Karen Hamilton

Karen is a leader in sustainable business integration. With over 30 years at a major FMCG company, she has demonstrated that sustainability can be a powerful engine for growth, resilience and competitive advantage.

One of the pioneers of corporate sustainability, she spearheaded the development and global rollout of Unilever’s groundbreaking Sustainable Living Plan. The plan reshaped how sustainability could drive growth, reduce risk, and build trust across the company’s brands, products and markets.

As Global VP Sustainability, Karen led the integration of sustainability into the business, advancing circular economy solutions and scaling innovation. She worked closely with leading brands to define purpose-led strategies that drove consumer preference, helping them grow significantly faster than the rest of the business.

During her tenure, the company moved to 100% renewable electricity, sourced 67% of agricultural materials sustainably and helped over a billion people improve their health & wellbeing.

She is recognised for translating complex sustainability challenges into practical, commercially-viable solutions and for mobilising leaders to deliver change at scale.

As a Senior Associate at CISL and a Board Director at Bioregional, Karen challenges leaders and organisations to move beyond ‘doing their bit’ to actively reshape the markets they operate in. She is also a sustainability sector advisor at London Business School, mentoring the next generation of leaders.