At a time when more action is needed to address our most urgent environmental issues, Pure Strategies continues to be dedicated to our mission to transform business to create a more sustainable future with a vision that the climate is stabilized, nature is restored, and we have achieved a safe and equitable world. As a sustainability consulting firm, we are proud of the work we do with our clients to support our B Corp aims and our commitment to create a measurable, positive impact on the community, the environment, and society.

In this annual report of our commitment to being a Benefit Corporation, we describe some of the highlights of 2024 including:

• Advancing our vision and mission through our client work
• Expanding our reach with thought leadership
• Community engagement and giving back
• Walking the talk with everyday actions

We continued to grow our business, developing customized solutions for well-known sustainability leaders – as well as for businesses looking to get started. We also brought innovative approaches to our field, such as a new platform, Pure Supply^TM, to help companies progress with their suppliers, and we introduced “planet-forward strategies” to drive more corporate action on nature and biodiversity.

Advancing Our Vision and Mission Through Our Client Work

The core of our sustainability business is working with companies of all sizes to advance strategy, climate, nature, and circularity. In 2024, our team provided sustainability consulting support to clients that included the top leaders in over five industries, with a notable focus on retail, food and beverage, apparel, life sciences, and home and personal care. We were privileged to continue our work with Walmart, Ben & Jerry’s, Kroger, Toyota Motor North America, VF Corporation, and many other leading companies.

In 2024, Pure Strategies continued its groundbreaking sustainability work with Walmart. Walmart met their Project Gigaton goal more than six years early. In 2017, Walmart engaged suppliers in climate action through their shared aim to reduce, avoid, or sequester 1 gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions in their product value chains by 2030. Suppliers helped to achieve this ahead of schedule by improving energy efficiency, packaging redesign, food waste reduction and more. Coordinating a program that effectively engages multiple suppliers, like Walmart did, can be a lot of effort. Pure Strategies’ Pure Supply™ helps companies engage their supply chains on climate and other topics and connect directly with suppliers to communicate expectations, collect data, and advance sustainability goals.

We continued our work with Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) to progress toward its nature goal and biodiversity restoration efforts and helped Ben and Jerry’s to update their Social Mission strategy, building a clear vision and multi-year roadmap. We conducted a gap assessment for Everlane with an eye toward developing a nature strategy. We assessed opportunities aligning with global nature frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and provided recommendations for a deeper raw materials risk assessment.

Pure Strategies continued its Nature Action Forum for Business, a sustainability learning cohort, developed to help companies take action on their nature programs. The Nature Action Forum helped companies across retail, food and beverage, apparel, home and personal care, and other industries to learn more about corporate nature actions while connecting corporate sustainability professionals for important peer interaction and learning opportunities with access to experts and resources to support action-oriented progress. The Nature Action Forum is a proven program with past participants that include Stonyfield Organic, Everlane, Ralph Lauren, Applegate, Seventh Generation, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Eileen Fisher, and several other leading companies.

We also helped organizations advance circularity by building and implementing changes to business models and processes, products and packaging, and supplier engagement. For example, we helped Kroger and MegaFood develop roadmaps and resources to progress on their reusable, recyclable, and compostable packaging targets. We also supported MilliporeSigma in helping their customers in healthcare, clinical, and pharmaceutical research labs to reduce their environmental impacts by addressing single-use plastic.

Expanding Our Reach with Thought Leadership

Pure Strategies works to expand our impact beyond client work, and a large part of this is sharing our insights and experiences. Notably, Pure Strategies developed the Planet-Forward concept to help companies address both climate change and nature loss simultaneously. Planet-Forward is a more effective approach that enables companies to integrate climate mitigation and nature resilience at the same time. To support this work, Pure Strategies launched the Planet-Forward Playbook: Connecting Climate and Nature to Advance Corporate Sustainability Action and Performance and launched the report, Planet-Forward Strategies, highlighting the power of combining climate and nature efforts to deliver on planet-forward strategies, elevating Pure Strategies’ reputation as a thought leader on nature strategies. A planet-forward strategy connects nature and climate for a solution that is set up to drive greater progress by protecting, restoring, and sustainably managing the Earth's ecosystems.

Pure Strategies’ VP of Sustainability Consulting, Cheryl Baldwin also led a webinar, hosted by Trellis Group, and joined by guests from General Mills and VF Corp, where they discussed the value and challenges of advancing nature strategies and the need to connect climate and nature to have more effective corporate sustainability progress. Cheryl also hosted the podcast: The Interconnectedness of Climate and Nature – A Conversation with Dr. Cheryl Baldwin, an episode of Going Zero, sponsored by Emerald Ecovations.

Cheryl shared how nature can account for at least 30% of emissions mitigation needed to meet the Paris Agreement, illustrating the vital role of nature in climate adaptation and explained gap assessments and the concept of the nature footprint, emphasizing land use's significant impact. She offered real-world examples, such as Walmart's nature protection investments and Toyota's habitat restoration goals, showcasing how companies can support local economies and indigenous communities in biodiversity projects.

In 2024, we published several articles to help companies navigate the reporting and disclosure requirements of the new EPR laws and make the shift to more sustainable packaging. We also provided clarity on measuring Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) greenhouse gas emissions through an article that helps to address challenges - including data availability and managing evolving standards, while presenting opportunities to help companies drive progress toward FLAG GHG emissions targets.

In a full day of action and packed sessions, Pure Strategies' 2nd annual day of events during Climate Week NYC was a resounding success, focusing on Solutions for Scale. Trellis helped us to moderate several panels, a fireside chat, and discussions where climate action continued to be a top priority for many of our clients’ corporate sustainability strategies. Pure Strategies held climate and nature panels featuring speakers from Walmart, General Mills, Toyota Motor North America, Hallmark, ADUSA, Ahold Delhaize USA, Environmental Defense Fund, Takeda, and others. Sessions focused on Connecting climate and nature with planet-forward strategies, Empowering suppliers and teams, Advancing Scope 3 Solutions in Agriculture, and Beyond TCFD from required disclosures to rewarding strategies.

Community Engagement and Giving Back

Our business and staff continued to grow in 2024, and the cumulative annual corporate giving and employee matching programs resulted in donations of more than $39,000. The top organizations for our 2024 charitable giving included the Climate Collaborative, Change is Simple, and The Food Project. We also supported the important work of organizations that provide basic needs in our communities for clothing, shelter, food, and clean water. We donated to Clean Lakes Alliance, Friends of the Public Garden, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Clean Water Action, Habitable, Lifebridge Northshore, The Shelter House, Downtown Greens, Capital Area Food Bank, and others.

Additional giving and paid volunteer time went to several organizations with values that align with our own – including supporting victims of the impacts of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

We support the development of the next generation of corporate sustainability leaders. In addition to our internship program, Pure Strategies continued to offer the unique “Future Leaders in Corporate Sustainability” mentorship program. The program provides an opportunity for students, recent graduates, and early-stage professionals interested in a career in corporate sustainability, especially those with identities underrepresented in the field of corporate sustainability, to participate in a four-month-long formal mentoring program. The Spring 2024 program included Arushi Singh, Maggie Riley, and Karina Abou-Chakra.

In the first three years of the Future Leaders program, we have successfully guided eight mentees through the program, and many are working in the field of sustainability today. As mentees, they engaged in one-on-one mentorship with Pure Strategies' staff where they received career guidance and access to tailored learning opportunities to help navigate their career in the vital field of sustainability. The program helps build their knowledge, confidence, and career plan through regular discussions, networking opportunities, information, and resources.

Walking the Talk with Everyday Actions

Pure Strategies is dedicated to implementing our purpose and B Corp values into our daily routines. For example, we track our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and work to reduce our impact. In 2024, our total footprint was 213.9 MT Co2e. Company travel was the main contributor to our emissions, resulting in 205.1 MT Co2e for the year – which comprised 95.9% of the total footprint. We manage our GHG emissions by selecting lower-impact food choices for our meetings and using energy-efficient office equipment. Our travel planning also considers ways to reduce emissions, such as minimizing total travel and using lower-impact options such as public transportation. We work with Native to compensate for the remaining emissions.

As a founding member of the B Corp Climate Collective, we were asked to join the "B Corp Financial Responsibility Work Group." This group within the B Lab network focuses on empowering B Corps to move their money with intention, promoting responsible and sustainable financial practices, and fostering a community of practice to address climate justice and other social and environmental issues through business finance. We also participated in the first Climate Finance Action pilot cohort to help test the program.

In 2024, we engaged in feedback on the next set of B Corp standards and attended Town Halls. We continued to connect with peers and participated in the B Labs Impact Improvement Towards Racial Equality program, which has formed four more cohorts since its launch. We participated in the B Corp Champions Retreat in Vancouver, and on a local level, we are a member of the B Local Boston.

In addition, we engaged our staff in more internal audits of our operations through employee surveys of the company’s functioning and targeted surveys on engagement for meetings, which led to important changes and enhanced our level of transparency.

In 2024, Pure Strategies was recognized on the Real Leaders® 2024 List of Top Impact Companies. for driving meaningful change by prioritizing purpose and sustainability and reaching specific benchmarks for revenue and employees. We are proud to be acknowledged for our leading sustainability consulting work - providing customized sustainability strategies in climate, nature, sustainable packaging, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable chemistry.

Pure Strategies also submitted the application for our B Corp Recertification in August 2024 and will publish the results in our 2025 Benefits Corporation report.

2024 was a milestone year for Pure Strategies for innovation, growth, and meaningful progress. We are proud to be among the companies that meet high standards for social and environmental impact and for the advancements we have made – launching the new Pure Supply™ platform and introducing the planet-forward approach to help our clients to be leaders in environmental and social performance.

We are grateful for the meaningful project work we have led for our clients – some of this work spanning decades. Our sustainability consulting services align with global sustainability goals and guide companies to take practical, achievable steps forward. We are excited for what lies ahead as we continue to drive forward to help businesses advance corporate sustainability action to create the sustainable future we need.

Bob Kerr, Co-Founder and Principal at Pure Strategies.

Katrina Shum, Pure Strategies’ Benefits Corporation Board Member, oversees the company’s Benefits Report and implementation of B Corp social and environmental values across the company.

Katrina is a sustainability leader with two decades of experience. She has developed and implemented high impact environmental and social programs across the value chain that build brand value and drive operational efficiency and business resilience. She believes in building meaningful relationships, guiding with empathy and the power of businesses to create an equitable and thriving planet for all.

With diverse experience in retail, manufacturing, personal care/cosmetics, food and beverage, CPG, and hospitality/service, Katrina is adept at drawing connections between emerging opportunities, risks, trends, research, and real life. She crafted actionable strategies and led cross-functional teams as the Head of Regeneration & Sustainability at Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. She also initiated new pilots and programs, building the foundation for more sustainable food systems as a Sustainability Director for Aramark. Internationally, Katrina has worked on ecotourism and community-based tourism projects with local and indigenous communities in Mongolia, Laos, and Malaysia. She also serves on the Board for EMBERS, an award-winning social enterprise creating economic and employment opportunities for those facing barriers to work.

Katrina’s areas of expertise include corporate sustainability strategy, climate action planning and impact measurement, circularity and zero waste, cross-functional leadership, multi-stakeholder engagement and embedding sustainability into operational processes, policies, and the built environment. Katrina holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a BS from Cornell University.