Year in Review: Top 100 Women 2024
Women still make up just 29% of C-Suite leaders despite making up half of the world’s population.
It’s important to bring a diverse range of experiences and creativity to the table, particularly in sustainability where environmental issues affect people in different ways.
In 2024, Sustainability Magazine released two supplements: Top 250 Companies and Top 100 Women.
The Top 100 Women was released in March to celebrate International Women’s Month.
“Paving the way for future generations, these women are creating space at the table for new faces, growth and innovations,” says Georgia Collins, Director of Content Strategy at BizClik.
Glen White, CEO at BizClik, says: “Sustainability and ESG at all corporate levels is a critical business practice to build resilience into the core functions that interconnect our environmental, social and economic systems, whilst balancing human needs with the health of the planet.
“This year’s 'Top 100 Women in Sustainability' highlights the leaders who are dedicated to making a positive impact. BizClik and Sustainability Magazine continue to be proud to celebrate the successful women driving 'leadership and advocacy' across their industries and organisations.”
We’ve looked back on some of the leaders who topped the list.
10. Paulette Frank, J&J
Industry - Hospital & Healthcare
Revenue - US$80bn
Employees - 150,000
HQ Location - New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
CEO - Joaquin Duato
Dedicating 27 years to sustainability efforts at J&J, Paulette specialises in environment, health and safety (EHS), diverse talent management, supporting women in STEM and sustainability. In her current role, she leads environmental sustainability efforts at J&J, defining the strategic direction to accelerate and amplify positive environmental impacts.
“As the world’s largest healthcare company, we have an opportunity to have a positive impact on the people we serve,” says Paulette.
9. Pilar Cruz, Cargill
Industry - Food & Beverage Manufacturing
Revenue - US$177bn
Employees - 160,000
HQ Location - Wayzata, Minnesota, United States
CEO - Brian Sikes
For the past 20 years, Pilar Cruz has been a leader at the food and beverage manufacturing company Cargill. Currently the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Pilar harnesses her two decades of business and operations experience in the business to bring a global and diverse perspective to the executive team.
Pilar says: “As part of my role as CSO, we have developed and launched a clear strategy in three priority areas: climate, land and water and people. These priorities define our path to advancing sustainable supply chains and driving positive impacts in the communities where we work.”
8. Florence Jeantet, Danone
Industry - Food & Beverage
Revenue - US$29bn
Employees - 100,000HQ
HQ Location - Paris, France
CEO - Antoine de Saint-Affrique
Florence is dedicated to sharing her conviction with boards and other decision tables to bring a disruptive view that turns challenges into strategic levers.
Dedicating almost 20 years of her career to Danone, her international experience in senior management positions and strategic approach makes her well-suited to further sustainability and diversity.
“Embedding sustainability in business is not new at Danone. Some 50 years ago, our CEO Antoine Riboud gave a landmark speech on how entrepreneurship and social and environmental responsibility can and must feed each other – the dual project,” Florence said.
7. Robyn Luhning, Wells Fargo
Industry - Financial Services
Revenue - US$115bn
Employees - 226,000
HQ Location - San Francisco, California, United States
CEO - Charles W. Scharf
Having spent the last 12 years at Wells Fargo, Robyn Luhning has been integral to the financial service company’s growth and success.
Taking on the role of Chief Sustainability Officer in 2022, Robyn utilises her expertise in CSR, environmental awareness, sustainable development and strategic planning to lead the progress against the company’s climate and sustainability initiatives and drive the enterprise’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs.
“Eventually, my path led me to Wells Fargo,” Robyn says.
“I appreciated Wells Fargo’s role as a leader in building sustained economic opportunity within local communities.”
6. Charlene Lake, AT&T
Industry - Telecommunications
Revenue - US$122bn
Employees - 150,000
HQ Location - Dallas, Texas, United States
CEO - John T. Stankey
Charlene leads a talented team of individuals to create connections and positive outcomes for communities, the environment and customers.
Inspired by the ways AT&T addresses the world’s greatest challenges – education, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity – Charlene harnesses her expertise in CSR, social innovation, ESG, strategic leadership and corporate governance alongside AT&T’s technology and resources to further the company mission through 5G.
Charlene explains: “We want everybody in the company to really be looking at their jobs through this lens of social and environmental sustainability.”
5. Kara Hurst, Amazon
Industry - Technology
Revenue - US$574bn
Employees - 1,525,000
HQ Location - Seattle, Washington, United States
CEO - Andy Jassy
Dedicating 30 years to the sustainability and ESG movement, Kara Hurst is Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon.
Throughout her career, Kara has worked across local and federal government, global NGOs and has run a public/private venture in Silicon Valley. More recently her focus has been on driving connections at the intersection of science, consumer products, technology and sustainability.
4. Amy Brachio, EY
Industry - Consulting
Revenue - US$49bn
Employees - 400,000
HQ Location - London, United Kingdom
CEO - Janet Truncale
Working in sustainability for more than 25 years, Amy Brachio is a champion of diversity, inclusion and belonging, and is well-versed in advising global companies on matters of interest to the Board and C-suite. As Global Vice Chair of Sustainability at EY, she leads the consultant’s sustainability and climate change agenda.
Amy says: “Sustainable thinking is no longer a differentiator, it’s a necessity. When it comes to sustainability and climate change, we all need to commit to being a part of the solution.”
3. Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft
Industry - Software Development
Revenue - US$227bn
Employees - 210,000
HQ Location - Redmond, Washington, United States
CEO - Satya Nadella
Dedicating the last 20 years to energy, sustainability and ESG, Melanie Nakagawa has a diverse background working in both the public sector and politics.
As Chief Sustainability Officer at Microsoft, Melanie leads company-wide environmental sustainability efforts and is accelerating momentum for the company’s carbon-negative initiative through removing historical carbon emissions.
“The private sector has unique resources that can support trailblazing initiatives to combat climate change and lead the world out of the climate crisis,” Melanie says.
2. Kate Brandt, Google
Industry - Computers and Information Technology
Revenue - US$2tn
Employees - 182,502
HQ Location - Mountain View, California, United States
CEO - Sundar Pichai
Kate has an impressive career in the field of sustainability. In 2014 she was appointed to the role of Federal Chief Sustainability Officer by President Obama – the first CSO for the USA. During her time in the role, she steered the administration to lead by example to reduce its carbon footprint.
She first joined Google in 2015 as Sustainability Lead and took on the role of CSO in 2018. For the last six years, Kate has been at the helm of Google’s sustainability efforts, removing toxic materials from the supply chain, creating a healthy office environment, improving energy consumption and driving a circular economy.
Kate says: “I had this early realisation of how important it is to preserve the special places we have left [...] there is still a lot of work to be done across the public and private sectors to facilitate the transition to a decarbonised global economy at the speed and scale required in this decisive decade.”
1. Kathleen McLaughlin, Walmart
Industry - Retail
Revenue - US$611bn
Employees - 2,100,000
HQ Location - Bentonville, Arkansas, United States
CEO - Doug McMillon
As Chief Sustainability Officer, Kathleen McLaughlin works with her team to create economic opportunities, foster inclusive economic development, enhance the sustainability of food, apparel and general merchandise supply chains and strengthen the resilience of local communities.
Under her stewardship, Walmart surpassed US$1.4bn in giving worldwide, including US$1bn in food donations in 2023 - an initiative she takes great pride in.
Her specialities lie in business strategy and transformation, sustainability, renewable energy, climate change, finance, acquisitions and competitive analysis.
Kathleen says: “At Walmart we like to spend a minute celebrating success and then get on with doing something even better.”
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