Winners Of The Futur/Io CSO Awards North America 25 Announced

NEW YORK, September 23, 2025 /3BL/ - The names of the most important Chief Sustainability Officers of North America were announced at the Futur/io CSO Awards on Monday night. The celebration took place at a gala dinner at the newly opened and stunning vitra design showroom, during New York Climate Week.

Erik Hansen , Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday received the CSO Award /25 in Gold.

The Silver Award went to Jackie Jung , Vice President, Global Operations Strategy & Planning, Corporate Sustainability at Western Digital, while the Bronze Award was granted to Susan Uthayakumar , Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer of Prologis.

The Grand Jury also granted two Special Honour CSO Awards to Annika Dubrall from Tiffany & Co., and Ann Tracy from Colgate-Palmolive.

Ara Erickson from Weyerhaeuser received a special Sustainable Supply Chain Award presented by Simon Jaehnig, Co-Founder & President of IntegrityNext Inc.

The Peer Award, chosen by the live audience of the CSO Awards gala ceremony, went to Jennifer Motles , Chief Sustainability Officer at Philip Morris International, and was presented by jury members Livio Scalvini, Co-Founder and executive director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London and Daniel Erasmus, Founder of ClimateGPT.

Among the speakers of the evening were Sandrine Dixson-Declève, of the Club of Rome, Magnus Drewelies, of CEEZER Software, Nina Eisenman, of NASDAQ, Raphael Gielgen, of vitra and jury members among others.

“Our mission is to shine a light on the role of Chief Sustainability Officers, we hope to inspire others to be ambitious and work on building the desirable futures we want to live in,” said Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute.“These years winners and 20 nominees are exemplary in their commitment towards keeping the pace needed to solve for the Sustainable Development Goals and higher ambition for NetZero, e.g. a goal of 2040 or better.”

In the three months of data collection and analysis, Futur/io and its partners recognized delay in reporting compared to 2024, and some companies even retracted their earlier reporting on sustainability. The business climate can be characterized by geopolitical headwinds, economic pressures and potential“greenhushing”. Also, the participation in our annual survey –that was sent to big name corporations you might expect as leaders in their field and missing among the 20 nominees – lacked support by some CSOs.

The final winners were selected from the 20 Nominees list by a Grand Jury that includes some of the most influential and inspiring voices in sustainability.

Members include John Elkington, known as“the Godfather of Sustainability”, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, honorary president of the Club of Rome, Michael Kobori, former Chief Sustainability Officer for Starbucks, and winner of the CSO Awards Gold in 2024. Additional members are Niyanta Spelman, CEO of Rainforest Partnership, and Nina Eisenman, Vice president at NASDAQ, and Vandinika Shukla, Deputy Director of Global Programs (USA Lead), Obama Foundation. The Chair of the Jury is Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute.

This is the second edition of the CSO Awards North America, an initiative of the Futur/io Institute, a pioneering organisation dedicated to nurturing and inspiring leadership in sustainable innovation and building the most impactful network of Chief Sustainability Officers globally. The European edition of the CSO Awards took place in Davos, parallel to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025.

The CSO Awards North America is a collaboration with partner Made in Sustainability, and supported by premium partner Integrity Next, together with scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, knowledge partners Denominator, Rainforest Partnership, Climate GPT, and Economist Impact, and also Gold Partner CEEZER Software. The complete list of community partners and supporting brands is available online.

Award Winners

Gold Award Winner – Erik Hansen

Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday

Silver Award Winner – Jackie Jung

Global Operations Strategy & Planning, Corporate Sustainability of Western Digital

Bronze Award Winner - Susan Uthayakumar

Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer for Prologis

Special Honour - Annika Dubrall

President of The Tiffany & Co. Foundation / Director and Head of Sustainability - Tiffany & Co.

Special Honour - Ann Tracy

Chief Sustainability Officer - Colgate-Palmolive

Sustainable Supply Chain Award Winner - Ara Erickson

Vice President Corporate Sustainability - Weyerhaeuser

Peer Award Winner - Jennifer Motles

Chief Sustainability Officer at Philip Morris International

Awards Criteria

The 20 CSO Awards North America Nominees have been drawn from the Top100 CSOs of North America 2025 list, compiled by Futur/io using an extensive database including all the major companies with a headquarter in the USA or Canada. The shortlist was defined using a four-quadrant model criteria, developed by Futur/io and scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, and supported by knowledge partners Denominator, specialized in human-centric data, Rainforest Partnership, focused on biodiversity and ClimateGPT by Erasmus adding a balanced public sentiment on the Top 100 CSOs.

The four quadrant model takes into consideration the maturity of corporate behaviours, regulatory performance on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) criteria, net zero goals, environmental and human impact and also a self-assessment survey.

CSO Awards North America Grand Jury

• Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome; Author & Chair of Earth4All
• John Elkington, Founder & Chief Pollinator at Volans, known as“the Godfather of Sustainability”
• Livio Scalvini, co-founder and executive director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London
• Vandinika Shukla, Deputy Director of Global Programs (USA Lead), Obama Foundation
• Michael Kobori, former Chief Sustainability Officer for Starbucks, and winner of the CSO Awards Gold in 2024
• Niyanta Spelman, CEO of Rainforest Partnership
• Nina Eisenman, VP, Head of Sustainability Strategy & Reporting at NASDAQ
• Daniel Erasmus, Chief Executive Officer, Erasmus and Creator of ClimateGPT
• Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute, as the Chair of the Grand Jury

About Futur/io Institute

We believe in co-creating desirable futures where ideas and innovation drive a regenerative economy that benefits people and the planet within the planetary boundaries.

The Futur/io Institute is a pioneering organisation to serve the most impactful network of Chief Sustainability Officers dedicated to transforming businesses to drive positive impact for people, planet and prosperity. We do this through publications, podcasts and convening at inspiring locations like Davos, Basel, Lisbon, Venice and New York.

With a mission to inspire ambition, action and cross-pollination to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the institute provides a platform for thought leaders, innovators, and change-makers to shape the futures of business and society.

Futur/io works with organisations like the UNFCCC or corporations in leadership training and curates Executive Programmes to inspire future leaders in sustainable innovation. Each year in Davos, the institute organizes executive receptions and recently debuted the annual CSO Awards to shine a light on the leadership role of Chief Sustainability Officers.

Futur/io is based in Hamburg and works as a think-tank with a selected international and diverse faculty of 100+ leaders in sustainability. The most recent book“Leadership for Sustainable Futures” was published in May 2024 with Murmann Publishers. CEO & Curator Harald Neidhardt hosts the CSO Impact Podcast.

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Additional Info

Images of the winners, the jury and the ceremony are available in our Press Folder .

Media Contact

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