Mark Lee

Executive Director

Mark joined SustainAbility as a Director of the US business in 2004 and was appointed an Executive Director in late 2005. With fellow Executive Director Gary Kendall, Mark is responsible for creating a culture and providing the resources required for SustainAbility’s team to achieve its ambitious change agenda. Mark is accountable for SustainAbility's global consulting strategy and works directly with key clients and partners, especially in the area of strategy development where he has shaped approaches for a wide range of global companies in a variety of industries. Mark is also an expert facilitator.

Mark supports SustainAbility’s advocacy efforts and thought leadership and represents the organization in a wide variety of sustainable development fora. He has served on multiple boards and committees within the sustainability and development fields, and he regularly contributes articles and inputs informed by SustainAbility’s consulting and research work to media.

Previously, Mark was a Vice President at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) in San Francisco and Manager, CSR at Vancity Savings in Vancouver. He graduated from the University of British Columbia (Political Science, English) before undertaking graduate studies in Community Economic Development at Simon Fraser University. He is an alumnus of various professional development programs including the Business Development Program at Haas Berkeley and The University of Cambridge’s Prince of Wales’ Business and the Environment Programme.

Passions @ work
My work in the field has let me become expert in corporate sustainability strategy development and implementation, transparency and reporting, and stakeholder engagement.

I understand the intersection of sustainability and business. My ability to distill and communicate opportunities and risks relevant to different industries and individual businesses emerging from complex situations is what clients value most from my counsel.

I am a skilled facilitator, and I enjoy designing and leading company-stakeholder dialog on sustainability issues. I relish finding ways to overcome systemic issues which limit the ability of individuals and organizations to make progress. I am excited when I am able to create the conditions under which vision and theory turn to actions that contribute to thriving enterprises and the creation of a more sustainable society.

Client and Research Highlights

Guiding strategy design and implementation for multiple Fortune 1000 companies.
Providing reporting guidance to companies like: Chiquita, Ford, HP, IBM, Intel, Nike, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and UPS.
Designing and facilitating stakeholder engagements for companies such as: Ford, Nike, and Starbucks.
Helping develop and implement Ford Motor Company’s Centennial Business Principles.
Co-creating publications including: “Designing a CSR Structure”, “Designing Social and Environmental Reporting Processes for Verification”, and “Working with Multilaterals”.

Previous Experience

Director, SustainAbility Inc.
Vice President, BSR.
Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Vancity Savings.
Member, Leadership Council & Technical Committee, AccountAbility.
Member of multiple GRI Working Groups.
President, Canadian BSR.
Member of the Code of Ethics Committee of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.

Education

BA, Political Science & English, University of British Columbia, 1993;
Graduate studies, Community Economic Development, Simon Fraser University, 1996-1998;
HRH The Prince of Wales’ Business & The Environment Program, University of Cambridge Programme for Industry, 2002;
Business Executive Program at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, 2004.

Nationality
Canadian

Languages
English Mother Tongue