Making an impact through sustainable hospitality

At Deloitte University (DU), Brandon works closely with many players across teams to further increase sustainable hospitality efforts and find ways to continuously improve and innovate.

Brandon works with the facilities team to install LED lights and explore options for energy conservation; with landscaping and grounds, he works with teams to find ways to conserve more water and implement organic landscape practices. He also works with food and beverage teams to upcycle and repurpose, control yields, and coordinates with rooms and housekeeping departments on sustainable laundering practices. He moved into his current role in June 2023 after serving as DU’s assistant food and beverage director for five years.

Brandon has spent his whole career in hospitality, with a focus on creating memorable experiences for people and learning more every step of the way. “My purpose is to serve – it’s in my blood,” he says. “Making an impact is what gets me up in the morning. That’s my overarching north star.” Sustainability has been a part of his career, and his personal outlook, for over a decade.

While employed by a resort in Hawaii, he learned about major conservation efforts on Maui, and collaborated with the county horticulturist on efforts for his employer. At DU, he’s able to live his purpose through constant efforts to conserve and drive sustainability methods through the organization and in his community. “I work at DU with a lot of great people to strategize and innovate and test-pilot some of the technologies to make an impact,” he says. “Conservation has evolved year after year with increasing technologies, and we adapt. It’s top priority for me,” Brandon says.

Case in point: He’s working through the RFP process with the landscaping team to build new sustainability methods and safe-earth practices, while exploring opportunities for robot mowers. For Earth Month, themes of reuse and circularity are top of mind: a new beverage program has already saved over 6,100 standard water bottles, and Deloitte plans to expand the program. DU is also piloting coffee mugs to replace disposable cups, removing one-time use plastic silverware, and working toward compostable cutlery and containers. In April, Brandon was point of contact on the successful implementation of new equipment called a biodigestor that processes food waste into grey water. In one week, the machine processed more than 3,000 pounds of food waste and prevented it from ending up in the garbage.

For him, it all boils down to thinking about sustainability at work and making small choices with huge impact, Brandon says. “Try to have a thought on waste,” he says. “Ask questions, use common sense, and look for ways to reuse items, like my coffee grounds at home that we started adding to our compost for our garden. I cut portions in half, and use reusable water bottles. This can make a big impact.”