Sprott BIB alum is helping build a more sustainable Canada

As more companies recognize the need to be greener, one Sprott international business grad helps organizations realize the impact of sustainability goes beyond the environment, and how it affects society and the economy.

Jane Porter (BIB/07) is a sustainability consultant with Stratos, a specialized management consulting firm based in Ottawa that helps organizations to identify and act on environmental, social and economic risks and opportunities. Their clients cut across the natural resources, energy, and mining sectors, among others.

“What we do is try to do is help companies understand what sustainability means to them,” she said.

To do this, they show companies how environmental, social and economic issues affect their bottom line, and then help them to develop policies and systems that support sustainable practices.

Last year, Jane and colleagues from Stratos, together with the Mining Association of Canada, were honoured with an Excellence in Corporate Responsibility Award for a joint initiative, Towards Sustainable Mining. This initiative aims to manage risk in mining facilities, focusing on key issues such as the management of tailings, greenhouse gases, crisis situations, and Aboriginal and community outreach.

Jane graduated from Sprott’s Bachelor of International Business (BIB) program in 2007 and decided to continue her education before launching her career.

“I knew I wanted to do something on the sustainability side but I didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to jump in right away,” she said.

While searching for the right graduate program, a Finnish friend she’d met while studying abroad in France in third year, told her about a Masters program in Corporate Environmental Management at the University of Jyväskylä.

The program’s coursework in environmental management and environmental science would do a great job filling in the knowledge gaps, but Jane also said the chance to study in Finland was a huge draw because of the country’s huge cultural focus on sustainability.

“It was so good to live in a place where sustainability is woven into the culture, and being able to see what that looks like in practice,” she said.

While completing her degree, Jane worked with the university’s Global Venture Lab, an international collaboration platform for entrepreneurs at universities around the world, and also co-founded a chapter of Net Impact, a global non-profit group focused on making social and environmental change.

After graduating and staying another year at the university to teach a course on project management to students in the Global Ventures Lab, Jane decided to head back to Canada for the next chapter in her career.

When Jane arrived in Ottawa and started to apply for jobs, it didn’t immediately turn out like she had hoped.

“I applied to a ton of places but didn’t have any luck,” she said. “It can be tough out there in any field because there are hundreds of qualified people applying for the same position.”

Jane persevered and continued to build her network. This led her to a group of like-minded people who were interested in setting up a creative space in Ottawa where entrepreneurs could come to work and collaborate on projects that aim to make the world better. The space eventually materialized as HUB Ottawa, a member of the global Impact HUB network that has over 50 similar creative spaces around the world dedicated to social innovation.

“Visiting the HUB in London and watching Helsinki’s HUB get set up gave me some idea of what the environment could look like,” she said.

HUB Ottawa launched in late 2012 and Jane worked as the team’s community builder and programming director to organize events and bring in outside speakers.

During the development of the HUB, Jane met with the president of Stratos to ask what they’d like to see in a creative space in Ottawa and what could be done there to benefit the city. Not long after their meeting, a position at Stratos unexpectedly opened up and Jane joined the team in January 2011, where she’s been ever since.

Even after facing some initial adversity in getting the job she loves, she says that all you need to do is keep on working towards it by any means necessary.

“Don’t stop learning in the process of trying to get to your dream job,” she advised. “Even if you’re not there yet, pick up another job or project that will develop your skills and keep that dream job in front of you as your goal.”

About Sprott’s Bachelor of International Program

Sprott’s Bachelor of International Business launched 20 years ago as the first program of its kind in Canada. The BIB program remains a leader in international business education for unique elements that include intensive training in another language and a full year of study abroad to enhance language fluency and develop cross-cultural skills.