It doesn’t seem that complicated to Andrea March, MES’11.
“The most important thing I try to do is try to be conscious and ask questions as a consumer,” she said. “When I buy things, I look at labels. I try to understand where my food comes from. I try to support local and try to be conscious in my purchasing decisions.”
Earlier this year, the 27-year-old was named among Canada’s Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Trailblazers.
This year is the first for such a list, started by The Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series and Corporate Knights, with sponsorship support from paper-products manufacturer Kruger Products. The honour recognizes Canadian youth who have demonstrated themselves as leaders of sustainable development. The list features an impressive collection of young entrepreneurs, activists, corporate professionals and students eager to make the world a better place.
March’s career since graduation has focused on supporting socially and environmentally responsible business practices. While working at the consultancy Innovolve Group, she brought together business and government leaders for the 2011 and 2012 Canadian Water Summit. While at Green Living Enterprises, she helped organize the annual Green Living Show.
Today, as manager of research and partnerships for the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in Toronto, March is supporting the growth of social entrepreneurship, impact investing and social finance in Canada through RBC’s Social Finance initiative.
“(Sustainability) was always kind of intuitive. In my fourth (undergraduate) year, I did a thesis on consumption, looking at the culture of buying things and also of the waste aspect of it. I started to become interested in environmental issues and the role we play in creating them and solving them,” she said.
“I always had an idea I wanted to apply that to business, and I wanted to use (business) as a force for change, to figure out how to combine my passion for the environment with the power of business,” she said, noting the MES program gave her the perfect opportunity to explore her interests.
“In this line of work, a lot of it is about communicating effectively and making (the sustainability message) resonate,” March said. “And for employees, CSR (corporate social responsibility) is now seen as a competitive advantage, or a differentiator, in companies.”
March and her colleagues at RBC are currently working to develop and implement new strategies that promote sustainable practices. Projects involve assessing environmental risk, making sure financing is responsible, managing the operational footprint of the RBC office and its branches, using the least amount of water and energy possible, among other initiatives.
“The third bucket of my group is social finance, which is where most of my time is dedicated – we’re trying to figure out how to use private capital for public good, to invest in companies making a difference,” she said.
“We’re really pursing this idea of corporate sustainability as the next frontier, if you will. We’re trying to operate as responsibly and sustainably as we can. But how do we engage our clients, customers and offer them products so they can do it, too? I work a lot on partnerships and research in this space to help inform the strategy,” March continued.
As for the honour of being named a Sustainability Trailblazer, for March, it’s another rung on the ladder of establishing sustainability as the way of the future.
“It’s nice to have your efforts recognized. It’s great in terms of (sustainability) being a new space, and it helps to build it – I can’t ask for that kind of recognition. What I loved about it is how diverse people were on the list, and I think it’s great for young people, trying to figure out how to have a career that’s meaningful to them,” she said.
“The field is growing, which is great. But there’s no reason you can’t take the sustainability or environmental lens to whatever job or position you currently hold. A lot of it is being mindful of stakeholders, of your actions, long-term and their impact. I think it’s a great way to build awareness and experience. Anyone can apply these values to their job, their life.”