If you think of Mastercard as simply a piece of plastic that enables you to buy stuff, you’re not seeing their vast network of businesses, their billions of customers, or the potential influence they have on consumer behavior.

There have been countless efforts over the years to encourage consumers to shop more sustainably, but when it comes to the reach and data savvy that Mastercard brings, it’s a whole different ballgame. 

I’ve known Mastercard’s Chief Sustainability Officer Ellen Jackowski for many years, and I was delighted to sit down with her to understand Mastercard’s sustainability strategy. 

We talk about Ellen’s background and approach to leadership, the current moment in sustainability, Mastercard’s effort to encourage sustainable consumption at scale, how they’ve spread sustainability goals across their entire company, and much more. 

Ellen is a widely respected thought leader in corporate sustainability and this conversation offers a peek inside an ambitious and very challenging effort to create real impact. Mastercard is a NationSwell member and we’ll soon share a summary of this conversation as part of NationSwell’s Sustainability Next series. Enjoy!