Sustainability professionals are increasingly caught in the crosshairs of conflicting pressures: aggressive commercial targets, shifting political climates, and the urgent reality of planetary boundaries. In these "moments of truth," the gap between a company's stated values and its operational reality becomes a site of intense personal and professional tension. Led by Elizabeth Doty, Executive Director of Third Side Strategies, this session explores how to navigate these high-stakes ethical dilemmas with integrity and strategic resolve.
This session moves beyond abstract ethics to address the practical challenges of maintaining credibility when the "right" path is also the most difficult. Drawing on frameworks for corporate political responsibility and ethical leadership, Elizabeth will facilitate a candid exploration of how to handle internal friction, push back against "green-hushing" or "greenwashing," and align individual agency with organizational impact. Attendees will leave with a clear-eyed approach to leading through pressure without compromising the foundational values that drive their work.
Lead Facilitators: Elizabeth Doty, Jason Craige Harris, Miguel Sossa-Mardomingo
Table Facilitators: Scot Case, Gil Friend, Chris Hillman, Ahmad Mansur, Esha Mufti
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify the common "moments of truth" where sustainability objectives collide with short-term commercial or political pressures
- Learn a strategic framework for evaluating ethical trade-offs and maintaining professional integrity during high-stakes decision-making
- Develop techniques for effectively communicating and defending sustainability values to skeptical or resistant internal stakeholders
- Gain insights into the principles of corporate political responsibility and how they can be used to align a company’s public commitments with its private influence