Sustainability Changemaker of the Year – Finalists 2024

The Sustainability Changemaker Award seeks to recognise individuals in the research, insight and data analytics sector who are motivated to make meaningful change and take steps to be part of the solution to the growing climate crisis.

Nominations were open to all, and the judges looked for individuals who have made significant contributions in their organisations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices in line with the MRS Net Zero Pledge (or equivalent sustainability mark).

Congratulations to the four exceptional finalists below. The winner will be announced at the MRS Excellence Awards lunch on 7 June. The award reflects the MRS Sustainability Council’s commitment to relentlessly drive forward and embed positive change across the sector supporting organisations and teams on the journey to be Net Zero.

The judges

Rebecca Cole CMRS, Managing Director, Cobalt Sky
Jonathan Hall CMRS, Managing Partner, Sustainable Transformation Practice, Kantar
Lisa Mai, Account Director, Strategy & Insight, Headland Consultancy
Mia Walker CMRS, Managing Director, Business, Research Academy

The finalists

Florence Brun

Research Manager, Human8

Nominated for: Championing sustainability within my organisation.

Florence says: “Having completed a six-week course ‘Climate Change for Decision-Makers’ run by the University of Cambridge I felt empowered to activate sustainability at Human8. I have engaged relevant stakeholders within the organisation and am supporting them in educating employees on the matter. I have become an owner of an internal comms channel dedicated to sustainability and regeneration, where I have inspired others to join external training in this area. I am also using the knowledge I gained from the course in the context of research projects. A key approach I use to bring context from the course to the forefront is by considering nature as a stakeholder. I have been merging consumer findings with clients’ public commitments to ESG, corporate strategy or Net Zero pledges for a rounded view. I will continue to do this more broadly with other FMCG clients, where it can have a real impact in driving positive change for the planet.

Finally, I am carving out a role to support Human8 with its MRS Net Zero Pledge by motivating colleagues to reduce their carbon footprint through the internal comms I share, but also by investigating whether there are any other ways we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”

The judges said: “We were impressed to see the personal dedication Florence has made by investing her own money and company funding to complete a climate change course. She is passionate about sustainability and has put into practice what she has learnt both internally and externally with clients.”

Paige Fiedorowicz

Senior Finance Executive, Differentology

Nominated for: Spearheading Differentology’s entire ESG Programme

Paige says: “Since joining Differentology in 2021 I have single-handedly set up, controlled, and managed the measurement programme, reporting KPIs directly to the Board. In 2023 I ensured Differentology was one of only 24% of MRS businesses to have actively taken a step to report emissions and I led the reduction of GHG emissions to c.1 metric tonne of CO2 per employee, one of the lowest in the industry. I have set up an internal team of green Differentologists, to drive initiatives home and led internal ‘Learn and Share’ sessions to educate the wider agency on how they individually and collectively can contribute to lowering emissions. Some of my successful initiatives include, a green sedum roof (which reduces energy consumption), a biomass boiler (to provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels), adding flow regulators to taps/showers (alongside low-capacity toilet cisterns) at our headquarters and introducing a car-share scheme.

I have started a government-funded course ‘Understanding Environmental Sustainability,’ and I have shared my key learnings and best practice in the MRS blog post ‘Get to Net-Zero’, to help other MRS businesses get to grips with measurement challenges”.

The judges said: “Paige is proactive and introduced tangible metrics in her company. In a short space of time, she has used her tenacity and persistence to drive forward a number of successful initiatives and educated colleagues on how they can contribute to lowering emissions. She shows you don’t need to be client-facing to effect change.”

Michael Hanbury Williams

Head of Sustainability & Purpose (EMEA Region), UM London

Nominated for: Leading UM’s sustainability strategy.

Michael says: “In my new role as Head of Sustainability & Purpose for the EMEA region I am responsible for the deployment of IPG Mediabrands’ 5-point climate action plan, which is aligned to both the MRS Net Zero Pledge and Ad Net Zero’s own framework. I drive education and action to minimise the impact of digital marketing activity and have introduced vetted carbon crediting/offsetting partners to UM clients, helping to minimise the impact of the ad campaigns that UM delivers. Over £120,000 worth of client value has been committed, with thousands of tonnes of carbon being offset.

Knowing that Sustainability cannot be tackled single handedly, I have created a Sustainability training programme for Mediabrands Employees, and personally rolled it out to over 800 UK colleagues in 2023. I also trained a new network of 60 Sustainability “Champions” across the EMEA region, to ensure the impact is felt across the region and created a new sustainable travel policy for EMEA employees that will be implemented in 2024. 

Externally I worked hard to ensure that my passion and expertise translates to solutions that impact the wider industry. I served as Mediabrands’ representative at both Ad Net Zero and the IPA Media Climate Charter since its inception in 2020 and maintain close relationships with industry initiatives and organisations such as Purpose Disruptors, Conscious Advertising Network, Clean Creatives, and Creatives for Climate. I have also participated in countless events and roundtables to share an agency perspective on sustainability, fostering impactful partnerships with Conscious Advertising Network, Good-Loop, Google, Hawk, Wetransfer, Captify, Pulsar, Kantar, EACA, APA and Lancaster University. In 2024, I worked with Kantar and Google to deliver a landmark new report on best practices in sustainable marketing – a first of its kind – yielding essential new knowledge to the industry: the PAVE Whitepaper & Purposeful Purchase Journeys (PPJ) Study.”

The judges said: “We were impressed that Michael pitched a business case to create his role. Working on a wide-ranging remit including an array of internal programmes and delivering the PAVE Whitepaper & Purposeful Purchase Journeys (PPJ) study, he has demonstrated impactful results on an internal and external level.”  

Lian Mico

Delivery Development Director, Human8

Nominated for: Championing sustainability, ESG and regenerative thinking by effecting change from the inside out.

Lian says: “I have been designing a new project management model that brings the classic ‘triangle’ into the regenerative age by adding a new ‘green’ angle, thus creating a quadrangle. This framework will transform how Human8 thinks about research projects, so that we can truly lead with regenerative and sustainable thinking (as per our company vision) without requiring excessive effort from individuals who can affect change.

Since joining the MRS Sustainability Council I have regularly been involved in encouraging positive behaviours in the industry via the MRS Sustainability pledge signees and wider membership base. I have also written articles and recorded video aimed at industry professionals to encourage positive behaviour change, focusing on how small, personal choices and behaviours can make a real difference, and so making sustainability easier to understand and more accessible to people of all levels in their professional research careers”.

The judges said: “Lian is an effective advocate internally and externally and engages with sector-wide bodies. She is doing the MRS carbon literacy training and is an active member of the MRS Sustainability Council and her genuine passion for sustainability shone through.”