Derek Young - Vice President ESG at CBL Properties
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
Rachel Kaufman is the Senior Director, Global Sustainability at Avantor, a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences and technology industries. In this role, Rachel is responsible for establishing the company's environmental sustainability strategies and targets related to operations and products. She also oversees Avantor's broader Science for Goodness Sustainability Program and leads ESG reporting and customer and investor ESG engagement. Rachel's sustainability industry experience spans over 20 years....
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Jamie Horst - Chief Purpose Officer at Traditional Medicinals
Sustainable Nation
Jamie joined Traditional Medicinals in 2019 as the Chief Purpose Officer. She manages Traditional Medicinals sustainability efforts including risk assessment, Zero Waste Project, regenerative and carbon strategy, and supply chain data management. Jamie is a recognized leader with expertise in corporate responsibility, sustainability, shared value creation and employee and community engagement. In January 2022, Jamie’s role officially expanded to include the Human Resources team. Previously, Jamie was the Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at McKesson, a Fortune 6 healthcare company....
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Amelia DeLuca - Chief Sustainability Officer at Delta Air Lines
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
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
Sustainable Nation
Tara is Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Jack Henry. She leads the strategy and execution of the organization's corporate sustainability efforts, including corporate ethics, the transition to a low carbon future, philanthropy and sustainability related reporting. Prior to focusing on advancing Jack Henry's sustainability efforts, Tara launched Jack Henry's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, created an internal mobility program, led the learning and development team, revamped the performance management program, and developed Jack Henry's talent analytics approach. Tara...
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Liliana Esposito - Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Wendy's
Sustainable Nation
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_outlineDerek 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 Office and Invista Performance Surfaces & Materials.
He currently leads ESG for CBL Properties, a real estate investment trust in the retail sector. CBL owns malls, lifestyle centers and outlets in 22 states with more than 59,000,000 sq feet under management.
Derek lives in Chattanooga, TN with his wife and his dog Hank.
Derek Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:
- Engagement with tenants in sustainability initiatives
- Best practices for sharing data and fostering communication between landlord and tenant
- Whether the politicalization of ESG has impacted the approach to ESG at CBL or in the industry at large
- Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals
Derek’s Final Five Questions Responses:
What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability or ESG professionals that might help them in their careers?
Learn how to speak in the language of the businesses that you operate in. In this space, it can be very easy to get sucked into the bubble of acronyms and terminology and to lose track that it has to connect to something of substance and value, and it has to be relevant to the business in which it's being delivered. If you do that efficiently and if you do that effectively, it's much easier to secure the support of the broader business and to get integrated and embedded faster and more effectively. As anybody coming into a role, particularly an in-house role, spend the time, learn how that company talks about things, learn how that business operates independent of your ESG or sustainability role, and then look for ways to merge those two things together.
What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?
I'm really enjoying the work on climate risk. I really think that this is a window to much more robust climate action. I think that we're seeing where risk and opportunity intersect because of it, and I think it's producing more knowledgeable businesses who are able to take more substantive action. As we continue to break that risk down, whether it's physical risk or transitional risk, and look for mitigation opportunities, it's going to produce more effective companies who have better carbon management planning and decarbonization initiatives as a result.
What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read?
I just finished a book by Solitaire Townsend called The Solutionists that is absolutely outstanding. It’s a really great book that really looks at and focuses on how businesses can fix the future and how the business world can be a driver of change.
What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?
I love listening to podcasts like this one. I find that hearing it from people directly is a really efficient and effective way to pick up ideas and understand what's happening out in the world. I spend a little bit of every morning going through several of the key news sites. So whether that be GreenBiz or ESG today or the Sustainable Brands website or some of the others that are out there, just to make sure that I have a fairly well-rounded point of view on what's happening in the space. Then I look very strongly towards one-on-one interactions with colleagues and friends who I trust to make sure that we have opportunities to converse and share ideas and learn from each other on a regular basis. I have a core cohort of colleagues that I turn to on a regular basis for that as well.
Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at CBL properties?
Our website is cblproperties.com and there is plenty of information on our website to find out about the work that's being done at a corporate level. You can look me up on LinkedIn and I've got plenty of information on that site as well. I’m happy to connect with anybody who's interested in connecting with me.