Chrissa Pagitsas

Strategic Advisor and Expert on the Intersection of Sustainability and Global Business, Author

Topics: ESG – Environmental Social Governance, Business Growth, Customer Experience, DE&I – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Innovation, Strategy, Women Leaders, Business, Energy & Environment, World Affairs

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Biography

Chrissa Pagitsas is a dynamic leader who unlocks innovation and growth potential by bridging sustainability and business. She draws on her deep expertise building a $51 billion Green Bond business at Fannie Mae and insights from book, Chief Sustainability Officers at Work, with in-depth conversations with Chief Sustainability Officers at Coca-Cola, Amazon, and BlackRock, and other Fortune 500 companies. As a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Co and global clients, Chrissa guides executives on shaping their business strategy for a complex future.

Through engaging presentations and insightful perspectives, she empowers audiences to innovate and capture opportunities offered by sustainability despite a volatile global business environment, stiff competition, and evolving customer desires and workforce needs. On the global stage at COP28 in Dubai, Chrissa addressed how and why companies should invest in green skills in their workforce to the value-add of green tech. She showed how sustainability is a multiplier for growth and impact at closed-door sessions with private equity companies.

Hailed as “illuminating” and “inspiring,” Chrissa’s book Chief Sustainability Officers At Work is a bestseller on Amazon. It pulls back the curtain on how leaders at Fortune 500 companies tackle the challenge of integrating long-term sustainability goals while hitting quarterly financial targets.

Chrissa was recognized as a “Green Bond Champion” by the Climate Bonds Initiative and awarded the Leadership award by the US Green Building Council for her market-transforming innovations as an executive at Fannie Mae. She launched the first green $19M commercial mortgage-backed security in the US and brokered a public-private partnership with the US EPA to develop a new ENERGY STAR® rating and certification for the real estate industry.

Chrissa has developed sustainability strategies for large real estate investors, advised USAID and energy clients on renewable energy solutions, and delivered software solutions for the energy industry in the U.S. and Europe.

Ms. Pagitsas holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a BA from Johns Hopkins University.

Videos

https://youtu.be/V3oHVGwVsHE

Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

Leading Through a Sustainability Lens

How does a Fortune 500 company with billions in revenue maximize the benefits of an ESG strategy? Chrissa Pagitsas pulls back the curtain on how to use the power of sustainability to lead and grow as a business, and deliver innovative solutions through ESG.

Her audience walks in her shoes to build a $50 billion green bond business and the shoes of the Chief Sustainability Officers and Heads of ESG at global companies like Amazon, BlackRock, Procter & Gamble, and Owens Corning.

Creating a “Surround Sound” for Change: How to navigate change strategies with employees, customers, and investors

INSPIRING SPEAKER DRIVING BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
An engaging and informative sustainability and ESG keynote speaker, moderator and panelist, Chrissa Pagitsas draws on her frontline experience driving transformative business strategies as an executive and a strategic advisor to Fortune 500 companies, philanthropies, and non-profits.

Chrissa shares candid real-life experiences of blazing a trail with no roadmap, creating innovative new products, and changing culture at large-scale companies.

Speaking topics include:
Leading Through a Sustainability Lens
Creating a “Surround Sound” for Change
Sustainability and Innovation as a Intrapreneur
Female Leadership and Diversity
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SPEAKING CLIENTS
Some of the organizations to which Chrissa has spoken:

SPEAKING TOPICS
Leading Through a Sustainability Lens
How does a Fortune 500 company with billions in revenue maximize the benefits of an ESG strategy? Chrissa Pagitsas pulls back the curtain on how to use the power of sustainability to lead and grow as a business, and deliver innovative solutions through ESG.

Her audience walks in her shoes to build a $50 billion green bond business and the shoes of the Chief Sustainability Officers and Heads of ESG at global companies like Amazon, BlackRock, Procter & Gamble, and Owens Corning.

Creating a “Surround Sound” for Change: How to navigate change strategies with employees, customers, and investors
Launching a new initiative? Exciting a new customer base? Whether new to their seat or highly experienced, every leader will launch a new initiative that meets resistance. Using real and tangible examples from companies such as Fannie Mae, Procter & Gamble, and Trane, Chrissa Pagitsas shows how the real magic for changes comes from creating a “surround sound” of key stakeholders to bring about the change. From employees to investors and even critical external partners and customers, she will inspire the audience to surround these stakeholders and achieve the targeted change.

Sustainability and Innovation as a Intrapreneur

What does it take to develop a new product line within an established company? How do we integrate sustainability throughout our business products? It’s not the technology. It’s the mindset. Learn from the successful product launches of Procter & Gamble, Owens Corning, Amazon, and other leading companies who took leaps of faith grounded in business realities to capture new markets.

Female Leadership and Diversity

To succeed today, businesses must call upon the diverse talents of their employees and into their extensive networks. Drawing on her own leadership experiences and those of senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, Chrissa Pagitsas guides the audience through a realization of the power of leaders to concrete steps to include diverse perspectives into business strategy and decision-making.

Testimonials

Chrissa’s experience, expertise and dedication made all the difference in shaping the event into a resounding success. Her keynote address was both insightful and inspiring. Our customers found the event not only relevant but also highly collaborative and engaging.

– Hilti North America

As our keynote speaker, Chrissa hit the exact note for our audience: revealing the big-picture vision for the future for sustainability and business while clearly laying out how to execute on practical actions today.

– Matt Ellis, CEO, Measurabl

Without a doubt, Chrissa Pagitsas was the best choice as our conference’s keynote speaker. As a dynamic speaker, Chrissa engaged our audience and created a real-time conversation on ESG leadership and business.

– Nima Farshchi, Executive Director, Smith School of Business, University of Maryland

Chrissa has made a very important contribution to the growing field of sustainability and ESG. Business leaders and investors would all benefit from reading Chief Sustainability Officers At Work and engaging with Chrissa on the important topics presented in her work.

– Aniket Shah, Global Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Finance Strategy, Jefferies