North America's Top Chief Sustainability Officers Honored at Futur/io CSO Awards During New York Climate Week

The Futur/io Institute announced the winners of its CSO Awards North America 25 during a gala dinner at New York Climate Week, recognizing exceptional leadership in corporate sustainability. Erik Hansen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday, received the Gold Award, while Jackie Jung of Western Digital earned Silver and Susan Uthayakumar of Prologis received Bronze. The awards ceremony took place at the newly opened vitra design showroom, bringing together sustainability leaders from across North America.

Two Special Honour Awards were granted to Annika Dubrall from Tiffany & Co. and Ann Tracy from Colgate-Palmolive, while Ara Erickson from Weyerhaeuser received the Sustainable Supply Chain Award presented by Simon Jaehnig, Co-Founder & President of IntegrityNext Inc. The Peer Award, selected by the live audience, went to Jennifer Motles of Philip Morris International. The event featured speakers including Sandrine Dixson-Declève of the Club of Rome and Nina Eisenman of NASDAQ, highlighting the growing importance of sustainability leadership in corporate governance.

Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute, emphasized the awards' mission to inspire ambitious action toward Sustainable Development Goals and NetZero targets. The organization noted during its three-month data collection period that some companies are experiencing delays in sustainability reporting, with some even retracting earlier disclosures. This trend reflects broader challenges including geopolitical headwinds, economic pressures, and potential "greenhushing" - where companies underreport sustainability achievements to avoid scrutiny.

The winners were selected from a list of 20 nominees drawn from the Top100 CSOs of North America 2025 list, using a comprehensive four-quadrant model developed with scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School. The evaluation criteria considered corporate behavior maturity, regulatory performance on ESG and SDG criteria, net zero goals, environmental and human impact, and self-assessment surveys. Knowledge partners including Denominator, Rainforest Partnership, and ClimateGPT by Erasmus.ai contributed specialized expertise to the selection process.

The Grand Jury comprised influential sustainability leaders including John Elkington, known as "the Godfather of Sustainability," Sandrine Dixson-Declève of the Club of Rome, and Michael Kobori, former CSO for Starbucks and 2024 Gold Award winner. The jury's composition reflects the awards' credibility and the growing recognition of sustainability as a critical business function. The CSO Awards North America represents a collaboration with partner Made in Sustainability and premium partner Integrity Next, with additional support from organizations including Economist Impact and CEEZER Software.

This second edition of the awards comes at a pivotal moment for corporate sustainability, as businesses navigate increasing regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations. The recognition of CSOs from diverse industries including technology, manufacturing, and logistics demonstrates the universal importance of sustainability leadership across sectors. The awards program aligns with the Futur/io Institute's broader mission to build a regenerative economy that benefits people and the planet within planetary boundaries, as detailed on their website at https://futur.io.

The implications of these awards extend beyond individual recognition to signal broader trends in corporate responsibility. As companies face mounting pressure to demonstrate authentic sustainability commitments, the CSO role has evolved from compliance-focused to strategic leadership positions. The awards highlight best practices in sustainability management that other organizations can emulate, potentially accelerating industry-wide progress toward climate goals and sustainable development objectives.