Tara is Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility at Jack Henry. She leads the strategy and execution of the organization's corporate sustainability efforts, including corporate ethics, the transition to a low carbon future, philanthropy and sustainability related reporting. Prior to focusing on advancing Jack Henry's sustainability efforts, Tara launched Jack Henry's diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, created an internal mobility program, led the learning and development team, revamped the performance management program, and developed Jack Henry's talent analytics approach.

Tara Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

• The transition from a role in HR to a role in sustainability 

• What it means for Jack Henry to be a purpose-driven company

• Preparing sustainbility reports and for SEC climate disclosures 

• Getting support to pursue science-based targets

• Business Innovation groups at Jack Henry

• Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals

Tara’s Final Five Questions Responses:

What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers

Figure out how to make complex ideas simple. If you don't take the time to do it, your communications can fall flat. The world of sustainability is so complicated. You're spanning so many different topics from cybersecurity and information security to greenhouse gas emissions to philanthropy and so on. Really being able to distill all that complexity into simple statements, into communications that people can understand without needing to be experts in the field, and not only understand, but know what to do with that information- if you can figure that out, then you'll easily create impactful reporting and momentum internally within your organization.

What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?

Particularly as a sustainability professional, I think we are so privileged to have a role in which we have the opportunity to impact every single person on this planet through our work. That may seem a little bit Pollyanna, but it's true. I think the work that we're doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to do work around philanthropy, to do work around corporate ethics, all of that really matters. I think that it’s incredibly exciting to be in a field that can have that sort of large scale impact. That and the talent that is coming up. Two members of my team, they are new graduates and they are so passionate, so knowledgeable, and I know they're two of many that are coming out in the field. It's incredible to see what these folks are going to do and how they're going to take us to the next level. So I'm excited about that.

What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read?

It's a classic, and it's not really a sustainability book, it's a book about leadership: Good to Great by Jim Collins. If you can't speak the language of business, and you will hear the concepts in these books spoken about constantly at the C-suite level and with executive leadership, you're not going to be taken seriously. You've got to be able to speak the language of business. In particular, I like Good to Great because of that concept of the flywheel; the idea that consistent action over time really can create momentum and that it's easily sustained and energizes people over time. I think that's so applicable to the world of sustainability. It's a slow roll in the beginning, but once you get things going, if you're thoughtful and consistent, it takes off, and your job is just to tap the rut or make sure you’re on the right course over time.

What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?

I'm a big reader of ESG Today. They have a weekly summary email that gives you the highlights. I think it's important to know what's going on in the field. But the most helpful resource is networking. It's finding other people in this field that you can talk with and share ideas with. I've done that through conferences or through webinars. I'll reach out and say, “I like what you said about this. Could we have a quick conversation?” Just building those relationships so that you have thought partners to bring ideas to and help you make your work more impactful.

Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Jack Henry?

You can find me on LinkedIn, Tara Brown at Jack Henry. If you go to jackhenry.com, on our investor relations site you'll find a link to our corporate sustainability reports and previous reports and highlights of our most recent initiatives.