World Environment Center Jury Adds New Members

The World Environment Center’s (WEC) is honored to have three new members join this unique group of sustainability leaders, which independently selects the recipient of the annual WEC Gold Medal Award for International Achievement in Sustainable Development winner each year. The jury represent leaders from academia, civil society and the private sector.  

WEC expressed great appreciation to the outgoing Jury member, Dr. Robert W. Slater, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Policy at Carleton University and the President of Coleman, Bright and Associates, for his tremendous support to WEC over the decades and serving as a member of the Jury.  

The new WEC Jury Members:

• Rajesh Chhabara, Managing Director, CSRWorks International

Rajesh is the founder and managing director of CSRWorks International, a Singapore-based sustainability pioneer focused on advisory, training and thought leadership with a strong regional network.  

Rajesh has more than 20 years of consulting, training and advocacy experience in the private and non-profit sectors in a wide range of industries. His expertise lies in developing sustainability strategies for competitive advantage.

Rajesh has founded several thought leadership programs to advance sustainability excellence in the region, including the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards, Asia Sustainability Reporting Summit, and Asia’s Top Sustainability Superwomen.

He has authored or co-authored four books on sustainability. He is also the editorial director for Sustainability Reporting: Learn from Asia’s Best, an annual publication produced by CSRWorks. Rajesh is a regular speaker at international sustainability conferences.

• Dan Esty, Hillhouse Professor, Yale University

Dan Esty is the Hillhouse Professor at Yale University with primary appointments at Yale’s Environment and Law Schools and a secondary appointment at the Yale School of Management. He serves as director of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy (www.yale.edu/envirocenter) and as co-director of the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance. Professor Esty is the author or editor of thirteen books and dozens of articles on environmental protection, regulatory reform, finance, and energy policy -- and their connections to sustainability, trade, and broad-based economic progress. 

From 2011 to early 2014, Professor Esty served as Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection where he earned a reputation for fresh thinking and practical results – including an ability to consult widely, engage diverse stakeholders, and deliver transformative change. His policy innovations included the launch of Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation Green Bank to promote clean energy using limited public funding to leverage private capital and a restructuring of all of Connecticut’s environmental permitting programs to make the state’s regulatory framework lighter, faster, more efficient, and effective. 

Prior to taking up his Yale Professorship in 1994, Professor Esty served in a variety of senior positions at the US Environmental Protection Agency where he helped to manage the agency’s regulatory programs and negotiate the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change.  He also worked as a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC, where his research and writing on the links between trade and sustainability issues and the broader challenges of globalization gained widespread recognition.

• Catriona Schmolke, FREng, Senior Vice President for the Operational Centers of Excellence at Jacobs (retired) and transitioning into Non-Executive Director portfolio, (United Kingdom)

Catriona has a BSc in Applied Geology from Strathclyde University and a MPhil in Hydrogeology from the University of Newcastle. She is a chartered engineer and geologist with a professional career of 35 years. In 2016 Catriona was honored as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers (FREng) for her work in embedding sustainability principles into the infrastructure professional services sector and in 2019 she was recognized with the Women in Construction and Engineering (WICE) Lifetime Achievement in Engineering Award.

Much of Catriona’s career has been building the capability to deliver sustainable solutions for multi-national and multi-sector clients. Since 1990 she has been raising the profile of environmental and social gain opportunities for clients and building on purpose as the driver for profitable growth and success for all. She led business groups including Environment Management, Sustainable Solutions, Water Utilities, Energy and Waste business sectors as Vice President of Operations and in 2016 she was promoted to Senior Vice President, with global accountability for; health, safety, environment, sustainability, security, resilience and quality. Delivering key milestones such as Jacobs PlanBeyond™ Sustainability Strategy, Climate Action Plan, Collectively™ Global Giving & Volunteering Program and qualifying Jacobs for the Dow Jones North America Index.

Catriona serves on several not-for-profit boards and committees, is a role model and mentor for many professionals and passionately promotes the importance of diversity and inclusion as a key enabler of successful business. 

Glenn Prickett, WEC’s President & CEO shared, “WEC is truly delighted to have access to such a well-respected group of leaders to help support our efforts as we work to advance sustainable development.”

About the World Environment Center

WEC is an independent, global non-profit, non-advocacy organization that advances sustainable development through the business practices and operations of its member companies and in partnership with governments, multi-lateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities and other stakeholders. WEC’s mission is to accelerate sustainability solutions through innovation, thought leadership and public-private collaboration. It manages projects for companies across their global operations, builds executive-level learning and competency in applying sustainable development across a number of business sectors, and recognizes performance excellence through an annual awards program. WEC is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with regional offices in China, El Salvador and Germany.

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