Navigating Sustainable Growth
Sustainability is complicated… but sustainable growth is not. Figure out how to grow revenue and profits while systematically reducing full value chain carbon (and other negative) impacts.
Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Yesterday’s best practices (e.g., setting net zero goals) are table stakes today.
The recent backlash against ESG only accelerates the need to navigate sustainable growth as the defining business issue of our time. Every company must transform its purpose, business processes, and product portfolio to meet the decarbonization imperative – and to attract and retain the best talent.
What’s your company’s sustainable growth story? Leveraging our proprietary Sustainable Growth Navigator we help companies understand:
- How to think about sustainability as a growth opportunity.
- How your company stacks up today (vs. peers and the various reporting frameworks and ratings).
- How to future-proof your company and build a roadmap for sustainable innovation and growth.
Hedstrom Associates provides advice and counsel to boards and C-suite executives about navigating sustainable growth – with a particular focus on corporate governance. We work with companies that want to profit from sustainability (in the very best sense), win the war for talent, and thrive as innovative, successful enterprises.
- How does your company honestly stack up?
- How can you leverage sustainability to drive innovation and growth?
Schooled in finance at GE, Gib Hedstrom and his team have worked with over 125 leading multinational corporations worldwide – virtually all at the C‑suite level.
Gib Hedstrom
Gilbert (Gib) Hedstrom is widely recognized as a trusted advisor to CEOs and boards on climate and sustainability issues. He has reported directly to full boards and board committees of Fortune 500 companies on over 70 occasions, often meeting with outside directors in executive sessions.
Gib’s latest book, Navigating Sustainable Growth: A Roadmap for Boards and Corporate Leaders (De Gruyter Brill, July 2025) provides research on enhancing board fluency and over 300 corporate best practices. The book also contains The Climate Story, an 8-step summary to help busy executives connect the dots, understand the recent acceleration, and make smart business decisions over the next five years.
- When our Board of Directors asked to be briefed by an outside sustainability expert at the next Board meeting, my sustainability director found Gib Hedstrom, whose (then) recently published article struck a chord with me and with our Board. Gib gave a detailed presentation to our Board, joined us for informal discussion over dinner, and then joined in a half-day scenario planning session. Our Chairman and the full Board greatly appreciated Gib’s insight, guidance and counsel.”
Mike Marsh
President and CEO
SaskPower
The Value We Provide
Hedstrom Associates brings over 30 years of experience in advising global leaders to achieve sustainable growth and profitability.
- Operating at the board level. Gib Hedstrom has consulted on over 75 occasions with the boards of directors of major corporations.
- Deeply steeped in climate and sustainability. Gib spoke at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, leading the dialogue about business and climate change. Since then, we have worked with more than 125 companies and authored books and over 20 papers on the subject.
- Depth of knowledge about industry globally. Our 30+ years of experience with leading companies at all levels, from the Board to plant operating managers, has brought us into contact with a broad swath of virtually all industry sectors.
- Schooled in finance at General Electric. Gib Hedstrom began his career as a financial trainee at GE, working under Jack Welch.
- Strong, deep contacts with NGO leaders who influence business. We have partnered with the CEOs of leading NGOs (e.g., Ceres, Environmental Defense Fund, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute, and others).
We have served on the board of the leading business school integrating sustainability issues into the business curriculum (University of Michigan) and have partnered with leading business schools focused on sustainability including MIT, Duke, and others.
Drawing on our extensive client base and broad network of NGOs, investors, and thought leaders, we work with companies that are committed to grow their profitably while helping to solve the world’s pressing challenges.
We are proud that over 80 percent of our current clients have been clients in the past or were referred to Hedstrom Associates by former clients.
- While many toil around the more glamorous edges of sustainability, Gib has worked for several decades with CEOs, boards and executive teams among the toughest audiences — in carbon-intensive resource, petrochemical and heavy manufacturing industries. And it is in these settings, when the ‘sustainability light bulb’ goes on, that organizational learning can be the most rewarding.”
Peter Senge
Founding Chairperson,
Society for Organizational Learning
Senior Lecturer,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Our Team
Our business model is simple: with minimal overhead, Gib works directly with clients — providing high value for the money spent. As needed, we tap into our established network of partners, bringing an exceptional range of skills: U.S. and global; virtually all industry sectors; insights from the boardroom to the shop floor — providing leading counsel on the most pressing 21st century sustainable growth issues.
Hedstrom Associates helps companies profit from the environment (in a way that is best for the planet) – to seize competitive opportunities, cut costs and liabilities, and attract investors through insight and leadership on governance and sustainability.
Our Network
Our clients need to access the insight and perspectives of NGOs, investors, and global thought-leaders who are increasingly impacting corporate reputation and strategy. Our long-time affiliation with an exceptional network of sustainability experts allows us to quickly tap into great insights and broader resources for our clients.
For 35 years we have built a trusted network of:
- Companies. We maintain long and deep relations with leading executives at companies in the forefront of gaining business value from environmental and social drivers.
- Investors. We collaborate with investors who bring a long history of delivering superior financial performance while embracing sustainability principles.
- Consultancies. Over the years, we have partnered with Accenture, Arthur D. Little (ADL), Battelle, and other leading sustainability consultants.
- NGOs. We have worked closely through the years with Ceres, The Conservation Fund, and World Resources Institute among many others.
- Business Schools. We regularly interact with the leaders at the top business schools for sustainability, serving on the board at The University of Michigan and working closely with Professors Jason Jay, Dan Vermeer, Tom Lyon, Stuart Hart, and Andy Hoffman among others.
Our network of “sustainability leaders” across companies, investors, NGOs, academics, and consulting enriches our insights; we invest constantly in building and fostering this network.
Connect
Learn about a free company assessment on ESG Navigator
Learn about The Climate Story