Work with Karimah
The sustainability role is changing. Lead the change.
Strategic advisory and coaching for senior corporate sustainability leaders and the managers who sponsor them, from a former in-house leader who rose and did Big Good Fast at Nike, Mondelēz and Fairtrade.
Book an alignment callWho it's for
For leaders stepping up, and the managers who want to accelerate them.
For sustainability executives: lead across the enterprise and the industry, not only the function.
Together we pick the one to three priorities that move you from expert to enterprise leader, and track them through the year.
Keystone →For managers: sponsor a senior leader on your team.
We partner with you from the start: milestones tied to their business priorities, check-ins through the year, and a review of the results at year end.
Keystone for Teams →Why Karimah
A strategic advisor and coach who has sat in your seat.
Karimah has held this role. Her methodology comes from what works in-house, with bespoke ways to accelerate each leader.
For the moments that matter.
In-house
- A board or executive presentation
- A new manager or a reorganization
- Making the business case before budget season
- A powerful first 90 days in a new role
- Becoming a recognized industry leader
In transition
- Aligning your search to your leadership compass
- Sharpening your CV, LinkedIn and the story behind the move
- Preparing for interviews
- Surfacing unposted roles through introductions
- Landing the role, then stepping into it powerfully
Expertise from the executive seat
Karimah delivered Big Good Fast in-house at Nike, Mondelēz and Fairtrade, and built the teams that delivered it.
Direct advice when you need an answer
How the business and industry work, the case your CFO will back, and the stakeholder plan to land it.
High-stakes support
The board deck the night before. The reorg email due by noon. A quick read on WhatsApp before it goes out.
Coaching to stay the course
Questions that help you go deep and find your own answers, clarity on your purpose and direction, and accountability to the goals you set.
What you get
Two ways to work together.
For one leader, or several on one team.
Keystone can be self-funded, company-sponsored or shared. If you'd like your company to sponsor it, we'll help you build the case on the alignment call.
Keystone
For an individual leader, in-house or in transition.
- A year-long partnership around your one to three highest-impact priorities
- Milestones agreed at the start, with progress tracked through the year
- Twelve one-hour 1:1 sessions, with high-stakes support and strategic advice in between
- Ecosystem membership, plus invitations to optional VIP experiences around New York Climate Week and ChangeNOW
- If your company sponsors you, they see milestones and progress. What's said in sessions stays between you and Karimah.
What is a keystone? In an ecosystem, a keystone species is the one the whole system depends on. In your organization and your industry, that is you.
Keystone for Teams
For managers with senior leaders across a sustainability function. Company-sponsored.
Leaders who build sustainability into the business plan with your P&L owners, so the agenda moves without you carrying it.
- Each leader gets the full Keystone year: twelve one-hour 1:1 sessions on priorities agreed with you, in their personal, enterprise or industry leadership, or all three
- Four conversations with you, 20 to 30 minutes each: an onboarding call, two check-ins and a year-end review, with milestones agreed in writing
- You see the milestones and progress. What's said in sessions stays between your leader and Karimah.
- One agreement per leader, for the year
How it works
Simple, and bespoke.
1
An alignment call
30 minutes, confidential, with Karimah. Where you are, and where you want to be in a year. Sponsoring a leader? Where you want to see them in a year.
2
Your plan
We agree the one to three things that will move you furthest this year, across your personal, enterprise and industry leadership, and the milestones that show progress.
3
A year of support
Twelve one-hour 1:1 sessions, quick reviews in between, and introductions when they matter.
In their words
Karimah was instrumental in helping me deliver on some really big goals. Our sessions are a highlight of my week and truly transformational.
Karimah's ability to facilitate deep thinking and reflection is unparalleled. She makes the deep work actionable, leaving her clients more centered, resilient, and focused on how to deliver value for people and planet.
What changes for the leaders we work with
Sustainability aligned with the business and its customers
Headcount approved for their teams
Board backing for their strategy
Recognized by their CEO
Invited onto industry stages
Promoted into larger enterprise roles
Leading from expertise, or from the enterprise?
Where are you leading from?
FROM
TO
Personal leadership
Defining yourself by your expertise.
Defining yourself by the enterprise outcomes you lead and their P&L impact.
Running at full capacity with no time to think.
Making time to think strategically about your career and your mandate.
Enterprise leadership
Bringing the sustainability strategy to the business for sign-off.
Building it into the business plan with the P&L owners.
Making the case in carbon and compliance.
Making the case in margin, risk and growth.
Industry leadership
Attending every conference and joining every coalition.
Choosing two or three rooms and shaping them.
Speaking for the function.
Being invited to speak and advise, instead of asking to.
If more of the From lines sound like your last month, you're still leading from expertise. That's the shift we help leaders make, faster.
Book an alignment call
About Karimah
Karimah Hudda
Karimah's journey spans small-town roots in India to living, working, and traveling across nearly 50 countries. For 25 years, she has worked across leadership, strategy, sustainability, enterprise transformation, agriculture, supply chains, environment, and human rights.
Her work is grounded in lived experience: she has been in the seat, and knows what it takes, and what is missing.
More about Karimah
- In-house enterprise and sustainability leadership at Nike, Mondelēz, and Fairtrade
- Work with companies representing over $80B in value, and industries representing over $1T
- 25 years across leadership, sustainability strategy and systems change, leading to enterprise and industry transformation
She remains at the leading edge of thought and action in this space by:
- Building and activating the ideas, frameworks, and tools for all leaders to center on flourishing as a mindset and mission
- Speaking, moderating and co-curating content and experiences at climate and nature events
- Giving back: engaging and supporting the world's leading 'next generation' youth climate and nature leaders
Start with an alignment call.
Tell us where you are and where you want to be a year from now. Sponsoring a leader? Tell us what you'd want to see change for them.