Sarah Kalma

In school, Sarah’s strengths and interests were in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), which laid the foundation for a career in engineering. It was a good fit for someone raised in Calgary.

“Growing up in Canada's oil and gas hub, with friends and family working in that industry, made it seem natural for me to follow their path.”

Women remain a minority in STEM, however, and Sarah learned first-hand about the challenges women face in careers that have traditionally had gender imbalance and inequity. It eventually led to her work in supporting women and minorities.

“As an immigrant, a visible minority, and a woman, I am passionate about mentoring women and minorities who are interested in STEM programs and engineering roles,” she says. “While industry is moving in the right direction with diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, we must ensure that women have their voices heard and have access to equal opportunities.”

Sarah's former mentor told her: “As a future female leader, it is your responsibility to find other female leaders and guide them toward new opportunities that they may not otherwise get.” Since then, her desire to empower others has been growing.

At her friend and mentor’s farm, Prince Edward County, Ontario

After graduating, Sarah worked for a major oil and gas firm for almost 10 years.

“It taught me why we need a pragmatic approach to decarbonization while meeting our energy needs. To minimize the impact on their business, organizations must improve their operations to increase sustainability.”

After a decade learning in the oil and gas industry, Sarah decided it was time to switch to a role that was more aligned with sustainability work. She chose Deloitte to “…drive and deliver impactful work that solves sustainability problems.”

“I'm a big believer that it is our responsibility to be good corporate citizens, and that the bigger your company, the bigger your responsibility.”

When asked to recommend a climate influencer, Sarah said she draws on many sources for insight and information.

“I've always had a thirst for learning and education. Since working in the sustainability and climate change space, my innate curiosity has taken me deep down many threads, helping me to keep an open mind about core challenges and potential solutions.”

Helping her clients to meet their sustainability priorities often means addressing obstacles she hasn’t encountered before.

“Many of the projects I've led at Deloitte are about helping clients solve sticky challenges. When ambiguity and complexity make it harder to identify potential solutions, our job is to structure uncertainty and dismantle these big problems, so clients can confront them and achieve their desired results.”

“Take Scope 3 emissions. The lack of consistency in tracking and collecting data across their third-party networks hampers our clients’ efforts to build sustainable supply chains that target emissions reduction.”.

A core part of Sarah’s job is helping her clients manage their sourcing, third-party management programs, and optimizing their engagements with underrepresented communities.

“Sourcing from diverse suppliers helps drive ESG goals and can contribute to building more resilient supply chains. We know that broader stakeholder groups, including employee talent, customers, and investors, prioritize organizations that are aligned with their goals.”

“Our target should be that we no longer need to measure, track, or report on equity, diversity, and inclusion because they’re just there–everybody has equal opportunities ahead of them.”

“Metrics and results are important for our net-zero journey, but the goal for sustainable supply chains is seeing their impacts. It's no longer just measuring. Instead, it's about seeing your local economy thrive by purchasing locally where possible. It's about seeing diverse vendors and suppliers grow, thrive, and expand because our clients engage with them while growing their core business.”