Suzanne Lindsay-Walker - Vice President, Sustainability at Novelis

Suzanne Lindsay-Walker is Vice President, Sustainability, for Novelis Inc. In this role, Suzanne leads the development and implementation of the company’s global sustainability strategy and vision to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050. She is also responsible for Novelis’ Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.

Suzanne joined Novelis in May 2021. Prior to Novelis, Suzanne was the Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Environmental Affairs for UPS. In this position, she was responsible for driving solutions and delivering results to achieve UPS’s sustainability goals, as well as developing the company’s forward-looking sustainability strategy.

Before UPS, Suzanne held positions of increasing responsibility in sustainability at Brambles USA, The Kroger Co. and PetSmart. She began her career as a civil engineer, focused on land development for retail and commercial clients.

Suzanne holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.

Suzanne Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

• Novelis’ circular business model as the world’s largest aluminum recycler
• Novelis’ 3x30 sustainability strategy
• Collaboration and stakeholder engagement internally and externally
• Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals

Suzanne Final Five Questions Responses:

What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? 

I would say when you hear “no,” and you will hear no often, take it as “no, not right now.” What I found in my career is that some good ideas usually take six months to a year or even more to seed, but keep at it. Keep planting the seeds, keep watering them, because business cases and attitudes will evolve over time. I'm a bit of a bulldog, and I don't let things die, so I'll just keep pounding away at things until I can find an opening. Sometimes you just have to be patient, but keep at it. 

What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? 

How many opportunities there are in this space, how many jobs are available, and opportunities for young people to drive positive impact in their everyday work lives. I think that so much of what I see coming into the workforce is people that want to work for a company where they can do just that. There's so many jobs available, which I think is amazing. That, to me, is exciting because we need as many advocates and people that want to drive that positive impact as we can get, because we have a long way to go before 2050 hits. 

What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? 

One that I read early on and it's kind of old school, but it was Strategy for Sustainability by Adam Werbach. He crystallized the business of sustainability in a very real way for me at a time when I worked at Kroger, when I was trying to think through the strategy there. The examples and things that he brought together, I think at its highest level, is still a frame that can work today. That's many, many years ago, but it's always one that I go back to. 

What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? 

I get a lot of daily digests and updates from Trellis, I get all the digests from WBCSD, WEF. I try to consume as much as I can in those formats because you do have to have a job to do, but I also like to keep a pulse on what's going on. I find that having that stuff delivered to you on a daily basis allows me to kind of keep the pulse of what's going on, and I enjoy reading them. 

Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Novelis? 

I would love for people to check out our 2024 sustainability report. We launched it several months ago, but it really tries to tell all the good stories and the proof points of what we're trying to accomplish here. Novelis.com is where you can find it.