Meeting the Goals at the Local Level
Implementing global initiatives at the local level is no easy feat.
For global companies like Michelin, moving the needle requires a multi-pronged approach, and for sustainability leaders like Kara Fulcher, it’s a very grassroots approach. As the Director of Sustainability at Michelin North America, Inc., headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, it’s Fulcher’s role to take the strategic initiatives set at the company’s highest levels and implement them regionally.
“There are a lot of factors to consider–commitments to organizing bodies, reporting standards, and expectations from our customers – when making tangible decisions on behalf of the environment,” Fulcher said. “It’s about looking at the ingredients we have, resources at hand, and figuring out how we can craft that into a solution to meet those goals.”
Fulcher has been plugged into South Carolina’s sustainability conversation for years. She’s witnessed it move from a compliance-oriented conversation placing responsibility on individuals (i.e. littering) to something much more robust and holistic, especially over the last five years.
“Decarbonization, tackling the supply chain, all of that is still being developed, but people now understand those conversations and can wrap their arms around it,” she explained. “There are other topics that have been continuing to come to the fore.”
Michelin has globally ambitious sustainability goals, so Fulcher is tasked with translating those global goals in a way that resonates locally and stays true to Michelin’s strategy. It takes an organization like Sustain SC to help connect the dots.
“It is a small state, yet we punch above our weight when it comes to the kinds of companies that are located here in South Carolina,” Fulcher said. “There’s a high level of advanced thinking with the talented leaders we have here. There's an opportunity to develop a trusted cohort of peers, which I think is really unique. Sustain SC has made important strides in making these opportunities more real.”
Fulcher has been a member of Sustain SC for several years and involved in the development of the Roadmap to Sustain SC. She said it’s been a beneficial partnership in more ways than one and provided exposure to thought leaders grappling with the same sustainability-related challenges.
“It certainly provided opportunities for specific engagement with other major actors here in the Upstate, to learn about paths chosen and paths not chosen,” said Fulcher. “At a higher level, I’ve been able to have engaging conversations with people truly plugged into the sustainability landscape and other groups within the United Nations who have provided me with a much more global understanding of what’s happening on the ground in other parts of the world.”
