There is no argument that the world is facing a host of existential challenges. We look to our leaders to guide us successfully through these times, but in the end, it will require many hands to do the work. No other profession is as uniquely qualified to advance the knowledge, the skills, and the direction that those hands will need as the field of sustainability.

From industry leaders to forward-looking professionals, we saw this coming as early as 30 years ago. When I entered the field in the mid-1990’s, I was inspired by the early-adopter organizations that were making bold moves to be the first to test and try the sustainability strategies being created to help transform business and government. My experience as a sustainability consultant put me in touch with inspiring professionals across many organizations, all tapped to lead the sustainability effort in their respective workplaces. Because this was new, few if any of these people had any training or education in sustainability, and most were working in isolation, trying single-handedly to make change happen.

While intentions were noble, our efforts often felt disjointed and unlikely to achieve the unified coordination that the issues required. Four of us in Portland, Oregon, thought we had a solution to this problem. If indeed it would take an army to affect the kind of change we needed, then we would create the organization that would amass and organize that army. Our mission for ISSP, which we launched in 2007, was to connect all these disparate people working around the world so that they could share tools, knowledge, experiences, missteps, and achievements. We wanted the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) to be the “go-to source” for anyone trying to do this work. The growth of ISSP over the years suggests that there was a felt need for this professional community to come together. Since that beginning 14 years ago, we’ve not only provided a platform for the training, resourcing, and networking of thousands of professionals internationally, we’ve also codified our professional practice, established standards of performance, and developed professional credentials to advance the field.

When we began ISSP, our notion was that if the sustainability effort worldwide was successful, then the need for our profession would disappear: we would have achieved our vision of making sustainability standard practice across all business, governmental, and community operations.

Well, we’re not quite there yet. We find that the urgency to achieve this goal is only increasing, and ISSP is needed now more than ever. Yet in the face of an increasingly dire situation — escalating social and economic inequity, rampaging wildfires, ocean fishes displaced by plastic — the compounding events across our globe appear to be putting some wind in the sails of our profession. The results of the recent election in the United States will likely put my country back into the Paris Climate Agreement; as of this year, renewable energy is now the cheapest way to produce energy – historically, ever; and investors like BlackRock are shifting investments away from fossil fuels and socially irresponsible businesses. These are opportunities to be seized.

ISSP is well positioned to accelerate the change we need. As ISSP looks to the coming decade, we aim to broaden our reach and impact. By building our professional community, providing the necessary resources to advance our profession, collaborating with organizations whose missions overlap with ours, and expanding our education partnerships, ISSP is committed to leading all professionals to a future where sustainability is indeed standard practice. Our vision will then be achieved.

About the Author:

Marsha Willard, SEP
Faculty, Sustainable Social Impact MBA and DBA Programs, Saybrook University
Co-founder & Governing Board Member, ISSP