Meet a Trailblazer: Catherine Howarth, CEO, ShareAction
Welcome to our new Strategic Partner, ShareAction, with their incredible team of change agents, who are bringing critical insights and fresh perspectives to the network.
Let’s get to know Catherine Howarth, their CEO.
What’s your ultimate go-to food?
Soup. Nothing I love more than a warming soup and I’m not bad at making them either!
What’s the best part of your job that keeps you coming back every day?
Variety. One of the joys of my role is that it’s almost never repetitive. It’s my job to know at least something about everything we do and be a champion of fresh thinking every day.
Who or what fuels your passion to keep pushing for change?
History. Years ago, I did a history degree. Knowing how much change societies have gone through helps you to see how different things could be. And that is essential if you want to get up every day and keep pushing for change.
What skills do you think will define the leaders of tomorrow? Where should businesses focus when it comes to nurturing the next generation of trailblazers?
Relational skills will always be critical for successful leaders. You aren’t a leader if you haven’t got a following; you’ll never have a following if you can’t relate to people in a compassionate way.
If you could offer one game-changing piece of advice to the future leaders of the food industry, what would it be?
Think harder than ever about the people who eat the food you produce and sell. Let’s feed people food that makes them the best they can be.
What’s the toughest hurdle you’re facing in your business, and what broader challenges do you see for the industry?
We’re campaigners at ShareAction and that inevitably means experiencing setbacks and disappointments. However, food system transition is underway and inevitable – so we do have our good days too! The biggest challenge is creating a just and inclusive transition that supports people in the industries that face the greatest disruption.
Reflecting on your sustainability journey, what have been the most pivotal decisions – both the wins and the lessons learned?
Looking back on it, my decision to focus on the finance sector to help unlock social and environmental change was a pivotal decision and, overall, I have no regrets. That said, whilst we’ve won many campaigns I’m very proud of over the years, I also feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface. It certainly never gets dull, and it stretches me to the limit of my sanity some days. Still, I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else.
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Who are ShareAction? At ShareAction, we campaign for the widespread adoption of a responsible approach to investing that has people’s best interests at its core. Since 2005 we have worked with some of the world’s biggest companies to provide insights and practical guidance on what responsible investment means in practice and how to apply it.
To help investors play their part in building healthier, fairer societies, ShareAction, supported by the Health Foundation and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation, launched the Long-term Investors in People’s Health (LIPH) programme in October 2022. LIPH supports investors to integrate public health considerations into their investment decision-making, voting and company engagement processes.
The Healthy Markets Initiative sits at the heart of ShareAction’s LIPH programme, placing consumer health firmly on investor agendas. As much as a third of all deaths worldwide are attributable to overconsumption of certain products – including alcohol, tobacco and food and drinks products. Health is heavily influenced by the actions of companies in these industries. With nearly one in five children now starting school either overweight or obese, the sales of high fat, high sugar products are in the spotlight. We’re working with investors to drive change and ensure a sustainable food and drinks industry which supports consumer health.
What drives ShareAction? ShareAction is an independent charity and an expert on responsible investment. We work to build a world where the financial system serves our planet and its people. We set ambitious standards for how financial institutions, through their investment decisions, can protect our planet and its people and campaign for this approach to become the norm. We convene shareholders to collectively push companies to tackle climate crisis, protect nature, improve workers’ rights and shape healthier societies. In the UK and EU, we advocate for financial regulation that has society’s best interests at its core.
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How does Future Food Movement work with Strategic Partners like ShareAction? Join Future Food Movement to connect with the ShareAction team in upcoming events and watch out for their insights in the Diverse Voices Network. You can learn more about ShareAction’s work on Health through their website and stay up to date on their latest work across health, climate, biodiversity and more through their LinkedIn, Instagram and X accounts.