Tonya Lagrasta | Colliers
Global Head of Sustainability

How to continue doing serious sustainability work without becoming a lightning rod for political distraction.

• Can you de-politicize sustainability inside your own company?
• How are companies rebranding or reframing ESG work to stay under the radar?
• What’s the risk of going quiet—or staying loud?

An experienced panel of C-Suite leaders will break the ice with an honest conversation about what actually gets their attention, builds trust, and convinces them to prioritize sustainability.

• What’s shaped our thinking on sustainability over time
• How we’ve navigated competing priorities and trade-offs
• What we look for when deciding whether to back an idea

Sarah Chapman | Manulife
Chief Marketing Officer, Global Chief Sustainability Officer

• “I’m Not the Police”: Balancing Accountability and Collaboration

• Scaling Small Wins Into Big Systems Change

• The Art of Saying No (Without Killing the Relationship)

• Building Sustainability Fluency Across Middle Management

• “Do We Even Need a Sustainability Department?”

• When Your Suppliers Won’t Cooperate: Real Talk About Scope 3

• Walking the Fine Line Between Transparency and Risk Exposure

• Sustainability Leadership Without Formal Authority

• Keeping the C-Suite Interested After the Big Announcement

• Navigating Stakeholder Mismatch Across Investors, Customers, and Regulators

Angela Griffiths | A&W Canada
Vice President Food Safety, and Brand Integrity

Everyone says sustainability must “align with the business.” But what happens when the best move for the planet doesn’t pencil out this quarter.

• How far can “long-term value” arguments really stretch?
• What happens when leadership quietly prioritizes profits over promises?
• Is it time to make a moral case—or just a better business case?

With Bill C-59, CSRD, SEC, and other rules arriving—what companies are doing to stay ahead (or not) and how compliance is becoming a competitive edge.

• Preparing for overlapping mandates, rising disclosure pressure, and growing scrutiny

• What’s keeping us up at night about Bill C-59, SEC, and CSRD timelines

• How we’re weighing compliance risks against competitive opportunities

• Sustainability as a key driver of employer branding
• The impact of ESG initiatives on employee retention
• The skills and competencies needed for sustainable business
• Preparing workforces for future sustainability challenges

Host:
Wesley Gee |  Works Design
Chief Sustainability Officer and Principal

Guest Speakers:

Sustainability doesn’t sit in one department. So how are corporates embedding accountability across operations, finance, legal, and the board.

• Who should sustainability leaders be empowering—or pressuring?
• How do you avoid sustainability becoming “everywhere and nowhere”?
• What governance models are breaking the silo problem?

• How to Protect Your Team from Burnout

• “We Have the Data—Now What?”

• Talent Development in Sustainability: Growing Future Leaders

• Sustainability vs. Finance: Finding Common Ground

• When the Supply Chain Isn’t Ready: Innovating Beyond What Exists

• “Is This Even Legal?”: Navigating Emerging Regulations

• The Internal Greenwashing Dilemma

• Embedding Climate Risk into Corporate Strategy Without Paralysis

• Making Sustainability Metrics Matter to Non-Sustainability People

• “I Can’t Be Everywhere”: Building Internal Sustainability Champions

• The role of AI and digital transformation
• Data-driven insights for sustainable business
• Emerging technologies in corporate ESG strategies
• Case studies from leading digital-first companies

• Why some of the most sustainable companies are going quiet

• The real cost of staying silent vs. speaking up

• How fear of backlash is reshaping brand strategy

• What leadership looks like in a post-greenwashing era