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A4S Academy Award Winners

The A4S Academy awards are given to participants who have shown particular commitment and resilience, they have innovated and inspired, and became true champions of sustainability in finance. 

There are five categories for the Awards: 

Impact 

  • Tangible environmental and/or social benefits have been achieved and it is clear that the implementation plan and objectives set out by the participant are linked to the benefits achieved. These benefits are in addition to delivering positive financial outcomes.  

Innovation  

  • The participant has developed a new and different product/service/offering or way of working that has the potential to drive organizational change in the direction of positive sustainable impact. 

Inspiration 

  • The participant has inspired others to take action, and the entry clearly demonstrates that others are following the participant’s positive example.    

Resilience  

  • The participant has faced and overcome (or has plans to overcome) significant challenges, and has made progress despite the obstacles faced.

Advocacy

  • This participant has played an active role in supporting the A4S Academy and advocated for integration of sustainability within and outside their organizations. 

2022 AWARD WINNERS

2022 HIGHLY COMMENDED

Impact Award - Ashleigh Langs-Saltzman, Autodesk

Ashleigh supported the launch of a sustainability financing framework that allowed sustainability to be better incorporated into the organization's financing strategy. This has allowed Autodesk to develop its first sustainability bond of US$1 billion, which will fund projects in a broad range of areas, such as eco-efficient products, production technologies and processes, sustainable water and water management, renewable energy and energy efficiency, and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment.  

Autodesk also refinanced its line of credit in 2021, as it wanted KPIs to be tied to corporate sustainability targets (reducing scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the number of women working in technology). 

We were impressed by Ashleigh’s passion and achievements throughout her time at the A4S Academy, and in particular can see the potential for lasting and tangible impact that her work can have. This is through a combination of the notable size of the debt raised, the KPIs linked to the refinanced line of credit and also the breadth of the areas the funds will invest in, including socioeconomic advancement and empowerment; and increasing the number of women working in technology.

The Judges

Innovation Award - Emily Francis, Burberry

Emily led the TCFD disclosures programme, which included complex and ambitious scenario analysis across multiple temperature changes and climate-related risks. She partnered with the University of Cambridge for Risk Studies on developing the scenario analysis. This provided a quantified range of examples around how climate-related risks may impact the business, which was externally assured by EY. 

Emily also set up a cross-disciplinary team and curated a training programme of bitesize events for the global COO team of circa 700 colleagues. 

Emily’s Progress Report showed us that Burberry is ahead of the curve when it comes to TCFD reporting. It’s great to see the innovation, strategic thinking and collaboration that she has applied to these disclosures.”  

The Judges

Inspiration Award - Andy Mounsey, John Lewis Partnership

Andy embedded Ethics and Sustainability (E&S) into John Lewis Partnership's financial strategy and set out how profits should be invested in supporting their three organizational pillars: 'Happier Business, Happier People and Happier World'. He is also developing a new mechanism for measuring E&S linked appraisals – for example, looking at how scores are weighted for sustainability investments.  

Andy placed emphasis on capturing the hearts as well as minds in the finance function. In so doing he tailored training to cover personal, technical and partnering perspectives. Andy also supported the creation of a Finance Sustainability Squad, led by A4S Academy participant Nicola Wright, which is a team of partners focused on sharing knowledge and taking action to drive a sustainable future. 

Andy’s emphasis on capturing the hearts as well as the minds of those in the finance team has allowed him to bring in the wider skills and experience of his colleagues to help to integrate sustainability within the finance function at John Lewis Partnerships.” 

The Judges

2021 AWARD WINNERS

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Accounting for Sustainability is a Charitable Incorporated Organization, registered charity number 1195467. Accounting for Sustainability is part of The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation (PWCF) Group of Charities.
Registered Office: 9 Appold Street, 8th Floor, London, EC2A 2AP