Spotlights

USGBC recently honored Joyce LaValle with a “LEEDer” Award

Joyce LaValle, Senior Vice President of Interface Americas and Chair emeritus of WNSF’s Board of Directors, was honored in May with the first-ever “LEEDer” Award, presented by the New York Chapter of the US Green Building Council (USGBC). Joyce received the inaugural award in recognition of her ‘extraordinary dedication and service to the cause of green building and work in furthering the USGBC New York Chapter’s mission of transforming the metropolitan New York marketplace.’

Joyce recently returned to Interface headquarters in Atlanta, after a two-plus-year special assignment in New York City, where she served as the Regional Vice President for InterfaceFLOR Commercial in the Northeast.

Ray Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Interface, Inc., says Joyce’s environmental activism served as a catalyst for the company’s Mission Zero initiative to slash emissions. In 1994, when Mr. Anderson was struggling to address the company’s stance on the environment, Joyce played a key role. Her daughter Melissa, long a proponent of environmentalism, gave Joyce a copy of The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken. The book had such a profound impact on Joyce that she passed it along to her boss.

Today, Anderson describes reading the book as an “epiphany, a spear in the chest” that caused him to lead his company on the path to sustainability. To this day, Joyce is a frequent speaker on the company’s sustainability programs and helps to identify opportunities to contribute to Mission Zero.

A keen advocate of the advancement of women, Joyce is also a co-founder of WNSF and served as the first Chair of its Board, where she remains an active member and proponent of business sustainability.

The USGBC New York Chapter LEEDers Awards will be presented annually to individuals whose efforts have significantly assisted the Chapter advance its mission “to transform the metropolitan New York marketplace by actively promoting the design, construction and operation of buildings that are energy efficient, healthy, productive and environmentally responsible.” (www.usgbc.org)

KAREN FLANDERS Senior Associate, Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership WNSF’s Karen Flanders is included on PINK Magazine’s list of “America’s Top Women in Business: Game Changers.” Created by PINK Magazine and the Forte Foundation with input from corporate executives, industry watchers, members of the business media and business schools, the second-annual list looks at the achievements and career strategies of today’s most inspiring female business leaders, along with exclusive interviews with the women themselves.

Karen is responsible for developing and implementing the The Coca-Cola Company’s CSR policies and programs. To do this, she works cross-functionally with departments, divisions and bottlers around the world. Drawing on her background and expertise in environmental stewardship, Karen works to deeply integrate CSR strategies into the Company’s brands and business – contributing to sustainable growth. Prior to joining the Company six years ago, Karen managed international advocacy campaigns at the World Wildlife Fund. Fluent in French and Dutch, her affinity for cross-cultural communications dates back to her tenure with a pan-European agency, where she advised corporations such as Mars, L’Oreal and others on European CSR policies.

PINK’s list of “America’s Top Women in Business: Game Changers,” which is featured in the magazine’s February 2007 issue, also includes executives from Avon North America, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, NBC Universal, Sony Urban Music, Estee Lauder, Texas Instruments, IKEA North America, Google, Lacoste USA, Dreamworks, OPEN from American Express, CBS Entertainment, Preferred Boutique and Marriott International KAREN FLANDERS, 43, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY, THE COCA – COLA CO., ATLANTA MARRIED MOTHER OF THREE

GAME PLAN: As the soft-drink giant’s conscience, Flanders draws on her experience as a former conservationist for the World Wildlife Fund. She’s leading Coca-Cola’s global commitment to environmental stewardship by finding innovative ways to save the planet and preserve the world’s natural resources, such as fresh water. Her missions? Creating a first-of-its-kind freshwater map of the world; launching pilot projects to conserve Southeast Asia’s most important river, the Mekong, and protect high-altitude wetlands in the river’s headwaters on the Tibetan plateau; and designing “Water Savers,” innovative tools for increasing water use efficiency that are being tested by bottlers in the company’s Central America division, with water savings already reported. “I think I am successful if I contribute more then I receive, listen more than I talk and leave the world in better shape than when I arrived,” Flanders says. Real Deal: “Authenticity for me comes in the form of being myself in all situations at work and at home, in not taking myself too seriously, laughing a lot, nurturing ideas, being there for others and building lasting relationships.” PINK Magazine and Forte Foundation Select the ‘Top 15 Women in Business’ 2007