Marina Dirks, Recipient of Young Alumni of the Year Award 2021

MSc in Business and Economics alum and Director of Global Sustainability at Tiffany & Co, Marina Dirks, received the Young Alumni of the Year Award 2021 for exemplifying FREE in her leadership and her contribution to a more sustainable world. Find out how she views responsible leadership and what the future holds for corporate sustainability.

Can you describe your current role?

In 2018, I joined Tiffany & Co. as Director – Global Sustainability. In that role, I’m responsible for identifying and monitoring key sustainability topics that are important for the Company and our stakeholders, and I drive the development of Tiffany & Co.’s sustainability strategy and goals that define how we address these topics. The topics range from human rights, living wage and diversity & inclusion to responsible sourcing, traceability, climate change, biodiversity & ecosystems, circular economy and sustainable buildings. We partner closely with internal teams on integrating sustainability further into the business. Once we are executing our plans and work towards our goals, I’m responsible for tracking progress and measuring our impact.

What interests you about the field you are currently in?

I am passionate about my work and the topics I work on, and I’m proud to work for such an iconic American brand that has been a sustainability leader for a long time. It’s very rewarding for me to work on our sustainability strategy, which is closely linked to our business strategy. I get to see a lot of different areas of our business and our supply chain. At the same time, I’m also involved in implementation, so I see the impact we create, both for our business and for society. That gives me a sense of purpose.

Where do you think corporate sustainability is going in the next 5-10 years?

Based on what I have seen over the last few years, in many companies, sustainability has become part of the CEO and Board agendas. With this, the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer is becoming indispensable for setting the strategic direction and creating the change that’s needed to embed sustainability in everything they do. Several factors are contributing to this development – they are not new, but the pace of change continues to accelerate. Investors, customers, employees and NGOs are increasing pressure, regulatory requirements are growing – just ask a major company about the number of investor inquiries or shareholder proposals on sustainability and ESG (environmental, social, governance) they are receiving, questions from candidates or employees, customers and NGOs on the company's sustainability practices they are being asked, or new regulation such as the EU Taxonomy or the SEC’s plans on climate reporting they need to follow. Managing stakeholder demands, translating them into a sound business strategy, and taking the organization along, will be a key role of sustainability leaders going forward.

In what ways do you still feel connected to SSE?

It’s been more than 10 years since I graduated from SSE, but it feels like it was yesterday that I walked through the heavy wooden doors of Sveavägen 65 with my graduation diploma! A big part of my experience are the friends for life that I have made and the fact that I met my husband at SSE, too. What I learned during my studies still serves me well in my work today. The fact that the school not only teaches knowledge and skills, but fosters personal development and empathy, in my view is making a huge difference, and is one of its primary contributions to society.

As a leader, what do you see as the most important aspects to consider in order to be a responsible leader?

“Responsible leader” is a term that probably means very different things to different people. Personally, I think it’s important to seek different points of view and establish a culture of excellence in which it’s okay to disagree – in which the competition of ideas is encouraged, while we work towards finding a consensus. It’s also critical to consider the implications of one’s decisions and actions – not just the immediate implications, but also the indirect and unintended ones, including on society and the environment.

What career advice would you give to others who are interested in your field?

There are a lot more opportunities in corporate sustainability now than 10 years ago when I started my career. What’s still important I think is to make sure you have a strong understanding of business – take finance classes, marketing etc., not just sustainability classes. In order to embed sustainability into an organization, you first need to understand how the company works.