Amanda DeSantis
Director, Corporate ESG Strategist and Family Foundation | Startup Advisor at ESG Strategies
ESG | Sustainability Executive + Innovator + Strategic Advisor
I have worked in sustainability for nearly 20 years as a corporate executive, sustainable tech entrepreneur, and environmental engineer. 

I write and speak about climate change, decarbonization, and the need to evolve into ESG 2.0 by focusing on methodologies to measure and compare impact, taking a systems based approach, sustainable innovation for products and services, more data-based and peer-reviewed approaches, and the evolving ESG profession.


About:
Working with amazing teams, I have been a sustainability | ESG executive at some of the largest multinational companies; worked at the intersection of data, tech, and sustainability; formed cross-sector collaborations that created the foundational ESG and ecosystem services | natural capital assessment frameworks; founded a machine learning tech startup that furthered R&D in sustainable innovation; created global social impact ventures, and managed a $200+ million engineering portfolio.


Approach:
Some of the most innovative and impactful approaches for creating opportunities are cross-disciplinary and leverage an organization's core capabilities, such as AI and climate change, biology and material science, or data analytics and DEI. Using that approach for ESG, I connect the dots across policy and regulation, business operations and products, investor and consumer expectations, and societal shifts to build embedded strategy, structure, and collaborative opportunities to drive growth and innovation.
ESG Strategies
Develop and advise on climate change and ESG strategies and innovation for multinational companies; advise on investments and build flagship innovation initiatives for family foundations; advise early-stage startups developing sustainable solutions - impact investing, building materials, and infrastructure robotics.
New York, New York, United States
Director, Corporate ESG Strategist and Family Foundation | Startup Advisor
New York University
https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-university
NYC Center for Responsible AI - Proposal team that worked across NYU to develop strategy, scope, and corporate partnerships to establish a center to solve societal challenges and spur economic growth, from the built environment to healthcare.

Data Program - Strategy and partnerships that leveraged data collaboration across the private and public sector that created new business models to provide public value.

Organizational Culture and Ethics for Entrepreneurship - Decision-making framework that guided business leaders and students who wanted to become entrepreneurs on how to think about culture and ethics throughout business operations, from product development and supply chains to hiring practices.
New York, New York, United States
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQF6TmzLkch0dQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1561566354660?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=r124YsAgZw3h7dsF0vOzexg0zy8oSXN8XNsK3Wyu_KI
Senior Advisor - Tech and Data for Public Value and Entrepreneurship
Design and Source Labs
https://www.linkedin.com/company/design-source-labs
Residency program for creatives and digital entrepreneurs developing sustainable consumer products, with a portion of their time collectively working on a scalable social impact business venture.
New City, New York, United States
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C510BAQGXIkOfNYRURw/company-logo_100_100/0/1519891071386?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=rofQvO9ZAXSNVuq7GPi-0-3J_TmN27m9fLEwt8sMDLk
Social Impact Advisor
Mastercard
https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastercard
Developed data-for-impact strategy and partnerships.

Built and launched with the Rockefeller Foundation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Data Science for Social Impact Collaborative, an investment group seeded with $50 million to further data science capabilities within the non-profit sector. Revamped business model and made the first investment to DataKind to leverage data science to solve societal challenges like increasing financial inclusion, improving education, and tackling racial disparity.
New York, New York, United States
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQGOW4NIyYRRqQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1519856263087?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=AquwHUmT2tknqpEs3uydi4so8DaxQOgnCFf1dt-sav0
Interim Director, Data Philanthropy
Starwood Capital Group
https://www.linkedin.com/company/starwood-capital-group
Built the sustainability framework for the real estate portfolio with a focus on operational structure and processes for building construction and energy consumption, and circular economy innovation for food and building materials; new financial venture at Starwood Energy Group to incentivize the reduction of commercial building energy; led stakeholder engagement and ESG disclosures. (Note: SCG is not Starwood Hotels.)
New York, New York, United States
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Vice President, Sustainability + Innovation
Uber
https://www.linkedin.com/company/uber-com
Focused on the customer experience for U.S. and Canada, from leading product research for shared riding for autonomous driving to building data-driven operational structure for greater insight into current and experimental product features.
San Francisco Bay Area
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Strategic Projects - Mobility
Uber
https://www.linkedin.com/company/uber-com
Developed experimental technologies, and worked with government officials on local and state transportation policies and laws for market adoption.
San Francisco Bay Area
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQFiYnR1Mbtxdg/company-logo_100_100/0/1538169321193?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=Ov8ie8tE71P10p2p0YxHdCgaTPF9X-8IewyEsjssp60
Regional Manager of Trust and Safety (Digital EHS)
Motionry - Global Sustainable Innovation Platform (acquired in 2015)
Breakthrough innovations occur from the unobvious sparks and connections with people and ideas one may have never considered. Using machine learning and cognitive science, Motionry built a global open science platform for entrepreneurs and scientists from leading institutions such as MIT and Princeton to accelerate these cross-disciplinary sparks for sustainable product development. We took a big step towards revolutionizing how to search for a multitude of research needs to advance innovation for food/agriculture, energy, and building materials.
New York, New York, United States
Founder and CEO
National Science Foundation (NSF)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/national-science-foundation
Developed novel uses to incorporate natural capital and ecosystem services into executive-level sustainability decision-making for the private sector.
New York, New York, United States
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQG-wcpJntMCew/company-logo_100_100/0/1640798346574?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=36nS_ute2lkOKJ8eqSU_WEoZ44hfGhYA0tq5GoKTFR8
Sustainability Advisory Research Member
DuPont
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dupont
Served as Engineering Director and led multiple teams, strategy, and regulatory negotiations on highly complex $200+ million projects before shifting into leading global sustainability initiatives across the corporate businesses from food/agriculture and building materials to energy. Led the building of cross-industry and public/private partnerships that developed the leading executive level ESG and ecosystem services / natural capital assessment frameworks to identify opportunities and material risks for businesses that rely heavily on natural resources, from extractives to agriculture. Led stakeholder and investor disclosures - GRI, CDP, DJSI.

External corporate thought leader and served as strategic advisor and working member to global and national organizations to decouple growth from constrained resources and increase the livelihoods of those dependent on natural resources. Key working member of (a) World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) that developed assessment frameworks for executive level decision making, (b) Field to Market that developed Fieldprint® Calculator, the first product for farmers to assess sustainable farming practices, (c) Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) that assessed leading modeling tools and methodologies, and developed publications for how executives and practitioners can assess natural capital/ecosystem services and markets, (d) National Ecosystem Services Partnership at Duke University that worked with academic institutions and government agencies that created strategic governance frameworks, and (e) National Academies, Keck Future Initiative Research.
Wilmington, Delaware
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E0BAQFaKbPVLhRzvQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1625083418630?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=5pWGXfjZIY3Q22nCb6oQRUqxE_m9DuTickAnZHSyRVI
Global Leader - Sustainability Initiatives
Lockheed Martin
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lockheed-martin
Managed multiple civil and environmental engineering teams and highly regulated projects related to the planning, design, and management of infrastructure projects and EHS across the corporate portfolio. Served as the external lead for public engagement and with government agencies, including negotiations for National Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA) to offset legacy environmental impacts.
Bethesda, Maryland
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Civil | Environmental Engineering Project Manager
Master of Science
Full academic and thesis research scholarship under Professor Bruce E. Logan and funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Environmental Engineering
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Penn State University
https://www.linkedin.com/school/penn-state-university/
Bachelor of Science
Sanford F. Nichol award and academic scholarship recipient.
Civil Engineering
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Penn State University
https://www.linkedin.com/school/penn-state-university/
Compendium of efforts by several interdisciplinary research teams selected by the National Academies to chart solutions for agricultural industries and practices globally to address food security through the lens of ecosystem services.
Ecosystem Services:  Charting a Path to Sustainability
The National Academies
Agriculture depends on ecosystems for services such as pollination, freshwater and erosion control. It also employs 40% of global population and about 70% at the base of the pyramid.  Rio+20 will focus on the Green Economy and how to integrate ecosystem services, particularly for the agricultural sector.
Feeding a Growing Population That Relies on Ecosystem Services
Aug 2011
http://insights.wri.org/news/2011/08/feeding-growing-population-relies-ecosystem-services-part-ii-ii
Ecosystem services are the link between nature and economic development. It enables governments and corporate leaders to move beyond a mindset of protecting nature from economic development to focus on how to invest in nature for development.
Investing in Nature for Economic Growth
Jul 2011
http://insights.wri.org/news/2011/07/investing-nature-economic-growth-part-i-ii
Description of a preliminary assessment that was undertaken to evaluate the relative risks for the variety of stressors within the Delaware Estuary using a relative risk model framework.
Development of a Preliminary Relative Risk Model for Evaluating Regional Ecological Conditions in the Delaware River Estuary
SETAC Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1897/IEAM_2009-023.1/pdf
This article provides a concept that centers on the ability of an entity, public or private, to gain durable credits for undertaking proactive restoration activities.
Prospective Environmental Restoration/Restoration Up Front:  A Concept for an Incentive Based Program for Restoration Planning and Implementation in the United States.
SETAC Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/partner/cap/pdf/Restoration_Banking_Setac_11Sept07.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-busch
New York, NY
Sarah Busch
Head of ESG
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-wittman-5514902
Boston, MA
Laura Wittman
Global Sustainability | ESG | Corporate Responsibility | Partnerships
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidaheller
New York City Metropolitan Area
Davida Heller
Sustainability | ESG | Climate Change | Sustainable Finance | Stakeholder Engagement
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sargamsaraf
Washington, DC
Sargam Saraf
Corporate Sustainability | ESG Reporting | Sustainability Strategy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonybrewer
Boston, MA
Anthony Brewer
ESG | Sustainability | Blockchain
https://www.linkedin.com/in/leela-ramnath-4869b5
New York, NY
Leela Ramnath
Head of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelperry23
Washington, DC
Rachel Perry
ESG & Impact Investing | Sustainability Changemaker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meredith-chiampa-40165492
New York, NY
Meredith Chiampa
Head of ESG for North America Markets at Citi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-a-wroten-34a3459
Dexter, MI
Mary A. Wroten
Director, Global Sustainability & ESG at Ford Motor Company
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arturorestrep0
United States
Jose Arturo Restrepo Aristizabal
Digital Sustainability Architect at Nutrien
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuejiajiang
New York, NY
Laurel Yuejia Jiang
ESG Strategy, Sustainable Investing | MPA Columbia University
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrandallstrickland
New York City Metropolitan Area
M. Randall Strickland
Sustainable Finance | ESG | Impact Investing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-schiff-07482b64
New Haven, CT
Peter Schiff
CEO and chief global strategist at Euro Pacific Precious Metals
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandi-wedin
United States
Mandi Wedin
Founder + CEO |  Commercial Real Estate Investment Leader | ESG+R Practitioner | Board Member
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexperwich
Atlanta, GA
Alex Perwich
Caregiver, Leader, Well-being Consultant, Angel Investor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynmward
Santa Monica, CA
Robyn Ward
Leadership + Performance Coach, Community + Company-builder. Investor, Professor, Speaker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-kaufman-62073453
Lakewood, OH
Adam Kaufman
Advisor, Convener, Listener
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davestangis
Greater Philadelphia
Dave Stangis
CSO@Apollo | ESG, Reputation, Brand | Sustainability, Impact | Finance, CPG, Ag/Bio/Info Tech | Future-Proofing | Resiliency | BCorps | Director, Advisor | Intrepreneur | Author | Instructor | Decision Maker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonsofield
Los Altos, CA
Jon Sofield
US Managing Director, Pario Ventures
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I am continuously inspired by Google's leadership on #climate, and I'm so honored that the #LivingBuildingChallenge is a meaningful tool and…
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Be a change maker on climate policy. Recruitment is open for two new members of the Climate Change Committee led by Chris Stark as CEO and Lord Deben…
Liked by Amanda DeSantis
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After two years of development, consultation and research, investors led by Sjunde AP-fonden, AP7. BNP Paribas Asset Management and the Church of…
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/amanda-desantis-452565103
Canada
Amanda Desantis
Case Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-desantis-9033a1137
Randolph, NJ
Amanda DeSantis
Condominium Project Specialist at NJ Lenders Corp
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandadesantisa195b1166
New York City Metropolitan Area
Amanda DeSantis
Sales Assistant, Donna Karan at G-III Apparel Group
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-desantis-71767a181
Greater Cleveland
Amanda DeSantis
Claims Manager
Big Path Capital founders of the Impact Investing Forum
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https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1913772
Data for Good Exchange (D4GX)
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D07AQFM_rvbn4WQiQ/group-logo_image-shrink_92x92/0/1631004940521?e=1647691200&v=beta&t=5i3KrbGBuh4cMuwZ3yWeRID89Ag5X8vSRVYLMBX6xus
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8780231
Chief Sustainability Officers Network
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E07AQHDgOi7Ws1Ycg/group-logo_image-shrink_200x200/0/1631375106880?e=1647691200&v=beta&t=1ARnSRZY9_xgbn4MstmnzW96N0D05O5gl89YqemIRbs
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1847854
Family Office
https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/h/4h1ldzvvebtszyx75ve7dst1v
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/93298
ESG Investing
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https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2303847
Circular Economy
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C5107AQGjrX-Gk3ncpg/group-logo_image-shrink_200x200/0/1631434906448?e=1647691200&v=beta&t=vtGbcUc69va7tLZMoknz9fHPoipV2hcoikfhbJS1ciE
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3757020
Circular Design
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https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8585051
Urban Planning Group
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https://www.linkedin.com/groups/69691