Category: The Next Series

At a moment of unprecedented attention, investment, and opportunity for the emerging field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), leaders are asking: Who is best preparing their organization for the society of the future? Who is innovating today to meet decades-long environmental and social goals? Who is setting standards that catalyze their industry’s change for the better? Who is defining what bold and aspirational look like — and how best to advance that work in practice?

Enter NationSwell’s ESG Next, an exemplary group of investors, executives, authors, philanthropists, social sector leaders, academics, and field builders who are helping to shape business as a force for social and environmental progress, advancing — and even pioneering — the most forward-thinking and effective programs, initiatives, technologies, methodologies, practices, and approaches.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Maryanne Hancock, CEO of Y Analytics, about the importance of centering rigor in impact investing, ESG’s “Fearless Girl” moment, and the surprising lessons that impact leaders can learn from an economist and a can of beans.

Greg Behrman, CEO + Founder, NationSwell: Can you tell us how your professional and personal journey led you to this work?

Maryanne Hancock, CEO of Y Analytics: If I ever get asked to share a fun fact about myself, it’s that my parents were clergy before they met, married, and had me.  My father was a priest, and my mother was a nun, and they were both quite active in the social justice movement at large. My father founded programs for kids addicted to drugs during the late sixties and early seventies, a time when such programs were nonexistent. He met people at often vulnerable points in their lives, helping them build new lives. To this day, there are people alive due to the work he did.

My mother, as a nun, took to teaching in historically marginalized communities. This overall milieu of social work wasn’t just a job for them, but a way of life. Because of them, I’ve always believed you really need to stand in awe of the burdens that people carry, as opposed to in judgment. It’s a philosophy that encourages one to honor, assist, and appreciate people facing adversities, and the complexities of the adversities they face.

Originally, I aspired to become a human rights lawyer, pursuing an education in law, especially humanitarian and human rights law. But a detour through McKinsey shifted my journey. While I was there, I maintained a client roster from the private sector, and I engaged with industries I found fascinating, even if they weren’t glamorous — like waste management, logistics, and energy sectors. At the same time, I delved into social sector projects. Interestingly, the attendees at my logistics or waste management meetings hardly ever overlapped with those at my education or poverty alleviation discussions, which gave me the sense that these were inherently distinct swim lanes. But now at Y Analytics, whether it’s a company engaged in the circular economy and waste, or a fin-tech firm operating in Africa, I get to have all these different interests under a singular umbrella as part of my daily routine.

Behrman, NationSwell: How do you make sense of this moment in ESG? What’s the potential and the promise, and where are the pitfalls?

Hancock, Y Analytics: The image that comes to my mind for the moment we are in societally is the Fearless Girl statue — where you’ve got the bull and the little girl standing there, staring him down. The conventional interpretation of the scene is that the charging bull represents unfettered capitalism, or the “old boys club” of Wall Street, and the Fearless Girl symbolizes the pursuit of gender equality – a counterweight to the imposing minotaur with smoke coming out of its nostrils. 

But I think it symbolizes something bigger. To me, the bull represents this vast set of societal issues we grapple with every day – geopolitical unrest, war, climate change, a pandemic…some so big and so powerful that they feel unstoppable or immovable. 

And then, there’s this Fearless Girl, which symbolizes how we feel amidst all these challenges. But here’s the thing I’m left thinking about: while we can’t ignore the enormity of the challenges symbolized by the bull, what I’d love for everyone to do is to look around and realize that there are thousands of Fearless Girls facing them. The pitfall is to believe you are isolated , as if you’re the only Fearless Girl out there, yet what I see every day are thousands and thousands of people embodying that spirit. This includes teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, community members, and also Fearless Girl’s physical home in New York’s financial district underscores the role that entrepreneurs, and the millions of people who go to work every day in businesses, play in meeting the moment.

What’s been inspiring to me is witnessing real actions and conversations happening within businesses — conversations that were unimaginable just five years ago. While the collective efforts may not seem enough to combat the metaphorical bull, recognizing and affirming the existence of these millions of Fearless Girls is crucial. We’ll be a better force for good when we acknowledge how strong this collective truly is.

It’s undeniable that social impact and sustainability practitioners are facing headwinds right now, but there are tailwinds, too. And together, these winds are steering us to a zone of quieter, yet more authentic action. The tailwinds are strong, and interestingly, they align well with good business practices. For instance, utilizing lower-cost energy sources that are renewable is smart business. So is offering products that benefit rather than harm people, and implementing employee policies that create a desirable workplace amidst a talent-driven landscape. These factors reinforce the strength of the tailwinds.

On the flip side, the reality of legal repercussions, varying state approaches, the politicization of these issues, and the potential backlash for greenwashing, might lead to a toned-down announcement of new initiatives and commitments. And this quieter approach isn’t necessarily negative. In my view, it’s probably beneficial. The quieter stance doesn’t undermine the solid tailwinds and the consequential actions they encourage.

Behrman, NationSwell: What’s unique about the work you’re leading?

Hancock, Y Analytics: When the Rise Fund began in 2016, it aimed to accomplish a few objectives. One was to usher scaled capital into the impact space, as there were endeavors to fund social entrepreneurs onto a path of growth, yet they were lacking a significant pool of capital to propel them from early growth to a further stage. That was part of the concept. At that point, the largest impact fund stood at about $500 million while the average was about $200 million, but the Rise Fund came in at $2.1 billion, aiming to attract institutional capital. To ensure this, they committed from the get-go to treat the impact aspect as rigorously as the financial aspect. So they envisioned what later became Y Analytics, an organization meant to bolster capital into impact companies by increasing the confidence in their impact. That was the fundamental premise behind our creation. 

And as they came together, it was actually a call from Jerome Vascellaro, a longtime leader at McKinsey who was then the COO at TPG, and someone well known to my mentors, that led to my involvement. That first call was followed by an engrossing weekend brainstorming at the whiteboard about what this endeavor could evolve into. The prospect of being serious and rigorous about impact, coupled with people who could take action immediately, was just so intriguing to me personally. That’s what made me make the leap.

Here’s what I love the most about what we get to do: we get to turn to the vast amount of research that’s out there about what works to help some of these social and environmental ills, and channel that into our investment decisions and actually make a difference. It’s been so fascinating to observe the evolution of evidence-based approaches in different fields, from evidence-based medicine in the 1980s to evidence-based policymaking in the 1990s and early 2000s. Our big innovation, which I just loved so much, is that we started to do evidence-based impact investing at scale. This methodology allows us to tap into the profound knowledge of individuals who are dedicated experts in specific areas of their fields, from soil’s carbon capture potential to the impacts of digital banking on small to medium enterprises in emerging markets. It’d be almost problematic to leave that expertise on the table.

But it’s also about the unique capabilities of our team. Our roster has included nuclear physicists, economists, and others with diverse expertise; we can bridge the chasm between academic insights and investment professionals, translating intricate research into investment strategies. This human capability, which is unique to have nested within a private equity firm context, can help translate academic discourse and parse through the jargon for insights to inform actionable investment decisions. This multidisciplinary approach isn’t just cool, it’s immensely invaluable in driving forward our mission.

Behrman, NationSwell: To which leadership practices do you contribute your efficacy?

Hancock, Y Analytics: It all boils down to striving for authentic action. I think that’s the key. And by the way, we might not hit that mark every day, but that’s certainly our goal. 

There’s only one joke that I’ve ever been able to remember: You’ve got three folks on a deserted island, and there’s a chemist, an engineer, and an economist, and they have one can of beans and they’re trying to figure out how they’re going to open this can of beans. So the chemist says, well, if we heat it to a certain boiling point, it’s going to explode and we can get it open. And the engineer says, if we hit it against this rock just the right way, it’s going to pop open. And the economist says, assume we have a can opener. 

When I used to think about that, I would laugh and say, oh, that’s so silly. We all know someone who made a comment like that, but then as I delved into this work, I actually started to reflect on that. What if we all thought about what would happen if we had the can opener, that we had the tool we actually needed? We’d see the value of getting the can open quickly and safely, of conserving more beans because they didn’t explode, and seeing that value would actually inspire us to build the can opener, to create the tools we need. Even if it’s not perfect, or it’s just a prototype. It’s really helpful to have a working hypothesis.

Behrman, NationSwell: Who or what informs and inspires your leadership?

Hancock, Y Analytics: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s work with All We Can Save is astoundingly well-conceived, an incredible set of resources for folks, and I admire the heck out of the entire approach from there. And I know he’s a fellow ESG Next honoree, but George Serafeim’s work with impact-weighted accounts is ground-breaking. It’s one of the closest analogs to what we do at Y Analytics.

Sara Menker of Grow Intelligence is a phenomenal CEO, coming from the commodities trading world, originally from Ethiopia. She has created a data company that really has a finger on the pulse of agriculture, physical climate risks and trends around the world. For example, her data immediately identified the drivers behind the current food crisis. She could see that fertilizer prices were spiking. She could see that crops in parts of Asia were failing because it was too wet. 

And lastly, I admire my colleagues at TPG Rise who are investing for impact with so much integrity and success. 

My favorite book would be “Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Greg Boyle.  From a podcast perspective, Hank Paulson’s “Straight Talk”  is excellent. He hosts some fantastic guests and covers really diverse topics. And then, for the psychology of doing the hard work of good work, I love listening to the storytelling of Dr. Bertice Berry. She’s an author, she’s a speaker, she’s done academic work as well in psychology, and she also does daily digital storytelling.

To learn more about how our ESG Next honorees are shaping business as a force for social and environmental good, visit the series hub. To learn more about NationSwell’s community of our country’s leading social impact and sustainability practitioners, visit our site.

At a moment of unprecedented attention, investment, and opportunity for the emerging field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), leaders are asking: Who is best preparing their organization for the society of the future? Who is innovating today to meet decades-long environmental and social goals? Who is setting standards that catalyze their industry’s change for the better? Who is defining what bold and aspirational look like — and how best to advance that work in practice?

Enter NationSwell’s ESG Next, an exemplary group of investors, executives, authors, philanthropists, social sector leaders, academics, and field builders who are helping to shape business as a force for social and environmental progress, advancing — and even pioneering — the most forward-thinking and effective programs, initiatives, technologies, methodologies, practices, and approaches.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Kim Dabbs, Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase and author of the upcoming book, You Belong Here on the importance of building a global learning community, the power of inclusive design, and the importance of centering the wellbeing of your teams and of other leaders.

Greg Behrman, CEO + Founder, NationSwell: Can you tell us about your professional and personal journey to this field?

Kim Dabbs, Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation, Steelcase: Belonging has been my North Star in the work that I do, both in the nonprofit sector and the corporate sector. I believe that everyone has a role to play in this, and part of my journey has been trying to figure out what each individual’s role is, and how to build safe spaces where everyone can be seen, heard and valued in the world.

That’s a journey that began in high school. I remember that early on, during the late ’80s and early ’90s, the AIDS crisis was devastating entire communities. I started volunteering with the AIDS Resource Center when I was a teenager, and through that, I discovered the power of collective action in effecting change.

When I was really young, I took a trip with the AIDS Resource Center to see the NAMES Project in Washington, DC. It was the last time the AIDS quilt was displayed in its entirety; it spanned the entire mall, showcasing art being used for activism and the power of collective impact. When people are confronted with issues in ways that they cannot look away from, that’s when real change happens. That experience truly kickstarted my journey.

Following that, I worked extensively in the nonprofit sector, focusing on arts, culture, and creativity, and the significant roles they play in the world. This path led me through endeavors into equity in education, and now into the work I do at Steelcase.

Behrman, NationSwell: How do you make sense of this moment in ESG? What is the potential and the promise, and where are the pitfalls?

Dabbs, Steelcase: We’re seeing before us the promise of collective action. Right now, I genuinely feel that a movement has been built. Everyone wants to make a difference, and how that difference is manifested varies from person to person, depending on the distinct capabilities or resources they bring to the table. But the task at hand is to align everyone towards the same direction. If we can build a global learning community centered around progress, that’s when real action can ensue. We have to approach this through a lens of abundance, not scarcity; through endless possibility, not fear. 

Yet, we all face resistance at some point in this journey. I see criticism as a good thing. I believe it always propels progress forward, and if you have criticism, it usually means you have a diverse range of people and perspectives at the table. But criticism can get unproductive when it comes at the expense of supporting one another. If we can center that support in our collective success when we make our criticism, I believe we can make a substantial difference in our lifetime. 

That’s easier said than done, and it’s important to remember that this is ongoing work. No matter the difference you and I make in our lifetime, there will always be another generation with their own set of challenges, and a generational workload ahead. Keeping this perspective in mind is crucial too.

Behrman, NationSwell: What’s unique about the work you’re leading at Steelcase?

Dabbs, Steelcase: We know that leaders at large organizations grapple with the questions of how to get better at actually sharing insights so what happens in Hong Kong can inform what’s happening in New York, which can in turn inform what’s happening in Mexico. The work that we’re doing here at Steelcase is about building a global learning community, about building the infrastructure for these conversations to happen. We focus on finding ways we can invite more people to the table, and finding more ways we can share insights, thought leadership, and best practices. The lab is really that community where we come together and say, “we’re going to learn from each other and with each other.”

That’s why we launched our Better Futures Community. Both our internal and external partners, as well as our clients and community partners, are involved because no single organization, industry, or sector has all the answers. The more we can come together and understand, the better. 

We do this through our Better Futures Lab, which is really about radically open innovation. We do this through the Better Futures Fund, which supports promising, new ideas in the areas of equity, education, and the environment, hoping to bring them to a point where we can design proof of concept together and then share it and embed it back into people’s value streams. And finally, we have the Better Futures Fellowship, which is an accelerator and incubator for bold new ideas around equity, education, and the environment. The last fellowship we had was around well-being and education, and the one before that focused on equity and education. We cover different topics every year.

A little bit of everyone’s involved in Better Futures at Steelcase: from our clients to nonprofit partners to architecture and design firms. A good example of this is our Better Futures work with G3ict. Together, we worked on understanding what inclusive design means for the world of work. We conducted a study with them last year to really build the blueprint for the inclusive workplaces of the future.

Because of that research, Better Futures helped support our own inclusive design practice here at Steelcase. As a result, we’re joining coalitions like the Valuable 500 to make inclusive design core to our strategy at Steelcase, and core to how we help create workplaces in the world. It’s really about understanding where that shared value lies, and where we have a chance to actually make a difference, impacting not just the lives of our employees, but the lives of all our clients as well when we bring these concepts into action.

We’re in it for the long haul. People talk about long-term value. For us, it’s always about understanding that change won’t be instant. This is long-term iteration, partnering side-by-side to say, “hey, let’s try to move the needle. Some things are going to work, some things aren’t, but we’re really committed to it.” And if we learn things along the way, we have to share it with others to shorten their innovation time concerning what works and what doesn’t. So, we’re constantly publishing, sharing, and using public forums to help people see and understand. 

With the launch of the lab, part of it is understanding that nonprofit organizations are often focused on the local level, which they should be, but they’re not often plugged into that global community. So, we’re trying to figure out how we use our global scale to help them see different perspectives, get to know each other, and understand new approaches.

Behrman, NationSwell: What would be valuable for other leaders in the field to know about what you and your team have learned?

Dabbs, Steelcase: Last year, our community was dealing with the trauma of the police-involved shooting death of Patrick Lyoya. In that moment, the first thing that we did was reach out to our community partners and give wellbeing dollars to the leaders of the organizations that were on the ground doing community response work, because we knew that there was nothing more essential than supporting people on the frontlines. I remember telling them, “You decide how you spend that wellbeing money, just do something to take care of you. Whatever it takes; you get to decide. But just know that we’re here to support you in your journey as a leader and that your wellbeing matters just as much as the people that you’re serving.”

The people on your teams are the people who are in this work, professionally and personally. We’ve learned that wellbeing is critical. How leaders take care of their teams, how leaders take care of other leaders — all of that matters. 

At our team, we start every team meeting with our team norms. And just the repetition of those norms on a weekly basis keeps everyone focused on the same things, helps everyone understand why we’re doing this work. Little rituals like that that are not to be underestimated in this really deep, heavy, forever work.

Behrman, NationSwell: To which of your leadership practices do you attribute your efficacy?

Dabbs, Steelcase: If you’re going to be a leader in this space and be successful in your leadership, you have to be radical and revolutionary. You have to act with bravery. You are delivering hard news to systems that don’t want to change. So in order to do this work, you need to have the resilience to be able to do that. 

We have to challenge the way things are. And if you’re willing to interrogate systems, if you’re willing to act with bravery, if you’re willing to speak truth to power, those are the things that are going to change the world. And those are things that I try to do every single day.

If a table isn’t set for equity and justice, I’m not going to pull up a chair to that table. I’ll build my own. 

Behrman, NationSwell: Who are the fellow leaders who inspire your leadership?

Dabbs, Steelcase: I think everyone’s doing tough work, right? The majority of people that I find incredibly inspiring are the people on the ground doing the work. I used to be a single parent, going to college, working two jobs, living on the streets. I’ve experienced homelessness. And to me, the people that I look at, it’s really, truly the people that I serve. 

When I look at the adversity that people have to overcome with systems that are difficult, those are the people we should really hold up as leaders. So there are people and organizations that obviously are making a difference, whether that be Acumen, Ashoka or others, that are building these powerful, beautiful networks to make impact happen. But at the end of the day, the people that continuously inspire me are the people that have the most to lose.

At a moment of unprecedented attention, investment, and opportunity for the emerging field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), leaders are asking: Who is best preparing their organization for the society of the future? Who is innovating today to meet decades-long environmental and social goals? Who is setting standards that catalyze their industry’s change for the better? Who is defining what bold and aspirational look like — and how best to advance that work in practice?

Enter NationSwell’s ESG Next, an exemplary group of investors, executives, authors, philanthropists, social sector leaders, academics, and field builders who are helping to shape business as a force for social and environmental progress, advancing — and even pioneering — the most forward-thinking and effective programs, initiatives, technologies, methodologies, practices, and approaches.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Anna Walker, Vice President of Impact and Issues at Levi Strauss & Co., on the unique strengths of an organization’s employees to inform corporate action, the undersung value of employee resource groups, and why coalition building is as much about the “where” as the “who.”

Greg Behrman, CEO + Founder, NationSwell: Can you tell us about your professional and personal journey to this field?

Anna Walker, Vice President of Impact and Issues, Levi Strauss & Co.: I went to graduate school for international economics with a focus on developing economies because I thought — very idealistically — that my path was leading me to work at a United Nations agency, that I’d make my contribution to the world through my work there. So while I was in graduate school, I got my opportunity to intern with the UN through the High Commissioner for Refugees, and it showed me that UN agencies are, by necessity, large, slow-moving, bureaucratic, and probably not a fit for me and my long-term goals. 

That’s why I made my way to the apparel industry: it aligned perfectly with my interests in development economics, and in helping countries moving up the development ladder, because it’s an industry that countries pursue when they’re moving forward on their economic development trajectory, transitioning from subsistence agriculture to labor-intensive industries. And Levi’s was the perfect fit within the apparel industry because it was so committed to supporting responsible practices in the supply chain and supporting workers there. 

Now, Levi’s is 170 years old this year. For most of its history, it owned its manufacturing. But in the 1980s, it transitioned from owned factories to overseas facilities. Employees asked the company, “How are we going to take care of the workers, and ensure the same level of care that they have as our own employees when the factories are owned by others and we’re just sourcing the production?” Because our employees asked our leadership that question, Levi’s was one of the first organizations to have a code of conduct for a global supply chain. Listening and responding to employee is a big part of Levi’s organizational DNA, and a big part of how I knew I’d found the right organization for me. 

Behrman, NationSwell: How do you define this moment in ESG? 

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: This question is so fresh on my mind because we’ve been analyzing the challenges to ESG and so-called “woke capitalism” following the reaction to Bud Light and Target during Pride month — high profile cases of intense backlash that are such a part of this ESG moment. 

Levi’s is a fairly outspoken progressive company that really believes in using our voice to support the issues that our employees care about and that intersect with our business, and we used the backlash as an inflection point to brief leadership. We told them that we’re very cognizant of this changing environment, we assured them that we’ve taken some time to really stare down how it went for these other companies and why it went the way it did, and informed them of what we were going to do moving forward: remain consistent. Companies stumble when they try to change direction or appease a certain audience in a manner inconsistent with what they’ve said or done in the past. Consistency will be the key: it helps us adhere to what we can control and show up in the places where we can show up authentically.

Another big learning we’ve taken from the moment is that often, if you’ve already been outspoken on something, neutrality or silence isn’t going to be acceptable. Silence can be deafening, and stakeholders have come to count on you to be out there, to be supportive, and to be engaged. And sitting one out can often look like the wrong kind of engagement to them.

Behrman, NationSwell: What’s unique about the work you’re leading at Levi’s?

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: I’m proud to say that through our long history, most of what we’ve been outspoken advocates on and built our social impact programs around — it’s all been rooted in our employees, rooted in what they’ve come to us and said matters to them, because it’s keeping them up at night or because they’re excited to take part in it.  

In the ’80s, we came out in support of employees dealing with HIV/AIDS, even before the disease had a name. We did that because employees came to us concerned about friends and family, and asked the company’s leadership to do something. They’ve held us accountable, and they keep us engaged. Because it’s real for them, it keeps our engagements from being one-and-done; they’re the reason why whatever we do will be far more authentic, genuine, and enduring. 

That’s what happened with our efforts around gun violence prevention. Our employees asked us how we’re going to support a safer America, which sparked us to create a threefold plan: first, we created the Safer Tomorrow Fund to give to organizations addressing community-based violence; second, we advocated to support efforts for common sense gun safety legislation at the federal level; and third, we engaged and informed employees to give them opportunities to volunteer and give, if they were interested.

When we started to build a broad coalition of companies working with us and supporting similar ends, it was slow-going at first. We sent a letter to the House of Representatives supporting the bipartisan background checks bill. And we only had three CEOs on it when we went to the House. But then, come fall of that same year, we had over a hundred CEOs on the letter when it went to the Senate. And last summer, when the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed, we had over 300 CEOs on the letter supporting Congressional action.  

We’re really proud to be a first mover, to be a bold mover that leverages its globally recognized brand name to build a big tent and create the safe space for other companies to join us in the advocacy. We’re going to be most effective when we’re using our brand to build coalitions and bring others along. 

Behrman, NationSwell: In the case of gun violence prevention, what helped you build such an effective coalition?

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: It’s all about finding good partners. In the case of gun violence, we worked with Everytown and Giffords, and they’ve been really willing to roll up their sleeves and help to make it happen, to help to build the materials, and to engage and be there as experts when companies have questions. We’re not experts in gun violence prevention the way these groups are, so finding those partners that get the value of bringing the business case to advocacy is key.

As we’ve built coalitions, we’ve learned that it’s not only about who your partner is, but about where your partner is — especially when it comes to congressional advocacy. You know what members of Congress will support a bill, you know who is going to oppose it, and in the middle of all of that is the potential gettables you’ll actually need to make something happen. If you can find the companies that are their constituents in their home states, they’re the best advocates  to those members of Congress to make the case.

Behrman, NationSwell: How does Levi’s decide when to speak out or take action as an organization?

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: Those actions all come to be through different channels. When the Dobbs decision on reproductive rights leaked, we were ready to issue a statement immediately because employees from our women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG), two years before the draft ruling leaked, asked for a meeting with our CEO and sat down with him to have a conversation on the landscape of women’s rights. 

Traditionally, ERGs allow employees from diverse backgrounds to find each other and deepen their bonds to one another, but they’re also an effective tool for surfacing to leadership those early signs of what’s on the horizon, and what your organization can do about it. Because that conversation happened years prior, we’d already had a lot of internal conversations and got our internal policies and programs in place to be able to move quickly. 

Levi’s CEO is Chip Bergh, and we do a monthly “Chip(s) and Beer” that’s sort of an ask me anything-style town hall with the CEO. That’s where a few of our advocacy and philanthropy actions have started from questions and concerns voiced by employees. Not only is it a powerful forum for directly learning what’s on employees’ minds, it helps you to create and maintain a culture of openness. 

Behrman, NationSwell: To which of your leadership practices do you attribute your efficacy?

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: I have a smart, creative team that’s willing to try new things, take risks. I try to be the wind beneath their wings, I try to ask a lot of good questions, poke around corners, and support them to test, scale, and find what works and what fits. I encourage speed and smart risk-taking so that we always have time to course correct if we get it wrong. 

Really good leadership comes from finding really good people who are motivated, care, who are purpose and mission aligned with the organization and have a lot of energy about what they do.

Behrman, NationSwell: Who are the leaders who inspire your leadership?

Walker, Levi Strauss + Co: I’m inspired by Vicki Shabo, Senior Fellow, Better Life Lab, New America. Vicki is always advocating and innovating to make paid family leave universally available. I think of Michael Kobori, Chief Sustainability Officer at Starbucks Coffee Company, because he’s always willing to try new things, and he’s unceasingly supportive of his team. Worked along side him at LS&Co. And Hilary Dessouky, General Counsel at Patagonia, as well as Corley Kenna, Head of Communications and Policy at Patagonia, because they’ve been part of making some of the most sustainable business practices and best policies for Patagonia employees happen, and made sure to share those best practices with the rest of the business community.

At a moment of unprecedented attention, investment, and opportunity for the emerging field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), leaders are asking: Who is best preparing their organization for the society of the future? Who is innovating today to meet decades-long environmental and social goals? Who is setting standards that catalyze their industry’s change for the better? Who is defining what bold and aspirational look like — and how best to advance that work in practice?

Enter NationSwell’s ESG Next, an exemplary group of investors, executives, authors, philanthropists, social sector leaders, academics, and field builders who are helping to shape business as a force for social and environmental progress, advancing — and even pioneering — the most forward-thinking and effective programs, initiatives, technologies, methodologies, practices, and approaches.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Miriam Warren, Chief Diversity Officer at Yelp, about how her childhood home was the beginning of her journey to the field, the three questions she asks herself before pushing for corporate action amid pivotal social moments, and the fellow leaders that inspire her leadership.

Greg Behrman, CEO + Founder, NationSwell: How did your professional and personal journey lead you to this work?

Miriam Warren, Chief Diversity Officer, Yelp: My journey started as early as my earliest memories. I grew up in a home where I was the only person of color, and the only one who looked like me. Growing up without other Filipinos meant that I was always trying to understand how I fit in with my family, and more broadly, what family means. I didn’t have the words for it then, but that was the early spark that had me thinking about building communities where different people (myself included) can feel like they belong. 

I found my way to the corporate world, and eventually to Yelp, where I built the some of the first communities of contributors to the site. Eventually, I turned that same attention inward to help build the employee community at Yelp as its first Chief Diversity Officer. 

I feel grateful to be able to do work that is meaningful, helps others, and brings light to issues that aren’t talked about enough.

Behrman, NationSwell: How do you make sense of this moment in ESG? Where are we now, and where do you think we’re going?

Warren, Yelp: Despite the narrative that some parts of society want you to believe, the idea that businesses have social responsibility is not a new one. From the emergence of the cooperative movement in the late 19th century to the creation of the first corporate charitable foundation in the early 20th century, plenty of historical influences—Quaker principles, labor movements, and fair trade practices, among them—have laid the groundwork for demonstrating that businesses have a broader responsibility to society.

More importantly, the idea isn’t going anywhere. The stakes feel even higher than before, whether we are talking about political polarization, climate crises, social and economic inequalities, or any number of other core issues that define and threaten our society. Businesses will play a critical role in supporting their customers, communities, employees, and other stakeholders, particularly to the extent that other institutions that have historically served them are failing.  

Behrman, NationSwell: What are some of the programs, strategies, or initiatives you’re leading at Yelp into which other field builders should have visibility?

Warren, Yelp: We should all strive to be more proactive and less reactive, and the way to do that is to have a preexisting framework for evaluating issues so that we can feel like we are happening to the issues and not the other way around. 

Yelp’s framework asks three questions: how does the issue map to our values? Does it matter to our stakeholders? And most importantly, are we uniquely positioned—through our platform or our business—to drive positive impact?

Let’s take reproductive healthcare access as an example. Our values align with the notion that bodily autonomy matters. It was also clear that the issue matters to our employees, many of whom are located in states contemplating or enacting restrictive abortion bans. We hoped to drive positive change by introducing a travel benefit to ensure healthcare equality for all our workers regardless of what state they were in. We also knew that consumers use our platform to find reliable information about reproductive healthcare services, and that we were therefore uniquely positioned to help them find what they were looking for.     

Behrman, NationSwell: To which leadership practices do you attribute your success? 

Warren, Yelp: I have always felt strongly about the concept of calling people in, not calling them out. We’re all on a learning journey, especially in this type of work. At one time or another we’re going to use the wrong words or frame a situation in a potentially problematic way. I want to cultivate an environment where people can make mistakes and know they have space to learn from it.

It takes a lot of energy to do this work and to maintain the grace, compassion, and patience to meet people where they are. I welcome the opportunity to explain why people use different pronouns than you. I’m happy to discuss your confusion over Black History Month. I won’t lose my cool when it comes to enumerating the challenges that many women, and particularly mothers, face in the workplace. My goal is to engage positively, and if someone feels positively toward me, there’s a good chance they’re going to walk away with a better understanding of why these issues matter to others if not to them.       

Behrman, NationSwell: Who are the leaders that inspire your leadership?

Warren, Yelp: Rodney Foxworth is always at the top of my list. His mission-driven work is incredibly inspiring to me and informs a lot of the way I think about many things, from economic development and philanthropy, to being an effective nonprofit board member.

Erin Baudo Felter at Okta is a fellow tech funder and social impact practitioner whose work I hold in high regard. She and I met through another colleague in this space years ago, and it’s been so useful to think together through issues we’re both tackling. 

Lastly, I’d spotlight Vignetta Charles. She is the CEO of ETR, a nonprofit organization committed to advancing health equity globally. Vignetta’s leadership awes me while also reminding me that laughter and friendship go a long way in making this work sustainable. 

Behrman, NationSwell: What are you reading that inspires your leadership?

Warren, Yelp: I cannot overstate how powerful “The Persuaders” by Anand Giridharadas has been for me. It has given me an incredible amount of hope in a time that sometimes feels hopeless, and it’s given me a lot of fuel to keep going. One of my big takeaways from the book is that people who are engaged in changing minds and bridging divisions should talk much more about what we’re for—not just about what we’re against. That notion has really resonated with me and I’m working on applying it expansively in my life.

To learn more about how our ESG Next honorees are shaping business as a force for social and environmental good, visit the series hub. Yelp is a NationSwell Institutional Member. To learn more about membership in NationSwell’s community of leading social impact and sustainability practitioners, visit our site.

At a moment of unprecedented attention, investment, and opportunity for the emerging field of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), leaders are asking: Who is best preparing their organization for the society of the future? Who is innovating today to meet decades-long environmental and social goals? Who is setting standards that catalyze their industry’s change for the better? Who is defining what bold and aspirational look like — and how best to advance that work in practice?

Enter NationSwell’s ESG Next, an exemplary group of investors, executives, authors, philanthropists, social sector leaders, academics, and field builders who are helping to shape business as a force for social and environmental progress, advancing — and even pioneering — the most forward-thinking and effective programs, initiatives, technologies, methodologies, practices, and approaches.

For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Michele Jawando, Senior Vice President at Omidyar Network, about the untold story of ESG’s unlikely allies, the importance of strong and engaged workers for any organization, and why we don’t have permission to surrender to the sorrow — even when working to advance justice becomes incredibly challenging. 

Greg Behrman, CEO + Founder, NationSwell: Can you tell us about how your professional and personal journey led you to where you are today?

Michele Jawando, Senior Vice President , Omidyar Network: I endeavor for my work to be grounded in the simple idea that my contributions should advance and make meaningful contributions to the communities that I serve; that is the single thread that I am proud to be able to trace through my life’s work and purpose. 

It’s a thread that begins with my great aunt, who was both the first woman and the first Black woman attorney on the island of Bermuda; it continues with my grandmother, who was the first Black nurse at a segregated hospital; with my father, who went to law school and engaged his practice in global human and civil rights work; really, through my entire family, who have steadfastly been involved with the social and civil rights movements in Bermuda, Jamaica and here in the US. 

And now, it is with deep humility that I’ve been able to continue it from there on through to every place I’ve worked. All of my work, every single day, is in service of trying to pull that thread forward. Continuing it is a deeply personal, deeply spiritual call for me, and I’ve been fortunate to work at places that can match my passion. 

So it is with reverence for this past and deep appreciation for the present that I’ve arrived at my position in the field.

Behrman, NationSwell: What’s unique about the work you’re leading? What are some of your programs, strategies, and approaches into which other field builders should have visibility?

Jawando, Omidyar Network: We’re trying to figure out how we diversify who’s at the table, who’s talking to investors, and who’s engaged in this conversation.  And we’ve been partnering with a few incredible organizations to help make that happen. One I’m really excited about is the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. You probably don’t often think about faith and corporate responsibility as going hand-in-hand, but ICCR has been working at this intersection for five decades, and successfully engaged Fortune 500 companies from a faith perspective on issues like public health, pollution, and forced labor in ways that have changed corporate behavior for the better.. This is an opportunity to bring a very different voice into this conversation. We’ve also been working with an organization called the Investor Advocates for Social Justice, grounding us in the belief that investing can be a key part of a social justice framework — core to any movement. 

Too often, workers are missing from the conversations on the most important decisions an organization makes. People sometimes forget this, but some of the biggest investors in the world are the pension funds of working people. That’s why I’m really excited to spotlight our partnership with the Committee for Workers Capital; they’re working to center the perspective of workers within the investment community. To have strong corporations, you need strong workers. Including them makes your company stronger, which in turn makes your investments more profitable. It’s a very different way of thinking about smart investments, but I think it’s critical as we move forward. Workers, employees, customers and community members are uniquely positioned to identify when a company is doing something risky — even before the company’s leadership apparatus does. 

It can’t just be about investors, corporate board members, or academics; the present moment is giving us an opportunity to broaden the conversation and giving people more opportunity to see what a co-created future could look like.  If we don’t engage more of these groups at every level of decision making, then they’re missing out on opportunities for agency and growth, and management is missing out on their crucial perspective.  And so I think it’s such a critical moment for ESG investors to really listen to stakeholders to show up differently. But though it’s a great opportunity, it’s also a challenging moment, but only because it’s still so hard for us to have multi-party conversations in this country. 

Behrman, NationSwell: How are you making sense of this moment for ESG? 

Jawando, Omidyar Network: In order to create real change in the system, the conversation around ESG has to be deeply grounded in broader social conversations. 

We all want to see businesses do great work, and we want them to operate sustainably. But I think why we’re having such a passionate conversation about this right now is because we differ on what “great work” and “operate sustainably” mean. We’re seeing ESG as a topic bubble up almost daily because I think each person on the planet is impacted by corporations, and wants to be actively involved in what the solutions are. Changing the framework to make corporations and companies more profitable, more inclusive, more thoughtful — all while adding a greater amount of dignity in the work — is exactly what we need to be doing. 

Behrman, NationSwell: What’s exciting to you about this moment, and where do you see it going?

Jawando, Omidyar Network:  I see policy as an opportunity to scale impact, so I am currently really  interested in what we’ve seen in Missouri, where citizens stood up before the state legislature and said they wanted to see their pensions invested in a responsible and sustainable way  And while we know there’s been an uptick of anti-ESG legislation, the untold story that’s unfolding under the headlines is that you’re getting really interesting bedfellows. Players like the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, SEIU, the Sierra Club — they  were all working together to defeat these anti-ESG bills. There aren’t many places where you’re seeing unlikely allies coming together. You really love to see it.

To me, that’s proof there’s something unique about this work that is positive and is worth fighting for and is worth engaging. But there’s been such a collapse of nuance, which means it’s been hard for people to hold that you can both be profitable and have ESG as a core part of your investment strategy. 

Behrman, NationSwell: What is it about your leadership style that helps you to be effective? 

Jawando, Omidyar Network: As a leader, I strive to acknowledge that the people who come and work with me — or for me — have some challenge in their life that they’re dealing with every day, alongside their work. That acknowledgment helps me as much as it helps them. If I can walk into a workplace, or a board room, or Capitol Hill and recognize that these are people who are dealing with challenges in their lives, the dialogue will be a lot more productive than if I see them all as adversaries or challenges, lead with people’s humanity and it changes the dynamic every time. 

I’m not saying that view doesn’t come with its own set of challenges, but I deeply believe that this is the best approach to leadership. 

Behrman, NationSwell: Who are the leaders who inspire your leadership?

Jawando, Omidyar Network: Edelman CEO Lisa Ross is amazing. Not only is she a people first leader, but she’s also a true believer in the power of representation. There’s something unique about her voice that helps me really grapple with the importance of the work we’re doing.

KR Liu, who heads accessibility marketing at Google, is a constant source of inspiration to me. She’s one of the most profound people that I’ve worked with, one who’s helped me advance my own thinking about accessibility, representation, and policy. She lives with such intention and passion. 

Another leader who inspires me is Nicole Taylor of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. I think it’s hard running any foundation, but when you show up in the valley and you’re trying to hold a lot of different equities all at the same time, it’s even more challenging. And yet, Nicole  does it with such grace, effervescence, and a deep commitment to this work.

The last leader I’d like to mention is Amandeep Singh Gill, who’s the United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Technology. Whether you’re a techno optimist or a techno realist, it’s undeniable that technology has a profound effect on society. Amandeep is working to make sure it is not just a catalytic force, but a unifying one. 

Behrman, NationSwell: What are you reading, watching, or listening to that’s inspiring your leadership?

Jawando, Omidyar Network: “Blind Spot” by Jon Clifton has such great insight into why leaders were missing the unrest that led to everything from the Arab Spring to the state of our politics in America — and really asks us to reckon with what we value as a society, and whether we’re using the right metrics for what makes a nation thrive?

I’m loving “How to Citizen” with Baratunde Thurston, who just did an episode on democracy fractals and sci-fi. I’m a big, big sci-fi nerd. I love the way it calls the imagination to a different place. 

Lastly, Ross Gay is one of my favorite authors, and my favorite poem of his called “Sorrow is Not My Name.” I think about it every time the work gets challenging, or it feels like we’re taking a step back. I’d like to read it for you:

“No matter the pull towards the brink, no matter the florid, deep sleep awaits. There is a time for everything. Look, just this morning a vulture nodded his red grizzled head at me and I looked at him admiring the sickle of his beak. Then the wind kicked up and after arranging that good suit of feathers he up and took off, just like that. And to boot there are on this planet alone, something like two million naturally occurring sweet things, some with names so generous as to kick the steel from my knees. Agave, persimmon, stick ball, the purple okra I brought for two bucks at the market.

“Think of that, the long night, the skeleton in the mirror, the man behind me on the bus taking notes, yeah, yea. But look, my niece is running through a field calling my name. My neighbor sings like an angel and at the end of my block is a basketball court. I remember my color’s green, I’m spring.”

That piece calls me back to all of the things that are beautiful and simple and worth fighting for. We can’t get lost in the sorrow. We actually don’t have permission to do that. Then we start to feel like nothing can change — and I believe deeply that things can.

To learn more about how our ESG Next honorees are shaping business as a force for social and environmental good, visit the series hub. Omidyar Network is a NationSwell Institutional Member. To learn more about membership in NationSwell’s community of leading social impact and sustainability practitioners, visit our site.