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Accelerating Sustainability 2021

The Supply Chain and Sustainability Center presented its inaugural Accelerating Sustainability program on Friday, April 30, 2021. It included 3 sessions on a range of timely sustainability topics. Following are the highlights.

Fireside Chat with Francesca DeBiase

Francesca DeBiase, EVP & Chief Supply Chain Officer at McDonald’s joined Arantxa Valverde, Program Coordinator at Loyola Limited and MSSCM student for a fireside chat where she shared her insights on various topics 

On sustainability:

• Supply chains have the biggest impact; McDonald’s supply chain accounts for two-thirds of their environmental impact. 
• Organizations should view sustainability as an investment in brand, reputation and future success - not just a business expense.  Understand the entirety of the supply chain in where to set targets (i.e. supplier integration, procurement, etc.)
• As citizens we should: Vote - support candidates who will enact policies and legislation that will improve sustainability.  Support brands and companies whose actions are consistent with your values.

On more inclusive cultures:

• We can continue to build spaces for women to move up in the workplace by improving mentoring and sponsoring of women for leadership positions.
• We should encourage “speak up” culture; recognize why diversity is important and circumstances where ED&I may not be represented; Diversity in an organization better understands diversity in customers
• While it is important to have face to face interaction, must consider the needs of the individual (i.e. child care/education, mental health) and build in flexibility.

On managing your career:

• Loyola experience taught Francesca the importance of ethics in business and the value of building a network and a team of people who share the same values. 
• Advice for those interested in pursuing careers in sustainability: It’s great to have passion around sustainability, but combine it with deeper business/finance background (either through education or experience); understand how to create goals but also how to achieve those goals in a responsible way

Let's Talk Food Waste

About two years ago, Loyola’s Business Leadership Hub brought together top leaders from Barilla, Morton Salt, and Bimbo QSR to find solutions to the issue of food waste. Natasha Galavotti (Global VP of Customers for Bimbo QSR), Kim Peterson (Director of Environmental Sustainability Development at Morton Salt), and Fabio Pettenati (VP Supply Chain, Barilla America LLC) discussed how they are reducing food waste in their supply chains and overall organizations.

Food losses vs. food waste:

• Globally 14% food is lost between field and transportation, more lost at retailers and at home; measuring is key to understanding how you’re progressing in your mission

Reducing food waste:

• Understand where waste originates. Barilla educates its own employees and innovates in new product development in efforts towards reducing waste created in the household with a focus on proper portioning to avoid overproduction. 
• Set realistic yet challenging targets. Track and understand your product’s entire life cycle and understand how every department within the organization affects food waste (i.e. does product expire because demand planning forecasted heavily?)
• Bimbo QSR promotes a shared sense of accountability throughout sales and operations planning. Make the tracking process systematic and goals achievable.
• Alliances with food banks/Feeding America and markets in Latin America; global energy race for donations and awareness about food waste.
• Employee programming about to how implement waste reduction at home; be a steward of food waste
• Download a one page snapshot: food waste tips and tricks

Building a culture of sustainability:

• All three panelists shared how these initiatives and the communication about them builds a culture of sustainability across their organizations and an overall understanding of the community around them and how food insecurity and availability affects so many people

Embedding a Culture of Sustainability in the Organization

Amanda von Almen (Head of Sustainable Built Environment, Salesforce), Jamie Burr (Director Sustainability Implementation, Tyson Foods), and Shannon Thomas Carroll (Director Global Environmental Sustainability, AT&T) offer insights into how major corporations have established important environmental and social sustainability goals and implementation efforts across multiple industries. This panel was led by John Davies (Senior VP and Senior Analyst, Greenbiz Group).

Key takeaways:

• Salesforce has incorporated emissions goals into supplier contracts through enablement and strong partnerships. Helps suppliers set science-based targets of their own and build into contracts.  Must enable suppliers for success rather than just asking/demanding
• Salesforce has integrated the sustainability cloud for automated tracking integration of scope 1 and 2 emissions with scope 3 tracking on the near horizon. This aims to reduce the burden of manual work involved in measuring and insight generation.
• Organizations should not underestimate the impact sustainability can have over corporate success and reputation. Spend less time debating and justifying and more time developing and implementing strategies
• Tyson integrates education and transparency in its sustainability goals. Top-down implementation allows for successful buy-in throughout middle management and frontline production workers. Business unit goals determine financial rewards
• Tyson also recognizes the impact suppliers have on global sustainability. By building direct relationships with farms and ranches, Tyson has better control and ability to educate suppliers and further expand environmental efforts throughout their supply chain.
• AT&T’s focus is on renewable energy and scope 2 emissions. By driving energy efficiency and renewable energy production, sustainability initiatives support long-term growth and success of both the company and in the telecommunications industry overall.
• Sustainability is a journey – not a destination.  It is a journey of continuous improvement: don’t let perfection stall progress.

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Featured Keynote

Francesca DeBiase EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer (and Loyola Alum) McDonald’s

Panelists: Let's Talk Food Waste

	Natasha Galavotti Global VP of Customers Bimbo QSR
	Kim Peterson Director of Environmental and Sustainability Development Morton Salt
	Fabio Pettenati VP of Supply Chain Barilla America, Inc.

Panelists: Embedding a Culture of Sustainability in the Organization

	Amanda von Almen Head of Sustainable Built Environment Salesforce
	Jamie Burr Director, Sustainability Implementation Tyson Foods
	Shannon Thomas Carroll Director, Global Environmental Sustainability AT&T
	John Davies Senior VP and Senior Analyst GreenBiz Group