· 5 min read
As New York prepares to host Climate Week 2025, we spotlight the leaders at the forefront of corporate sustainability. Here are the 20 nominees for the Futur/io Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Awards North America, building on its European counterpart held each year at Davos during the World Economic Forum.
The winners will be revealed on September 22 at a gala in New York City, during the UN General Assembly and Climate Week.
Spotlighting the leaders behind the transition
The nominees represent a wide range of industries, from technology and consumer goods to retail, construction, and logistics. Together, they reflect how sustainability has moved to become a central driver of strategy, innovation, and reputation.
The 20 CSO Awards North America Nominees (alphabetical order):
• Aditi Mohapatra – Expedia
• Ann Tracy – Colgate-Palmolive
• Annika Dubrall – Tiffany & Co.
• Anu Piduru – Carter’s
• Ara Erickson – Weyerhaeuser
• Caitlin Leibert – Whole Foods Market
• Carrie Sabin – Stantec
• Deanna Bratter – Crocs
• Emma Stewart – Netflix
• Erik Hansen – Workday
• Helene V. Gagnon – CAE
• Jackie Jung – Western Digital
• Jennifer Motles – Philip Morris International
• Kate Heiny – Booking Holdings
• Kellie Ballew – Shaw Industries
• Malisa Maynard – Mohawk Industries
• Nicola Acutt – NetApp
• Patrick Barron – Telus
• Susan Uthayakumar – Prologis
• Wendy Rentschler – BMC Software
A Grand Jury of global voices
The three winners will be selected by an independent Grand Jury of nine renowned sustainability leaders:
• John Elkington — often called the “Godfather of Sustainability” and creator of the “Triple Bottom Line”
• Sandrine Dixson-Declève — Honorary President of the Club of Rome and Chair of Earth4All
• Vandinika Shukla — Deputy Director of Global Programs at the Obama Foundation
• Michael Kobori — former CSO of Starbucks and 2024 Gold Award Winner
• Nina Eisenman — VP, Corporate Sustainability Strategy & Reporting at NASDAQ
• Daniel Erasmus — CEO of Erasmus.AI and creator of ClimateGPT
• Niyanta Spelman — Founder & CEO of Rainforest Partnership
• Livio Scalvini — Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London
• Harald Neidhardt (Chair) — CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute
Their combined experience — spanning business, academia, activism, and governance — ensures the evaluation goes beyond metrics, spotlighting the human qualities of ambition, innovation, and resilience.
Why the CSO Awards matter
In recent years, the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer has evolved from compliance to strategy. CSOs are now tasked with navigating shifting regulations, rethinking supply chains, embedding ESG into capital markets, and driving innovation in energy, AI, and finance.
Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of Futur/io, explains:
“The CSO Awards celebrates the human leaders championing change within the largest enterprises in North America. Beyond data and frameworks, these leaders embody the courage to act — and to inspire their organisations to follow.”
Behind the selection process
The nominees were drawn from Futur/io’s list of the Top 100 CSOs of North America, published in August. That list was built from an extensive database of Fortune 2000 companies, refined through a “Four Quadrant Model” developed in partnership with Imperial College’s Leonardo Centre on Business for Society.
The model blends:
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Behavioural maturity (corporate sustainability practices)
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ESG performance and net-zero commitments
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Planet and people impact (emissions, biodiversity, water, DEI, sentiment analysis)
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Self-assessment and recent initiatives
The Grand Jury then adds the human factor, also evaluating ambition, leadership, and vision.
A growing global platform
With the North American edition joining its European counterpart, the CSO Awards are becoming a truly global platform, connecting sustainability leaders across continents and sectors.
As Neidhardt puts it:
“Our aim is to shine a light on the people behind corporate transformation — to create a community of CSOs who can inspire one another and accelerate change.”
We look forward to celebrating the winners on September 22, 2025, in New York City.
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