Pia Heidenmark Cook is well known for her successful career with retail giant IKEA. From communications to sustainability, Pia has established a reputation as a people-centric and customer-focused leader on a mission to prove the link between sustainable practices and business success. Today, Pia is a popular choice as a speaker for corporate and public events, sought to cover her expertise of global corporate social responsibility, sustainability, business strategy and communication.
With over 20 years of business experience, Pia is best known for her role as Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA and Head of Communications for the IKEA Foundation. In such roles, Pia has helped to formulate strategic communication plans, lead the agenda for sustainability and communicate significant partnerships with companies such as UNICEF and Save the Children. Pia is also known for her former role as Co-Chair of the Retailers’ Environmental Action Programme and Chairman of the International Tourism Partnership for International Business Leaders Forum. Upon graduating, Pia joined Tellus Milijӧmanagement as an Environmental Consultant. Here she developed her interests in sustainability and protection of the environment, before joining as the Vice President of Responsible Business at The Rezidor Hotel Group. In this role, Pia developed her skills of corporate social responsibility as she implemented the companies programme of CSR and various business strategies.
With IKEA, Pia has continually strived to ensure that the business follows sustainable practices. Today, she continues her work as a Senior Advisor at IKEA, spearheading sustainable agendas across over 360 IKEA stores globally to over 160,000 employees. A customer-centric leader, Pia ensures that sustainability is innovated, developed, communicated and complied with across the IKEA franchise and is regularly seen engaging with other prominent companies, NGO’s and Governmental boards. Her commitment to sustainability has seen Pia named as one of the Top 10 Female Leaders in Sustainability by WBCSD and one of the Top 5 Influencers on Climate Change Agenda by the Climate Group. She has also been named as one of the Top 100 Climate Influencers on Twitter in 2020. In 2022, Pia was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors for Bupa, acting as a member of the Sustainability Committee, and in 2023 Pia became a Member of the Advisory Board of Decathlon.
Today, Pia is a popular choice as a speaker for corporate and public events. Having formerly spoken for the likes of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership and set to appear as part of the Global Female Leaders 2021 Summit, Pia is a popular choice to express concern over pressing environmental and sustainability issues. Having pioneered IKEA Ingka Group policies, Pia Heidenmark Cook is guaranteed to be a well-received speaker at a range of events. She has also lectured and studied CSR and sustainability-related topics, perfectly positioning her to cover such subjects as a speaker.
Feedback from virtual events and webinars
During the Covid-19 pandemic and the halt of live events, Pia was booked as the guest speaker for a range of virtual events and webinars. Read her latest feedback from virtual events below.
"I just wanted to thank you both for the idea of Pia as our guest presenter on sustainability for Earth Day. She was truly outstanding and a real pleasure to work with. Many thanks for the recommendation" - John, GSK
"Pia was an engaging and inspirational speaker. The presentation provided guidance on how to start sustainable transformation within the company: it was very focused on the 'how' and the lesson learned through the process. Pia brought real examples of how to capitalise on sustainability across our value chain, beautifully connecting the vital role that sustainability plays in our business as a consequence to the world and humankind. Bayer employees left the talk feeling energised: it was an excellent talk that fit the brief perfectly" - Bayer Consumer Health
"Pia was amazing and the Coca-Cola team loved her, they left the session feeling very inspired and everything worked out perfectly with the pre-recorded Q&A." - Sophie, Propelland
- 2023 - Member of the Advisory Board of Decathlon
- 2022 - Strategic Advisor to the Board of Teneo
- 2022 - Member of the Board of Directors for Bupa
- 2021 - Non-Executive Director on the Board of Directors for Origin Materials
- 2021 - Member of the Senior Advisory Board for the Boards Impact Forum
- 2021 - Non-Executive Director on the Board of Directors for MAX Burgers
- 2021 - Independent Member of the Advisory Board of www.thedo.world.
- 2021 - Independent Member of the Board of Trustees for Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
- 2021 - Senior Advisor for IKEA
- 2017 - Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA
- 2011 - Head of Sustainability, IKEA Retail & Expansion for IKEA
- 2008 - Head of Communications at The IKEA Foundation
- 2014 - Co-Chair of The Retailer's Environmental Action Programme
- 2003 - Chairman of the International Tourism Partnership for the International Business Leaders Forum
- 2001 - Vice President of Responsible Business for The Rezidor Hotel Group
- 2000 - Environmental Consultant for Tellus Miljomanagement
How to hire Pia Heidenmark Cook
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Pia Heidenmark Cook for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
