There isn’t a lot Ryanne Waters isn’t certified to do.
Now senior communications specialist for freshwater and meals at World Wildlife Fund (WWF) she has constructed up expertise throughout stakeholder engagement, content material curation, design and manufacturing, evaluation and storytelling, zero waste occasions, sustainable sourcing — the listing goes on.
She’s additionally licensed by the U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council as a LEED Inexperienced Affiliate and TRUE Advisor, and sits on the steering committee of DC EcoWomen, a networking group for environmental professionals within the Washington, D.C., space. Right here, Waters talks the challenges of working at a world NGO and the tender abilities that serve her higher than any technical diploma would.
Shannon Houde: You joined WWF in April 2021 after greater than 4 years on the U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council. What led to you making that swap?
Ryanne Waters: I used to be feeling a little bit bit stagnant in my function working in occasion sustainability after the pandemic hit. I used to be in search of one thing else, however had actually no concept what I wished, what I might do or what my expertise might translate into. I did not have that type of singlemindedness of understanding what it was that I wished to realize. Initially I used to be pondering my expertise in sustainable occasions might translate to a company sustainability function within the hospitality trade, however that sector was affected by impacts of the pandemic and lots of of my contacts have been furloughed. So, I needed to pivot and shift into a distinct technique. That’s the place I believed, “Let us take a look at an NGO that works with corporates,” and I occurred upon this job posting at WWF.
Houde: So, inform us a little bit bit about how it’s to be working for a world nonprofit. Does it stay as much as your expectations?
Waters: For me, WWF was the dream group to be concerned with ever since I used to be very, very younger. And I believe in loads of methods it has lived as much as expectations. I get to work on such massive, essential and funky points, and I actually really feel just like the work I’m doing is essential and brings me goal. WWF attracts such wonderful expertise, so I additionally get to work with a number of the most wonderful, clever and provoking individuals. One thing that I used to be not essentially anticipating was how a lot of an adjustment it was for me personally to maneuver to a bigger group, notably once we have been nonetheless working totally remotely. My prior expertise has been in a lot smaller nonprofits, which had 400 staff or much less. WWF has hundreds of staff and lots of of workplaces everywhere in the world. Even inside simply the U.S., there’s so many alternative groups and other people. So, attempting to find out methods to navigate all that and alter to a a lot bigger group was personally difficult for me. However I believe that working for a big nonprofit group can also be actually, actually rewarding. As a result of the size and scope of our work is so massive, there may be loads of influence and also you do get to work with so many alternative individuals, internally and externally, who’ve simply utterly nuanced views, so you might be consistently studying one thing new.
Houde: Along with the size of the group, what are a number of the different challenges that you just’ve encountered because you took on the function?
Waters: WWF works on a myriad of matters, from forests, to oceans, to freshwater, to wildlife, to meals — which I work on — and so they all intersect in varied methods. Which means there’s all the time any person else engaged on an identical space so all that stakeholder engagement and consensus constructing will be difficult.
The opposite problem is that loads of the matters we work on are very nuanced and typically will be very technical. In communications, typically you need to get your message throughout in only a sound chunk or two sentences or a tweet, and there’s not all the time room for the nuance. So you’ve gotten to have the ability to be concise, and actually know what the aim is of what you’re attempting to speak and to who with a view to not get too into the weeds.
Houde: With that in thoughts, what’s it that your daily appears like?
Waters: My elevator pitch is that I do strategic communications at WWF on their Freshwater and Meals Staff. What meaning is that I get individuals to care about and take motion on issues that can assist to guard and protect our crucial freshwater ecosystems and landscapes, and drive transformation in direction of extra resilient and regenerative meals methods.
However what that appears like daily is loads of various things. Sooner or later I may very well be engaged on a draft communication technique for our work on seaweed farming. On one other, I may very well be giving suggestions to an illustrator on methods to make their sketch about regenerative meals methods extra technically correct or to convey our message extra strongly. I may very well be brainstorming concepts for comms activation at a [United Nations] summit with a company associate or writing an op ed for one among our execs concerning the interconnections between meals manufacturing, biodiversity, public well being and local weather change.
You’ve got to have the ability to be concise, and actually know what the aim is of what you’re attempting to speak and to who with a view to not get too into the weeds.
I haven’t got any type of technical, environmental or conservation background. I studied political science and worldwide relations, and my background is in advocacy, communications and occasions. However I’ve all the time been tremendous excited by meals methods, and the connectivity and circularity that our pure surroundings already has and methods to sort of work inside that.
Houde: You’ve talked about you don’t have a technical background. How have you ever been in a position to navigate this function with out these concrete technical abilities?
Waters: It undoubtedly helped that I labored at totally different conservation organizations beforehand. Meals & Water Watch is a shopper advocacy-focused nonprofit particularly engaged on meals and water points. After which, after all, with the U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council I had entry to a number of related certifications. The LEED Inexperienced Affiliate Certification is one which I’ve, which I discover to be very helpful. It has a very, actually nice overview of what I believe has remodeled into the modern-day CSR function. I even have a TRUE certification, which is one other one from U.S. Inexperienced Constructing Council that’s particularly on zero waste. That once more was a really helpful overview by way of the fundamentals of what’s zero waste and the way you obtain it.
I’ll say that the certifications have been useful in serving to me to achieve that primary technical understanding, so I can higher translate complicated points to totally different audiences. However for my particular function, there may be not a predetermined or technical schooling or background. A number of the tender abilities you want, although, are the arrogance and gravitas to have the ability to work alongside technical specialists who could have superior levels and even Ph.D.s in conservation and to have the ability to suppose strategically with them about how one can successfully talk their message to the suitable individuals, by means of the suitable medium, with out getting intimidated by their schooling and years of expertise. That is the place mindfulness actually helped me push previous imposter syndrome and helped me bear in mind to not examine myself to others, and that the distinctive perspective and expertise I deliver is inherently precious within the conservation and sustainability world.
The opposite factor that actually helped me was networking and simply reaching out to those that had job titles that I believed that I’d be excited by and desirous to study extra about them and what abilities they’d. I’ve additionally volunteered for type of varied initiatives that helped me get extra expertise.
Houde: I am actually curious to listen to extra concerning the interview course of that that you just went by means of. What kinds of questions did you ask, for instance?
Waters: WWF is a really massive matrixed group, as I discussed, so that they have a reasonably standardized course of the place you set your software by means of a portal, you do a recruiter screening after which, relying on the place and the crew, you will have a sequence of interviews. For me it was an interview with my direct supervisor after which an interview with the [senior vice president] of our division.
Plenty of the questions that have been essential to me have been round not being considered a service supplier. In communications particularly, in my expertise, you will be seen as a service supplier — it’s ‘hey, I would like you to write down this copy’ or ‘hey, I would like you to place this tweet out’ — the place you haven’t any say within the technique or causes behind why that is the tactic. That was one thing that occurred to me in each communications and occasions. So it was essential to me to seek out out within the interview course of, how the communications function can be regarded on the crew. What kind of stage of affect am I going to have within the communications technique that we’re placing collectively? Or am I simply an implementer of another person’s imaginative and prescient?
The opposite actually essential issue to me was to have autonomy and know there was an inherent belief from my supervisor. However I realized after I began that at a bigger group, you need to have belief in your staff as a result of there may be a lot happening that you just simply cannot be concerned in every thing.
Shannon Houde is an ICF licensed profession and management coach who based Stroll of Life Teaching in 2009. Her life’s goal is to allow change leaders to show their ardour into motion and to stay into their potential — creating scalable social and environmental influence globally. To observe extra tales like these, be part of Shannon for Espresso & Join the place she interviews sustainability practitioners each month to study extra about what their “day within the life” entails.
