Leading Sustainability
In this podcast, join specialist sustainability recruiter Tom Strelczak from TWS Search Partners as he sits down with sustainability leaders from across geographies to discuss their careers and the realities of working in this complex sector.
Sustainability has become an exciting and significant area of growth across the world, with many aspiring professionals and graduates looking to move into this sector and forge meaningful careers.
Away from the draw of creating impact and making a difference, what is it really like to work in sustainability and what would leaders in this sector tell you about their experiences and how they got into the industry?
Leading Sustainability
Episode 10: Leading Sustainability - Ashley Hamilton Claxton (Royal London Asset Management)
In this landmark episode finally hitting double figures, I meet with Ashley Hamilton Claxton, the Head of Responsible Investment at Royal London Asset Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal London, the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions company, with £170 billion AUM and deep roots within sustainable investing.
Ashley is a significant figurehead in the industry, but speaks with real honesty and humility about the experiences that shaped her career, including time spent on the ground handling real world impact for mining communities in Guatemala, navigating the rapid change within sustainability and tips for harnessing diversity in hiring practices of her own.
Timestamps:
(01:14) The journey into sustainable finance and CSR
(07:20) The mining sector and real-world experiences
(14:31) Navigating career growth against rapid change
(20:50) Assessing diverse talent when hiring into the team
(27:46) Career impact from specialist vs. generalist roles
(35:57) Parenting shaping a view on impact and sustainability
(38:15) Curiosity from people outside the industry
(43:34) Advise to those starting out in the sector right now
(46:16) Fielding opposing views and how to process them
(49:38) If not sustainability, then what instead?