First ladies

The sustainable business community, like any industry group, is a sum of its parts. Gender aside, the leaders in the space have spent years trying to convince stakeholders of the vast importance of adhering to triple-bottom-line economics.

Creating a shift in the way business is done and how success is measured takes an unconventional approach. Many of the women leaders that Sustainable Industries spoke with for this article attributed their success to their willingness to take chances and blaze uncharted territory.

Whether analyzing the financial risks of green building projects or assessing the marketability of a cleantech startup, creating the tools to help companies increase their energy efficiency or crafting the framework for a sustainable business curriculum, these women have laid the groundwork for systems that will be used for years to come.

Andrea Ramage
Director of sustainable solutions, CH2M HILL
Bellevue, Wash.

As a leading sustainability expert at CH2M HILL, a global engineering and construction firm, Andrea Ramage is used to seeking answers to some very big questions. The 26,000-employee firm works on projects around globe, including Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, which is currently under construction and is designed to be the world’s first net-zero carbon city (see “East meets West Coast,” page 20).

As CH2M HILL’s director of sustainable solutions, Ramage and a seven-member team work across the company’s business units to help deliver sustainability-related work and to train staff. For the $20 billion Masdar project, for which CH2M HILL is a program manager, Ramage is acting in an advisory and review capacity.