With advanced degrees in civil and environmental engineering, Kathy Rostkowski embarked on her sustainability career in 2012 as an environmental protection specialist for USAID. Within eight years, she addressed critical international development and humanitarian challenges, expanding access to safe water and responding to the West African Ebola outbreak.
“I collaborated with global corporations whose supply chains spanned into developing countries,” Kathy says. “When we identified shared objectives, we could create sustainable impact on the ground.”
In 2021, Kathy joined McCormick & Company, a global flavor leader headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland. With about 14,000 employees and operations in more than 150 countries, McCormick integrates sustainability into how it sources, produces, and delivers flavor — supporting resilient farming communities, driving climate progress, and inspiring healthy and sustainable choices worldwide. Building on this foundation, Kathy helps lead initiatives that connect environmental responsibility with business growth.
“We’re sourcing over 14,000 raw materials from 85 countries, making advancing climate readiness and strengthening farmer resilience a big business imperative,” Kathy shares.
In 2024, Kathy, then a senior director, was asked to prepare for the role of McCormick’s next Chief Sustainability Officer. Recognizing the significance of this opportunity, she sought to deepen her business education. With MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University, turning to Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Executive Education felt like a natural next step. Kathy enrolled in The Strategic Sustainability Leader Program.
“I had the technical skills,” Kathy says. “I wanted to enhance my ability to make the strategic, business, and value-creation case for integrating sustainability into McCormick’s strategic plan. I needed the financial acumen and leadership skills to make sustainability initiatives stick.”
Making the Case for Sustainability
Faculty from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability join together to deliver a powerful program. The curriculum covers five key themes: creating and sustaining a competitive advantage, sustainable business models and related business ecosystems, personal leadership skills, financial literacy, and key perspectives on sustainability.
Kathy valued the program’s immersive experience, combining self-paced study and live-online sessions with on-campus learning. This allowed her to practice what she was learning as she prepared for her promotion into the C-suite.
“I expected to focus on business acumen, which I saw as understanding company financials and incorporating sustainability into business strategy,” Kathy says. “What I found immediately useful was stakeholder influence and strategic communication. Leading by Design taught us that ‘leadership is about everybody but you.’ I learned how to show up to be influential and enroll people in the coalition of the willing.”
Engaging Stakeholders in Sustainability Efforts
Kathy says the program helped her strengthen the communication skills needed to craft a compelling narrative around how sustainability drives value for businesses and communities. “In my role, I need to effectively connect with partners, customers, and employees,” she says. “At Stanford, I learned how to be a business leader who brings sustainability expertise — one who can create systems that effect change and inspire excitement.”
Kathy’s cohort remains in contact via a GSB WhatsApp group, consulting each other as they advance their sustainability work across industries, borders, and oceans. They’ve also started a reading club to exchange ideas on timely industry articles: “We have an energy that keeps the conversation going.”
Becoming a Chief Sustainability Officer
Just weeks after completing the program, Kathy was promoted to vice president. In 2025, she became Chief Sustainability Officer for McCormick & Company and continues to draw lessons from the Stanford program.
“I’m still learning and coming into my role,” she says. “But the leadership tools directly apply to my work. Every day I’m thinking about how I build the internal systems, the incentives, and the narrative that inspire the right action from others in the company.”
Kathy continues: “Sustainability is inherently collaborative — it can’t exist in a silo. The program strengthened my ability to build internal coalitions and energize others around McCormick’s sustainability goals. We need systems that help us discover new possibilities for a more sustainable future.”
Interested in learning more about this program?
Explore The Strategic Sustainability Leader Program details, curriculum, schedule, and more.
