The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) has become a crucial member of the leadership team, deeply involved in shaping company strategy and operations. However, despite the abundance of sustainability theory, practical and consolidated information on how to execute the corporate sustainability function remains elusive. In her debut book, ‘How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer’, co-authored with business leader Jennifer Geary, Anna Krotova deconstructs the CSO role, walking the reader through the key components of successfully anchoring sustainability in the core of the organisation. Join Anna for the official book launch in Amsterdam, followed by a candid conversation with three sustainability leaders about their own experiences in driving sustainability inside an organisation.
About the speakers
Anna Krotova is co-author of “How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer”. She is a long-standing sustainability professional who has been working on sustainability issues since 2010 across NGOs, international development organisations, consulting, and private sector companies. Over the years, she has helped organisations improve their sustainability practices, usher in impactive changes in company operations and culture, and encourage meaningful reflection around sustainability issues. Her debut book, “How to be a Chief Sustainability Officer,” co-authored with Jennifer Geary, offers practical insights on the evolving profession of the CSO and a synthesis of sustainability theory and industry overview necessary to get started in the corporate sustainability and ESG domain.
Sanne Nusselder is a Global ESG Officer at Fagron, a publicly traded pharmaceuticals compounding company founded in the Netherlands. Sanne joined Fagron in 2020 where she is responsible for the company’s ESG strategy, ensures its implementation in the day-to-day operations, and oversees ESG reporting. Before joining Fagron Sanne worked as a consultant at CE Delft where she supported private and public organizations with environmental impact assessments and advised them on sustainability strategies.
Hero Boonstra is VP Sustainability/ESG at VTTI BV. Trained in Environmental Sciences(MSc) at Wageningen University (NL), Hero started his career as in Industrial Hygienist in the Rotterdam petrochemical industries working in consultancy on health, safety and environmental issues. He worked for almost 12 years at GDF-Suez (later ENGIE) in the Energy and Technical Services industries as Head of HSE and Sustainability. Sustainability became the main focus of his work starting from 2008. After ENGIE Benelux and a two year role at Stork/Fluor in a European role he is now VTTI’s global lead on Sustainability and ESG. Believing strongly that the complex balance between people, planet and profit is too often simplified to single issue (political) preferences he enjoys working in an industrial context working on sustainability issues that feed into the core of business, society and its future.
Markus Pretzl has an educational and professional background in finance, starting his career in tax consulting, auditing, and later management consulting in the financial services industry at KPMG. At Oberbank, a leading Austrian financial institution, he sharpened his skills, being responsible for executive communication and investor relations in his role as assistant to the CEO. Markus joined TIP Group 5 years ago, starting in treasury and investor relations before becoming Director of ESG/EHS 3 years ago, focusing on strengthening the occupational health and safety program and building a meaningful sustainability strategy from scratch.
