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The Evolution of the Chief Sustainability Officer

The 21st century saw the rise of the Chief Sustainability Officer, representing the promotion to the C-suite of the responsibility of companies to promote social and environmental sustainability. By 2014, 90 S&P 500 companies had institutionalized the role with increasingly large departments; in 2020 more first-time CSOs were hired by Fortune 500 companies than in the three prior years combined. In this period, the CSO has emerged from within a variety of corporate functions—legal, public relations, and operations, among others. The conception of the role has also shifted—over the last year, for example, ESG has faced significant backlash that is impacting the role and discourse over the role.

In this webinar event, coinciding with the exciting launch in April 2023 of GCNYC’s innovative new course on the CSO as part of our M.S. in Business for Social Impact and Sustainability, we will explore how the role and responsibilities of the CSO have changed and adapted to growing awareness of the urgency of sustainability in business in conversation with corporate leaders from the fashion and financial industries along with other changes in business, law, culture, and the ecosystem. What have been the successes and challenges of companies that add the CSO role? What are the trade-offs of situating the CSO in different parts of the organization? How do the imperatives of the CSO vary across industries?

Feb 9, 2023 12:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)