back Market
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Camille Richard is Head of Sustainability at Back Market, the leading marketplace dedicated to refurbished devices and reducing electronics’ negative impact on the environment. She has led the company to become a Mission-Driven Company in 2022 and a B Corp-certified company in 2023. Working in the environmental sector for 10 years, prior to Back Market Camille was Sustainable Performance Manager for Suez, a waste and water recycling company, in Brazil, Mexico, and France. She received in 2021 the Hub35 Sustainable Award from the Hub Institute. Camille Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: ...
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Rachel Kaufman - Senior Director, Global Sustainability at Avantor
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Jamie Horst - Chief Purpose Officer at Traditional Medicinals
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Amelia DeLuca - Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines
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Amelia DeLuca serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines, leading the airline on its journey to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and deliver a more sustainable and elevated travel experience along the way. Prior to her appointment as Chief Sustainability Officer, DeLuca served as Vice President, International Customer Experience and Partner Sustainability. In that role, DeLuca led cross-divisional efforts to deliver a consistent premium customer experience across Delta’s partners. She also supported the development of Delta's partner sustainability strategy across Delta’s...
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Scott Tew - Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies
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Scott Tew is the leader of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies (CEES) and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives aimed at transitioning to more efficient and climate-friendly solutions and minimizing resource use within company facilities. He serves as a thought leader in linking public policy, economic impacts and a value-stream approach to sustainability. His efforts have led to the development of world-class initiatives, including introduction of the company’s comprehensive 2030 Sustainability Commitments with the largest...
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Tara Brown - Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Jack Henry
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Liliana Esposito - Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Wendy's
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Liliana joined Wendy’s in June 2014 and has served as Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer since February 2021 to reflect her range of responsibilities across Communications, Quality Assurance, Customer Care, Public Affairs and Corporate Responsibility. She previously served as our Chief Communications Officer from June 2014 to February 2021. Liliana sets the vision and strategy for all communications with franchisees and employees, public relations, government relations and corporate responsibility. Her work with the Quality Assurance function involves developing quality and...
info_outlineSamantha is currently the Sustainability Consultant at HealthPartners, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has been an integral part of the nationally recognized Sustainability program for over four years. In this role, she works to identify opportunities to strengthen the triple bottom line: people, prosperity, and planet. Such opportunities include, reducing waste, efficient energy management, environmentally preferred purchasing, and employee engagement. Samantha is responsible for implementing and managing sustainability programming across the HealthPartners family of care which includes 8 hospitals, over 70 clinics, and more than 26,000 employees.
Samantha Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:
- What hospitals are doing to address sustainability
- Climate change, human health impacts and the health care industry's role in this dynamic
- Leading an organization's first GHG emissions inventory
- The Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition
- Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders
Samantha's Final Five Question Responses:
What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?
I would say to be patient yet persistent. I think sustainability work, at least my experience, has been most successful when you bring a lot of different stakeholders with different perspectives together to really collaborate on how to solve these issues. That takes a lot of time, so patience and then also persistence. Sometimes the first time you suggest a project or an idea and might get shot down, but don't give up on it if it's something that you really know will have a big impact or something that you really believe in.
What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?
The way that it brings people together. Going back to the Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition, getting businesses which may traditionally be seen as competitors all in the same room together, talking about environmental stewardship in sustainability and troubleshooting and sharing stories and barriers so we can all learn from each other. This is something that's really unique to this area. ROI and shareholders are always a part of the conversation, but also there's that recognition and understanding that the work that we're doing is greater than ourselves and our businesses and really is is the right thing to do.
What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read?
I think for those people who are interested then in learning more about sustainable health care, Kathy Gerwig, she is currently the vice president of environmental stewardship for Kaiser Permanente. She wrote a book called Green Health Care and really has been a trailblazer in the healthcare sustainability world. I think it gives a good overview on the issues healthcare is facing today and the initiatives and projects that the healthcare industry could work on to help improve the health of their communities.
What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?
So we're members of an organization called Practice Green Health. They're the national premier health care sustainability organization. This is where I go every time I run into a question or an issue or a barrier. They have a website with a ton of great resources. They also have amazing knowledgeable staff that are there to help.
Where can people go to learn more about you and the work being done at Health Partners?
We have a public website at healthpartners.com and search for sustainability. There's a great summary there of all the work we're doing and our future goals. For my work personally, people can check out my LinkedIn page. I'm active on LinkedIn. I love to share updates about things we've got going on here at Health Partners and also some initiatives going on outside of work.
About Sustridge
Sustridge is a sustainability consulting firm providing consulting in sustainability strategy development, sustainability reporting, GHG emissions calculating and management, zero waste planning and guidance in TRUE Zero Waste, B Corp, LEED and Carbon Neutral certification.