At UT, Amanda studied Finance, Accounting, and Government. Her interest in these fields began in high school outside of Dallas, where she participated in a program called the International Business Academy. This program drew her attention to study business, where she discovered the business honors program to pursue her business studies. She was particularly attracted to the program because of the City of Austin and the caliber of students and alumni she encountered while learning more about Canfield BHP.
Reflecting on her time in the program, Amanda notes that Canfield BHP instilled in her a growth mindset, which is crucial in her role at Position Green. She recalls facing challenges during her college career and appreciates how she was able to persevere and learn new perspectives and ideas throughout the process. She credits Canfield BHP for teaching her the importance of building and nurturing a great team. The program’s diverse group projects allowed her to learn how to work effectively with people who have different working styles.
Amanda’s career began at Deloitte as an Analyst. Early in her career, she had opportunities to work on consulting projects for non-profits, such as the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. Reflecting on this experience, Amanda said, “I felt really excited to use core consulting skills to make a positive impact on my community. When I left Deloitte to pursue my MBA at NYU Stern, my goal was to find a career path that would allow me to do this in the long term. I secured a summer internship with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program, where I helped McDonald’s with their climate change strategy. I knew this was exactly the type of work I wanted to pursue and didn’t want to look back! This was a critical stepping stone in transitioning to sustainability software and advisory work. Having kids also expedited my career transition. I no longer had the luxury of time and knew I wanted to have an impact in my day job, not just through extracurricular initiatives.”
Founded in Sweden with over 350 employees, Position Green operates globally, and Amanda leads a team of 15 in the United States market, covering sales, marketing, customer success, and advisory. Position Green combines software and advisory services to help companies track non-financial metrics important to the long-term value of their clients’ businesses, such as carbon emissions and board diversity.
“I get really excited about making corporate sustainability accessible at scale. It can be overwhelming for companies to meet the demands of various stakeholders who have expectations around corporate sustainability, especially those with limited resources and budgets. I love that Position Green can meet companies where they are and empower them to make meaningful progress. I also enjoy being part of a global team and a U.S. team with offices in both NYC and Texas. In the morning, I’m on Google Meet learning from my peers in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the UK, and in the afternoon, I’m on the line with my Austin team negotiating the last few details of a customer contract,” Amanda says when discussing what she enjoys most about her work.
Amanda defines corporate sustainability as an approach to business where environmental, social, and governance impacts are managed effectively to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts to ensure the company’s long-term success. She emphasizes that to achieve this effectively, companies should focus on the topics that are most important, or “material,” to their specific industries and geographic presence, where they can make the biggest potential impact.
When asked how corporate sustainability affects everyday people, she responded, “I think most people experience the impacts of corporate sustainability in two key ways: as employees and as consumers. As employees, people experience a company’s focus on employee experience aspects such as benefits, safe working conditions, fair pay, DEI, and career development. These investments are not only the right thing to do but also have a financial impact because employees who are treated well are more likely to stay. Replacing talent is very expensive! As customers, people may notice small changes in their daily experiences, such as open-mouth cup lids replacing straws and requests from hotels not to launder sheets every day to save water and electricity. Corporate sustainability is often executed more effectively when customers don’t notice a difference (e.g., the Nike Flyknit shoe, which uses significantly fewer resources to produce).”
Amanda offers some advice to students currently in the program: “Trust yourself. You did not get into Canfield BHP by accident, and you aren’t about to be found out. Put one foot in front of the other and keep pushing to make your dreams a reality. It may be a winding road, but you will eventually get there. Also, don’t forget to have fun outside of business school! Find your community early and invest in it. I joined the Texas Lonestars spirit group as a freshman, and it truly enriched my four years at UT.” She also offers advice to recent grads or upcoming graduates: “As a college student, I found it comforting to think about joining a company I would stay with for my whole career. This was what my parents experienced, and I thought that was what I wanted as well. However, I’ve learned that changing career paths can be daunting. Your first job out of undergrad certainly won’t be your last, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to land the perfect job right away.”
If you would also like the opportunity to be featured or to continue to stay in contact with the Canfield Business Honors team, make sure to join our LinkedIn group and check your email for updates from the director.