Marcy Twete is the CEO of Veerless where she advises corporations of all sizes, their investors and key partners on environmental, social and governance risks and reputation management. Launching Veerless as Marcy Twete Consulting in 2019, Marcy brought to this work recognized leadership in Fortune 500 multinational companies around the world. 

Marcy hosts Table Stakes: The Podcast for Responsible, Sustainable Businesses & Leaders, discussing the issues of sustainability with forward-thinking leaders to forecast the future of responsible business. Previously, she co-hosted Office Baggage, a podcast that tackles topics for women in business that are all too often brushed under the office rug.

Marcy is a proud Board Member for Girls on the Run Twin Cities, and former member of the Boards of Directors at Chicago Architecture Center, Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and Step Up. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the College of Saint Benedict and her MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Marcy lives in Minneapolis with her husband Charlie and her beloved dog Pearl.

What company do you see as your “North Star” in ESG/sustainability/responsibility? Why? What do they do that makes them unique, interesting, different, or particularly awesome in our field?

I admit to being a major Bill McDermott fangirl since his time as CEO of SAP and later as CEO of ServiceNow. ServiceNow has built a globally leading sustainability practice and I use them as an example for our clients all the time. If you can believe it, even their Code of Conduct is dynamic and interesting to read. They put ESG in everything they do and it shows!

When you look at a company’s sustainability initiatives or reporting, what “red flags” do you see that company that might be greenwashing?

A “Chief Sustainability Officer” who doesn’t sit on the leadership team. Boilerplate language about DEI, but no data on your actual representation. A fancy microsite just for your sustainability initiatives. A report that doesn’t align with widely accepted frameworks.

When you look at a company’s sustainability initiatives or reporting, what “green flags” do you see that signal a company is the “real deal” in sustainability?

One of the things I do every time a company publishes a sustainability report is look at the individuals from their company who shared about the report online. Were they sharing canned social media posts that were written for them? Or are they genuinely proud of the accomplishments in the report and sharing in their own voice. The #1 indicator for a strong sustainability practice inside a company is your team’s ability to advocate for and share true excitement about the work your company is doing.