Laura Heikamp, Ewan Hall and Mike Williams have one thing in common: they leveraged their jobs for climate. All three will join WorkforClimate director Lucy Piper for an inspiring panel and Q&A at Climate Action Week Sydney – here’s why we invited them.
Laura Heikamp – Namawell
Laura is a WorkforClimate Academy graduate and works as Senior Sustainability Design Engineer at Namawell, a business which creates products and knowledge that help people eat more plants. In her role she is dedicated to building a better future, where user needs are satisfied with limited impact on the environment. Laura took on this job because after years of working as a medical device engineer, she realised that you can’t have healthy people on a sick planet. So she pivoted and dedicated her engineering skills to creating better products, with the view to amplify impact and encourage people to adopt a more plant-forward lifestyle.
Why are employees best-placed to take powerful climate action?
“At home, you can influence only your inner circle to live more sustainably. At work, you have the power to reduce the impact of a larger group, including your colleagues, customers, and community.”
Ewan Hall – formerly Macquarie Group
Ewan describes himself as a “big-picture thinker” with a background in business transformation and ways of working. He was previously a leading champion for social and environmental justice at Macquarie Bank, where he leveraged visual communication to build staff advocacy.
Why are employees best-placed to take powerful climate action?
“Employees are the differentiator and adaptive capacity of any organisation. So where they focus their energy is where the company goes. If the employees build sustainable approaches into their role, or at a greater level, and come together to champion climate action, the company needs to listen.”
Mike Williams – Sustainability Leader
Mike Williams has a background in technology, business and law – but it was during an eight-year stint at Canva that he first put his climate hat on at work.
Motivated to take climate action in the wake of the devastating 2019/20 Australian bushfires, he jumped at the opportunity to lead Canva’s sustainability efforts. He supported the company to be a force for good by driving a number of global decarbonisation initiatives and sustainability programs. Through his team’s work, Canva became the first Australian participant in Frontier Climate – an advanced market commitment aimed at accelerating the development of permanent carbon removal solutions, and helped drive the funding of a 20MW solar facility to reduce scope 3 emissions.
What advice can you offer to employees wanting to take climate action at work?
“Figure out what the decision-makers genuinely care about, and speak their language. A Head of People might care about the quality of talent being attracted, hired and retained. A CFO probably cares about profitability and access to capital. A founder will care about achieving the overall mission and vision. Connect your goals to their own to drive impact.”
Fired up about the state of the planet right now and wondering how your professional skills can be leveraged for the climate? Join Mike, Laura and Ewan alongside WorkforClimate’s Lucy Piper at WorkClimate's free panel and Q&A at Climate Action Week Sydney. Details and tickets below.
