Scaling climate action across industries with patience, trust, and curiosity

How Kiesha Clayton, The Climate Pledge’s senior manager of recruitment and engagement, empowers teams from inside one of the world’s boldest climate initiatives.

If Kiesha Clayton could give her former self advice on her first day at Amazon more than 12 years ago, she’d say: Don’t rush.

“Take the time to not just learn your role, but to learn about the company,” Clayton imagined saying. “Be a sponge. Observe leadership and pay attention to what matters.”

Such patience has shaped how she leads today. Clayton is now a senior manager of recruitment and engagement at The Climate Pledge, a goal to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. The Pledge, which Amazon co-founded in 2019, has grown to more than 600 signatories worldwide. Here’s what Clayton’s learned along the way.

Lesson one: be curious

Clayton’s path to sustainability work wasn’t straightforward. She started her career in corporate communications for several global brands in 2006, working at Amazon from 2013 to 2016, and then returning in 2021 to help lead the Pledge.

Her job is to recruit companies to join the Pledge and help them meet their climate goals by sharing tools, resources, and proven strategies. She teaches companies how to measure and report their carbon footprint, collaborate on shared challenges, and apply key sustainability practices like purchasing carbon-free energy.

“I had not worked in sustainability before, but I trusted the skills I’d developed throughout my early career,” Clayton said. “The ability to learn fast, organize ideas, and build relationships is valuable anywhere.”

Early on, curiosity gave her an advantage. Instead of assuming what companies needed, she asked questions, listened, and learned how different industries approached climate work. That inquisitiveness helped her spot gaps and build programs to accelerate climate action.

Her willingness to slow down and learn set the foundation for how the Pledge champions hundreds of signatory companies today.

Lesson two: earn trust

Clayton’s leadership style centers on trust. She defines the vision and then relies on her team members to make it a reality. Ultimately, she wants them to develop the confidence to lead projects themselves.

“I am not going to check every step,” Clayton said. “I expect proactive updates and encourage people to ask questions. Over time, that is how we earn trust and empower people to take the lead.”

And they have. In one instance, Clayton’s team believed encouraging more fashion companies to sign the Pledge would benefit the fashion industry, the wider business community, and Amazon. But recruiting fashion brands was complex; the industry grapples with challenges like waste and fast fashion, and long-term climate commitments aren’t always built into a brand’s business model.

Still, by building relationships with brands and collaborating with Amazon subsidiary Shopbop, one of her team members helped triple the number of fashion signatories in 2025 alone. As of October, more than 30 fashion brands have signed the Pledge. 

Lesson three: think big

Companies that join the Pledge commit to measuring emissions, implementing decarbonization strategies, and neutralizing remaining emissions with credible offsets. Clayton’s work focuses on turning those commitments into actions that can help both businesses and the planet. By combining practical training with collaboration, she makes it easier for companies across industries to make real progress. And as a signatory, Amazon wants to help others meet their decarbonization goals.

Thinking big means sharing solutions with other companies instead of expecting them to figure it out on their own. One example is Passport Academy, an online learning series that teaches signatories how to take action, including how to measure emissions and report progress toward their goals.

Clayton also helped build Science Club, a cohort program where scientists, researchers, and sustainability leaders from different companies meet regularly to tackle challenges. They share ideas and successes and develop solutions as a group.

Lesson four: deliver results

Clayton believes companies should work to be more sustainable because they’re responsible for what they put into the world, and they should invest in the places they live and work.

Results are not just numbers on a spreadsheet but real-world impact. Behind the hundreds of Climate Pledge signatories across diverse industries is measurable progress toward a shared goal. Since Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019, more than 600 companies worldwide have committed to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040. Nearly 100 new signatories joined between September 2024 and September 2025. Many are now collaborating through Joint Action Projects that focus on clean energy, sustainable transportation, materials innovation, and circular economy solutions. These initiatives show how transparent collaboration turns ambition into progress and accelerates collective climate action.

 “Look for opportunities,” she said. “If something does not exist, build it. That is what has made me successful here, and it is why I am excited to go to work every day.”

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