Oct 13, 2020
Ellen Jackowski drives HP’s Sustainable Impact strategy and programs that focus on the planet, people and the communities that HP serves. Ellen also oversees efforts to align and integrate these programs with HP’s Personal Systems, Imaging and Printing, and 3D Printing business groups to ensure that sustainability is at the core of HP’s business results. Previously, Ellen was a management consultant focusing on strategy projects for Fortune 500 companies. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University and is a faculty member of the The Prince of Wales’s Business & Sustainability Programme at the University of Cambridge.
Ellen join Sustainable Nation to discuss:
- History of sustainability at HP
- HP’s response to COVID-19 and social injustice
- Approach to ambitious goal setting and addressing climate risk
- Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders
Ellen's Final Five Questions Responses:
What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?
I mean, I think more and more, you know, it's always easy to find reasons. Why you can't do something, you know, the things that we are trying to solve in this space, they're unprecedented. It's incredibly hard work. So, you need to be bold and take risksand not be afraid of those risks. The way that I think we've been the most successful in being able to be bold and do things that I don't think we would have normally, otherwise continuing to reinvent, for example, our supply chain in Haiti and create one of the world's first, most scalable ocean bound, plastics, supply chains, you know, for 60 million bottles in one respect that number is really tiny, but in another respect, think it's more than almost any other company has been able to use so far. The way we've been able to do that is taking a big risk, but with some strong partners. Goes back to what we talked about earlier in terms of collaboration and not being able to do things alonefinding strong partners who have the energy and the spirit to take big risks with you. And sometimes you'll just be tremendously surprised at at the outcome.
What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?
I think right now in this moment, you know, when we're looking at how the world is reacting to COVID and the pandemic and to the racial justice issues, this is our moment, right? This is the moment where the call to action is so strong and we need to step up to the responsibility and the opportunity to be drivers of this change. So I think anybody in a role similar to mine right now, you know, this role is more important than ever before. So I'm excited at the opportunity that I think, you know, society understands it's feeling the pressures of climate change. It's feeling the pressures of so many of these other global issues, you know, together. So I'm excited about this moment and doors opening and I think we all just need to be ready to bring innovation, to bring energy to bring progress for the next generation.
What is one book you'd recommend sustainability leaders read?
So this isn't a sustainability book, but it's something that has inspired me and I've been thinking about a lot. Educated by Tara Westover. As I think about the role of education and how powerful it is how, you know, science continues to shiftthe research that we know about, things like plastic and its effects on the human body things like some of the science around climate change and new data that we're continuing to get,he role of education I think, is more important than ever. We've been as part of our community pillar of our sustainable impact strategy, we've set a goal to enable better learning outcomes for a hundred million people by 2025 and that's because we understand as a company, how powerful and important education is. We see it as a human right, and access to technology is more important than ever. It can be a great equalizer and we want to be part of that solution.
What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?
I would go back to our partners are incredible resources and tools. There are a lot of things that we know at HP, you know, about our business, about our carbon footprint, but there are a lot of things we don't know andyou know, working with some of the incredible partners that we have, and we're constantly looking for new ones. I think those are some of my favorite resources to be able to pick up the phone or send an email, ask for help and be able to get it.
And finally, Ellen, where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you're leading at HP?
Well, they can find our sustainability report as well as lots of other information about our programs at hp.com/sustainableimpact.
About Sustridge
Sustridge is a sustainability consulting firm providing consulting in sustainability strategy development, sustainability reporting, GHG emissions calculating and management, zero waste planning and guidance in a TRUE Zero Waste, B Corp, LEED and Carbon Neutral certification.