In an insightful discussion with Jamie Gardner (Bus ’95), CESR Advisory Board member and current Head of Strategic Programs with Google, she dives into her elaborate career journey, offers valuable advice for students seeking careers in sustainability, and her desire for more people to share their sustainability stories.
A Collection of Crucial Experiences
Gardner would describe her career path as “very non-linear." After graduating from the Leeds School of Business, she explored a variety of career options including interning for the Rocky Flats with the Economic Development and Community Relations team for the Department of Energy, working at a PR firm in Los Angeles, and returning to Colorado where she found a sweet spot working at JD Edwards, an enterprise software company in Denver in their public sector practice. However, despite enjoying the many perks of working in the business field as a young professional, the opportunity to “travel the world,” “great pay,” and “performance reward trips,” Gardner felt the desire to do more good in the world.
“At the time, they [business and making beneficial societal change] were two very separate things," she states. "You either did business or nonprofit work, but the two did not meet.”
Therefore, to follow her passion for enacting sustainable impact, she attended grad school at Georgetown where she studied public policy. During her time at Georgetown, she worked for the Children’s Defense Fund, and the Senate Subcommittee for Children and Families, among other fascinating aspects of the social impact sector. Ultimately, she was enticed back into the tech industry to build a public sector practice at IBM.
"Businesses exist with the consent of society. Businesses thrive when they are addressing their customers' needs. CESR helps business leaders understand that broader context."
-says Jamie Gardner
Unfortunately, that never happened. Gardner ended up traveling again, servicing Fortune 100 companies all over the world. While she was successful and constantly learning, once again she was challenged to choose if she wanted to be in business or create social change. Her husband encouraged her to “go do the work you love,” prompting her transition over to the nonprofit sector. She found a new calling, bridging the divide between business and nonprofits at the Taproot Foundation, in their California office, and eventually launched her own management consulting business where she advised and facilitated "business, nonprofits, government, academia, philanthropy in addressing social problems together."
During Covid, like so many other families, she and her husband decided to move their children back to Colorado to be close to her family. Instead of scaling her consulting business, Gardner decided the time had come to go back into business now that it was possible to fill her need to also have a positive impact on society. Grateful for the many relationships that made it possible, she accepted a role as Head of Strategic Programs at Google, a company that aligned with her values for giving back, partnering with government and nonprofits, and influencing billions of people around the world.
Creating Sustainability Leaders with CESR
Gardner’s vast experiences throughout her professional life are what motivated her to volunteer for the CESR Advisory Board.
“We need people within business who understand social impact so that we can make better decisions that positively impact our communities,” she explains.
CESR helps train business leaders to better understand and articulate how their business is impacting the world: its employees, customers, local communities, and globally. Gardner is passionate about CESR’s mission of educating and forming effective and sustainability-minded business leaders.
“CESR is a fantastic mechanism for leaders to learn how to influence social impact without leaving their private sector jobs,” she says.
When asked about the trends emerging in sustainability and social responsibility in a business setting, Gardner explains that “without the proper training like what CESR offers, businesses will continue to cause ‘intended or unintended harm’. We are at a point where businesses cannot simply ignore societal concerns. It’s unrealistic to think that business is just about creating profit. Businesses exist with the consent of society. Businesses thrive when they are addressing their customers' needs. CESR helps business leaders understand that broader context.”
"You do not have to be in a sustainability-specific role to make positive change. In finance, operations, marketing, etc. positions, you have influence and can drive impact by the decisions you make every day."
-says Jamie Gardner
Advice for Prospective Professionals
As for advice for prospective sustainability-minded professionals, Gardner stresses the value of relationships.
“Get out there and talk to people," she says. "That’s critical. You really don’t know what an organization is like until you’re inside of it."
Gardner additionally emphasizes the importance of viewing any business position from a sustainability perspective.
“As we are experiencing right now, sustainability, DEI, CSR roles, can be quick to cut when times are hard," she says. "So it can be hard to get those limited roles and when you do, you are constantly having to prove the ROI of it. You do not have to be in a sustainability-specific role to make positive change. In finance, operations, marketing, etc. positions, you have influence and can drive impact by the decisions you make every day.”
Gardner’s work and involvement with CESR have not only guided her in the realm of sustainability but also have inspired others to approach their careers with a different lens, one that stresses creating a positive impact in whatever position they may hold. Gardner advocates for more people to share their stories and experiences with the sustainability community, such as her own, to better see “what's working and what's not working." While the work of a few individuals may have an immense impact, sharing our stories will further help bring sustainability to the forefront in a business setting.
“No one person can do it alone," she says. "We can go much further together."
To learn more about some of the other CESR Advisory Board Members, visit CESR's previous blog posts about board members Tonie Hansen, Dr. Glyne A. Griffith II, and Diane Solinger.