Accelerating the sustainability journey for this market-leading lighting manufacturer. Previously very quiet on climate change, Acuity Brands has produced 3 ESG reports. We are carbon neutral in operations and are on track to meet our 2030 ambition to enable 100 million metric tons of carbon reduction for our customers. We report our carbon emissions on all 3 scopes with a greater degree of transparency than most of our peers. We're aggressively reducing our energy consumption, which gives us the credibility to help our customers address theirs. We're now an ESG play for investors, having put our own house in order.

Strategic leader for IHG's largest brand. I am the product owner for the brands moments of truth, from what the guest experiences at check-in, to sleep, to how they get refreshed and recharged and ready for their day. Deploying a $65mm breakfast solution in our 2,150 US and Canada hotels -- the largest and fastest such rollout in IHG history.

✪ Overhauled approaches to operationalizing programs, resulting in 34% reduction in open risk/safety items and 100% increase in participation in a key risk management program by streamlining prioritization of Responsible Business initiatives.✪ Improved internal stakeholder satisfaction by 10% – best in the company – for global function of a global hotel franchise company. Pioneered business partnering approach for business unit encompassing Legal, Risk, Internal Audit and Corporate Responsibility functions. ✪ Created an internal brand for a catch-all function. United the Business Reputation & Responsibility function (Risk, Legal, Internal Audit and Corporate Responsibility) to champion and protect the company’s trusted reputation. Sparked a dialogue with business partners around shared responsibility for brand equity that resulted in increased adherence to governance procedure, legal advice and responsible business principles.

✪ Designed and deployed multi-media toolkit to facilitate hotel owners in lobbying on their own behalf. Quickly achieved the largest representation among major brands at the industry’s legislative fly-in, vastly increasing visibility within the industry and with Washington elites. Increased influence within trade associations and protected $47m in revenues in a single policy action around per diem rates.✪ Paved path to tap into $80b LGBT travel segment. Achieved a perfect 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and raised brand visibility by identifying internal HR policies as a stumbling block to credible LGBT marketing, and influenced senior leadership to change said policies.✪ Increased brand equity and earned credibility by providing unique insights and a path to action to Owner community,

Directed 3ie’s Policy, Advocacy & Communications office, with responsibility for ensuring that impact evaluations funded by 3ie were incorporated into policies by governments, funders and NGOs. Served on 3ie senior management team. Oversaw development and maintenance of online presence and web marketing activities, including complete overhaul of website. Liaised with and provided capacity building services to NGOs and researchers looking to take evidence and use it to influence policy. Directly supervised staff, interns, and consultants in multiple locations. Spoke publicly on behalf of 3ie.

Looking across the organization, we can see a broad spectrum of work ranging from holistic to isolated, from high quality to not-nearly-as-high-as-we'd-like. I developed a framework to unite all the standards, guidance and best-practices in order to (1) make it easier for program staff to know what they're accountable for, (2) measure the quality of our processes, and (3) identify leading and lagging projects for praise or corrective action.

I ran CARE's political outreach arm - organizing CARE's 500k contributors nationwide to advocate for US policies that help poor people. We created and empowered citizen-lobbyists through training, message development and careful strategic deployment of our assets. Under my direction, this program grew tenfold in the number of states and congressional districts, and more than tripled in the number of advocates. I also pioneered real-time tracking of Congressional meetings. Starting with Twitter in 2007, used hashtags and later dedicated apps to get real-time meeting feedback from participants spread across Capitol Hill.

Helped launch first-ever grassroots advocacy efforts for CARE USA. Drove donor engagement (and revenues) through cross-selling: turning donors into donor-advocates. Managed volunteers as individuals and small steering committees. Served as public face of CARE in 10 states and 84 congressional districts, growing the CARE Action Network in those states from nothing to ~800 grasstops advocates in 3 years.

Designed and implemented training program in advocacy and coalition building for Azerbaijani NGOs. Project was USAID-funded and provided support and guidance to 75 local NGOs. In addition, I represented the NGO and INGO community in meetings with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, which was considering a highly restrictive NGO registration law that would have choked Azerbaijani civil society.

Chief lobbyist and legislative strategist for Middle East peace process advocacy organization. Developed and maintained relationships with key Members of Congress and staff. Charted political strategy and developed public messages around U.S. Middle East policies.