Amelia Loveday: Hello, welcome everyone. It's great to be with you today for another CareerCon monthly. And this month we're talking about careers related to climate. and sustainability. My name's Amelia and I'm head of programs at hundo and I have the privilege today to be joined by Sarah Acer, who's going to be talking to us about her role as a social impact leader, the different types of careers in the climate justice space and what it takes to lead a successful social campaign. Uh, there really is no one more qualified for this discussion Sarah is the ceo of Align Social Impact where she works with some of the world's most influential individuals Causes campaigns and companies to develop innovative programs and initiatives that drive impact in ways that can be felt and measured Um, so welcome Sarah Great to have you with us. Um, that was a super brief introduction. Uh, so I'd love it if you could start by telling us a little bit more about Align Social Impact, uh, its mission and your work with the agency.

Sarah Acer: Yeah, absolutely. And thanks Amelia and hundo for having me. It's great to be here with the hundo community. As you mentioned, Align Social Impact is a global impact agency, and we really exist at this nexus of culture, storytelling, research, and systems change. And our, our mission is really to build a more just, inclusive, and vibrant world. Where we see business, people and the planet thrive. We are 100 percent women owned, women led. We are 60 percent BIPOC and we have offices and teams in New York City and Amsterdam. And as you mentioned, we're incredibly fortunate to get to work with some of the world's most inspiring and influential organisations that span sort of the sectors of business, entertainment, philanthropy and government. And our work really focuses on four core verticals. We do a lot of work in transformational partnerships and philanthropy. We also work in brand storytelling, thought leadership, and communications. We do a lot of work with organisations building out internal infrastructure, so organisational development, strategic planning, program design. And finally, we do a lot of work with clients around movement building, policy, advocacy, and campaign.

Amelia Loveday: Amazing. So a pretty broad spectrum of work there. Um, you're the CEO and we can all aspire. Um, but what other types of roles exist in your agency and in the wider industry? Um, and if you can, what sort of skills, behaviors, knowledge are particularly in demand for anyone wanting to work in this space?

Sarah Acer: Yeah, great question. I would say sort of the social impact industry writ large is, is that a nascent stage? Yeah, I've been working in this sector for over two decades. And I remember even 10 years ago telling people I was a social impact practitioner. That didn't even resonate. That wasn't even a phrase people used. Yeah, so exciting times for individuals interested in the social impact sector writ large, I would say, in terms of, you know, what roles we're always looking for in the types of knowledge, skills, behaviors we're looking for in inside the organisation. And for candidates, I would say, sort of beyond individuals who are committed to building a more just and equitable world. I would say we look for candidates who are really four things, they are curious, they're creative.

Uh, they are collaborative and they're proactive. Yeah, so these are individuals who are constantly questioning, uh, the status quo, really looking to sort of break boundaries, identify ways, uh, to improve, uh, improve the status quo and in some cases break the status quo to achieve a more equitable and just outcome. Of course, we're, we're looking for individuals, um, who are at varying stages of their career, right? We all start, um, we all start somewhere. I started my career in the social impact sector when I was 14, and I started in public health as an organizer. Yeah, at the very local level, working with a campaign that, um, any individuals in the U.S. might know, although I'm dating myself, it's about 25 years ago, um, the, the truth campaign, which really was, um, a campaign designed to activate. Youth and young people, um, and an increase sort of their education and awareness on the dangers of tobacco use.

Um, I started as, uh, as an intern, then became an employee, um, of the, of the county government, and then worked all the way up to the national level. So, I'd say, in terms of roles, we're looking for, we actually have several open fellowships. These are for students. We're really looking to learn. We have two open positions. Now we hire fellows every spring, summer and fall, and we hire, you know, individuals that varying sort of levels of their journey in the social impact sector. So account coordinators, account directors, um, account VPs, these are all individuals who are leading specific social impact client accounts. I mean, you know, be it for big brands or major nonprofits or cause organisations or even, um, some of our talent clients. So lots of different opportunities at at varying stages of of one sort of career trajectory.

Amelia Loveday: It's great to hear that it's, it's never too early to start, um, and we'll make sure to sign posts towards that fellowship, um, so people know where to find you. Um, I'd like to talk through one of your more high profile campaigns, that's the Face of Change campaign. Um, some viewers might be familiar, I think it was featured in Time just earlier this year. Um, what inspired the creation of the Face of Change campaign, and can you talk us through its objectives?

Sarah Acer: Yeah, absolutely. So the Face Of Change campaign is really a global multi year campaign designed to tackle what we call the climate driven health crisis. Now, as, everyone I think here knows, climate change is the greatest threat of our lifetime. And we know that for decades, frontline voices from the most affected communities have really been sounding the alarm arguably for far longer But what we also know is that for too long, we've really ignored the fact that the climate crisis is a health crisis. And as a direct result of Earth's rising temperature, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent, and they're always followed by extreme weather events. And what we see as a result are millions and millions of people suffering the consequences right from climate sensitive disease to extreme heat and beyond. And as with most crises, we see that those who have contributed the least in this case to climate change are experiencing its worst impacts the most. And I think, um, to just sort of touch a little bit on, you know, how climate change is, is impacting our health. I think we often. You know, narrow the aperture, and we're really trying to widen it through through this campaign. So it isn't just, you know, air pollution and heat stress, but we see climate change affecting everything from, you know, housing insecurity to mental health, to hunger and nutrition to foodborne illness and beyond. So the list is is really quite overwhelming. But while this challenge of climate change is getting better, importantly, solutions are getting better and just as we have sort of the knowledge, the know how and the and the tools to limit greenhouse gas emissions to, you know, protect the planet and ensure a livable future for us all. We actually have the tools and the know how now to save millions of lives today, and that's really because solutions exist at this nexus of climate and health.

So you mentioned sort of the, uh, you mentioned our partnership with time. This campaign, the face of change was actually co created by an organisation named forecasting healthy future futures and time, and we've been fortunate enough to be able to sort of be the team behind the team, really helping to bring this campaign to life and it really sort of centers on on a singular theory of change and that is that health is the human face of climate change. Health is actually how we all experience climate change and it's also a way for us all to connect. To to climate change. So the theory of change here for this campaign was really, in essence, if we can translate problem to solution, if we can storytell and humanise this problem and mobilise individuals to sort of get involved, then we can drive breakthrough impact and results at scale. And so the goals of this campaign are really again in short order. To sort of cement this idea that climate and health are inextricably interlinked. Yeah, and we need to sort of first cement the narrative and then grow the movement. So our first goal is to build a movement of 50 million engaged citizens, along with 500 of the most influential voices on climate and health from across the global North and global South. Second, once we build that movement. We need to mobilize unprecedented resources and investment. We see a very small, fractional percentage of funding going to climate and health. And we need to see far more. So, the resource mobilization goals here are significant. Some might argue not significant enough. Uh, at 25 billion by COP30 in Brazil. And then, and then last, and arguably most importantly, as a result of that movement building effort and the, the real resource mobilisation efforts, We really, um, are looking to show that all these resources can be directed to frontline communities who are really working to develop breakthrough solutions at scale. And the objective here is to save 10 million lives and to protect the health of 100 million others who are really on the front lines of the worst impacts of climate change.

So, together again with partners like. Time magazine and again, co led by forecasting healthy futures. We've been able to develop a campaign that story led that solutions driven and that really, we believe has the power and potential to change the narrative on climate and health and hopefully to build a global movement that brings together, um, all organisations and individuals working on this campaign. And we just maybe mentioned one more thing that we're most excited about this campaign. And I would say, um, this campaign is completely grassroots led and it is fully open sourced. So any organisation or individual anywhere in the world can access the creative assets, can use them to elevate their own work on climate and health or an organisation's mission. The assets are already translated in 10 languages. There's many more coming. And we're really working with. individuals and organisations to develop sort of the second iteration. What additional stories need to be told? What are we not yet capturing? And how can we use this campaign again to elevate? Stories and solutions, because this is a stark move away from what we've seen in the climate movement for so long, which is really a doom and gloom, a sort of, you know, fact based Armageddon narrative, and we've seen the impacts of campaigns like that, right? At best, people are terrified. At worst, they're apathetic. And what we really want to see is we want to move people to action because there are solutions and there are actions we can take today to actually help improve, um, improve our world and also save lives today.

Amelia Loveday: And in, in meeting those objectives, in engaging that, that huge and really powerful audience, um, could you take us behind the scenes just a little bit? Um, what, what sort of strategies are most effective in, in driving a successful campaign? Uh, and again, bringing it back to the sort of careers, what, what roles are involved in the, in the success of a campaign?

Sarah Acer: Yeah, great question. I would say, you know, campaigns are a great way for any young person to gain sort of breadth and depth in terms of experience, right It's also a great way to be able to meet and connect with different individuals to sort of build, build your network and also to sort of job tests because you can have the opportunity to shadow folks who are leading the team. Communications to partnerships to fundraising to policy and the light, right? So all campaigns, though, I think at their core, they must be if they're going to be successful. They have to be ambitious and judicious. They have to have a big, bold vision, something that people can really get behind. And it does have to be incredibly ambitious.

It also needs to be tempered, um, in a, in a manner wherein it's judicious, it needs to be evidence informed, it needs to be well researched, and there needs to be a plausible pathway for what we're asking the world to help us achieve for us to achieve it, yeah? So it doesn't have to have been done before, but we have to paint the picture and there has to be evidence to suggest that if we do these things, back to when I was mentioning sort of our theory of change, That these outcomes will transpire. I would say other things that we really focus in on on campaigns, and I have been doing campaigns. I think I mentioned for many, many years in the nonprofit sector in the global developments up here in the political sector, and I think all campaigns are, um, at their core, their story led and their solutions driven, and I think really being able to, you know, Tell compelling stories that allow us to meet audiences and people where they are, allow us to connect.

Both on our own shared values, but also on our own shared interest and using that as an unlock for us to connect to sort of a wider movement, right? So climate change is a really great example, and the health impacts of climate changes are a great example. What we're really trying to do there is connect, so to someone in New York, to someone in Nairobi. So we're really trying to bring You know, the health impacts of climate change from sort of the front porch all the way to the front line. Right? And we can do that through story. Right? Great story. Well, told is still, I believe, you know, the single most powerful vehicle to change the world. Right? And I think if we can harness that, Yeah. In any kind of campaign, but particularly in the climate movement, we have a huge opportunity to drive increased action, you know, stronger policy and and really ultimately better, better outcomes. And in this case, with the face of change, better health health outcomes. For those who are experiencing, you know, the worst impacts now because this isn't a far away problem. It's a now problem, right? It's a today problem.

Amelia Loveday: Yeah. So we're talking really about, you know, global messaging, bringing people together from all over the place, uh, with that shared interest. Um, and you've worked in plenty of large global organisations. Um, I know you used to work for Global Citizen as well. Um, can you share a few insights about what it's like to work for a global organisation?

Sarah Acer: Yeah, absolutely. Um, I spent many years at Global Citizen. And for those who aren't aware, Global Citizen is the world's largest advocacy organisation dedicated to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. So the 17 goals that the world set for itself in order to really achieve, um, achieve these development ambitions. Yeah, I would say my, my, it's hard to, to couch my experience at Global Citizen in a in a couple sentences. But I would say working for organisations like Global Citizen or any campaign or advocacy organisation again is an amazing space and place to learn.

It's also an opportunity to test every skill you have those that you are You know, strong in, but also those you may not may not be strong in that may be sort of under or less developed. I think these kinds of environments that really take all of your skills and all the skills of those around you are really a great space and place, um, to assess and to learn more about yourself and your own interests. But things that I've learned about working inside large organisations like Global Citizen, um, I would say a couple things maybe come to mind. One, I would say always, always ask questions, right? Everyone in these environments are really at their, at their core. They're here to help, you know, help support one another, right?

They're here to help you on your climate justice journey, on your food insecurity journey, on whatever issue area you're most passionate about that you're looking to. you know, you're looking to expand your knowledge and your expertise. And so ask questions people for virtual coffees, in person coffees, get time with these individuals don't be afraid to actually reach out to them Um, we always offered it as as leaders inside global citizen and and very few people took us up on these opportunities to have these coffee chats. So take people up on those offers, um, and use it as a space to learn, but also as a space to grow your network. Um, and to build your network, I would also say, you know, speak up when you are interested in something, um, and you're in these fast paced environments. And you want to be a part of something.

These are fast moving organisations, um, where lots of things are coming together quickly, but if you have an idea, you have a connection, if you have, you know, um, an interest in being a part of a team, speak up, tell your line manager, um, write an email to the CEO, let, let it be known that you're interested because these kinds of organisations, they are running on. Passion and commitment of individuals just like you. So it's really, I think, important for them and also an opportunity for, for young people to really, um, really engage. And I would just say, make the most of it. These opportunities are usually yours for the taking because they are, you know, they're movement building organisations and they are powered by.

Youth and young people. And this is not about sort of youth are the leaders of the future. Youth are the leaders of today and operating from that mindset that youth are centered in decision making. In all decision making processes, young people and youth are empowered to help guide, lead and inform decision making, I think is also important. So joining and being a part of organisations that are Similar in that respect, like Global Citizen, like the One Campaign, there's a number of others I've had the pleasure of working very closely with, I would say is a great opportunity for any young person.

Amelia Loveday: Amazing advice, Sarah. Thank you. So we've covered, you know, in terms of tips for young people who want to get involved in the climate or social impact related space, networking, campaigning and speak up. Um, we're running out of time here, but Sarah, thank you so much for all that invaluable advice. Um, please, will you tell our audience where they can find out more about the Face of Change campaign and any other campaigns you're working on at the moment?

Sarah Acer: Yeah, absolutely. Um, you can find out more about the face of change campaign, um, powered by forecasting healthy futures and time at faceofchange.org. Uh, and you can learn more about our firm and our work at Align at our website, alignsocialimpact.com or on socials at Align Impact.

Amelia Loveday: Amazing. Well, Sarah, honestly, huge thanks for joining us today and also to everyone watching. Remember to subscribe to hear about next month's CareerCon Monthly at hundo.xyz and you can find us on socials by searching for the same. Thank you very much everyone and goodbye.