Dr. Leah Borkenhagen joins as Senior Vice President of EDF+ Business.

Senior Environmental Strategist Dr. Leah Borkenhagen leads the Environmental Defense Fund’s Private Sector Engagement Unit. EDF+Business as usual is known for creating unexpected partnerships with companies that have the most impact to change their products, processes and advocacy – including McDonalds, Walmart and KKR. EDF+Business has accelerated corporate net zero action, environmental policy advocacy, investor engagement on climate issues, and phasing out toxic chemicals from products.

“I am delighted to lead the talented and forward-thinking EDF+ Business team as we accelerate business activity towards a net zero, healthy and fair economy. Together, we will achieve big visions, enable system-changing collaboration and innovation, and leverage all of EDF’s scientific, policy-based and commercial capabilities to help achieve our goals and deliver new approaches to our shared future. Borkenhagen

Dr. Borkenhagen brings two decades of experience driving positive environmental and social outcomes through business leadership, developing forward-looking strategies with the world’s leading food, fashion, retail and technology companies. Serving as a global strategy and innovation consultant for Earthshot Awards, she designed the strategy to find solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Prior to that, Leah spent ten years at Nike, where she led brand-only collaborations on behalf of global fashion, retail and sportswear companies with over $250B in revenue and accelerated impact across a sustainable industry. Leah led Nike’s strategy to reverse decades of labor practices and replace them with value as a revenue driver, working from the factory level to the board.

Leah uses her expertise in agriculture, forestry and manufacturing to drive sustainability into the business. Prior to Nicky, Leah led Oxfam GB’s global livelihoods work, which enabled her team to co-found the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Better Cotton Initiative, to build globally relevant frameworks for understanding the impact of trade on poverty, and to create accelerated funding strategies to support it. Businesses that have improved wages for low-income populations.

Leah holds a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California, Berkeley, in agriculture in Indonesia, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Côte d’Ivoire. Leah’s previous work focused on biodiversity and forest conservation, where she contributed to the first WRI-IUCN-UNEP Global Biodiversity Strategy with a gender focus and was recognized by UNEP as a New Generation Leader. Her undergraduate degree from Harvard University examined primate and forest ecology in Indonesia.

We have until 2030 to make significant emissions reductions in the global economy. Elaine Gowdy, Vice President of EDF+ Business, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dr Borkenhagen to the next level when the stakes cannot be raised enough to take business to the next level for climate action.”