In Conversation with Amanda Davis Senior Manager Global Corporate Responsibility and The Environment at Symantec

We are delighted this month to introduce you to Sustainability leader Amanda Davis.

Amanda is the Senior Manager Global Corporate Responsibility and The Environment at Symantec and has a very wide range of global sustainability and CR responsibilities.

Read about Amanda’s achievements, challenges and how she stays inspired whilst also learning the fascinating sustainability journey of Symantec.

Please describe your role and responsibilities and how many years you have been in the company

I have worked for Symantec for 25 years, in many different roles and departments. My current role is Senior Manager Global Corporate Responsibility and The Environment. My responsibilities are global and have an extensive range, my key responsibilities include:

• Global management of Symantec’s CR and environmental compliance, including product compliance, compliance to the UK Modern Slavery Act, and global supply chain compliance.
• Managing environmental programs. I manage initiatives that reduce GHG emissions (in 2018 we hit our GHG reduction goal seven years early) and that will help us achieve our recently approved science based targets.
• Creating environmental awareness. As Symantec’s Global Green Team coordinator, I’m in charge of the over 10 Green Teams, our onsite employee volunteer teams that help identify ways Symantec can minimize its environmental footprint. I also run “Choosing Green in 2019”, our yearlong campaign of environmental sustainability awareness, challenges, and initiatives that encourages employees to take part in our environmental sustainability efforts.

This year, my role expanded, and I am now also responsible for replying to investor and customer inquiries pertaining to sustainability and CR and completing Symantec’s submissions to Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and other ratings and indices. This is the first year that I am also coordinating the publication of Symantec’s FY19 CR report. It’s been a very exciting career so far with many opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

What was your background previously? How did you enter the Sustainability world?

My background is in quality management and supply chain. Several years ago, I was given responsibility for managing Symantec’s ISO14001 environmental management system as I was already managing ISO9001 quality management at the time. Although I didn’t seek out this environmental work, I found I really enjoyed it. The company and I acknowledged that I was doing really well managing this responsibility and that motivated me.

I was and still am fascinated by environmental topics and wanted to learn more. Due to organisation changes, I was moved from Supply Chain to the Corporate Responsibility Team – the best career move to date. The experience I have gained as part of the CR Team has been amazing. I’ve grown my leadership skills, honed my communication skills, and had opportunities to work on not only environmental programs but also community based, volunteer and philanthropy programs. All of these programs deliver amazing results for our society and I truly enjoy my work. Now I have the opportunity to learn even more as I complete the work with investors, DJSI, CDP, other indices and the CR report – it’s very exciting.

How has the sustainability/CSR programme evolved at your company?

We are proud of the progress we have made, and the impact we have had over the last 10+ years—even as we continue to embed sustainability practices throughout our company and value chain. When CR was formalized in 2005, it was really only about community relations and software donations, and we’ve seen a huge shift internally since then. Having CR as a Board-level priority has been a constant and the Board supported our efforts to take a leadership position on key CR issues like reporting, climate change, and diversity. We were one of the first software companies to publish a CR report, to publish a GRI-aligned CR report, to go through a materiality analysis, and to publicly promote a low-carbon economy by setting science-based GHG goals. We’ve truly come a long way:

In 2018, we completed our sixth materiality assessment to ensure that our priorities continue to align with current stakeholder expectations, market trends, and business risks and opportunities. The findings confirmed our strategic focus around the following priority issues and important issues:

Our commitment to corporate responsibility is reflected across three main pillars:

• The world: includes the environment, community engagement, philanthropy, and human rights.
• Your information: includes information security, privacy, and the social impact of technology
• Our people: includes culture, inclusion, talent, and diversity

What are the challenges you encounter in driving the sustainability agenda and how do you stay inspired?

The changing and growing landscape of environmental and CR compliance requirements can be challenging. This requires re-learning and re-implementing systems to meet the different regulations that are updated and implemented in various countries.

As mentioned above, I also am responsible for a lot of different elements of our CR program and pprioritising my work can sometimes be a challenge. “Environment” is a huge area, everything from reducing carbon emissions to partnership with nonprofits to product packaging to employee engagement. Luckily, Symantec believes this work is important and invests in resources and tools to assist and support me.

I am inspired every day as I know I am privileged to do a job I am passionate about. I’m inspired by the impact I get to see, the results our team delivers, and knowing the work I’m leading and doing has a positive impact on our environment and society not just today, but for the future.

What is your biggest accomplishment or learning so far?

Leading our environmental employee campaigns “Going Green in 2018” and “Choosing Green in 2019” has been one of my biggest accomplishments. It’s satisfying to see Symantec employees get involved in environmental and community initiatives and I’m really proud of the collective impact we’re making.

This experience has really put in perspective the power of teamwork. To quote Professor Wangari Maathai, “I’m very conscious of the fact that you can’t do it alone. It’s teamwork. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it.”

I am also excited to be involved in Symantec’s GHG emission reduction project and setting our Science Based Target and our participation in BITIC’s Low Carbon Pledge. At a personal level, I am delighted to serve as a board member of OWLS, Children’s Nature Charity.

What is your motto in life?

I don’t have one motto in life. I believe in treating people with respect, being honest, living with integrity, and learning lessons from mistakes.

What would a perfect day entail for you?

A perfect day outside work would include sitting in my garden with the sun shining, flowers blooming, birds singing, and bees buzzing. I’d have all my closest friends and family with me, and we’d be eating delicious food (sustainable sourced of course!), having chats and laughs, and feeling grateful for all that is well in the world.

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