Forbes: For CFO “Class Of 2020,” Championing ESG Is Now Part Of The Job

Back in early 2020, Gina Mastantuono had only recently stepped into the CFO role at ServiceNow when the company opted to adopt a more finance-driven ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework.

"This was a pretty significant change for both me and the organization," explains Mastantuono, who notes that her list of priorities for her first 12 months as CFO suddenly began to shift in real time as the magnitude of adopting a more results-oriented ESG framework became increasingly evident.

Hilary Maxson, who was named group CFO of French multinational Schneider Electric in May 2020, found that sustainability and ESG were already part of SE's maturing vision. Still, her appointment signaled to many that the energy automation giant was now doubling down on ESG.

Says Maxson: "ESG is not just something that companies do-it is a real value driver in terms of both mitigating risk and reporting actuals, so you really want to embed your ESG thinking into your financial planning." ESG and DEI principles are now frequently listed among the 2022 finance leader priorities of Vanessa Kanu, who joined Telus International as CFO in September 2020 and subsequently helped to take the company public in 2021.

"For us, diversity, equity, and inclusion are top-of-mind and have always been priorities, but now in my role I am seeking to drive this forward as well, as we look to grow and evolve," says Kanu, who stepped into her first CFO role at Mitel Networks Corporation, after a steady 15-year climb inside the company.

The three accomplished finance chiefs, representing three different industries and residing in three different countries are today representative of a class of recently appointed CFOs who are making it clear that their latest CFO career chapters-perhaps unlike any previous CFO stints-have summoned them to enter the realm of ESG champions.

Timing appears to be everything. This past March, European lawmakers agreed to force roughly 28,000 foreign subsidiaries to comply with the EU's ESG rules, striking a blow to representatives for U.S. firms who had lobbied for a different outcome.

"Now that Europe has put in legislation to mandate ESG reporting, there will be a wave of ESG initiatives coming that will be hitting North America shortly," explains Brett Knowles, a top performance management consultant who has developed a variety of business frameworks including OKR, risk, and sustainability scorecards.

"Forward-thinking companies like ServiceNow saw this coming" reports Knowles.

Until Mastantuono's arrival at ServiceNow, management had relied on its marketing and communications teams to project its corporate mind-set when it came to such issues, but a number of events during 2019 had led investors and board members-as well as company CEO Bill McDermott-to conclude that a more codified approach had become necessary.

"This enabled me to make necessary changes not only within finance but also across the enterprise and externally," comments Mastantuono, who joined ServiceNow after serving as CFO for tech distribution giant Ingram Micro.

Hilary Maxson's path to the CFO office at SE involved finance career experiences in places as far-flung as Douala, Cameroon (3 years), the Philippines (3), Hong Kong (2), and Paris (4).

She would eventually join Schneider Electric in Hong Kong before transferring to SE's Paris headquarters, where she assumed the role of group CFO shortly thereafter.

Says Maxson: "I really believe that doing good business is the key to changing the world, and by 'good' business I mean that you can still make profits, still do right by your employees, and still do right by your country-this is how we can bring about change."

To be clear, Mastantuono, Maxson and Kanu have not joined the ESG faithful as newbie CFOs eager to distinguish their credentials, but as accomplished finance chiefs who long ago began accepting responsibilities that might be deemed the byproduct of an ever-broadening finance leadership role.

For Kanu, her arrival at Vancouver, British Columbia-based Telus International meant closing a plus-size career chapter with Mitel.

During Kanu's ascent to Mitel's CFO office, company management would execute an IPO and multiple strategic acquisitions before transitioning back to being a private company.

"My thinking was that as long as I was learning and growing, there was no need to leave, and that's what culminated in a 16-year tenure at that organization," recalls Kanu, who first joined the company in 2004.

At roughly the same time, as Maxson was exiting a 4-year banking career in New York City to get an MBA from Cornell-a familiar gateway for ambitious bankers-she was already looking past Wall Street.

Comments Maxson: "One of the reasons that I wanted to change was that I also wanted to build things-not just in the U.S., but internationally."

According to Mastantuono, the impact that she could have as a champion of ESG principles became clear to her when the company's vice president of treasury pitched to her the idea of ServiceNow forming a racial equity fund to help underserved communities.

Remembers Mastantuono: "I was really able to drive this throughout the organization, and now we have put a $100 million fund that was fully funded into the communities that need it most."

However, what's perhaps more revealing when it comes to Mastantuono's finance leadership has been the addition of an outward-facing pitch that she regularly makes to ServiceNow customers-and particularly to those attracted to similar ESG-oriented opportunities.

"Our products can help our customers in their ESG journeys in a way that those of many other companies just can't. We have the ability to differentiate from both the product and ecosystem perspectives," says Mastantuono, who seldom ignores an opening to amplify ESG's growing influence.