The Futur/io CSO Awards North America 25 were announced on Monday night at a gala dinner held at the vitra design showroom during New York Climate Week. The awards recognize the most important Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) in North America, with Erik Hansen, Chief Sustainability Officer at Workday, receiving the Gold Award. The Silver Award went to Jackie Jung, Vice President, Global Operations Strategy & Planning, Corporate Sustainability at Western Digital, and the Bronze Award was granted to Susan Uthayakumar, Chief Energy and Sustainability Officer of Prologis.
The Grand Jury also awarded two Special Honour CSO Awards to Annika Dubrall from Tiffany & Co. and Ann Tracy from Colgate-Palmolive. Ara Erickson from Weyerhaeuser received the Sustainable Supply Chain Award, presented by Simon Jaehnig, Co-Founder & President of IntegrityNext Inc. The Peer Award, chosen by the live audience, went to Jennifer Motles, Chief Sustainability Officer at Philip Morris International.
During the three-month data collection and analysis period, Futur/io and its partners observed delays in sustainability reporting compared to 2024, with some companies retracting earlier reports. The business climate is characterized by geopolitical headwinds, economic pressures, and potential greenhushing. Participation in the annual survey sent to major corporations lacked support from some CSOs.
The final winners were selected from 20 nominees by a Grand Jury that includes influential voices such as John Elkington, known as the Godfather of Sustainability, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, honorary president of the Club of Rome, Michael Kobori, former Chief Sustainability Officer for Starbucks and winner of the CSO Awards Gold in 2024, and others. The Chair of the Jury is Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute.
This is the second edition of the CSO Awards North America, an initiative of the Futur/io Institute, which aims to nurture leadership in sustainable innovation and build a network of CSOs globally. The European edition took place in Davos parallel to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025.
The awards are a collaboration with Made in Sustainability, premium partner Integrity Next, scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, and knowledge partners Denominator, Rainforest Partnership, ClimateGPT, and Economist Impact, along with Gold Partner CEEZER Software.
The 20 nominees were drawn from the Top100 CSOs of North America 2025 list, compiled using a four-quadrant model criteria developed by Futur/io and the Leonardo Centre. The model considers corporate behaviors, regulatory performance on ESG and SDG criteria, net zero goals, environmental and human impact, and a self-assessment survey.
Harald Neidhardt said, "Our mission is to shine a light on the role of Chief Sustainability Officers, we hope to inspire others to be ambitious and work on building the desirable futures we want to live in. These years winners and 20 nominees are exemplary in their commitment towards keeping the pace needed to solve for the Sustainable Development Goals and higher ambition for NetZero, e.g. a goal of 2040 or better."
