From Patagonia to Colgate-Palmolive, what climate pioneers have in common

Patagonia’s top sustainability strategist is a materials scientist. Colgate-Palmolive’s chief sustainability officer reports to the growth and strategy team, and PepsiCo’s CSO has managed profit-and-loss statements for billion-dollar commercial businesses.

The 13 leaders I interviewed in 2025 for the Climate Pioneers series come from diverse industries and backgrounds but share a common priority: a mission to create new business value with their sustainability agendas — in the form of better products, new revenue opportunities, improved operations, stronger corporate cultures and more. 

They are exemplars of an accelerating shift in the profession, one centered on quiet execution and practical results. “The new era we’re entering into for sustainability is really doubling down now on the business case, on the value creation aspect,” Colgate-Palmolive Ann Tracy told me in May.

The business value theme is explored in a series of interviews I conducted during Trellis Impact 25 with sustainability leaders from Atlassian, Cox, Workday and more. It will also permeate forthcoming full-length Climate Pioneers episodes, including my interview coming up Jan. 8 with Hawaiian Airlines’ new CEO, Diana Birkett Rakow, who also leads climate strategy and low-carbon technology investments for parent company Alaska Air Group. Sign up for Trellis Briefing to be among the first to watch that conversation.

Meanwhile, I encourage you to revisit how eight of this year’s Climate Pioneers are redefining corporate sustainability.

Why Patagonia picked a materials scientist to lead sustainability

Matt Dwyer, vice president of global product footprint, previously led materials innovation and development.

Career advice from the farmer’s son leading sustainability at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell

Yum!’s sustainability chief Jon Hixson meets with the board every quarter, which helps keep his strategy front of mind.

For PepsiCo’s sustainability chief, it helps to think like a CEO

Jim Andrew’s experience managing corporate budgets is a big reason he was tapped for the role in August 2020.

Google’s Kate Brandt plays a central role in its AI strategy

The company’s sustainability lead is dreaming up ways to use the technology to help companies, cities and individuals cut emissions by at least 1 gigaton a year by 2030.

How Colgate-Palmolive’s CSO links sustainability to value creation

Ann Tracy, in her sixth year on the job, reports into the growth and strategy organization of the consumer products giant.

How Crocs’ CSO uses change management to cut emissions

Former Danone sustainability veteran Deanna Bratter is driving the footwear company toward net-zero status by rethinking plastics.

Hard-learned lessons from L’Oreal’s chief of U.S. sustainability

Marissa McGowan leaves few aspects of the cosmetics giant’s business unexamined on the way to eco-designing 100 percent of its products by 2030.

How real estate giant CBRE is deploying this Microsoft alum as its first chief sustainability officer

Microsoft’s first environmental strategist, Rob Bernard, brings a customer’s point of view to CBRE’s emissions reduction strategy in the newly created C-suite role.

[You can mingle with past Climate Pioneers — including Bratter, McGowan and Dwyer — during GreenBiz 26, the premier event for sustainability professionals happening Feb. 17-19, 2026, in Phoenix.]