Global Effort for a Global Cause

By Carey Guerin, Sustainability University at Jones Lang LaSalle

Today, our firm announces that we have reached our goal to employ 1,000 people with LEED and other energy and sustainability accreditations. Actually, as of Jan 1 we employed 1075 such individuals. As the Sustainability University facilitator charged with bringing this goal home, allow me to first say: Whew!

We had about 650 accredited people in our system in May, when we decided to go for 1,000. We considered setting the goal for the end of 2011, but adding 350 people to the list in 150 business days was not really feasible, so we settled on the end of 2012 to give ourselves some breathing room. So much for that plan. The response from our people all over the world was so strong that we went back to the original plan, stepped up training, and held our breath. Which is why I would now like to say, again: Whew!

The past seven months have been incredible. I am still in awe of the individual effort put forth by my colleagues. Whether it was championing co-workers, studying after work hours or taking a test in a second language, it was clear my colleagues were committed to this goal. Their innate interest in the material or their previous knowledge of sustainability in the built environment proved for successful completion of their individual goals and subsequently the company’s goal. We now have sustainability accredited professionals in 29 countries on six continents. It has been my pleasure to work with so many people all over the world with the dedication and drive to improve our client service, not to mention the planet. To everyone involved in this endeavor, THANK YOU! GRACIAS! MERCI! DANKE! TACK! TERIMA KASIH! Dziękuję! 謝謝 शुक्रिया ありがとう

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