New Hires at We Mean Business
The We Mean Business coalition has made two senior appointments to its secretariat. Jennifer Gerholdt joins as Corporate Engagement Director from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Jen Austin as Policy Director from the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. State Department. Together they will bolster the coalition’s capacity to catalyse business action, drive policy ambition and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
We Mean Business works with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change. The coalition catalyses business action to drive policy ambition and accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy.
Jennifer Gerholdt formed and led the Circular Economy and Sustainability Program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Prior to the Chamber Foundation Jennifer held roles at World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and Green America, helping companies find new ways of doing business that are both profitable and sustainable.
On joining the coalition Jennifer outlined her ambitions for the role: “We Mean Business is a coalition of non-profit organisations working with the world’s leading and most influential businesses to drive ambition and accelerate the transition to the low carbon economy. The coalition’s Take Action campaign is helping hundreds of companies to commit to bold climate action. I am thrilled to be joining the Coalition to ramp up our work and impact to harness the momentum to achieve a low carbon economy.”
Jen Austin served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor at the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. State Department. Before that she worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and for both President Obama’s campaigns as an Organizer and a Press Secretary.
“The We Mean Business coalition is uniquely positioned to catalyse business action in support of governments’ and policy makers’ ongoing efforts to achieve, and ultimately exceed, the targets they set under the Paris Agreement. I am eager to help elevate leading business’ analytical insights and voices within the climate policy discussion to help promote ambitious climate action and stronger, more innovative climate policies.” Said Jen on her new role.
Nigel Topping CEO of We Mean Business, on announcing the two appointments said, “We are at a crucial tipping point, there are now over 600 companies who have committed to taking action with a market capitalization of $15.1trillion from 47 countries. Jen and Jennifer join an excellent team and will work closely with our extensive network of partners to help business leaders and policy makers deliver the dual goals of reducing global emissions and maximising economic growth.
“The We Mean Business coalition partners are helping businesses from all sectors to set ambitious goals to embed climate risk and opportunity into their strategies, and to implement innovative solutions to deliver the transition to a prosperous zero-carbon economy. A reinvigorated partnership between business leaders and policy makers at state, region and city level has never been more important and the We Mean Business coalition is excited to be contributing to new models of distributed leadership for lasting transformative change.”
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