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In this podcast episode, Louis DeMaso talks with Molly Laverty, the Director of ESG for Del Monte Foods, about her journey from working directly with coffee suppliers to managing a multinational sustainability program.
They discuss the sustainability challenges faced by the food industry, including measuring scope three emissions accurately, and how Molly works cross-functionally with departments like transportation, agriculture, and packaging to achieve Del Monte’s sustainability goals.
They also touch on the importance of collaboration, building consensus, data and analytics, supply chain management, and public speaking in sustainability careers.
Molly shares her tips for preparing for public speaking engagements, the skills she’s currently working on developing, and what success looks like in her role.
This engaging conversation is a must-listen for anyone interested in sustainability, corporate responsibility, and the food industry.
What does this job involve?
Molly Laverty is a sustainability leader with over 12 years of experience in the food and agriculture industry.
She currently serves as the Director of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) at Del Monte Foods, where she oversees the development and implementation of sustainability projects throughout her organization.
Del Monte Foods is a US-based, multinational company that produces, distributes, and markets canned fruits and vegetables, as well as other food products.
Molly’s primary focus is to reduce her company’s carbon footprint while achieving the company’s greenhouse gas emissions goal of becoming net-zero by 2050 in line with the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
She spends most of her time working cross-functionally with different departments, such as transportation, agriculture, and packaging, to build effective partnerships and make progress on projects.
She is also involved with mapping Del Monte’s supply chain to learn more about where their products come from, collecting key datasets and analyzing that data in Excel, and speaking publicly about Del Monte’s sustainability efforts.
Molly enjoys the variety that comes with her job, where no day is the same. There is always something new for her to learn.
She appreciates understanding Del Monte’s supply chain from the ground up, including how products are used, where they go, and what consumers are asking for.
One of the challenging aspects of Molly’s job is influencing people when there are competing demands. Everyone has their own responsibilities and objectives to focus on in addition to sustainability initiatives.
Molly believes that success comes from integrating sustainability into all areas of a company and aligning its sustainability goals with other company goals.
What skills are important for success?
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
Sustainability professionals are rarely working alone, which means they must be able to build successful partnerships.
Molly recommends spending as much time as possible working directly with others to understand and empathize with their roles and how sustainability could be integrated. This will enhance their trust in you and motivate them to work towards achieving sustainability goals.
She also emphasizes the importance of understanding others’ perspectives on sustainability and the challenges they face while working towards sustainability goals. This can help you proactively address challenges before they significantly derail progress.
Finally, when making requests for participation from others, Molly believes it is critical to provide context and explain why the project is important. People are often more motivated when they understand the value of their contributions and how their role fits into the larger picture.
Supply Chain Management
Molly explains that a critical aspect of developing a winning sustainability strategy is understanding the company’s supply chain.
She believes that jumping into a sustainability strategy role without a foundational understanding of the company’s supply chain could be disorienting.
Molly began her career by spending ten years working in the coffee industry, holding supply chain roles including translation for South American growers and coffee procurement.
These roles taught her about how food supply chains operate and how sustainability can be integrated throughout them, which helped her secure her current role at Del Monte and continues to help her create successful sustainability strategies.
Data Collection and Analysis
Molly often works with large data sets to understand her company’s strengths, identify areas where improvements can be made, and track progress toward sustainability goals.
She is responsible for collecting data from various sources, analyzing it in Excel, and using her analysis to make informed decisions about the company’s sustainability projects.
Through her work, she has developed a keen sense of how to identify trends and patterns in data. She also knows how to present that information to stakeholders in a way that is easily understandable and actionable.
Experience in data analysis is particularly important for tasks like carbon footprinting due to the multitude of data sources and data types involved.
Public Speaking
Molly often represents Del Monte and its sustainability efforts publicly through speaking engagements, which involve explaining complex sustainability topics in a way that others can understand.
When she started working for Del Monte, Molly felt intimidated speaking about the produce industry because she came from a coffee background that was substantially different.
To overcome this challenge, she focused on speaking generally about sustainability in agriculture because that was a topic she knew well. This helped her feel more confident and reminded her that she was an expert.
For those who feel uncomfortable with public speaking, Molly suggests pushing through the discomfort and remembering that people want to hear what you have to say.
The key to public speaking is to focus on topics you are familiar with and trust yourself.
Molly suggests preparing for a public speaking engagement by ensuring you understand who your audience will be and what they are interested in hearing.
She has seen that some people prefer to prepare their remarks word-for-word ahead of time but she prefers greater improvisation in the moment.
Determining what works best for you and your own style is important.
Sustainability Career Advice
Learn the Business Case
Molly pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and found it valuable for advancing her career and securing her current position at Del Monte.
What she learned during the MBA program has given her the confidence to speak about sustainability concerns in business terms, which has been invaluable in her daily conversations as Director of ESG.
As a working professional returning to school, she also appreciated how her experience in the business world helped her contextualize the coursework.
While formal education on the business side of sustainability can be helpful, it is not always required.
Find Your Method of Contribution
Regardless of your existing expertise, Molly suggests finding ways to contribute to achieving sustainability goals in your organization, as this can lead to unexpected opportunities.
Sustainability professionals work cross-functionally with every department within a company and need help in most areas.
If you are curious, open to learning, and eager to help, sustainability professionals will often recognize the value you can provide and help you gain experience working on sustainability projects.
As you find your method of contribution, Molly recommends staying true to your passion and following your strengths.
Sustainability professionals don’t have to focus on data collection or reporting if it’s not their strength. They should look for opportunities in areas that interest them.
There are often opportunities to work on sustainability in all parts of an organization, such as operations, human resources, marketing, legal counsel, information technology, or research and development.
Molly has focused her career on sustainability in the food industry because she is extremely passionate about the topic, but she could have pursued sustainability roles in other industries as well.
Develop the Character Traits
Molly describes that attention to detail, curiosity, keeping an open mind, comfort with uncertainty, and patience are all important character traits of sustainability professionals.
Sustainability roles often involve working on multiple projects, communicating with multiple stakeholders, analyzing and interpreting complex datasets, and writing detailed reports and presentations, all at once.
Therefore, sustainability professionals must pay close attention to details as they juggle multiple responsibilities without missing important information or making mistakes.
Curiosity helps sustainability professionals keep up with their quickly-evolving field, identify the root causes of sustainability challenges, and develop more innovative solutions.
Keeping an open mind to new ideas is important because it’s often difficult to know when an idea might become useful and which solutions will become commonplace in the future.
Dealing with uncertainty is another important aspect of sustainability work, where there are often no pre-established or easy solutions to problems.
Finally, patience helps sustainability professionals build relationships and maintain momentum in their work. Remember that building true consensus among multiple groups takes time and effort, but in the long run, it is the most effective way to sustain change.
When feeling frustrated or stagnant, Molly recommends reflecting on how far you or your company have come.
By keeping your long-term vision in mind, you can continue to strive towards your goals and make meaningful progress.
Transcript
The following transcript has been edited to make it easier to read.
Louis DeMaso 0:01 Good morning, Molly. Thanks for coming on the podcast.
Molly Laverty 0:04 Hi, Louis. Good morning.
Louis DeMaso 0:06 Sure, let’s start by getting an overview of your role at Del Monte. Can you tell me a bit about what you do?
Molly Laverty 0:14 I am the Director of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) for Del Monte Foods based in the US. I have been with them for about two years now. Before that, I spent ten years in the coffee industry in various roles including translation, coffee procurement, and sustainability.
Louis DeMaso 0:36 I find it really interesting how you started working directly with coffee suppliers and now manage a multinational sustainability program. Your background is fascinating.
Molly Laverty 0:48 Yeah, it’s been a really fun journey, and coffee is a fun world to work in.
Louis DeMaso 0:54 What are some of the sustainability challenges that you’re currently working on, and what are some challenges that the food industry faces?
Molly Laverty 1:02 The food industry has been working towards zero emissions goals, with a focus on reducing emissions. However, this is complicated by the complex supply chains of larger organizations that work with hundreds or thousands of farmers. Measuring scope three emissions accurately is a daunting task, and it is a common difficulty faced by the industry. Through the groups that I participate in, I have observed that it is challenging to set realistic goals that do not fall under the category of greenwashing. It is necessary to consider emissions from agriculture and related activities such as trucking, processing, and water extraction to obtain an accurate assessment of our carbon footprint. Once we have accurate data, we can take action to reduce carbon intensity, especially on the agriculture side.
Louis DeMaso 2:14 Certainly, when working with a large supply chain, it can be challenging to manage all of the data effectively.
Molly Laverty 2:20 Data wrangling is a big part of my daily job, especially when it comes to understanding our supply chain at Del Monte. As a company that contracts with growers, we don’t have ultimate decision-making power over what happens on the farm. Therefore, working with the growers to understand their practices and measuring them is essential. Capturing the data and recognizing their efforts is also important. Within our supply chain, we strive to operate our plants more efficiently, use less water, and make investments in renewable energy. All of these factors contribute to the complex puzzle of putting together our emissions footprint and ultimately achieving our net-zero goals.
Louis DeMaso 3:16 Definitely. As the director of environmental, social, and governance for Delmonte, how do you work towards that goal directly?
Molly Laverty 3:25 Most of my day is spent working cross-functionally with departments such as transportation, agriculture, and packaging, to understand what actions are being taken, what future projects are anticipated, and what is currently happening. The group convenes to understand carbon emissions goals and the role each department plays in achieving them. For example, the packaging department may not seem to have a big impact on carbon emissions, but by better understanding their part in the process, they can ask suppliers questions that help to reduce packaging emissions. Similarly, transportation and agriculture play important roles. Education, convening of leaders, and sharing of responsibilities are key. As an advisor and educator, it is not possible to make every decision for the company, but every person in the organization must understand their role in achieving sustainability goals.
Louis DeMaso 4:56 It definitely sounds like a lot of collaboration and communication are key skills that you use in your daily job, is that right?
Molly Laverty 5:04 Definitely. I struggle with this because I always want to fix problems myself. It has been a journey to learn how to collaborate better, especially in the agriculture sector where supply chains are so complex. It is unrealistic to expect one person to be an expert on every aspect of the supply chain. Therefore, it is important to understand how to trust and rely on colleagues, deliver the information they need, and work with them to understand how our actions will impact the company as a whole.
Louis DeMaso 5:49 Do you play a role in continually evolving and setting additional goals, or are those goals preset? In either case, your primary responsibility is to work with people to try to achieve those goals.
Molly Laverty 6:02 Goals are constantly evolving and are a moving target. It’s common for individuals and organizations to set goals, achieve them, and then set more ambitious ones. Throughout my career, I have found that the most effective way to set a goal is collaboratively, with the ultimate stakeholders who will be responsible for achieving that goal. It’s easy for me to say, “We’re going to have zero-emission transportation by 2025.” But our Director of Transportation might respond, “That’s insane. Why would you set that goal? It’s not realistic.” It’s important to convene a group, such as a Sustainability Council, to agree on goals together. This ensures that the goals reflect both the organization’s values and are realistic given the resources available to each pillar and the objectives they’re trying to achieve.
Louis DeMaso 7:11 It appears that your approach is to bring everyone together and consider all the different perspectives that could influence the decision. From there, you make the best decision based on all the different factors at play.
Molly Laverty 7:24 Over my 12 years in the sustainability industry, I’ve learned that collaboration and consensus-building are essential. Without them, you’ll constantly hit a wall.
Louis DeMaso 7:42 Do you have any tips for building consensus when in a room with people who might disagree or have different perspectives?
Molly Laverty 7:49 To present a convincing business case for asking someone to make a significant investment or change their approach requires providing context and explanation. Simply demanding without reasoning is a hard sell. By contextualizing your requests, such as asking for data, and explaining why you need it, how you plan to use it, and how it impacts sustainability reporting, you can help the data provider understand the importance of their contribution. This can make it easier for them to provide the specific data you need, and ensure they understand the value of their work.
It’s also important to understand their point of view and any sustainability challenges they face. By working together to build a process that works for everyone and addressing behavioral issues, like reducing water use in manufacturing, you can create a more effective and sustainable solution. Spending time on the ground to understand and empathize with other roles can be invaluable in helping build successful partnerships and projects.
Louis DeMaso 9:29 Are you gathering ideas from frontline workers and people on the ground?
Molly Laverty 9:36 Definitely. I’m not an expert in any one thing, but I have expertise in many areas. However, as we get into the specific parts of our business, there are things that I don’t know. For example, in sustainable agriculture, I couldn’t say what practices a grower should be adopting, as I’m not an agronomist or a farmer. I don’t have the authority to tell growers what they should or shouldn’t be doing. Instead, my role is to bring in experts, listen to them, and understand how certain actions will impact our business. I rely on the experts who are on the front line and understand their suggestions because they see the day-to-day details of how a plant is operating and growing, in a way that I cannot.
Louis DeMaso 10:44 We also aim to take a collaborative approach when working with clients and those in the facility who are actively working on the problems. They often have the best ideas. It’s important to communicate how any work assigned to them, such as data collection or making changes, fits into the larger picture. This helps maintain motivation and inspires people to contribute to something greater.
Now, we’ve heard a bit about the scope of your work, which includes reducing emissions and implementing a net zero strategy. Could you tell us more about your day-to-day responsibilities, what you enjoy most about your job, and what you find most challenging?
Molly Laverty 11:31 I really enjoy the variety that comes with my job. It allows me to dive into every part of our business, so no day is the same. Even if I’m working on data one day, the next day it might be transportation or agriculture. This means there’s always something new to learn. I appreciate being able to understand the business from the ground up, including working with sales and marketing to understand how our products are used, where they go, and what consumers are asking for. I feel like I’ve learned so much about how a food business works, which is really valuable.
The most challenging part of my job is working on a part of the business that isn’t attached to anything else. While I have a lot of influence, ultimately others have responsibility for their scopes of work. Influencing people can be difficult, especially when there are conflicting priorities or competing demands. It can feel frustrating and isolating when I have a goal I would like to achieve, but it’s not at the top of someone else’s priority list. Learning how to be patient and building consensus takes time and can be tiring, but in the long run, it’s the most appropriate way to approach the work of ESG leaders.
Louis DeMaso 13:43 Definitely, like you said, continually making a strong business case is helpful, right?
Molly Laverty 13:50 Yes. It’s helpful when you can demonstrate that a sustainability project will save money and increase productivity, as that often paves the way for implementation. However, not all sustainability projects have the potential to do so.
Louis DeMaso 14:03 Sustainability is often siloed within a company and sits in a strategic position that is not directly connected to a particular business unit. Do you think this is an appropriate place for sustainability in the company? Or is there a better place to put sustainability that would make it easier to manage?
Molly Laverty 14:27 It’s a great question. Throughout my career, I have reported to almost every department within a company, from sales to HR, legal, and operations, in different roles and different companies. So, I am not sure if there is a correct place for sustainability to sit. As long as you can be collaborative, sustainability can work with any department. For most organizations, operations make a lot of sense because many sustainability goals are tied to productivity, procurement, and energy savings, which operations controls. However, you can also make a case for reporting to legal because of regulatory requirements and public sector expectations for larger food companies’ policies, procedures, and conduct. Ultimately, it depends on the individual business and its primary focus area to determine what makes the most sense.
Louis DeMaso 15:33 That definitely makes sense. The challenge of siloed sustainability really depends on the company and what makes the most sense for them.
Molly Laverty 15:44 Every company has a department that spans across the entire organization. Sustainability should probably be part of that department.
Louis DeMaso 15:56 That’s right. One of the values added by having a sustainability perspective is the ability to see across many different aspects of the business. This high-level view is valuable because it encompasses a wide array of perspectives. As you mentioned, variety is one aspect that you enjoy about sustainability. I’ve noticed this as well in the initial episodes we’ve recorded for this podcast. There is always something new to learn because sustainability is rapidly evolving and encompasses such a wide range of topics. Curiosity is a key characteristic and skill for sustainability professionals. How do you exercise your curiosity in your day-to-day work?
Molly Laverty 16:40 There is always something new coming out in the world of sustainability, and one thing I love about the industry is how collaborative it can be. Even sustainability leaders at our competitors or customers are willing to talk through challenges in a pre-competitive way. It’s important to understand that we’re all linked in the end, buying the same products from the same places, so we’re all working towards a common goal.
To stay informed, I try to stay connected with industry groups, both specific to our business and general sustainability industry groups. As a sustainability professional, you can’t read about something new and dismiss it because in a few years, it could become commonplace. I remember when a company first started setting net zero goals, my first instinct was to think it was impossible. Now, we’re all working towards net zero.
Louis DeMaso 17:56 Now, everyone’s committed to it!
Molly Laverty 17:59 They are keeping an open mind and not reacting negatively to ideas that seem difficult to accomplish. After all, everything related to sustainability is challenging. If it were easy, we would have already done it, and there wouldn’t be an entire industry of people working toward solutions. It’s important to maintain an open mind and curiosity, but also to accept the discomfort that comes with this demanding work. There’s no easy or right answer, and that fact can be difficult for some personalities to accept. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep an open mind and listen to new ideas. Even if you can’t yet understand how they apply to your particular business case, keep them in the back of your mind and observe how other companies are achieving sustainability goals. Working collaboratively with other sustainability professionals is also essential. I’ve never met a sustainability professional who wasn’t willing to discuss their actions and whether they were working or not. This has been an exciting experience.
Louis DeMaso 19:16 That’s a crucial perspective. A sustainability professional must be comfortable with discomfort and the unknown, and must strive for innovation. If it were easy, we would already be doing it. It’s inspiring to hear that.
Can you discuss what success looks like in your role as Director of ESG? What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Molly Laverty 19:41 In my role, success means bringing people together to understand sustainability. Ideally, I would make my position obsolete by encouraging everyone to think about sustainability and integrate it into their work. However, I want to continue to grow and evolve in this field.
Success also means setting goals and working towards them, even if the goals are not fully achieved. Progress towards a goal is a success because there is always something to learn. Overcoming challenges and understanding why goals were not achieved is also a success. Personally, success means getting leaders in different functional groups to understand sustainability and how it fits into their role. I want to foster collaboration and have people come to me with self-generated ideas and solutions. Ultimately, success is achieved when sustainability is integrated into all aspects of the organization.
Louis DeMaso 21:06 Collaboration and building consensus are important for achieving success, as we discussed earlier. These practices can help set goals and, potentially, make the sustainability department obsolete, although this is unlikely. Are there other major skills, such as data and analytics, that you consider to be key?
Molly Laverty 21:42 Being skilled in analytics, particularly in Excel, is essential for understanding large datasets.
Additionally, having a detailed-oriented mindset is crucial when working on tasks such as carbon footprinting, where multiple pieces of data need to fit together to tell a larger story. For instance, the transportation of raw products to plants, plants sending products to other plants, and plants sending products to customers are all components that need to be considered.
Public speaking is another important skill, as it is often necessary to represent the company and its sustainability efforts publicly, and to explain complex topics in a way that the general population can understand. Being able to translate sustainability jargon into easy-to-understand language is key in building consensus.
Louis DeMaso 23:17 It appears that sustainability careers require a range of skills, from those necessary for a sustainability analyst at the entry level to those required for a sustainability director. Initially, the focus is on collecting data, gathering insights, summarizing information, and preparing reports. As you progress, the emphasis shifts towards collaboration, presentation, public speaking, and building consensus. Do you agree with this concept?
Molly Laverty 23:42 Definitely. And in the early stages, it’s important to dive in and understand different parts of the business beyond just data collection. It’s important to understand how the company works and why you’re collecting a certain piece of data. Collecting the wrong data can be a waste of everyone’s time.
Louis DeMaso 24:01 This may be why it is crucial to gain in-depth knowledge of a specific industry and find a niche within sustainability. Sustainability is a broad topic, and different industries have unique problems. Understanding a particular industry or even a subset of it would be helpful in building a successful career in sustainability.
Molly Laverty 24:23 Definitely.
Louis DeMaso 24:26 You mentioned public speaking and I noticed that you were on a panel at a Food Navigators Digital Summit discussing the environmental impact of food systems and future-proofing the food system. As you previously mentioned, sustainability professionals often need to participate in public speaking engagements. Do you have any tips for preparing for these types of events?
Molly Laverty 24:49 To improve your public speaking skills, focus on feeling comfortable and confident with the material you’re discussing. While some people prefer to prepare their remarks word for word ahead of time, I’ve found that listening to the conversation and trusting my knowledge results in a more compelling performance. It’s important to remember that everyone has their own style, so find what works best for you.
When I started working for Del Monte, I felt intimidated speaking about fruits and vegetables, coming from a coffee background. To overcome this, I dove deep into the business and focused on what I knew best, sustainability in the agricultural sector. This helped me feel more confident and reminded me that I was an expert in my field.
If you’re uncomfortable with public speaking, push through and remember that people want to hear what you have to say. Just focus on what you know and trust yourself.
Louis DeMaso 26:54 It can be intimidating for people, but as you build a base level expertise and dive deeper into the business, you can speak from the heart and talk about what you know, rather than what you don’t know.
You came from a coffee background, first working with individual suppliers and then managing the coffee trader for sustainable procurement and the supply chain. Could you describe the skills you developed there that led to your hiring at Dell Monta for the senior role?
Molly Laverty 27:34 I started my first role in the coffee industry as a translator, since my major in college was Spanish literature and they needed someone who spoke Spanish. It seemed like a cool opportunity, especially since I had been a barista in high school and college. I enjoyed the chance to visit coffee farms, which eventually led to my becoming a coffee buyer. I went through the process of becoming a certified coffee taster, which allowed me to be part of the quality department.
As I was speaking to farmers during contract negotiations, I heard about the social and environmental challenges they faced. Coffee is a finicky crop, and weather patterns changes can have a significant economic impact on farmers who rely on a once-a-year harvest. This led me to become curious and passionate about environmental and social sustainability and justice in the supply chains. I became more involved in the sales and marketing side of the business, understanding the benefits of certifications such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, and how they can impact growers and why consumers value them.
I built my career on the supply chain side of sustainability before transitioning into the corporate and strategy side. I gained knowledge about operational sustainability, carbon footprinting, and reporting requirements. All of these skills within the supply chain helped me secure my current role at Del Monte. I believe that having this ground-up experience in the supply chain is important for understanding the entirety of the business and why different levers are important when developing a sustainability strategy. Jumping into a corporate strategy role without a good understanding of the business supply chain could be disorienting.
Louis DeMaso 30:38 The supply chain is an interesting and important component that you bring up. Many people may not immediately think of supply chain management as a crucial skill for sustainability, as they may focus on the impact within a particular company. However, the impact of a company often extends to its supply chain. Therefore, managing the supply chain and working with suppliers is a significant component for sustainability.
Molly Laverty 31:05 Understanding the supply chain is crucial for understanding how buying decisions are made. In my experience, it is not as simple as just choosing the least expensive product from a preferred supplier. There are often other factors to consider. It is important to incorporate other priorities into the decision-making process.
Louis DeMaso 31:30 Definitely. It sounds like the main skills that support your role are collaboration and building consensus, data and analytics (particularly with a detail orientation for carbon footprinting), supply chain management, and public speaking.
Molly Laverty 31:45 Yeah, just a couple of things!
Louis DeMaso 31:48 Yes, just a couple of things! However, these skills are typically developed over the course of a career, correct?
Molly Laverty 31:52 Yes. It’s important to remember that progress takes time and effort. When feeling frustrated or stagnant, I find it helpful to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past two years. By keeping our long-term vision in mind, we can continue to strive towards our goals and make meaningful progress.
Louis DeMaso 32:12 Definitely. Are there any skills that you are currently working on developing to further your career?
Molly Laverty 32:18 I’m currently deeply involved in carbon footprinting, learning about the technical side of greenhouse gas emissions reporting as well as lifecycle assessments. Digging into these details with consultants has been intellectually stimulating for me.
Additionally, I’ve been working on supply chain mapping and understanding how to achieve our net zero goals. This involves not only identifying necessary internal changes, but also recognizing external changes in the industry such as advancements in waste processing and recycling. It’s important to note that simply avoiding plastic use is not a complete solution, since materials like steel and glass are much more carbon-intensive to produce. While plastic is less carbon-intensive, it still has its own environmental impact.
Louis DeMaso 33:25 These are the insights that can only be gained by performing a detailed lifecycle assessment (LCA) to fully understand the entire lifecycle of a material.
Molly Laverty 33:32 Exactly. We need to delve into what the world will look like in 2030 and 2050, and how our company will interact with the new regulatory and operational environments we will be living in. For instance, for a food company, a significant portion of our carbon footprint comes from the product’s use by consumers in their homes. If consumers start using more electrical appliances and our grid becomes greener, relying more on solar and wind energy, a significant portion of our carbon footprint will decrease. Therefore, understanding how the world interacts with our supply chain is one of the next steps we are looking into.
Louis DeMaso 34:21 We are hearing that there is an important supply chain management aspect to managing your company’s carbon footprint. That’s great.
Shifting gears a bit, you earned an MBA in sustainable enterprise from the University of North Carolina. Can you discuss how that has been valuable to you and how you utilize it in your current role?
Molly Laverty 34:40 In 2018, I returned to school after a nine-year hiatus since graduating undergrad. I wanted to gain skills that I thought were crucial in the business world, particularly in corporate America. My undergraduate degree had a strong focus on qualitative skills, so I wanted to develop my quantitative skills further. Pursuing an MBA made the most sense to me, but I didn’t want to study accounting or something unrelated to my passions. The MBA program at UNC Chapel Hill caught my attention because it emphasized bridging the gap between sustainability and finance. Even though I had to take core classes in finance and accounting, I appreciated learning how to use these skills to make a business case and communicate effectively with CEOs and CFOs.
I enjoyed being back in school, and I continued working while pursuing my MBA full-time. It was challenging, but I graduated quickly in 2019. The MBA definitely helped me advance my career and secure my current position at Del Monte. I feel confident speaking in finance and accounting terms, and this skill has been invaluable in my daily conversations and business perspective.
Louis DeMaso 36:49 Making the business case and speaking to senior leaders about sustainability in terms of business language is definitely an important component of building consensus. Simply coming from an environmental perspective or using reasoning that doesn’t get to the heart of the business may not be enough.
Molly Laverty 37:05 Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.
Louis DeMaso 37:09 Sustainability professionals are all students. In other podcast episodes, those who have talked about going back to school described learning as a main motivation. It’s important to stay curious and continue learning about sustainability, even while working full-time.
Molly Laverty 37:29 It was enjoyable to return to school as an adult. Having been in the workforce for almost 10 years, I had a different perspective, and school brought a different value than when I was younger and still figuring out what I wanted to do. I appreciated that aspect of it, as well as understanding how the coursework would apply to my job and build on what I had already learned from being in the business world for a while.
Louis DeMaso 37:58 Could you tell me more about how your previous work experience contributed to your experience in the MBA program?
Molly Laverty 38:06 I found it easier to relate to the business cases, even when they referenced things like accounting measures. Being able to contextualize how those concepts would apply to my company at the time, Farmer Brothers, made them much more relatable than just theoretical academic concepts. Understanding how they could help me in my day-to-day work made learning about them more compelling.
Louis DeMaso 38:48 Do you think you would have gained as much from the MBA program if you had not had any prior work experience?
Molly Laverty 38:54 It’s difficult to say for sure whether going back to school for an MBA without prior work experience would have been as beneficial, because I went straight into the workforce after completing my undergraduate degree. However, early on in my career, I had no interest in pursuing an MBA. I believed that business was dull and that an MBA would be a tedious degree to obtain. That time spent working early in my career allowed me to better understand what type of degree would be useful for me and which degree I truly wanted to pursue.
Louis DeMaso 39:22 That makes a lot of sense. I had a very similar experience, having studied Environmental Science in college. I was very passionate about the environmental and sustainability, and less so about business. However, when I joined the workforce, I realized that I needed to communicate these passions in a business language in order to have an impact. This meant stumbling through accounting, the costs of sustainability, and the financial benefits. Therefore, I can see how an MBA would be very valuable in this sense.
Molly Laverty 39:51 Yes, I’m definitely glad I did it.
Louis DeMaso 39:54 So, your first job was as a translator for a coffee roaster, and now you are the director of ESG for a large food company. Could you talk a little bit about how you made that shift? How can someone who is currently working in a role that is not necessarily sustainability-focused make sustainability more a part of their daily role and eventually even transition into a sustainability-focused role?
Molly Laverty 40:23 I would say, stay curious. Even if your current role isn’t related to sustainability, be curious about how you can apply sustainability concepts to your work. When I started as a translator, I didn’t think about sustainability as a career path. But I stayed curious and learned more about the realities and complexities of being a coffee farmer. This led me to work on coffee procurement and supply chain, which ultimately led to sustainability.
If you’re passionate about sustainability, even if it’s not part of your current role, be open to how you can help. Sustainability professionals work cross-functionally with every department within a company. We need help in every area, from data collection to accounting. When people are passionate, curious, and helpful, it’s easy to identify who wants to work in sustainability.
So practice incorporating sustainability into your day-to-day work, even if it’s not part of your job description. It will be obvious who we want working with us in different departments. For example, I brought an engineering specialist into our department to work on energy savings projects because he showed a passion for sustainability and was helpful in other areas. Remember, being curious and open to learning can lead to unexpected opportunities and career paths.
Louis DeMaso 43:10 It seems that you are open to ideas from people of all kinds of professions, even if they do not specialize in sustainability, such as those in operations, finance, or marketing. You understand that these ideas are valuable and should be considered in decision-making processes.
Molly Laverty 43:23 Yes, as a sustainability director, it’s important to embed yourself within different departments to avoid the isolation that comes with the role. Having allies who can help you push priorities forward is essential, especially in challenging departments. As we expand our team, we’re looking for passionate individuals who can help move our work forward in innovative and interesting ways.
Louis DeMaso 43:57 That’s good news for someone who is not currently working in sustainability but wishes to do so.
Molly Laverty 44:01 Definitely. Once you start working in sustainability, even if it’s as an analyst or not in a corporate strategic role, don’t lose sight of your true passion. There are many different paths you can take, so if data collection makes you want to scratch your eyes out, don’t pursue reporting as your specialty. Instead, explore the opportunities available to you. When I was looking for new positions, I focused on food companies because I’m passionate about the food supply chain, but I was qualified for roles in all sorts of industries, from telecom to apparel, because I fit the requirements for those roles. So, if you’re a specialist in a field like reporting, supply chain, or compliance, it’s not out of the question to make a career or industry jump if that’s something you want to do. There are many opportunities available to you.
Louis DeMaso 45:20 It’s inspiring. We’ve discussed the various skills necessary for a career in sustainability and how one can develop them while transitioning to a sustainability profession. Understanding the high-level strategic sustainability initiatives you’re working on is so valuable for those new to or interested in sustainability. Thank you for sharing your insights; your work is remarkable.
Molly Laverty 45:52 It’s been fun! Thank you so much for the conversation.
Louis DeMaso 45:56 We appreciate you coming on the show and hope everything goes well. Thank you, Molly!
Molly Laverty 46:00 Thanks Louis!
