ESG Champions
How Leeds alumni are making the case for sustainability.
Megan Lorenzen (MBA ’21)
Climate change, depleted natural resources and social inequality continue to put environmental, social and governance initiatives front and center.
Many professionals feel a sense of urgency and responsibility in adopting better business practices that benefit the environment. Since Leeds weighs environment, equality and sustainability as heavily as finance, marketing and accounting in creating academic programs, alumni often find themselves in corner offices—or just outside of them—where they have opportunities to advocate for practices and policies that create meaningful change.
For Megan Lorenzen (MBA’21), the idea that her work can make a difference brought her to Salesforce, where she’s senior manager of sustainability. Her work involves collaboration with partners in various business units to understand needs and create impact.
“We believe we have a responsibility to help bring the entire community with us,” said Lorenzen, who was named in the spring of 2023 to GreenBiz Badass Women, a power list of key players in environmental justice. “If we reach our company targets and get to the finish line alone, we will have failed to actually impact climate change.”
‘Accountants are going to save the world’
The good news, she said, is leaders are listening when it comes to not just setting targets but also the strategies that help companies meet emissions pledges and climate goals.
“I always say that accountants are going to save the world,” Lorenzen said. “You are increasingly seeing accountants who are now ESG professionals. And our business partners—legal, government affairs, finance—are critical to our success.”
“Business partners—legal, government affairs, finance—are critical to our success.”
Megan Lorenzen (MBA’21), Senior Manager of Sustainability, Salesforce
Lorenzen and other Leeds alumni pointed out that a lot of leaders’ actions are being driven by changing regulations, whether from the Fed or SEC. That outside pressure helps provide a ready audience when presenting ideas to stakeholders.
Lorenzen believes that growing credibility has made it “an incredible time to work in this industry,” which wasn’t always the case. Just ask Kathryn Wendell (pictured left), executive director of Leeds’ Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR).
“When I graduated from college back in 2000, I was very interested in corporate social responsibility and sustainability, but there was no clear career path to get there,” said Wendell, whose work experience includes corporate responsibility roles at Chevron and World Bank.
“Today, this whole field is evolving so fast that even people like me are struggling to try to stay on top of what’s happening. But it’s exciting because, as we rethink risk, we’re seeing sustainability take on a stronger focus for private-sector leadership.”
An ESG portfolio
CESR plays a key role in helping prepare students to lead those conversations. In addi