We’ve Pivoted: Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Roles
On April 1, 2026, Pierina Anton Lopez (Walt Disney World), Katie Cronin (Walmart), Putra Kusdarman (Visa), and Marina Colby (Ocean Outcomes) offered their candid advice on how to best pivot to the private sector with purpose. John Dorrett (Georgetown University) moderated this discussion, with Steve Radelet (Georgetown University) providing additional commentary.
This session was the fifteenth in our Pivot to New Career Paths seminar series. These seminars are designed to offer attendees the opportunity to hear from colleagues who have already made these important career transitions and glean how to best embark on these changes themselves.
Over the last year, we’ve heard from professionals working outside international development and the public sector, exploring new career paths that might match your skills, expertise, and desire to do good. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability roles have become a top destination for our community.
While that may surprise some, the truth is that this transition allows us to draw from our previous skills and experiences with government-funded projects in order to implement privately-endowed philanthropic or development missions. In other words, the professional fit is nearly perfect!
More important, there are numerous opportunities that we can seize! This field is widespread and is likely to grow. Every sector (from entertainment and commercial, to education and energy) features companies with strong interests to give back to their communities and the funds to do so effectively.
Thus, the need for effective stewards of these funds who have experience managing and overseeing grants, monitoring and evaluation, and government relations (among other skills) is high.
Similar to our previous “We’ve Pivoted” session concerning transitions into government and public relations careers, all panelists agreed that we all possess attractive skills and capabilities. The private sector is well aware of our strengths, and the CSR realm is a promising avenue to pursue!
We hope that these stories help you translate your development background into new CSR roles and inspire you to go after these exciting opportunities!
Other Previous Sessions
Please feel free to browse our other previous sessions to access summaries, video content, and more information about our other events!