Gilbert (Gib) Hedstrom is widely recognized as a trusted advisor to business leaders on sustainability issues that increasingly dominate the global agenda. He has 30 years’ experience advising boards of directors and CEOs, working across industry sectors. He has reported to full boards or board committees of Fortune 500 (or equivalent) corporations on over 70 occasions, often meeting with outside directors in executive session.
Gib’s deep experience with Fortune 500 boards led to his creation of ESG Navigator™ – developed at the request of board members in 1997. Today, ESG Navigator is the leading global ESG benchmarking and strategic planning platform – endorsed and licensed by The Conference Board in 2020 and available to its 1,000+ members globally.
The cover story of NACD’s Fall 2022 issue of Directorship featured an article authored by Gib (with a client) titled Transforming Board ESG Oversight. The article draws heavily on data and insights from the 150+ global companies using the ESG Navigator platform.
Gib joined Arthur D. Little (ADL) where he developed and launched the discipline of environmental, health, and safety auditing – the standard methodology used throughout the corporate world. He was elected a corporate officer of ADL (1989); ran the company’s environmental strategy work in Europe and Asia (1991-1996); and co-led the firm’s sustainability work globally (1996-2001). Gib authored many of the first third-party certifications of external sustainability reports. He was a founding author of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 1997-1999. During the late 1990s, Gib advised Shell’s CEO and leadership team on the long-term value of sustainability and helped a petrochemical company launch a billion dollar “sustainable” business.
In 2004, Gib founded Hedstrom Associates. The firm specializes in advising boards and C-Suite executives on ESG. His clients have included Alcoa, Ashland, Autodesk, Baxter, Boeing, BP, Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, GE, HP, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pemex, Shell, Trane Technologies, UTC, and U.S. Steel, among many others.
Gib Hedstrom is frequently called upon to speak on corporate governance and strategy in addressing business opportunities (and risks) associated with global ESG trends. Examples of recent activity include:
- Providing independent ESG governance and strategy support to corporate CEOs and boards. This typically involves reviewing governance structures and charters; facilitating meetings; and providing advice.
- Advising the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) on the creation of an ESG training module for its members – all of whom are outside directors on corporate or non-profit boards.
- Launching, recruiting, and directing The Conference Board’s two Sustainability Councils (collectively ~50 chief sustainability officers) from 2012 to 2018. One council focuses on risk; the other focuses on growth.
Gib earned his MBA (Corporate Strategy) and MS (Natural Resource Management) from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics and Geology from Hamilton College. For many years, he served on the board of Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, at the University of Michigan. Gib is on the faculty of NACD, available to advise independent board members on ESG.
