Tempe, AZ, Fayetteville, AR – The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) announced today that Dr. Christy Slay will become The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)’s next Chief Executive Officer. Slay was named interim CEO in an announcement to TSC members in October 2021.
Slay began with TSC in its founding year in 2009 and has held many leadership roles, including her current roles as interim CEO and vice president, science & impact. Additionally, Slay leads the way on strategic planning for TSC and THESIS (The Sustainability Insight System), directs the technical team on THESIS content creation, led the development of TSC’s commodity mapping program, and has secured over $3 million in grant funding, more than any TSC staff member to-date. Slay has recently been published in Science and Nature Climate Change and holds adjunct faculty positions at both the University of Arkansas’ Walton College Graduate School of Business and Arizona State University’s College of Integrative Science and Arts. She has co-authored reports on sustainable agricultural metrics and climate change resilience in supply chains featured on HSBC’s Centre of Sustainable Finance. Christy was recently featured on CNBC as an expert on supply chains and climate change. Slay has 23 years of experience as an educator in both collegiate and environmental education settings. She also co-leads cave ecology research for the HICAVES Project on the island of Hawaii discovering new species and featured in a documentary on Nature PBS. Slay came to TSC from the National Audubon Society.
She received her B.A. in biology from Hendrix College, attending courses at Birkbeck College at the University of London. Slay’s Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Arkansas was awarded in 2010 focusing on four species of declining neo-tropical migratory songbirds at a National Audubon sanctuary in Southbury, Connecticut.
In addition to CEO, Slay will remain TSC’s current vice president, science & impact, continuing to oversee all TSC research and impact activities that service TSC members and users of THESIS.
Dr. Jon Johnson, TSC Chairman of the Board, TSC co-founder and distinguished faculty at the University of Arkansas, said, “There is no one better suited to become the next CEO of TSC than Christy Slay. Dr. Slay is well respected in both academic and industry circles and has an extensive background and expertise in sustainability measurement that makes her our clear choice to lead TSC into the future.”
TSC co-founder, distinguished faculty at ASU, and Chief Scientist Dr. Kevin Dooley stated, “The whole team is excited about where TSC will go with Christy at the helm. Christy embodies what TSC is about – great science, broad collaboration, and a passionate commitment to move the needle on sustainability.”
As TSC’s next CEO, Slay says, “It is a great honor to be chosen by our staff, universities, and board of directors to lead us through the next stage of TSC’s evolution. I could not ask for a better team – TSC staff, members, and sustainability leaders to collectively drive the change and impact the world urgently needs in consumer goods and retail supply chains. To address the world’s needs, I look forward to working alongside our team to move expediently and create impact at scale.”
Slay will work alongside Johnson, Dooley and the TSC managing board to continue to develop and enact TSC’s strategic plan. TSC’s board is made up of TSC All Access members that include retailers, brands, NGOs and universities. Current board members include representatives from Walgreens Boot Alliance, Unilever, Henkel, PepsiCo, HSBC, WWF, Cornell University, Wageningen University and Research, Arizona State University, and the University of Arkansas.
Slay will be additionally supported by the TSC Executive Leadership Team that includes Carolyn Baltz, vice president of development, and Erika Ferrin, vice president of marketing, communication, and operations. TSC translates the best sustainability science into business tools that are used all over the world to create more sustainable consumer products.
Bio
Christy Slay
CEO & Vice President, Science & Operations
Dr. Christy Slay was appointed TSC’s CEO in 2022 and also directs TSC’s science and impact application, working to develop a global, transparent, scientifically based measurement and reporting system for product sustainability. Slay has been with TSC since its inception in 2009 and has held key leadership roles during her tenure. She currently leads the way in our strategic planning for THESIS, directs the research and development team in THESIS content creation, leads the development of TSC’s Commodity Mapping program, leads many of TSC’s high-profile partnerships, and is the Principal Investigator on several of TSC’s largest grants. She publishes in notable scientific journals, most recently in Nature Climate Change on global forest carbon fluxes and Science on the drivers of global forest loss. She has also co-authored reports on sustainable agricultural metrics and climate change resilience in supply chains featured on HSBC’s Centre of Sustainable Finance. Christy was recently featured on CNBC as an expert on supply chains and climate change. Christy has 23 years of experience as an educator in both collegiate and environmental education settings. In addition to her adjunct faculty role at the University of Arkansas instructing a graduate sustainability course at the Walton College Graduate School of Business, she holds an adjunct faculty position at Arizona State University’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts. She received her doctorate in biological sciences from the University of Arkansas. Prior to her graduate research, she led curriculum development and strategic planning with the National Audubon Society where she also authored articles for Audubon Magazine. She received her B.A. in biology from Hendrix College, attending courses at Birkbeck College at the University of London. She serves on the board of the Ozark Natural Science Center, a residential nature education center for school children. In her spare time Slay co-leads cave ecology research for the HICAVES Project on the island of Hawaii discovering new species that have been featured in a documentary on Nature PBS. Christy is based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is an avid birdwatcher, and loves spending time exploring the Ozark mountain trails and rivers with her biologist husband Mike and rescue dog Roxie.
About TSC
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is a global non-profit organization transforming the consumer goods industry to deliver more sustainable consumer products. We work to enable a world where people can lead fulfilled lives in a way that decouples their impacts on people and the planet. Our members and partners include manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, service providers, NGOs, civil society organizations, governmental agencies and academics. TSC convenes our diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively to build science-based decision tools and solutions that address sustainability issues that are materially important throughout a product’s supply chain and lifecycle. TSC also offers a portfolio of services to help drive effective improvement and implementation. Formed in 2009, TSC is jointly administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas and has a European office at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. For more information visit www.sustainabilityconsortium.org.
