Top 10 Sustainability Leaders in the Telecoms Industry

Last time we looked at the top 10 most sustainable telcos, this time we’re taking a look at the top 10 sustainability leaders in the telecommunications industry (in no particular order).

Mats Pellbäck Scharp - Head of Sustainability at Ericsson

Mats Pellbäck Scharp has been Head of Sustainability at Ericsson since July 2016, delivering improvements through innovation and change. Independent of whether it is environmental, quality, organizational, process, product, societal or regulatory improvements. He has a track record of making things happen and by bringing out the best of teams within line functions, in cross-functional and cross-industry/society settings.

Sara Nordbrand - Head of Group Sustainability at Telia Company

Sara Nordbrand joined Telia in 2019 as their Head of Group Sustainability to help further develop the company's sustainability programs and initiatives. Nordbrand has over 15 years of experience in Sustainability and her main areas of focus include climate change strategy, sustainable investment and supply chain management.

Andy Wales - Chief Digital Impact & Sustainability Officer at BT

Andy Wales is the Chief Digital Impact & Sustainability Officer at BT. Andy believes in driving growth through purpose led business strategy and has done so across the telecoms and tech, FMCG, utilities and manufacturing industries. He transforms businesses by sharpening and energising the purpose and strategy, integrating sustainability ambitions and goals into core business metrics, customer comms and brand campaigns, culture and employee engagement and the investor proposition.

Cecilie Heuch, Executive Vice President, Chief People and Sustainability Officer at Telenor

Telenor Group is one of the world’s major mobile operators and Cecilie Heuch is the company’s Chief People and Sustainability Officer. Appointed in 2017, one of Heuch’s main responsibilities is overseeing the company’s climate and environment initiatives as well as their sustainable partnerships. Prior to joining Telenor, Cecile worked at both DNV and Norsk Hyrdo.

Chad Wilkerson - Director, Sustainability and Infrastructure Sourcing at T-Mobile

Chad Wilkerson joined T-Mobile back in 2013. Having held various roles within the company, he is now the current Director of Sustainability and Infrastructure Sourcing. Since being appointed as the Director of Sustainability in 2018, Wilkerson has created sustainable sourcing policies for the internal cleaning and maintenance of company facilities, received the Green Building Certification for 161 real estate facilities and earned recognition by the EPA as the top 10 in green power purchasers in the US.

Helen Maisano - Director, Group Sustainability at Optus

Helen Maisano is the Director, Group Sustainability at Optus and as the head of their environmental, sustainability, and social impact programs, her focus is on creating shared value partnerships, embedding sustainability within the business and creating a significant positive impact in society. Maisano is an experienced Sustainability professional with over 13 years of experience in the industry and is passionate about bringing sustainability strategies to life.

Tracey Herald - Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Virgin Media O2

Tracey Herald is Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Virgin Media O2 and has worked in telecoms for 10 years.  She is responsible for driving the company’s ambitions to use its combined connectivity, people and brands to create a lasting positive impact on the communities it serves, while accelerating action on climate change.

Aileen Tan, Group People & Sustainability Officer at Singtel Group

Aileen Tan has been with Singtel as their Group Chief People and Sustainability Officer since 2008. She is responsible for the company’s overall strategic people and sustainability agenda and since joining the company, Singtel has won numerous accolades for its leading people and sustainability practices.

James Gowen, SVP Global Supply Chain & Chief Sustainability Officer at Verizon

James Gowen is the current Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer at Verizon. Since taking on these roles in 2009, his team has hired more than 51,000 employees in 50 countries worldwide, whilst also helping to reduce the company’s environmental footprint and increase the efficiency of their growth. Gowen was also responsible for superheading the launch of Verizon’s flagship $137M green energy initiative which has enabled Verizon to eliminate 20,000 metric tons of CO2.

Charlene Lake - Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP-Corporate Social Responsibility at AT&T

As Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at AT&T, Charlene Lake leads a talented team working to create connections and positive outcomes for the community, the environment and their customers. Lake has worked with AT&T, one of the world's leading telecommunications companies, for more than 30 years and since leading the launch of AT&T’s formal CSR efforts over 13 years ago, she continues to put the company’s technology and resources to good use.