Local

Darice Ellis, City of Phoenix Office of Sustainability

Ellis has worked in energy and environmentally-related fields for more than 25 years. She served for a number of years as a senior staff specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is currently employed in the city of Phoenix Office of Sustainability with a job focus of developing and advancing overall sustainability efforts to move the city closer to its sustainability goals.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Living Like It Matters!

What is your biggest inspiration? My interactions with young people who are charged, uninhibited and eager to make this place better – the doers of the next generation who get it.

Cherylanne DeVita, Founder/CEO, DeVita Natural Skincare

Dr. DeVita is founder and CEO of DeVita International, Inc., the pioneer in the formulation of paraben-free skincare and natural cosmeceuticals. She is a published author, national lecturer and a frequent guest on television and radio.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability requires a change in social consciousness in which humans and nature can exist in harmony; managing materials rather than creating waste; and possessing a presence of responsibility when decision making for present and future generations.

What is your biggest inspiration? Our youth inspire me. From kindergarteners with recycling programs to sustainability degree programs, these people are not leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today.

Katie Mabardy, Executive Director, Project C.U.R.E

Mabardy is Arizona’s Executive Director for Project C.U.R.E., the largest distributor of medical relief supplies in the world. At Project C.U.R.E., Katie oversees all of the fund development and community relations for the Arizona market. During her tenure, funding has grown by over 400 percent.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability is an opportunity to prove to the world there is a better way of doing business – a way that encourages ethical stewardship of our precious resources.

What is your biggest inspiration? Over 17,000 volunteers dedicate their lives to changing the world through Project C.U.R.E. They represent the best of humanity by giving selflessly to others around the world whom they will never meet. They are my biggest inspiration.

Jenny Poon, Founder, CO+HOOTS, eeko studio

Poon is a serial entrepreneur and founder of downtown Phoenix’s coworking space, CO+HOOTS, that currently houses 200+ entrepreneurs. Her second business is eeko studio, a boutique design agency.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability is the ability to create stability for the future without reliance on outside support. All work should have purpose and further the bigger mission of creating a self-sustaining business, ecosystem and life.

What is your biggest inspiration? My mother was a refugee, a survivor, an entrepreneur. My daughter who wakes me up every day by crawling on my face and covering me with sweet kisses. They both challenge me to be better in all ways.

Ann Siner, CEO, Founder, My Sister’s Closet 

Eco-Chic Consignments, Inc. is a family of high-end designer consignment concepts: My Sister’s Closet (women), My Sister’s Attic (home furnishings), and Well Suited (men). With 15 locations in Arizona and Southern California, it has grown into a $25+ million dollar business.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability means diverse systems that keep the world healthy and thriving. The only way to achieve a truly sustainable Earth is to address the problem of overpopulation.

What is your biggest inspiration? Wildlife, nature and the beauty of the outdoors. From a bloom on a cactus to an Arizona sunset, Arizona is ripe with natural beauty.

Global

Deanna Bratter, Director of Corporate Sustainability, WhiteWave Foods

A longtime member of the vibrant Boulder, Colorado natural products community, Bratter has been instrumental not only in driving WhiteWave’s sustainability initiatives, but also in helping the company create a values-driven culture.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability is about solutions, systems thinking and meaningful intention. It is about more than sustaining – it’s about restoring, improving and closing the loop on linear business models to create a complete and ultimately restorative system.

What is your biggest inspiration? I am inspired as a passionate change agent at WhiteWave, and as a mother, to create transformation that leads to a better future for people and the planet.

Katherine DiMatteo, Executive Director, Sustainable Food Trade Association

DiMatteo has worked in the organic/natural sector since 1990. She was the executive director of the Organic Trade Association for 16 years and she now leads the Sustainable Food Trade Association.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability is an aspiration to maintain natural resources to ensure their availability for future generations. To achieve our aspiration, we have to adopt a framework within which we make decisions about the use of natural resources. Using this framework, we can move along a path towards a sustainable environment, society and economy.

What is your biggest inspiration? I am inspired by our members – companies who are “walking their talk” and committed to building a sustainable business model.

Nancy Hirshberg, Founder and Chief Catalyst, Hirshberg Strategic

Nancy has worked at the nexus of food, business and the environment for over two decades and has been recognized for her work leading Stonyfield Farm’s award-winning sustainability initiatives.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Very often sustainability is framed as sacrifice and doing without. That’s not particularly inspiring or engaging. Sustainability is about innovation and creativity so that we are acting in ways that are consistent with the capacity of the Earth’s resources.

What is your biggest inspiration? There are many places where I get inspiration – from seeing creativity; visionaries who move me with their ideas; and even my daughter. But my greatest source of inspiration is nature. It’s the source of my strength and keeps me grounded and sane.

Shauna Sadowski, Director of Sustainability, Annie’s, Inc. 

Sadowski is the Director of Sustainability at Annie’s, Inc., an organic and natural foods company. She is responsible for the company’s sustainability strategy, with a particular emphasis on food and farming.

What  does sustainability mean to you? Sustainability is about understanding the world through the interconnected systems of economic, social and environmental impacts – and identifying ways to create positive outcomes for each area, ultimately seeking regenerative solutions that enhance and restore (not simply minimize the negative).

What is your biggest inspiration? I am most inspired by people who are willing to think outside conventional norms to find solutions to problems that will benefit the greater good.

Sara Snow, Spokesperson, TV Host and Author

Snow is a speaker, spokesperson, TV host and author, sharing a motivating message of healthy living. Snow is a frequent media contributor, and is also co-founder of the wearable skincare lingerie line hide&cheek.

What  does sustainability mean to you? In what I do on a daily basis – talking about natural and greener living to people and businesses – this means making changes that one can stick with rather than lofty goals that become impossible to meet or maintain.

What is your biggest inspiration? People are my biggest inspiration. Their struggles are what keeps me teaching and motivating, and their innovations and successes are what keep me feeling good.

Read more business articles at greenlivingaz.com/business