Quarterly Member Insights: Sustainable Business Trends Shaping 2025, Q1

黑料正能量 Members Only

Webinar

February 5, 2025

11 am - 12 pm EST

Event Resources

Event resources are for 黑料正能量 members only. Members, please log in to access the resources. Members, please reach out to us if you do not have a login account.

黑料正能量 provides members with access to exclusive insights and analysis to help your business see a changing world more clearly and transform to meet present and future sustainability challenges. Every quarter, 黑料正能量 members receive the ‘Quarterly Member Insights’ report, featuring deep dives into emerging topics curated by our global team of sustainability and industry experts.

Our quarterly webinars walk you through these emerging developments, offering analysis and practical implications for your company.?In our first installment of 2025, we will explore key trends for the year ahead, including insights from our experts in Climate Change and Nature, Human Rights, and 黑料正能量 Management.

The webinar is open to all member companies and their employees. We encourage you to invite additional colleagues inside or outside of your team and take full advantage of 黑料正能量’s member benefits.

Scheduled Speakers

Lara Birkes, Managing Director, Climate and Nature, 黑料正能量

Managing Director, Climate and Nature, 黑料正能量

San Francisco

Lara is responsible for leading 黑料正能量's Climate and Nature team globally and driving the organization’s work with Member companies' impact consulting, grants, and collaborative initiatives.

Lara is a sustainability and policy professional with over fifteen years of experience managing partnerships, sustainability initiatives and policy engagement with companies, international organizations, governments, and NGOs.

Prior to 黑料正能量, Lara was Global Head of 黑料正能量 at Sonder, joining in 2020 to establish the corporate responsibility function, implementing policies to engrain responsible business practices across the company pre to post IPO.

She also serves on the Advisory Board of EQX Biome, a start-up working to mobilize financial markets to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots. In 2024 Lara started hosting a web series & podcast called to raise awareness of the critical need for protection, conservation, and regeneration of biodiversity.

Lara holds a B.S. degree in International Business & Management from the University of Montana, a M.A. degree in International Trade Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California and is a World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow.

Recent Insights From Lara Birkes

Full Bio

Aron Cramer, President and CEO, 黑料正能量

President and CEO, 黑料正能量

San Francisco

Aron is recognized globally as a preeminent authority on just and sustainable business. In addition to leading 黑料正能量, which has grown substantially throughout his tenure as President and CEO, Aron advises senior executives at 黑料正能量’s 300+ member companies and other global businesses and partners on the full spectrum of environmental, social, and governance issues.

Aron joined 黑料正能量 in 1995 as the founding director of its Business and Human Rights program. He later opened 黑料正能量's Paris office in 2002, where he worked until becoming President and CEO in 2004. Aron has served on advisory boards to CEOs at AXA, Barrick Gold, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Recruit Holdings, SAP, Shell, and he serves as a director of the We Mean Business Coalition and RISE.

Aron speaks frequently at leading business and public fora and is widely quoted in top-tier media, such as the Financial Times, Le Figaro (France), The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Axios, and Politico. He is co-author of the book Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World, which spotlights innovative sustainability strategies that enable business success.

Prior to joining 黑料正能量, Aron practiced law in San Francisco and worked as a journalist at ABC News in New York. He holds a BA from Tufts University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Recent Insights From Aron Cramer

Full Bio

Christine Diamente, Managing Director, Transformation, 黑料正能量

Managing Director, Transformation, 黑料正能量

London

Christine leads 黑料正能量’s Business Transformation team, helping companies to manage sustainability throughout their business and across their supply chains and to develop resilient business strategies that leverage insights from 黑料正能量’s Sustainable Futures Lab.

She works with companies across sectors and geographies to structure a sustainability management approach that mitigates risk and captures emerging opportunities, creating strategic advantage for their businesses, while contributing to a more just, sustainable world. Christine also co-leads engagement with boards of directors to promote effective board governance and leadership ambition on sustainability.

She brings over 20 years of experience in leading brand, sustainability, public affairs, communications, and reputation management with multinational corporations at the executive leadership level. This also includes overseeing corporate relations with external stakeholders, such as the World Economic Forum, the UN, European institutions, and investors.

Previously, Christine was Head of Brand Strategy at Nokia. She has also held major roles at Alcatel-Lucent and Alcatel, leading Brand and Corporate 黑料正能量 and European Affairs. Christine has also served on various boards, including as a chair of the Telecoms Industry Dialogue on human rights, as an advisory board member of Reuters Events 黑料正能量, as a member of the Alcatel-Lucent Foundation, and on the European Internet Foundation.

Christine holds a MA in History and a BA in History and International Politics from the University of Ottawa. She completed the Management Acceleration Program (MAP) at INSEAD, and she achieved the ESG Competent Boards Certificate and Global Competent Boards Designation (2021). She speaks English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Recent Insights From Christine Diamente

Full Bio

Laura Gitman, Chief Impact Officer, 黑料正能量

Chief Impact Officer, 黑料正能量

New York

Laura is a global expert on corporate sustainability, with two decades of experience in strategy consulting and has advised senior executives at global companies across a range of industry sectors and sustainability issues.

As Chief Impact Officer (CIO), the first in the organization’s 30-year history, Laura focuses on maximizing the impact of 黑料正能量’s work with its network of over 300 members, both through direct engagement on project work and as a mentor for teams throughout the organization. She also oversees 黑料正能量’s Collaborative Initiatives and Membership, and is a recognized thought leader and innovator in strategic business.

She has been an instrumental leader in 黑料正能量’s organizational growth and impact. She launched 黑料正能量’s financial services practice and New York office, and she served as Chief Operating Officer for five years, leveraging her strengths in strategy, organizational change, and people management. Laura works with leading global companies to develop and enhance their sustainability strategies to maximize value for business and society, and she is sought after to facilitate senior-level strategy workshops and multi-stakeholder collaborations.

She previously worked for Deloitte Consulting, where she acquired extensive strategy experience advising multinational financial services companies. She also worked on several community and economic development projects in Latin America.

Laura holds a MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. She is an adjunct professor in the Bard MBA in 黑料正能量 program, a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and a member of the UN Global Compact Expert Network.

Recent Insights From Laura Gitman

Full Bio

Jenny Vaughan, Managing Director, Human Rights, 黑料正能量

Managing Director, Human Rights, 黑料正能量

San Francisco

Jenny leads 黑料正能量’s human rights team and portfolio across consulting and collaboration. In addition to directing 黑料正能量’s Human Rights Working Group, Jenny leads human rights assessments and partners with companies to develop human rights strategies and stakeholder engagement plans. She works across industries with a focus on energy, technology, and conflict-affected and high-risk contexts.

Prior to joining 黑料正能量, Jenny worked at Mercy Corps for over a decade in field management and advisory roles to prevent and mitigate conflict, promote inclusive economic development, and build civil society capacity. As the organization’s first Peace and Governance Director in Myanmar and later as the Director of the Peace and Conflict technical advisory team, she designed and implemented programs to reduce violence, promote peace and development, and address critical and emerging threats like climate change, disruptive technology, and poor governance. She has experience in context analysis, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, project design and implementation, and strategic planning. Jenny has lived and worked in countries including Myanmar, Indonesia, Nepal, Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Cameroon.

Jenny holds a MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BA in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Recent Insights From Jenny Vaughan

Full Bio

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