Get to know Allison
It’s mid-morning in Atlanta. From the 42nd floor of the Bank of America building (look it up on Google!) Allison has a commanding view over the city and beyond. It’s a great place to reflect on the size of her challenge.
Tell us about your role
As Sustainability Manager I’m overseeing all the goals in our Now and Next Sustainability Strategy, specifically across our North American region. I’m on the Corporate Affairs team, reporting into the Senior Sustainability Manager, and I work with everyone from site managers across nine states, to senior leaders in our Atlanta Head Office. I also have a Sustainability Analyst who is working with me to streamline our environmental data, biodiversity and community activities.
What first attracted you to DS Smith?
Probably our Sustainability Strategy. I’m a chemist with a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering and Science, and our strategy is science-based and science-backed. But now I’m here, I love the energy!
In your opinion, which one of the Sustainability Strategy targets will be hardest to achieve?
From a US perspective, I’d say our carbon target. There aren’t as many government incentives as there are in Europe to match our ambition and we’re going beyond what other companies are doing here. But failure is not an option and at DS Smith we’re showing we’re willing to invest in new processes and technologies to hit these targets. So far, everything I’ve seen suggests we’ll do that. The desire to make things happen is definitely there.
What excites you most about coming to work?
There’s never a dull day. Within the same day, I could be looking at our sustainability strategy, community projects, and paper sourcing... I’m really enjoying the diversity. It can be crazy and hectic some days but in a positive way!
In your opinion, what is DS Smith doing really well?
We’re good at engaging our stakeholders and using our sustainability credentials to stand out in the marketplace. Lots of companies say they’re doing things but when you dig a little deeper they’re not. The Science Based Target (SBTi) validated targets makes us really transparent. There’s no ‘greenwashing’ here.
What do you say to someone who is thinking about joining DS Smith?
It’ll be a crazy first couple of months but once you get settled in, the people are great, sustainability is at the forefront of our business and we’ll take good care of you.