Diana Baker: Community Builder, Sustainability Leader
LOCATION
Bentonville, AR
FAVORITE VEGETARIAN MEALS
Overnight Oats + Protein Packed Bento Boxes
CATALYST
“My passion for sustainability has been a gradual build… Growing up my family recycled, my dad took me hiking, and I volunteered at the zoo. The next layer came after having kids. I thought, what is the legacy that I’m leaving my children and their children? I want them to enjoy nature and animals as I have.
CAREER
I was in hotel and restaurant management for 10 years but wanted to leave the industry for a better work and life-balance with kids. I quit my hotel job, had a baby girl, and almost purchased a hair salon, but then took care of an ill parent and got pregnant with baby number two, my son. A lot of unexpected changes! Six months after my son was born, a friend connected me to Henkel, a consumer goods manufacturing company that owns brands like Dial, all, and Snuggle. Their website mentioned that they cared about sustainability, but I didn’t know if they were true to their word. I thought that I could be a part of that and make it better.
I got the job, and though sustainability wasn’t initially part of my job description, I found a way to get involved. I co-led (and still lead!) the employee sustainability action team, where I organize events and build a community focused on sustainability. I also helped start a fundraiser where we mobilize employees to unlock a $10,000 donation for 10,000 newly planted trees and now we do this fundraiser annually.
After a while, Henkel saw my passion for sustainability and made it a core part of my job. I am now the sustainability culture lead of my department, where I present sustainability topics every week and help track the sustainable impact of our business. My manager said that he thinks about sustainability all the time now and he didn't do this before I started to bring sustainability to the forefront of our team conversations. It’s exciting to see people on our team talk about sustainability even without me there because I’ve engrained it into their thoughts and made it an integral part of doing business.
WHAT KEEPS HER GOING
I love inspiring people to care about sustainability and I hope this will domino and will lead to more people doing bigger and greater things.”
- As told by Molly Bombonato
Posterity Collective is a blog that shares research-backed actions for fighting climate change and stories from individuals conquering them. If you want to learn more about what you can do for climate change, then download the free ebook below.