LinkedIn Sustainability Influencers to Follow in 2022
Co-written by Martin Edwini-Bonsu and Marsha Ord
As the climate crisis intensifies, it’s more important than ever for a just transition towards green careers. Luckily, it’s easy to be inspired to work on climate action with a diverse range of environmentalists, entrepreneurs, activists, intrapreneurs, and community builders who are involved in supporting sustainability efforts. Many of these sustainability influencers have also been outspoken for the environmental sector to be a more inclusive and intersectional place for underrepresented communities. So, if you’re looking for motivation on how to address the climate crisis or want to learn more about sustainability, look no further than these sustainability influencers!
We put out a call for sustainability influencers to follow in 2022, and we came out with a list of 30 phenomenal leaders in the space who are willing to give back to their communities. Below their short biographies you’ll also see if they are open to various opportunities including making time for coffee chats ☕ , giving mentorship 👥 and offering career coaching 🏆. You can connect with all the sustainability in this list on LinkedIn by clicking their name. Good luck with getting started on your green career journey!
Lily studied their undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the University of King’s College, and later pursued a Master of Environmental Studies at the University of Dalhousie. Lily has been a climate and social justice advocate and activist since they were a child, from green teams, to city and continent wide organizing, they are constantly working towards an equitable, sustainable, and decolonized future.
Most recently, Lily ran as a candidate for provincial office in Nova Scotia, defended and published her master's research on the experiences of politically active youth with climate grief, and works in the Nova Scotia government to directly support the clean energy transition. Lily is passionate about integrating art and relationship building to foster care in our communities and transform the way we relate to the land and each other.
Open to: ☕ 👥
Salma Tihani is an academic and community organizer that centers her work around supporting youth in climate spaces and the promotion of justice-oriented work around sustainability. She currently holds her MA in Education and Society and a BA in International Development. Her research focuses on supporting youth activists of colour by employing the Evergreen Youth Lab (an identity workshopping series) through their self-discoveries.
Open to: ☕
Wasundara means ‘the earth’ in Sanskrit. Wasundara studied for a Bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences from the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, and did the same with a policy concentration for her Master's at Central European University in Austria. Recently, she did an internship with the UNEP Secretariat named Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), which helped her turn her passion to fight climate issues into action.
Following that, she got an offer to work as a Policy Analyst at the World Biogas Association based in the UK, and currently she is in the process of moving to the UK for work. She has 2+ years of experience in the sustainability sector doing a lot of policy and market research, data analysis, desk research, project management, social media, and communications. Wasundara wants others, especially POC and women to learn more and get into the sustainability sector, so she started advocating for that on LinkedIn. Her goal is to help as many as people with finding a thriving career in sustainability.
Open to: ☕ 👥
Kristy Drutman, otherwise known as “Browngirl Green” is passionate about working at the intersections between media, diversity, and environmentalism. As a youth climate activist, Kristy has spoken in front of thousands as well as facilitated workshops centered around environmental media and storytelling in cities across the United States. She has also worked with youth from around the world to create collaborative, intersectional online media with the goal of creating conscious, culturally relevant content to engage audiences in proactive solution-building to the climate crisis.
Kristy also Co-Founded Green Jobs Board, an online platform bridging the equity and inclusion gap within the green economy.
Open to: ☕ 🏆
Karine is a 4th-year Economics student with a passion for sustainability. She was a member of the first cohort of Concordia’s sustainability ambassador program, during which she developed an interactive map of the sustainability initiatives at Concordia. Her project allowed her to win a SAF Sustainability Research Award and a CSU Sustainability Education Scholarship. Karine enjoys discovering new applications of systems theory and interactive design. When she’s not working on her various projects, Karine can be found rock climbing or hiking.
Open to: ☕
Dani is a sustainable development specialist who is passionate about environmental justice, food sovereignty, and housing affordability. She has experience in community based participatory research, survey design, policy writing and analysis, grant writing, project planning, and event planning. In her free time, you can catch her in the mountains hiking, snowboarding, or camping, cooking, gardening, reading, and checking out craft breweries.
Open to: ☕ 👥
Anureet is appointed as Softchoice's first ever Sustainability Manager. In her new role, she is leading Softchoice's Sustainability roadmap and strategy, including setting baselines, targets and performance disclosures. In her previous role as a Senior Consultant, Sustainability and Reporting at Purolator Inc., Anureet led the Corporate Sustainability report, ESG disclosures, and created the organization’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory process. She also supported Purolator’s emission reduction strategy and pathway.
Anureet is passionate about mentoring students, recent graduates, and young professionals who are looking to enter the sustainability sector. She conducts workshop sessions at sustainability conferences and universities in the Greater Toronto Area and provides insights on how Canadian organizations can address climate risks. She is currently appointed as a Sessional Lecturer/Professor at Seneca College for the Sustainable Business Management Program where she teaches social impact and climate justice. Anureet has 6+ years of progressive experience in ESG, sustainability strategy, climate risk, and policy.
Open to: 👥
Julie is the founder and lead strategist at Tiny Planet Digital, a digital marketing marketing agency striving to advocate for a more sustainable future. Most recently, she was selected as a winner for the 2022 BC Business Women of the Year award.
Open to: ☕
Jasveen is a climate educator from the prairies. Her work centers around environmental justice, intersectional environmentalism and ensuring that youth are involved in decision-making. She holds a B.Sc from Dalhousie University in Biology and Sustainability and has experience working in ocean conservation, polar policy and education.
Jasveen has been named a Top 30 Environmental Educator by NAAEE, Top 25 Environmentalist by Starfish and holds a Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers from the Governor General of Canada. She also serves on the Governance board for the Canadian Ocean Literacy Council.
Open to: ☕
Miranda Baksh is CEO of the Community Climate Council, climate action catalyst, and was named York University's top 30 changemakers under 30 making a difference in the world. She had an array of jobs while in school that varied from outdoor education to teaching French at a private school. Her passion for biodiversity conservation led her to obtain her Masters where she studied EcoHealth and Disaster Risk Reduction in Costa Rica and Belize which brought her closer to local climate activism.
Shortly after, she co-founded a non-profit organization and led the first climate march in her hometown, Brampton, in 2019. Currently, she works at Environmental Defence, and is a Board Director at Climate Action Network Canada. In her spare time she enjoys hiking the trails across Ontario and identifying new plant and insect species.
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆
Sophia is the Founder & Executive Director of Threading Change, a youth-led ethical fashion organization working at the intersections of climate, gender, and racial justice in alignment with the necessary transition to a circular economy. Originally born in China but raised in Calgary, Alberta, Sophia draws on her multitude of diverse work and volunteer experiences as the drivers for her holistic approach and perspective on the protection of our environment.
As a dedicated climate justice changemaker, Sophia has worked for over a dozen environmental organizations ranging from federal government agencies (Parks Canada, Natural Resources Canada), NGOs (Nature Conservancy of Canada, SPEC, Prince's Trust Canada, CityHive), industry (CNRL), and academia (UBC, SFU). Sophia is the recipient of the City of Vancouver's Greenest City Leadership Award in 2022, Corporate Knights’ Canada’s Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders in 2021, the Starfish Canada’s Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists award in 2017 and 2018, has attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 24 & 25) twice as a British Columbian Youth Delegate, and DJs as 'KALEIDO' in her spare time.
Threading Change was born because Sophia wanted to help raise young people’s voices in one of our world’s most polluting industries—the fashion industry. Doing so for our planet, and people.
Open to: 👥
Sabrina is a climate justice advocate, researcher and consultant with Canada-wide experience on diverse projects related to climate policy, green jobs, just transition, and youth leadership. Presently, she is focusing her Master’s research on how art and storytelling can help young people cope with climate anxiety and ecological grief.
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆
Andrés Jimenez holds a Masters’s in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Business and Sustainability from York University. He works with the Weston Family Foundation overseeing a diverse and extensive portfolio of environmental projects across Canada. He is an online course instructor, podcast host and also works to recover traditional names of birds in Anishinaabemowin and works as a board member for the Planet In Focus International Environmental Film Festival.
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆
Fae Johnstone is a leading voice on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues in Canada. She is the Executive Director and Co-Owner of Wisdom2Action Consulting Ltd., a social enterprise and consulting firm working with nonprofits and governments across Canada to advance 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, improve mental health services, and combat gender-based violence. Fae was the 2019 recipient of LGBT Youth Line's Trans Activism award, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for YWCA Canada.
Open to: ☕
Michelle Angkasa is a fourth year Environment student at the University of Waterloo. They are a passionate climate justice advocate who has worked with organizations such as Our Time and Climate Reality Project Canada. Michelle believes in inspiring and mobilizing young people to push for a future that puts people and the planet over profit.
Open to: ☕ 👥
Lauren is a Masters of Environmental Studies candidate at York University with a specialization in Business Sustainability & Social Change. She is currently the Co-Executive Director of Regenesis, one of Canada’s largest student-led environmental organizations and the founder of the Green Career Centre. Over more than four years, Lauren has reached thousands of youth through developing environmental entrepreneurship programs and sharing green career development resources.
In her undergraduate research, Lauren met with policymakers at the Government of Canada to influence the inclusion of underserved youth in green jobs. Impressively, Lauren has secured more than half a million dollars for BIPOC-led and impact-driven organizations which has financed the creation of scores of environmental events, dozens of green jobs, three community gardens, and a space for a soup kitchen.
Open to: ☕
Ashoke Mohanraj holds a BES from the University of Waterloo and currently works at the RCMP as an Environmental Advisor. In his professional life his work focuses primarily on water and climate governance, and in his spare time focuses on environmental education through his children's book "Pollinator Man".
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆
Proudly Franco-Albertan, Chúk is passionate about the ways in which the environment impacts human health and the role of justice in our understanding of how our societies function. As a result of this passion, Chúk is very active in changemaking spaces in both Canada and at an international scale. His educational background centers the domains of environment science, chemistry, public health and medical geography. In his work as one of the founding directors of Future Ancestors Services, he focuses on environmental and climate justice, and outside of this work, he is involved in several boards, committees, conferences and movements to reimagine and recreate societal structures and systems for the well-being of all of our kin. Human and non-human.
Open to: ☕
Ranjith is an energy professional with expertise in carbon footprinting, net-zero targeting, ESG reporting, energy audits, energy efficiency retrofits, and implementation of state-wide energy efficiency programs. He has expertise on the implementation of several decarbonization projects and conducted the impact evaluations of DSM, energy efficiency projects in commercial, industrial and residential sectors.
Open to: 👥 🏆
Jenna Robar is a community activist from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Seasoned in speaking up for what she believes in, she has spoken in the House of Commons, with the UNAC, and with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Jenna is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, providing non-partisan advice on issues of importance to Canadians.
Open to: ☕ 👥
MJ moved to Canada in 2017 as an international student and got a degree in environmental management. Right now, she works as a coordinator at WWF Canada and as a youth advisor for the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity and Vibrant Healthcare Alliance helping people with disabilities. In the past, she has worked with several non-profits too.
At the beginning of 2022, MJ was accepted in the Youth Champions Program by Spur Change where she learned how social and environmental issues intersect. MJ understood the importance of addressing both issues together. Thanks to the program, she was able to develop her own climate justice project to illustrate the disproportional effects of climate change in certain regions and communities.
Open to: ☕ 🏆
Amanda is an environmentalist, researcher, educator, science communicator, and MSc student in Geography. She is passionate about advocating for a sustainable and equitable society through conservation, climate justice, and environmental education. She’s worked on conservation projects with local communities around the world, studying animals including primates, prairie dogs, and coyotes.
Open to: ☕ 🏆
Frida has spent over two years supporting (and then running) the day-to-day operations at The Green Career Centre. She is passionate about sustainable forest management and environmental education. This past summer, she studied urban fruit tree health in order to better support urban food systems.
Open to: ☕ 🏆
Vuyile is a social entrepreneur and creative media communicator with an academic background in media communications/journalism and has professional experience in communications, international development, business management and administration.
Open to: ☕
Isaias Hernandez is an environmental educator and the creator of QueerBrownVegan, where he creates introductory forms of environmentalism through colorful graphics, illustrations and videos. He seeks to provide a safe space for like-minded environmentalists to advance the discourse around the climate crisis.
Open to: ☕
Reinald De Leon is the Climate Programs Coordinator for Youth Challenge International. After finishing his undergrad, Reinald pursued his passion for community engagement and sustainability. He is inspired by the people in these spaces and hopes to continue growing here. In his spare time, Reinald enjoys learning and anything outdoors-y!
Open to: ☕ 👥
With an Industrial Engineering background and a Master’s in Sustainability from Harvard University, Laura enjoys the entrepreneurial nature of corporate sustainability, and considers herself a social intrapreneur who uses empathy as a tool to influence and drive change at different hierarchical levels. She has led grassroots sustainability initiatives within different corporations, and is currently an ESG and Climate Change consultant.
She is an alumni of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, where she served as Canada's first Community Champion and Montreal Hub Curator. She is also an Action Canada Fellow'22, Canada’s top accelerator of emerging leaders, and is also involved in other initiatives like the Climate Reality Project, Leading Change Canada, and One Young World Montreal 2024. Originally from Colombia, she loves reading, and spending time outdoors with her dog and husband.
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆 as well as hosting dialogues and events with sustainability professionals, and collaborations across the organizations she’s involved with.
Cheralyn Chok is the Executive Director of Propel Impact. She is a co-founder and previously Executive Director of the Social Innovation Academy, one of two nonprofits that merged to form Propel Impact in October 2022. From the inception of the Social Innovation Academy in 2019, Cheralyn led the organization’s program design, experiential learning, and equity, diversity, & inclusion efforts.
Social and environmental impact have always been core to her work; Cheralyn brings entrepreneurial experience from founding and operating a zero-waste necktie company (Miley Cyrus bought one in 2015!) and was an early employee at social ventures Awake Labs and ChopValue. She holds a BCom from the University of British Columbia and now resides on the unceded territory of the Anishinaabe and Algonquin Nation in what is now Ottawa.
Open to: ☕
Meagan Dellavilla is an experienced community-based researcher and program manager. In her current role as a Senior Program Specialist with Community Food Centres Canada, she is working to develop and scale a food-focused youth mental health promotion program. Outside of work, Meagan is actively involved in land stewardship initiatives.
Open to: ☕ 👥
Caroline Lee is Mitigation Research Lead at the Canadian Climate Institute, an independent climate policy research organization working to advance policy progress on climate change in Canada. She is passionate about seeking policy solutions to what she believes is the defining challenge of our generation.
Open to: ☕ 👥 🏆
