The Beekly: Pinterest's Sr. Global Sustainability Lead, Mia Ketterling
Most corporate sustainability programs start with a hire and a mandate. Pinterest's started with employees who simply refused to look away.
In this episode of The Beekly, Adriel Lubarsky sits down with Mia Ketterling, Sr. Global Sustainability Lead at Pinterest, to talk about one of the most underappreciated arcs in the sustainability world: the journey from employee activist to official program builder — and what it actually takes to formalize something that started as a grassroots movement.
At a company known for inspiration, Mia has had to be both the visionary and the operations person, the advocate and the strategist. Her story offers a rare, candid look at what it means to build a sustainability function from scratch inside a global tech company — without a perfect playbook.
We'll get into:
The role employees play: why the people inside a company are often the most powerful lever for sustainability change, and how to channel that energy productively rather than let it dissipate
Building from zero: what Mia prioritized first, how she secured internal buy-in, and what she'd do differently with the benefit of hindsight
What "progress" actually looks like at scale: Pinterest achieved 100% renewable electricity for three consecutive years and has reduced absolute emissions by 32% from a 2019 baseline — and there's a real human story behind those numbers
Using technology as a force multiplier: how AI-powered tools and data-driven reporting are changing what's possible for lean sustainability teams
The tension between ambition and resources: how to stay credible — to leadership, to employees, to external stakeholders — when the work is never done
If you're a sustainability practitioner trying to build internal credibility, a team of one navigating an under-resourced function, or a leader wondering how to turn employee energy into real program infrastructure, this conversation is for you.