Alum Tania shapes sustainability with corporate Australia

Supporting major players

Since then, Tania has built a career in sustainable finance and worked her way from consultancy roles to director positions in some of Australia’s major banks. She also returned to the University of Melbourne to complete her Master of Environment in 2013.

Tania’s current role sees her supporting clients’ sustainability aspirations by leveraging her deep understanding of environmental, social and governance concepts and market trends.

“I work within the institutional division of the bank, which means my clients are some of the largest companies in Australia and internationally,” she explained.

For Tania, moving into the banking industry and working with the biggest corporations in the Australian economy means having a real impact in shaping corporate Australia’s approach to sustainability.

“The reason I moved into banking is because of the scale of the impact that I can have on environmental and social practices. Within banking, companies are dealing in multimillion dollar transactions, and I can help structure that funding to support more sustainable outcomes,” explained Tania.

“It's an amorphous concept, but setting up a transaction that supports companies to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance is really impactful.

“For example, I could negotiate a transaction that means a company will divert hundreds of tonnes of waste from landfill, or invest in new technologies that will significantly reduce emissions.”

Beyond these immensely impactful career achievements, Tania is also motivated by meaningful interactions on a smaller scale.

“Often, I'm most proud of the people that I work with and being able to help them achieve great things in their career,” she said.

“I get a lot of my personal satisfaction in my career out of mentoring, coaching, working with others and seeing them succeed.”

Far-reaching benefits

More broadly, Tania believes that making considered, environmentally conscious financial decisions is in the best interest of any organisation.

“Managing environmental and social risks properly and maximising any opportunities they present in both the short and long term is just good business,” she said.

“It's also about your employees and your customers. You’re trying to build up that social license to operate – establishing why they should choose you over one of your competitors,” she said.

While ESG considerations are essential for many modern organisations, it doesn’t mean the sustainability journey is a simple one.

“There's not a single solution to any of these challenging, complex problems, and companies need to do the hard work of understanding the risks and opportunities,” she shared.

One way that Tania suggests organisations can make more sustainable choices is through actively engaging their value chain – which represents the full lifecycle of activities that produces their end product.

“You can look at procuring things locally, or supporting local businesses or Indigenous businesses,” said Tania.

“Also, on the environmental side, establishing simple criteria around who you procure your goods from, and their environmental credentials, can have a huge impact on your own environmental footprint.”

While uncovering the most sustainable practices in each unique organisation requires work and dedication, Tania also believes that the right decision is often the obvious one.

“At the end of the day, it's all common sense. Is a company doing the right thing by the community it's operating in – yes or no?”

Shaping future leaders

Throughout her career, Tania has also dedicated time to mentoring many students through the FBE Career Mentoring Program.

As part of the first generation in her family to attend university, Tania lacked strong career guidance throughout her own student experience and wanted to ensure others like her felt supported.

“I had a life-changing opportunity to attend the University of Melbourne and become exposed to a new world, and I felt indebted to the University,” said Tania.

“I really wanted to give back to people like me who didn't have those opportunities or strong role models in their life to help guide their career decisions.”

Some of Tania’s memorable experiences as a mentor include supporting international students and helping them secure roles in Melbourne, often through networking.

At the same time, Tania also gained new skills and perspectives that have helped her succeed in her own career.

“I like to give advice, but actually, mentoring is about being a good listener. It has helped me hone my listening and coaching skills,” she shared.

“I think it has also helped me become a better people manager at work, better understand cultural differences and build stronger relationships within the workplace.”

Facing the future

Looking forward, Tania hopes that Australia can rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities with the transition towards a more sustainable economy.

Namely, she hopes to see institutions ramp up investment in adaptation finance – the funding of projects that will reduce harm to communities resulting from future climate hazards.

“I would also like to see continued support for the Sustainable finance taxonomy which will create a common framework across government and business for sustainability standards and classifications while preventing greenwashing,” Tania said.

“When we align on what 'green activity' truly means for Australia, we can pave the way for transformative investment in ethical enterprise – building a future that is both sustainable and thriving.”