Subscribe to the Newsletter Become a Member Member Resources

Sustainable Procurement Fellowship

Accelerating the adoption of sustainable procurement to drive the transition to an equitable, low-carbon, circular economy.

 

Meet the SPF Fellows

 

Join the Waitlist for the Next SPF Cohort

 

Sustainable procurement is the next frontier for accelerating and achieving net-zero targets.

 

To advance this critical agenda, CBSR is partnering with HP on the Sustainable Procurement Fellowship. The program brings together 40 leaders from across Canada, with the first cohort collaborating from November 2022 to May 2023.

 

Together and within their own organizations, the Sustainable Procurement Fellows will champion sustainable procurement and lead the transition to an equitable, circular, and low-carbon economy.

 

Meet the Program Advisors

 

 

Frances Edmonds, Head of Sustainable Impact, HP Canada 

Frances Edmonds is the Head of Sustainable Impact at HP Canada, where she is responsible for business development and oversees Corporate Social Responsibility programs nationally. With a focus on sustainable procurement, Frances is driving meaningful change cross-sector that supports a more circular and sustainable economic future for Canada. With more than 30 years of experience, Frances is recognized as one of Canada’s top sustainability professionals, having received two Clean 50 awards and has led HP to become the most sustainable technology company in Canada.

Bob Willard, Sustainability Advantage 

Bob is a leading expert on quantifying and selling the business value of corporate sustainability strategies and a sought-after speaker who has given over 1,500 presentations to corporate, government, university, and NGO audiences. Bob is the author of the highly acclaimed books The Sustainability Advantage and the Business Case for Sustainability which engage the business community in proactively avoiding risks and capturing opportunities by using smart environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. Bob is experienced in sustainable procurement and has created tools to help with its implementation such as the Basic Sustainability Assessment Tool for suppliers to determine their performance on core sustainability issues.  

Monica Da Ponte, Principal Consultant, Shift & Build 

Monica is principal at Shift & Build.  She helps organizations develop and implement strategies that deliver social, environmental and economic value at scale.  She has been working on helping to catalyze the advancement of sustainable procurement over the last 6 years.  During this time, she has led a number of projects ranging from an assessment of the integration of sustainability into public sector procurement to research that deepens the understanding of needs in the area of sustainable procurement.  In addition to her work at Shift & Build, Monica is an adjunct instructor at the Schulich School of Business. 

Ted Ferguson, Managing Director, CBSR & Chief Sustainability Officer, The Delphi Group

Ted has over 25 years of experience working with leading-edge companies, governments, and strategic initiatives to create value from combining business strategy and sustainability. Half of his experience has been with Delphi, helping business succeed through sustainability across most sectors of the economy, including energy, food and beverage, retail, finance, telecom, manufacturing, and transportation. He has delivered dozens of strategies for clients and continues to work with many of them on ensuring successful implementation. He led Delphi as president from 2016 to the beginning of 2021. 

 

Prior to joining Delphi, Ted worked for BC Hydro, where he was responsible for corporate sustainability strategy, sustainable supply chain initiatives, policy engagement on carbon regulations, and climate change risk management. He also helped develop the first set of rules and guidelines for the international emission markets while working at Foreign Affairs Canada. Ted began his career at the David Suzuki Foundation. 

 

Ted has a master’s degree from the University of Northern British Columbia and an honours undergraduate degree from Trent University. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CBSR?  
  • CBSR is Canada’s only membership association for companies co-creating a sustainable, equitable future. CBSR is a pioneer in championing the idea that businesses do better – by every measure – when they operate in a socially and environmentally responsible way.  
  • CBSR provides the tools, resources, peer-to-peer networking opportunities, workshops and events that help members build capacity in corporate sustainability.  
How has CBSR built diversity into the fellowship and organization? 
  • The Sustainable Procurement Fellowship was created as an opportunity to drive meaningful change through collaboration across a wide range of industries and organizations.  
  • We are looking to create the most diverse cohort possible; we seek individuals from differing ethnicities, abilities, identities, ages, industries and professions.  
  • We have included diversity as a consideration for the fellow selection process and we created 10 fellow positions that are available for bursary to ensure that financial limitations will not be a barrier to inclusion.  
What is the role of a Sustainable Procurement Fellow? 
  • To gain a deep understanding of the role sustainable procurement can play in enabling the achievement of your specific organizational sustainability goals.  
  • To assess how well-integrated sustainability is in your current procurement program. 
  • To identify, in collaboration with your procurement team, specific sustainable procurement goals that are connected to your organizational sustainability goals. 
  • To develop a plan towards advancing said goals. This plan will include, but is not limited to, strategies that secure organizational consensus, policy, program and process advancements, resourcing and mechanisms of accountability. 
What is the role of a Sustainable Procurement Fellow?
  • To gain a deep understanding of the role sustainable procurement can play in enabling the achievement of your specific organizational sustainability goals.   
  • To assess how well-integrated sustainability is in your current procurement program.  
  • To identify, in collaboration with your procurement team, specific sustainable procurement goals that are connected to your organizational sustainability goals.  
  • To develop a plan towards advancing said goals. This plan will include, but is not limited to, strategies that secure organizational consensus, policy, program and process advancements, resourcing and mechanisms of accountability.  
What is sustainable procurement? 
  • Sustainable procurement ensures that buyers obtain the best value for money when purchasing the most sustainable goods and services from the most sustainable suppliers, in support of their organization’s stated purpose and strategic goals.  
  • This means counting all the costs included in a good or service, not just the initial purchase price, but the impact that the purchase and supplier have on people and the environment. 

 

 

The Sustainable Procurement Fellowship is brought to you in partnership with HP Canada

Canada’s most sustainable technology company.