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186 / Petrichor, Pluralistic Ignorance & Pacific Pioneers (+ Catch Us At Climate Week NYC!)
Published 3 months ago • 5 min read
Hey friends,
After a joyful summer of travel, play and a bit of digital pause, we’re back!
And with my five-year-old back in school, I’m feeling all the fall feels. After the lightness of summer, there’s something grounding about returning to routines, setting new intentions and diving back into the work with fresh eyes (optionally with an apple cinnamon muffin by your side).
For me, that’s meant putting on my “learner’s hat” to finalize a workshop I’ll be delivering at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit during Climate Week NYC. The research has provided an opportunity to reflect on *how much* the sustainability communications landscape has shifted since we put out our New Rules course in 2023 — and how much guidance is still needed for leaders navigating today’s sustainability communications tightrope. It’s reminded me that this work is never static; we’re continuously needing to learn and evolve.
If you’re feeling the same, you’ll want to check out our Impact Upskilling Hub — a curated list we’ve created of 100+ of the best sustainability and social impact trainings out there. If you’re a Change Hub member, we’ve also negotiated nearly €1500 in course discounts with partners like Terra.do, The UnSchool, VOIZ Academy, Careers for Social Impact and more (if you’re doing the math, that’s more than 2x the cost of an annual membership… just sayin’).
Because just like our kids, we’re always students — especially in a field as fast-changing as ours. Here’s to a season filled with learning, bouquets of freshly sharpened pencilsand bountiful inspiration.
Honestly, is there anything better than fall in New York? I’m so excited to experience it again during Climate Week NYC, where I’ll be presenting at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit on Tuesday and co-hosting a casual morning meet-up with the Girls Club Collective and Sister Seasons on Thursday. While both events are sold out, we’ve reserved a few final spaces for Change Hub members at the Thursday meet-up (DM me on Circle to snag yours).
Honored to be recognized by 3BL as one of the 25 Voices Defining Corporate Sustainability in 2025 and to be included alongside such brilliant leaders. Thank you, 3BL, for uplifting the storytellers, strategists and change-makers pushing this movement forward!
September’s (much-requested) Hot Topic in the Change Hub is Sustainability Communications. Members can take advantage of our free two-hour workshop on the New Landscape of Sustainability Communications, a “Let’s Talk” gathering on Sustainability Communications, our quarterly Member Matchmaking service and a suite of relevant curated resources.
If your first reaction to catching up on this summer’s climate headlines was a big “WTF”, this episode of the Outrage + Optimism podcast is for you. It debriefs the biggest news items, from stalled UN plastics treaty talks to the hottest summer on record across much of the northern hemisphere, and asks the question: are there still reasons to be optimistic? (44 minutes)
In the ‘90s, NGOs like Oxfam, Amnesty and Greenpeace were hailed as powerful global change agents. Fast-forward to today, and researchers Sarah Bush and Jennifer Hadden argue that their influence is waning, squeezed by shrinking budgets, rising government crackdowns, public skepticism and scandals that have chipped away at legitimacy. Their piece suggests we may be witnessing a power shift back from civil society to the state, with worrying implications for democracy, human rights and climate advocacy. (19 minutes)
Because I just can’t get enough of the most inspiring climate news of the year, this longread is the origin story: how a handful of Pacific Island law students turned a class assignment into a global legal moonshot that helped reshape climate law. It’s part civics lesson, part underdog saga and just the boost we need to keep fighting the good (climate) fight. 🥰 (25 minutes; gift link to bypass paywall)
When author Andrew Winston saw that 38 of the top 50 Chief Sustainability Officers recognized in Sustainability Magazine’s latest “Most Sustainable Companies” list were women, he took to LinkedIn to ask the “knowingly dumb” question: why has sustainability been so female for so long? His post sparked a rich comment thread that’s worth a scroll if you’re curious about what this says about the profession today (and want to throw your thoughts into the mix).
Jon Batiste’s latest track is “a warning, set to a dance beat.” Give it a listen, then pop over to this profile in The Nation, which unpacks how the track reflects his activist roots and why joy still has a place in the fight.
Zach Weismann is the founder of social impact and climate consultancy The Impactful and a member of the Reconsidered Change Hub. In this profile, he shares the documentary that sparked his interest in social impact, one way he thinks everyone can contribute to the climate fight and the skill he finds most useful for driving change.
A two-hour workshop for Change Hub members where we’ll make sense of what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in sustainability communications in 2025 and leave you with practical tools to navigate it all.
📆 September 23 — Leaders Summit 2025 | 🇺🇸 New York City | Hosted by UN Global Compact.
Jess will be leading an afternoon workshop on “The New Landscape of Sustainability Communications”, unpacking allllll the shifting regulations/stakeholder expectations and sharing practical guidance for brand leaders looking to navigate this particularly tricky period for sustainability. [SOLD OUT]
📆 September 23 — BYOBagels to The Park | 🇺🇸 New York City | Hosted by qb. consulting. ** qb. consulting is hosting a Climate Week NYC gathering where fellow sustainability professionals come together over bagels at Central Park.
📆 September 24 — Climate Leadership During Uncertain Times| 🇺🇸 New York City | Hosted by Bespoke ESG. ** Join Bespoke ESG for a Climate Week NYC conversation with sustainability leaders on how to move sustainability strategies forward in a time of limited resources, shifting priorities and political volatility.
Reconsidered is co-hosting a low-key, bring-your-own breakfast Climate Week NYC meetup with the Girls Club Collective and Sister Seasons. [SOLD OUT, with a few final spots held for Change Hub members]
📣 **Partner Post. We always need more gatherings to bring folks in sustainability and social impact together. If you're hosting one of 'em, we'd love to help spread the word.
✍️ Most clicked from the last issue… You also appreciated this hopeful(ish) LinkedIn take on the Trump administration’s move to repeal the EPA’s Endangerment Firing.
💥 In the Reconsidered LinkedIn Group, members are sharing free tools for social impact organizations, scholarships for sustainability upskilling programs and circular economy learning hubs. Join almost 20k of us here.
📣 If you’ve got a mission-aligned initiative you’re building/launching/scaling, share it with our readers by booking a Sponsored Post.
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Get fresh finds from the world of corporate responsibility, sustainability + social impact delivered straight to your inbox, every other week. Each issue includes 5 thought-provoking links, a curated list of impact job opportunities, interviews with global impact leaders and loads of exclusive tools + resources for sustainable business professionals.
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