We’re spotlighting our Edelman Culture Champions, individuals recognized by their peers for exceptional dedication, positivity, and contributions to fostering a supportive workplace environment. These champions play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture where every voice is heard and valued. This edition of Inside Edelman features profiles of these outstanding colleagues from our U.S. offices, showcasing their efforts to uphold Edelman’s values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).
Tell us about your Edelman journey.
I’d frame my Edelman journey to date as eclectic, exciting and impactful. I joined the SIS team two months before COVID, so my tenure at Edelman has been set amidst a historically consequential period. And I can say with conviction that I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and proud of the work we get to do every day to help our clients define their role in society and navigate this tumultuous time. I’ve been fortunate to work with so many great companies and institutions – Smurfit Westrock, TPG Rise, Delta Air Lines - to help them embed purpose in their work, primarily in how they think and act to reduce their impact on the planet and evolve in a quickly changing world. Our work helping the COP28 Presidency deliver the UAE Consensus is a special highlight of my journey, as we supported the delivery of the first COP text ever to signal the transition away from fossil fuels. This work matters, it’s how we build better businesses and a better society now and for the next generation. It’s why I came to Edelman and it’s why I chose this journey.
You were nominated for Culture Champion by your colleagues – how do you foster a collaborative and respectful culture within your team?
A focal point of our job is to raise the ambitions of our clients to be more purpose-driven in their work. We counsel them on the benefits of being better corporate citizens and better leaders and to expand their viewpoints to include and take care of all their stakeholders. It’s a lofty goal pushing for systemic changes to business that advance societal benefit, so it’s imperative that we demonstrate the values we champion inside our own walls. This big lift is made possible by small actions, everyday – listening to, respecting, including and supporting our teammates and partners. That work is easy because there are so many smart, diverse, driven people that make up Edelman. And our work is better when we are collaborative, incorporate differing viewpoints, opinions and expertise. It makes us better partners and better people.
How does your personal background play a role in your professional life?
I come from a place called Macon, Georgia. Home of Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers, the kazoo and the Macon Bacon baseball team. It’s a small, diverse southern town that always emphasized the importance of community. It was very neighborly, and my family was very engaged as part of that community. I grew up playing sports, winning and losing as part of a team and learning a lot of personal lessons along the way. I always felt like that mix of community, teamwork and family guided my worldview and eventually my professional career. I tried not to lose the virtue in that when I moved to bigger cities and was thrust into more competitive, high-stakes environments.
When you think about the future of Edelman, what does it look like for you?
Part of the exciting thing about working at Edelman is that unique opportunities always lie ahead. I’ve been lucky during my time to have been presented with many such opportunities to help build businesses, support global movements, change industries and change minds. Personally, I see combatting climate change, including how and how quickly we transition to a sustainable future, as the challenge of my lifetime. I’m excited about the opportunity we have as Edelman to play a role in addressing this challenge and there are unprecedented opportunities as part of it. I see my future as the continual assessment, development and implementation of the ideas and solutions that can help address a changing climate and create a better future. I’m optimistic and enthusiastic about the role that Edelman will play in the movement ahead.
New York just hosted Climate Week, in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly. Can you share a few key highlights and takeaways from the week?
NY Climate Week 2024 was the largest ever to date with a reported 100,000 participants across over 900 events. So, the collective understanding of the devastating effects of climate change and the need to transition our global economy accordingly is clear. Unfortunately, we’ve reached an inflection point on climate action as ambitions in the public and private sectors have seemingly plateaued. There are several reasons for this but there were many positive highlights and takeaways coming out of Climate Week that keep me optimistic.
First, we saw a win for multilateralism with the adoption of the Pact for the Future, an agreement to cooperate to address global challenges ahead. The widespread understanding of the business and financial opportunity in the transition was also apparent and important to note. This understanding is unlocking needed capital to deliver sustainable solutions. At the core of these solutions are the exciting innovations being scaled and/or coming online everyday creating efficiencies and subsequent cost-down curves that make the business case for sustainability – think renewable energy advancements, regenerative agriculture practices, progress on EV charging technology, progress on nature-based solutions, etc. Behind those innovations are the people, of all shapes and sizes, dedicating their lives to tackling the shared challenge of climate change. Finally, the importance of cross sector collaboration in delivering climate action was highlighted in just about every conversation I heard and engaged in. Edelman hosted several successful events during the week hammering home this very point. So, I’d say the takeaway from Climate Week is that there is still a clear direction of travel toward a sustainable future and that we have the tools, talent and resources required to succeed.
Joby Gaudet is a Senior Vice President on the Impact and Sustainability team based in New York.
