To mark Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day March 8, we’re bringing you a special series of the ESG Insider podcast focused on women in leadership. We’ll be speaking to women CEOs and executives from across industries and around the globe. 

In our second interview of the series we interview Alison Whritenour, CEO of Seventh Generation, a U.S. producer of eco-friendly cleaning, paper and personal care products.  

Alison has been at Seventh Generation for more than a decade and became its CEO in July 2021. She describes her leadership style as "radically human" — meaning she leads with an emphasis on transparency and collaboration, and by leaning into listening to the advice and experience of her team. She also describes her decisions along her career path as based on connecting the things that she personally cares about with her day-to-day work.  

“I really believe that leaders are at their best when they can be themselves, and that then really opens up the door for folks around them to feel comfortable and feel like they can approach leaders with questions, challenges, opportunities,” she says.  

Diversity in leadership has received increasing attention in recent years from stakeholders in the sustainability world. Investors have pushed for diversity on company boards and management teams, and in some parts of the world, that push has extended to laws and regulations. But the number of women in top roles remains low. Recent research from S&P Global found that women represented just 5.4% of CEOs in 2022, slightly up from 5% in 2021. You can read that research here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/women-ceos-leadership-for-a-diverse-future  

We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com).  

Photo source: Seventh Generation 

Copyright ©2023 by S&P Global   

DISCLAIMER   

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.  

By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.   

S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.