What if sustainability isn't a job title, but a skill set you already have?
Emma Cox speaks with Kelsey Kates, founder of Playfully Works,about what it means to care deeply about the planet while working in a role not traditionally tied to sustainability.
At the time of this recording, Kelsey led learning and development at Google. While sustainability was never part of her formal job description, she became a keynote speaker on the company's sustainability efforts by volunteering her time, sharing her expertise, and consistently showing up.
Bringing a learning-science lens to a question many of us have asked—how much can one person actually do? Kelsey explores how individual conviction can become meaningful to organizational impact.
In this conversation, she shares insights on:
Finding your own entry point into climate work through the expertise, influence, and passions you already have.
How small operational shifts, implemented at scale, can quietly change behaviors and norms.
Why explaining the why behind a change can matter just as much as the change itself.
Whether sustainability is best understood as a competitive advantage—or a competitive imperative.
Disclaimer: Since this conversation, Kelsey has concluded her decade-long tenure at Google and launched her own company, Playfully Works. It’s founding idea is one she shares in this episode, you don't have to be serious to do serious work.
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About ESG Decoded ESG Decoded is a podcast powered by ClimeCo to share updates related to business innovation and sustainability in a clear and actionable manner. Join Emma Cox, Erika Schiller, and Anna Stablum for thoughtful, nuanced conversations with industry leaders and subject matter experts that explore the complexities about the risks and opportunities connected to (E)nvironmental, (S)ocial and (G)overnance. We like to say that “ESG is everything that’s not on your balance sheet.” This leaves room for misunderstanding and oversimplification – two things that we’ll bust on this podcast.
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