Sally Uren is an expert in sustainability, having founded businesses ensuring a shift in attitude concerning environmental and sustainability issues. Currently working with Forum for the Future, Sally is also regularly booked as a speaker for corporate and public events. As a speaker, she shares her expertise of sustainability, in particular touching on system change, mainstream sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable food and agriculture in insightful keynote speeches.
Best known for her work with the Forum for the Future, Sally is currently acting as the Chief Executive officer of Forum for the Future. As CEO, Sally is working to drive the shift towards a more sustainable world and future, acting as a catalyst through actions of transformational change. Sally is passionate to both inspire and help organisations to orchestrate systematic change within their business to move towards sustainability and is regularly seen speaking internationally at conferences. Additionally, Sally is also an Advisory Board Member of Burberry, Kimberly Clark and Kingfisher.
After graduating with a PhD in Environmental Sciences, Sally began her career by founding the sustainability group for Casella Stanger, now known as Bureau Veritas. As Director of Environmental Management and Sustainability, Sally developed her passion to better the future of the world and began to push the importance of sustainable practices. Working at the helm of Casella Stanger for a decade, Sally then joined the team of Forum for the Future as Deputy Chief Executive. As Deputy CEO, Sally presided over the communications and networking of the organisation and developed their engagements with sustainable food and business, and operations in the United States.
Today, Sally is working as the CEO of Forum for the Future, managing a number of prominent projects such as the Net Positive, Cotton 2040 and Tea 2030. Net Positive is working to collaborate with businesses to push corporate sustainability, Cotton 2040 encompasses the acceleration of sustainable cotton and Tea 2030 is central to broadening the reach of sustainable tea in the market. First finding her passion for environmental issues when helping to clean the Manchester Ship Canal, Sally has followed a long-standing mission to inspire others to make a move towards a more sustainable future. She is also currently helping to develop the Forum for the Future’s School of System Change, on a mission to educate agents to push sustainable development. In 2020, Sally was also named one of the 100 UK Leading Environmentalists by Forbes. Until 2022, Sally was the Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of Travalyst, initiated by the Duke of Sussex to promote sustainable travel. As such, she’s worked closely with British Airways’ parent company IAG in addition to other travel suppliers, for several years.
Also a judge for the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development and appointed OBE for Services to Sustainability, Sally is frequently booked as a speaker for a range of both national and international conferences. With expertise in her sector spanning the industries of food, retail, energy, clothing and transportation, Sally is an insightful speaker whose passion for change shines through in each speech she delivers. Covering topics such as systematic change, sustainable development, future tools and techniques, Sally Uren is the perfect choice as a speaker to help develop the sustainability of your organisation.
We recently sat down in an exclusive interview with Dr Sally Uren OBE - hear her insight into corporate sustainability and more!
How to hire Dr. Sally Uren
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Dr. Sally Uren 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.
When booked for corporate events, Sally is known to cover the following topics:
- System Change
- Mainstreaming Sustainability in Business
- Sustainable Business Models
- Sustainable Retail
- Sustainable Brands
- Sustainable Food and Agriculture
"Sally's talk was really fantastic - she was very thoughtful in how she structured her presentation, bringing in examples that were relevant to our sector and our people. She didn't shy away from the hard-hitting facts, which is exactly what we wanted, but she also brought in the message around the action. There has been a really nice impact following her talk - numerous people have reached out to me, wanting to watch the talk again, asking for more information, wanting further tips on how they can actively make changes in their own lives, and commenting on how Sally's talk has made them take a deeper look at their impact on the environment. Of course, from a business perspective, it was galvanising for our senior leaders and was a clear demonstration of the direction and commitment that we are taking as an organisation" - Clare, Boston Scientific
Sally was incredible. We have had phenomenal feedback on her speech. Everyone was impressed with her knowledge and personality. Not only was she inspiring but holding a room in the level of heat we had that day was incredible. - Chloe, giffgaff
- 2020 - Named as one of the 100 UK Leading Environmentalists by Forbes
- 2013 - Chief Executive of Forum for the Future
- 2002 - Deputy Chief Executive of Forum for the Future
- 1992 - Director of Environmental Management & Sustainability for Casella Stanger
- Advisory Board Member for Kimberly Clark, Kingfisher and Burberry
- Judge for the Queen's Award for Sustainable Development
- Appointed OBE for Services to Sustainability
