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ESG Power50 2023

ESG POWER50 2024 - WHAT IS THE ESG POWER50?

FS Sustainability's ESG Power50 - The 50 most influential corporate ESG Leaders in Australia, is a list containing details of the 50 individuals working in companies that are listed in the Australian Stock Exchange who act on a wide variety of material environmental, social and corporate governance issues.

Individuals listed in the ESG Power50 are the country's most influential ESG professionals according to the readers of FS Sustainability, FS Super - The Journal of Superannuation Management and FS Advice - The Australian Journal of Financial Planning as well as relevant industry associations, and the broader corporate Australian community.

FS Sustainability is once again searching for the ESG Power50, revealing Australia's 50 most influential ESG leaders from ASX-listed companies in 2024.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Criteria

FS Sustainability's ESG Power50 list is made up of the 50 most influential sustainability professionals in the country according to the readers of FS Sustainability, FS Super, FS Advice as well as the broader corporate Australian community.

In the making of this list, we define 'influential' as individuals who have been or continue to be instrumental in shaping how companies integrate key ESG issues into long-term company strategy across financial and non-financial considerations.

These are professionals who actively participate in industry-based activities, community-based projects and/or other initiatives designed to promote the important role that ESG and sustainability play in the country's socio-economic future.

They are professionals who are active in discussing their companies' decisions, people with strong social media following, or those known among their peers and the industry as role models

Nominations

As part of the selection process, we will extend invitations to relevant industry associations to put forward exceptional members from their organizations. and combine that list with the list of nominations from FS Sustainability editorial and research teams.

Then we opened up the nomination process to our readers, ensuring we cast the net to the widest set of nominees.

FS Sustainability will continue to work with ISS ESG, a leading ESG rating and research company, to ensure that nominees are employed at companies that meet minimum ESG criteria. It is not mandatory to be a participant in an ESG leader, but we incorporated ISS ESG research to validate public-facing statements of sustainability.

Voting

Following this, a shortlist of corporate ESG leaders who get the highest number of nominations proceeded to the voting process, which was once again open to our online readers. They can chose to vote for one or as many ESG professionals featured in the shortlist.

All shortlisted candidates stand as individuals, however we further consulted ISS ESG to screen for potential controversies that would prove in conflict with the aims of the list.

Announcement

The 50 individuals who attracted the highest votes and passed the final editorial vetting screen are featured in FS Sustainability's ESG Power50 Most Influential ESG Professionals Guide, which will be published in May 2024.

THANK YOU TO THE ESG POWER50 PARTNERS

ESG POWER50 2024 - NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN

Anyone can nominate a potential participant, so long as the nominee works for an ASX-listed company.

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MEET THE ESG POWER50 - CLASS OF 2023

2023 ESG Power50

The ESG professionals featured in this guide come from a wide range of companies - some work for the big supermarkets, others work in sustainable finance at the big four banks, while others work in steel, cement or waste management. These professionals also have a variety of educational and personal accomplishments. They all have one thing in common - a passion for positive impact on people and planet while driving economic growth in Australia. They come to ESG from a variety of backgrounds, but they are all working hard to drive our future economy. Meet our ESG Power50.

Note: All information contained within the guide is accurate as at 23 May 2023.

Amarjot Bagga
Iress
Amarjot is head of environmental and social impact at Iress, overseeing ESG strategy and partnerships and programs at the share market and wealth management systems supplier, as well as its non-profit the Iress Foundation. With over a decade of experience in corporate social responsibility, community engagement and ESG, Amarjot has experience across several industries.

Emma Bartle
Coles Group
Emma drives responsible sourcing and commercial strategy at Coles. She is currently head of commercial and strategy - grocery, and previously was responsible sourcing programme manager. Emma is responsible for packaging, "promoting a culture of sustainability across the broader business for Own Brand and proprietary suppliers.

Rosemary Bissett
National Australia Bank
As head of ESG risk management, Rosemary has responsibility for the integration of ESG into the bank's risk management framework. Rosemary has played a key role in NAB's sustainability efforts, including early work on sustainability reporting, climate risk assessment and implementation of the TCFD, modern slavery reporting and human rights requirements.

Steve Black
Insignia Financial
Steve is responsible for the development and delivery of ESG strategy at Insignia Financial - previously known as IOOF Holdings - and with over two decades of experience in the financial services industry, he is tasked with making a positive impact on environment and communities through coordination and delivery of ESG strategy at the company. He joined Insignia as the head of the IOOF employer super business in 2013, moving to head of client delivery in 2016 before his current role.

Ricky Bridge
Downer EDI
Since joining Downer in 2009 as an environment and sustainability advisor, Ricky has significantly contributed to the company's sustainability performance. In 2015, he was appointed as group general manager of environment and sustainability, and in 2020 he was named executive general manager, environment, sustainability and reporting. His career in environmental management and corporate sustainability spans over 22 years.

Sue Brown
Worley
Sue works at the intersection of industries that provide energy and resources and resulting environmental and social impacts. As executive group director sustainability at Worley, she is responsible for corporate sustainability, government affairs, and external communications strategy. With more than 20 years in environmental management, Sue advises the board and senior management on ESG issues and engages with external stakeholders.

Bláthnaid Byrne
Commonwealth Bank
Bláthnaid is a senior treasurer with deep expertise in financial markets and a strong passion for protecting the planet from humanity's excess to preserve the natural world for all. As director of sustainable finance and ESG, she is responsible for influencing internal and external stakeholders to align their practices and protocol with the core values of sustainability. She also serves as treasurer of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Australian committee.

Michael Chen
Westpac Institutional Bank
Michael's experience, spanning almost two decades, has established him as a leader in ESG in the finance industry, consulting, and environmental economics. As the executive director, head of ESG at Westpac Institutional Bank, he leads efforts to integrate ESG considerations into the bank's operations. As co-chair of the Coordinating Working Group at the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative he has influenced the development of sustainable finance practices.

Damian Cilmi
Praemium
As head of investment managers and governance, Damian is responsible for the appointment and monitoring of all securities on the platform including the model managers for their separately managed accounts. In this role he initiated a partnership between the platform and Sustainalytics to integrate ESG research and analysis. Prior to joining Praemium in 2018 he was a senior investment research analyst at Netwealth.

Sarah Clarke
Mirvac
Sarah is group general manager - sustainability, leading responsible, peoplecentric organisational transformations, and meeting fast-moving stakeholder expectations. She steers Mirvac's ESG strategy, This Changes Everything, and has navigated strategic and cultural transformations across multiple industries. Sarah is a board member of Homes Victoria, a Victorian government agency managing a $5bn investment in more housing for Victorians.

Andrew Cole
Charter Hall
Andrew joined Charter Hall in 2021 from Lendlease, where he worked for more than 14 years. Prior to this, Andrew worked with the NSW Department of Planning supporting sustainability policy for residential homes and industry engagement. As a strategic thinker and subject matter expert in sustainable real estate and ESG, he represents Charter Hall at an international level on sustainability reporting, responsible investment and sustainable finance matters.

Lachlan Feggans
Brambles
Lachlan is an ESG leader with over 20 years of experience and has a solid understanding of macro-environmental processes and translating complex sustainability challenges into practical solutions for stakeholders at all levels. As director of sustainability, corporate and Asia-Pacific at Brambles, Lachlan has co-designed the sustainability strategy, driven climate-related financial disclosures and introduced Integrated Reporting.

Cate Harris
Lendlease
Cate has more than 20 years of experience in designing, planning, delivering and managing sustainability strategies for both public and private sectors. After serving as the executive director at the UN Global Compact Network Australia, Cate returned to Lendlease to take on the role of group head of sustainability and Lendlease Foundation, leading the company's sustainability strategy and establishing industry-leading targets.

Andrew Hinchliff
Commonwealth Bank
Andrew is currently group executive institutional banking and markets and has two decades in investment banking in London, New York and Australia. In his role, he oversees CBA's sustainable finance team and a suite of sustainable finance products including ESG term deposits, green repurchase agreements and green development loans, among others. Prior to joining CBA in 2015, he spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs in a variety of leadership positions.

Alex Holt
Woolworths Group
Alex shows strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices in all aspects of her work. As chief sustainability officer at Woolworths Group, she led the end-to-end sustainability transformation of the company to a position benchmarked as one of the globally leading retailers. Her expertise in developing and delivering customer-led strategies improves business performance and increases shareholder and stakeholder value.

Jo Hynes
Karoon Energy
Jo is head of sustainability at Karoon Energy, an ASX-listed oil producer in Melbourne, with operations in Brazil. She has played a key role in developing and implementing the company's sustainability strategy, with a particular focus on climate change, leading Karoon to become carbon neutral in the first year of operating their oil producing asset in Brazil. Jo is also involved in all aspects of the business, including HSSE, risk management, strategy, human resources, IT, and M&A.

Jo Iberg
IDP Education Ltd
Jo is the first group manager, sustainability at IDP Education, tasked with delivering the new sustainability strategy and setting the future agenda. She drives IDP's sustainability agenda, focusing on getting the basics right and building understanding of the ESG impacts and opportunities across the network. Jo drives impact and influence by nurturing relationships with stakeholders within organisations and sectors to build common purpose.

Ramana James
Dexus
Ramana is head of sustainability, focused on on employee engagement, communications, and embedding shared value culture through governance mechanisms and links to performance and reward. He has accountability for developing Dexus's sustainability and ESG strategy. With over 20 years of experience in the field of shared value and sustainability and previously held key positions at IAG and Stockland.

David Jenkins
National Australia Bank
As global head of sustainable finance, David has a passion for collaboration and developing innovative sustainable financing solutions that address risks and opportunities. He believes businesses have a unique opportunity to create shared value by addressing societal and environmental issues that intersect with their operations. He specialises in developing sustainable financing and investment solutions.

Tim Johansen
Qualitas Group
As the global head of investment and funds risk, Tim is responsible for transaction risk and new fund development and is chair of the Investment Committee. He is an active member of the ESG Steering Committee and chairs the Investment Committee, with responsibility for their ESG screening process. Since mid-2020, all potential investments have been evaluated using Qualitas' proprietary ESG assessment tool. Tim joined Qualitas in 2011.

Siobhan Leach
Ramsay Health Care
A nearly 30 year veteran in environment and sustainability, Siobhan is currently group sustainability officer. She is responsible for working with Ramsay's regional businesses to create the Ramsay Cares Sustainability Strategy. Her expertise incudes ESG, sustainability, shared value, CSR, environmental management, risk and compliance, EIS and due diligence, carbon management and energy efficiency, human rights and modern slavery, and sustainability-linked loans.

Hilary Macdonald
Northern Star Resources
As chief legal officer and company secretary, Hilary plays a pivotal role in the company's acquisitions, divestments, and capital raisings. Hilary focuses on internal verification and clarity around climate-related disclosures, actions and outcomes to manage the risks of perceived greenwashing and climate impacts. The mining company has aligned itself with the TCFD, and has built a quantitative climate risk model.

Laura McManus
Woolworths Group
Laura has extensive experience in the fields of human rights and sustainability. As a senior human rights manager at Woolworths Group, she has developed and implemented the company's human rights strategy, resulting in top results in national and global corporate human rights benchmarks. She has also managed complex global investigations, resulting in more than $1 million in excessive recruitment fees returned to supply chain workers.

Maria Helena Meinert
Cochlear
Maria has worked as a sustainability director and manager, responsible for developing sustainability strategies aligned with internal engagement and communications programs. She has led the development of key sustainability targets and associated metrics and managed internal data collection and service provider relationships as sustainability director at Cochlear. Maria's work has included stakeholder engagement and influencing stakeholder awareness about sustainability/ESG.

Karena Milios
Elders
As head of sustainability, Karena is responsible for developing, launching and implementing Elders' ESG-related targets and strategies and believes that the future of sustainability in Australia will be characterised by an increase in more holistic, sustainable farming practices across the agricultural sector. She holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of South Australia, has studied Business Sustainability Management at the University of Cambridge.

Adam Myers
Pengana Capital Group
As executive director and head of responsible investing, Adam champions robust ESG frameworks across all products, while sustainability considerations are integrated into business operation. Adam represents Pengana in third-party ESG focused events and industry education programs promoting greater understanding of responsible investment principles. He is on the steering and investment committee of a charitable fund that has donated over $2.1 million to over 100 charities.

Devin O'Keefe
Australian Ethical Investments
As manager of adviser relations for Victoria and Tasmania, Devin focuses on raising capital into sustainable investment opportunities. He works with internal team members and external peers on education and training in areas including the importance of ESG targets and responsible investing and how they can benefit their organisation while having a positive impact on people, planet and animals through workshops, webinars, and training sessions.

Charlotte O'Meara
Challenger Limited
Charlotte has worked closely with the Challenger and Fidante investment teams to draft the firm's modern slavery statement and lead the modern slavery working group to develop the risk and control framework across operations and supply chains. Charlotte represents Challenger on the FSC ESG Working Group, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia Human Rights Working Group, and Investors Against Slavery and Trafficking.

Stuart Palmer
Australian Ethical Investments
Stuart heads the ethics research team, which means he is responsible for applying the principles of the Australian Ethical Charter to define the fund manager's sustainable investment universe and to engage and advocate for positive change by companies and governments. Stuart notes that sustainability and ethics is an essential part of development and implementation of Australian Ethical's strategy to invest for a better world for people, planet and animals.

Michael Parks
Treasury Wine Estates
Since joining TWE in 2021 as director of sustainability, Michael has developed the company's first sustainability strategy, promoted the uptake of sustainability certification among the grower and bulk wine networked, and refinanced $1.4 billion of debt under a sustainability linked loan. He has also contributed to setting and driving decarbonisation targets and an integrated approach to monitoring climate risks and adaptation responses.

Brooke Pettit
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
As head of ESG and sustainability, Brooke leads the bank's ESG and sustainability approach. Prior to joining the corporate sector, she worked in Indigenous affairs at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence and Reconciliation Australia, and cites a "deep purpose and passion" to play her part in reconciliation in Australia. She has also held roles as executive manager, sustainability at IAG where she led IAG's responsible business activities.

Richard Pittard
Cleanaway Waste Management
Richard sees his role as head of sustainability as the link across the board, CEO, executive team, investor relations and corporate affairs to develop and present Cleanaway's sustainability narrative. He defines this as "centred around high-circularity, low-carbon solutions delivered with excellence in customer service; fundamental to fulfilling our customer led strategy, Blueprint 2030."

Blaise Porter
Sims Limited
Blaise is the group director sustainability and corporate responsibility at Sims Limited where she directs long-term sustainability goals. Since joining Sims in 2021, she has led the initiative to bring forward the company's climate neutral target from 2042 to 2030 and adding a target for 100% renewable energy across the group by 2025. She contributed to Sim's first climate support, which was put to shareholders at the 2022 AGM, where it was endorsed by 89.6% of shareholders.

Troy Powell
Orica
Troy joined as head of sustainability in 2019 and develops and leads Orica's corporate sustainability policies, strategies and actions. Troy believes in creating competitive advantage by capturing the value between sustainability and business strategies and cites the recently announced Orica Kooragang Island Decarbonisation Project as an example. He previously worked at Telstra, Spotless and ERM Australia.

Kaitlin Priestley
Pinnacle Investment Management Group
Kaitlin joined Pinnacle in 2019 and established Pinnacle's sustainability function in early 2021. As sustainability manager, she has responsibility for the firm's sustainability strategy, target setting and sustainabilityrelated disclosures. Kaitlin chairs various internal working groups across Pinnacle's 15 investment management firms and chairs Pinnacle's Sustainability Committee.

Caitlyn Richards
Coles Group
As group sustainable sourcing manager, Caitlyn oversees sustainable sourcing policies, programs and initiatives for Coles Own Brand products and packaging, covering areas across high-impact forest, land, agriculture and seafood commodities, animal welfare and sustainable packaging. Since 2013, Caitlyn has primarily focused on sustainable supply chains and reducing the environmental and social impacts of business.

Tim Rodsted
BlueScope
Tim is responsible for the design and implementation of BlueScope's sustainability strategy, sustainability reporting and supports investor engagement on BlueScope's management of ESG risks and opportunities. As head of sustainability, Tim is a member of ResponsibleSteel's Steelmakers Reference Group and the SBTi's Expert Advisory Group for Steel. Prior to joining BlueScope, Tim was a senior manager in EY's Climate Change and Sustainability Services team.

Justine Rowe
Telstra
As chief sustainability officer, Justine and her team are responsible for the delivery of policy advice, stakeholder management and community initiatives across regulatory, sustainability and regional affairs. Justine's career merges the law and external relationship management. At Telstra she has worked as chief of staff to the CEO, led the Strategic Policy and Transformation group in Sustainability, External Affairs and Legal and Legal Executive and Business Partner for Telstra Enterprise.

Natalie Shaw
Coles Group
Natalie joined Coles in 2018 through its graduate scheme, and is now a sustainable packing technologist. In her role, she is passionate "for all things sustainable sourcing" and is a subject matter expert in the sustainable packaging within the Own Brand Sustainable Sourcing Team. She works towards more recyclable packaging, helping suppliers to phase out "problematic plastics," and designing packaging that includes higher amounts of recycled materials.

Gretta Theobald Stephens
BlueScope
Gretta joined BlueScope as chief executive New Zealand and Pacific Islands in 2018. In early 2021 Gretta was appointed chief executive climate change for BlueScope globally. In this role she leads the development and implementation of BlueScope's Climate Strategy and decarbonisation pathway towards the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. From early 2022 Gretta took on an expanded role as chief executive climate change and sustainability.

Katharine Tapley
ANZ
As head of sustainable finance at ANZ, Katharine leads a 25+ person team across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. Her team delivers insights and originates solutions across sustainable finance markets, manages ANZ's sustainability bond issuance program alongside ANZ Group Treasury, and contributes to ANZ's $100 billion sustainable finance target and contributes to the development of sustainable finance markets across Asia Pacific.

James William Tayler
Insignia Financial
James joined as Insignia's first head of responsible investment in June 2022. His focus is on articulating what ESG and responsible investment is, helping develop and align this understanding to core corporate level ESG beliefs and then linking this to the broad corporate sustainability strategy and the key goals and fiduciary responsibilities. He was previously head of ESG at Ellerston Capital, held a variety of investment management roles in London, UK, and Zurich, Switzerland.

Storm Taylor
Vulcan Energy Resources
As ESG lead, Storm leads Vulcan's ESG strategy and implementation, focusing on making Vulcan's Zero Carbon Lithium project world-class. Since joining Vulcan in 2021, she has certified the Australian organisation as Climate Active carbon neutral, has facilitated the company's admission into the UN Global Compact and been instrumental in helping shape the Company's ESG focused policies and processes.

Roslyn Toms
nib Group
As group executive - legal and chief risk officer, Roslyn is responsible for setting ESG strategy and targets. She joined nib in 2011 as general counsel/company secretary and took on the ESG function in 2017. Her team stretches across nine business units, and she has worked across the company to develop the five sustainability pillars within the business - population health; natural environment; economic development and employment; leadership and governance; community spirit and cohesion.

Siobhan Toohill
Westpac
As Westpac's chief sustainability officer, Siobhan leads the group's sustainability strategy, including climate change, human rights and natural capital. Siobhan started her career in architecture, but was "attracted to the capacity to shape large-scale impact through urban design - shaping our physical environment, wellbeing and social experiences through placemaking." She has served as a board member of the Greater Sydney Parklands.

Mary Ann van Bodegraven
Boral/Macquarie Group
While nominated for her role at Boral, Mary Ann has recently left Boral to join Macquarie as director sustainability. At Boral, Mary Ann was head of sustainability where she was responsible for all aspects of ESG - strategy; implementation; external disclosures; internal and external stakeholder engagements; funding applications; as well as responses to regulatory and government consultation processes.

James Vesper
Goodman Group
As group head of sustainability at Goodman Group, James leads the organisation's sustainability performance globally. James specialises in setting sustainability, climate risk, and renewable energy strategies, and has helped Goodman reduce emissions by 60% and install over 200MW of renewable energy capacity so far. His deep understanding of investment drivers in sustainable investing has helped him achieve leading ESG ratings for the company.

Fiona Walmsley
Woolworths Group
As general manager - climate and environment and co-chair gender equity network, Fiona oversees the group's response to climate change and environmental issues including sustainable sourcing, natural capital management and animal welfare. Fiona was the principal author of the Group's 2020 sustainability strategy, primarily focused on issues like energy efficiency or the sustainability of Own Brand products.

Francis Wedin
Vulcan Energy Resources
Francis is a battery materials and renewable energy industry executive, focused on developing global scale decarbonisation opportunities. Francis founded Vulcan Energy and the Zero Carbon Lithium Project in Germany, a dual renewables and lithium chemicals project. Francis was previously executive director of ASX-listed Exore Resources, where he developed two new lithium resources, on two continents. He is bilingual, has a PhD and BSc (Hons) in geology and an MBA in renewables.

Clint Wilson
Centuria Capital
Clint is general manager sustainability and in his two years at Centuria, his achievements include the first two Centuria sustainability reports, establishing the Culture and ESG Board Committee and the launch of the Centuria Agriculture Fund with sustainability as a core theme. Clint notes that the built environment accounts for roughly 38% of Australia's overall emissions, and that the industry can contribute on a global scale to climate solutions.

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