Green Coach

Coro Strandberg, Principal

Strandberg Consulting, corostrandberg.com

by Joanne Will

photo by Jaime Kowal

At the age of six, Coro Strandberg noticed the garbage littering her neighbourhood and decided to clean it up. Today, she’s one of the province’s best-known leaders in sustainability, advising clients like the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the Vancouver International Airport.

Strandberg became interested in improving systems and structures while studying social work at UBC. Later, she became a board member, and finally chair, of Vancity, playing a key role in making Canada’s biggest credit union a world leader in corporate social responsibility.

Strandberg started her consulting practice in 2003. As a sustainability entrepreneur and coach she works to transform the marketplace into a force for environmental change, developing solutions for businesses, non-profits, and local and provincial governments.

“As citizens, we have a responsibility to live to the highest ideals,” says Strandberg. “I’m interested in the tipping point—working where social change meets the old paradigm and bringing enlightenment into that zone, to help people in organizations understand what the win-win solution is.”

When Strandberg sees an opportunity, she finds funding and assembles a team to move an agenda forward. “I do nothing alone; I’m connected to a global network of other thought leaders from years of research.”

Current projects include collaborating on studies for the Conference Board of Canada and Natural Resources Canada.

Strandberg doesn’t distinguish between her paid and unpaid work. She holds regular sustainability “jams,” or salons, where guests listen to a speaker and discuss specific topics over a potluck meal.

Her advice to others who want to make a difference? “Don’t expect to have all the answers. Bring people together to co-create or brainstorm, and get them to work on a common cause.”