Jennifer Motles - Social Impact and Sustainability Lead at Philip Morris International
Jennifer Motles is the Director of Social Impact & Sustainability at Philip Morris International. Jennifer is an International and Human Rights lawyer. She is helping to advance PMI's transformation goal of becoming a smoke-free company, with an emphasis on stakeholder engagement and social impact.
Previously, Jennifer worked for international organizations including UNCITRAL, UNODC, UNCTAD/ITC, and as Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Officer at the United Nations and other international organizations. Jennifer holds a JD degree from Universidad de Chile; an LLM from University of California, Berkeley; as well as specialized diplomas in women’s rights, sustainable finance, corporate social responsibility, risk communications, and political affairs from IHEID, Harvard Business School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and Stanford University.
Jennifer Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:
PMI sustainability and PMI’s business transformation towards a smoke-free future
Inclusion: achieving substantial and tangible change through collaboration, not exclusion
PMI’s impact across the value chain, supply chain / future targets: AWS Certification (water stewardship), Agricultural Labor Practices (ALP) program, CDP, carbon neutrality factory targets
Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders
Jennifer's Final Five Question Responses:
What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?
I would say patience. I think that in the sustainability field you're working towards the long term and sometimes results are not visible immediately. The fact that positive change is not immediately perceivable, doesn't mean that you're not doing the right thing. You just need to wait a little bit.
What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?
I am very excited about the role of the investor community and how savvy they are becoming in better understanding their role in driving change in companies and what ESG really means.
What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read?
I just started reading the book by Joseph Stiglitz, Measuring What Counts. It's about the global movement for wellbeing, and basically, he goes on to developing new metrics that go beyond GDP.
What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work?
Podcasts like this are a very, very useful tool. I think that opportunities to have conversations like at a sustainability conference, sustainability magazines and sustainability podcasts are always very much appreciated.
Where can people go to learn more about you and the sustainability work at Philip Morris?
You can learn more about our company's sustainability strategy, sustainable practices and transformation at pmi.com/sustainability and you can find all the resources there. Also, check out PMI’s integrated report outlining the above-discussed topics in detail.