DE & I

“ Diversity leads to greater innovation . It ’ s always combing back to that stat that we all know – we ’ ve all seen the report – but ultimately because we ’ re dealing with some huge social issues and our societies are made up of all different types of people ,” says Katie Mills , Head of Zeigo Power at Schneider Electric , and a keen advocate of workplace diversity .

“ Ultimately , we ’ re failing right now . We haven ’ t reached our targets when it comes

to climate change . We have to look at ways to innovate in totally new ways . If we don ’ t do that , then ultimately we will all fail .”

The ‘ ways ’ that Mills refers to are the efforts to promote diversity and understand that employment is not about who fits the mould of society , but who has the right passion , mindset and expertise to develop business ’ sustainability strategies , and women in particular are seen as more empathetic in many cases .

According to Michelle Davies , Global Head of Sustainability at EY Law , a sustainability leader should not be confined to a single role . The position that person plays within an organisation is to embed sustainability in conversations among all internal stakeholders .

Mills is the Head of Zeigo Power for the Schneider Electric Sustainability Business and her role focuses on democratising the Green power purchase agreement ( PPA ) market . Prior to this , she co-founded CarbonFix , a business manufacturing semiconductors for the renewable energy sector .

KATIE MILLS HEAD OF ZEIGO POWER , SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC sustainabilitymag . com 95