Izzy Fenwick

on Honoring a Loving Father’s Sustainable Legacy

“What would Dad do?”

This question is always in the back of Izzy Fenwick’s mind, motivating her to keep walking the sustainable talk even when it feels impossible.

Her Dad, the late Sir Rob Fenwick, her inspirator, role model and one of New Zealand’s environmental leaders, taught her how to overcome the hardest challenges. The love they carried for each other and the natural world led Izzy to believe she was always destined to work towards a more regenerative future. “Time is running out for the treasures of nature that we love”, Sir Rob believed, and it is worth “using every last breath, all of our collective energy, to save our land and secure our future.” His beloved memory is the fuel to her inner fire. All the passion he poured into this journey despite all the obstacles: “My Dad was an absolute icon and I am honoured to follow his path.”

Izzy is an environmentalist, speaker, fellow of the NEXT Foundation and a guardian of The Aotearoa Circle, a group of public and private sector leaders committed to halting the decline of New Zealand’s natural capital. She also harnessed the magic of human-centric candidate matching by founding Futureful, the country’s first ESG and EVP (employer value proposition) based recruitment platform on a mission to mainstream corporate responsibility through radical transparency around company commitments. Izzy challenges the overly transactional traditional recruitment, encouraging employers and employees to connect over shared values, transparent needs and the desire to establish a meaningful relationship where purpose is queen.

A hyper-personalized approach to job-seeking is exactly what our modern workforce needs: “There is nothing without our natural world! Whatever your current purpose is, working towards restoring nature will be the only way to achieve it. I believe all careers are careers in sustainability. I can't think of a single job in which sustainability isn't relevant or an industry that isn't impacted by climate change. “

Read Izzy Fenwick’s answers for Inspirators and remember her Dad’s words of wisdom: “While the environment might speak its own language, its cries cannot be misunderstood. We know what is happening, we know what we must do. Now, we must simply do it!”

Thank you, Izzy, for being a Human-Centric Recruiter!

#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: Izzy Fenwick

Company / Institution: Futureful

Title: Founder

Website: www.futureful.co

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izzy-fenwick/

Country of origin: New Zealand

Country you currently live in: New Zealand

Your definition of Regeneration: Reversing, restoring and nourishing back to abundance.

Main business challenge you face: Including ‘ESG’ into a framework immediately makes it more complicated for some organisations to understand or prioritise.

Main driver that keeps you going: There are two - an external one and an internal one. The external one is the memory of my late father and how much he poured into this journey despite all its challenges. I want to continue his legacy. My internal driver really is that this is absolutely my purpose and reason for being on this planet. I can see a pathway to a world where business decisions made based on ESG factors are completely BAU.

The trait you are most proud of in yourself: I’m incredibly innovative and full of ideas. I can see new and interesting alternative ways of thinking about or solving problems or barriers.

The trait you most value in others: Clarity. There is so much noise out there, I love it when people can cut to the core of something. Simplify it.

Passions & little things that bring you joy: Suuuuper cliché response but...nature!

Literally (almost) anything alive and doing its thing brings me joy – from my dog, Moose, to the majestic sea turtles my sister sends me photos of (she is an underwater photographer in Indonesia!)

The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:

My late father, Sir Rob Fenwick, of course. He was so passionate about conserving and protecting our natural world. He was knighted for his significant contributions to New Zealand's sustainable development, wildlife protection, waste minimisation, environmental science in Antarctica, and iwi development over the past 30 years. He was an absolute icon and I am honoured to follow his path.

A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Build it into your purpose. That should not be hard, because there is nothing without our natural world! Whatever your current purpose is, restoring nature will be the only way to achieve it.

Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: Probably the thing that actually bothers me is how people can get nit-picky about language in these areas. I am often told that “ESG” is a flawed term which may be true but you know what I mean, so does it really matter? It is semantics.

An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope:

1. Do not under any circumstances read the comments section of online content that you know is going to be full of climate deniers. Just do not do it to yourself.

2. You are allowed to lose optimism, but you cannot lose hope. Learn the difference and hopefully, it empowers you in the same way it empowered me. I do not always feel optimistic but I do always feel hopeful.

Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:

Hope in Hell by Sir Jonathon Porritt. It was the first book of its kind that was so well written! Not only I learnt a lot but enjoyed reading it! It was urgent, informative, visionary, empowering and very accessible in what can be very technical and exclusive topics.

Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Anything and everything by David Attenborough. Over and over and over again.

Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: The Climate Question was the first climate change podcast I ever started listening to when I knew I needed to go from a sentimental understanding of our climate crisis to a more technical one. It is fantastically simple and succinct.

Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: I don’t listen to music, I like listening to nature! My flavour of neurodiverse doesn’t particularly like music.

Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: When I was 18, Dad took my sister and me on a trip to China, then Israel, then Egypt where we did a Nile cruise exploring all the amazing temples. It was unlike any ‘family holiday’ my private school friends had been on and I was so grateful that Dad took us on such a mind-blowing adventure instead of a generic holiday. It really set me up to want to marvel at the world, not just consume it.

Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:

Dame Anne Salmond (you can read some of her work here)

Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: A classic, but degrowth. Or one I am toying with which is 'what is enough'?

Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: The rising generation of young leaders showing incredible passion and commitment to change.

Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: We are not going to stay below 1.5. Will this all just run away from us after that?

Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Visionary thinking and resilience. We need to think outside the norm and stay committed and adaptable in the face of these challenges.

The Inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition is:

Siobhan O’Connor

The quote that inspires you:

“We know what is happening, we know what we must do. Now, we must simply do it.” (Dad, Sir Rob Fenwick)

Your quote that will inspire us: