Christine Ward: Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders of 2021 | Renewable Energy & Nature Based Solutions Manager

Tell us a bit more about your career journey and how you ended up where you are today?

I have been out of school for three years now and I was in a position where I knew I wanted to work in sustainability while I was in school. I gunned for every opportunity I thought I could get and I was unsuccessful. I ended up taking a very round-about way of getting where I am today.

I got a degree in anthropology from Western and my HBA at Ivey. I did my last semester in Australia and went on exchange, which was awesome. After this travel experience, I knew I really wanted to start my career in Canada. I loved sustainability, getting up in the morning, and creating impact through my work. I thought about where sustainability existed in Canada, and Calgary came top of mind because although people think of it as an oil and gas city, I knew that if oil and gas was there, the innovation around oil and gas would be there as well. 

So I moved out here and would always joke that no one wanted a business person with no experience. I wanted to get experience and ramp up my skillset so I am not just a new grad in a really competitive space. I actually ended up entering the startup space. My number one advice for students is to broaden your scope into the startup realm in terms of your first job because you will not get treated like your age, but instead be measured on your metrics. I went from being an analyst in an organization to running the entire department in a few months at a scale-up here in Calgary and it was an amazing opportunity. It gave me a really broad scope and I became addicted to startups. I went to an accelerator program called The Accelerator and I ran that program for two years where I helped startups get to where they needed to be, and that is actually where I got back into the sustainability space because there were so many sustainability-focused companies that wanted to scale-up. 

This is how I ended up at Radicle. They wanted to get into the innovation space and learn about the startups in the industry. An opportunity arose and that is how I ended up here to provide my expertise around the startup space.

What is Radicle and what is your role within the company?

Radicle started as a company that generated carbon credit and initially saw an opportunity in bringing a bunch of smaller projects together, in doing so Radicle would aggregate carbon credit generating opportunities, with a main focus in the agriculture space. Since then, it has been able to become a leader in sustainability. We have also bought a bunch of other businesses since our inception, that includes Climate Smart Business, which is a footprinting business based in Vancouver, and we have just hired more than 30 people for that business alone and have doubled our staff count overall in the past year. Our company is growing so fast because it combines the idea that it is “good for” business and that changing regulations are forcing more people to consider sustainability in decision-making practices. 

Within Radicle we have a global consulting team, carbon credit development and project development team, and we assist the government with policy advisory. We do a lot of different things. 

How did you develop a passion for sustainability and renewable energy?

When I was at Ivey I was very much brainwashed into thinking I could only be in finance or consulting, which is fine, but when I actually reflected on it, I realized I didn’t want to actually do it for me. I lost a very good friend in my third year who died by suicide and that really shook my entire worldview because I reflected on life and thought “what am I doing things for and why am I doing the things that I do?”. Within a few weeks, I became a vegetarian, started doing a lot of sustainability and environmental research, and basically was in search of this component of impact. It took this shaking of my worldview to really take me out of what I thought I wanted and put me into a big place of reflection. 

My first job was in talent acquisition in Calgary, and I would just spend every waking moment meeting people in sustainability and learning about the different concepts involved in it. I knew that is where I needed to be. My passion for sustainability really started for me from a really awful situation, but I thought about how I could make the best from it and reflect on what I wanted. 

A lot of my friends now hate their jobs because they don’t have that impact piece. They are trying to get into sustainability or start ups now so they feel like they are making a difference. This shows how important it is to feed your passions. If there is something you are super passionate about and could spend all your free time doing, that is something you should continue to do with your life. 

What is something you think all people can do to be more sustainable?

There are a lot of things you can do. Just like anything else, there is not just one thing. I listened to an audiobook called “The Soul of Money” and it doesn’t have to do with sustainability necessarily, but it gave really great advice surrounding thinking with every dollar that you spend and how it supports your personal mantra and values, you are going to create change in the world. When I decided to eat meat again, I did research on the most sustainable and local farms I can find. I am making this choice with my values and when I eat that food I feel better as well. This book emphasizes finding your core values, what makes you the human you are, and making every single dollar you spend align with your values. 

Even if you do not work in sustainability, having the mentality shift where you avoid using plastic water bottles or single-use plastic bags adds up immensely over time and makes a difference. It is more about a mindset shift than doing any one thing in particular. Waste is a really big component and you can make decisions every day about how you dispose of your waste and the kind of waste you bring into your home that you have to dispose of. It is important to intentionally think about the things you do. It is better to think about and realize the fact that you are using single-use plastic as opposed to the masses of people who don’t.

Whenever I say things like “why do people buy from H&M rather than Patagonia?” my girlfriend always reminds me how privileged I am to be able to buy sustainable options, which may not be a luxury that many other people can afford. People who can and have the privilege to make these choices should make them because there are so many people that can’t. That way, you get to make an environmental choice and a social choice by making a decision so that other people’s impacts aren’t as great. 

What is the most unexpected obstacle you have had to face in your career?

Ageism. I am the type of person who wants to be judged based on how much research I did and how hard I am working. I do not like being treated lesser than someone else or as if my opinion isn’t valid simply based on the fact that I have less experience. What I have figured out is to be transparent with the fact that this is a huge trigger for me. It is not that I am not willing to learn from others. However, it did create a barrier. I think the way to get over things like ageism is to never lose the confidence and ambition that you have because it is not going to make your life better if you stop walking into rooms because you feel like you are not supposed to be in that room. It is important to find people that no matter the experience they have, treat you like a peer and take your opinions seriously. Find out who your manager is going to be because they are the person who can make or break your career. If my manager was micromanaging me I would not have accomplished all the things I have. 

Looking back at your time at Ivey, what is something you wish you knew then that you know now?

Don’t take life so seriously. I definitely cared too much about the numbers and marks I was getting. I wish that I had put myself more deeply into fulfilling experiences such as clubs. A lot of the clubs I joined provided me with skills I still use today. It is really hard to give that advice knowing that looking back I wouldn’t have taken it, but I wish I looked more deeply into the experiences I could gain from Ivey as opposed to my grades. 

I also think there is a piece of finding your people. I very much wanted to fit in when I was at Ivey as opposed to finding the people I fit in with. At the time I wasn’t out and I didn’t know that there was a queer community for me to even be a part of. There were so many pieces of my identity I didn’t even know about to know to find my people. I have a group called “The Sustainability Nerds” and we all mentored for the Sustainability Certificate at Ivey. I realized that I barely got to know them while I was at Ivey so we decided to connect and now we all get together on Zoom and chat at least quarterly. This was a group of people I totally missed out on getting to be close with because I was so focused on fitting into a mold that I never would be able to. I think finding your people and not caring what the masses are saying is really important. Do not be afraid to go on your own path, because no one wants another carbon copy Ivey kid at their company. They want uniqueness and diversity, and if they don’t want that, then you don’t want to work there.

Do not hesitate to reach out to me! I am more than happy to chat with anyone who wants to learn more about myself or Radicle. We are also hiring a lot of summer students and that starts around April. I can be reached at: cward@radiclebalance.com or on LinkedIn!