60 episodes

Want to use your job to tackle climate change? Today there are more opportunities across industries to find a job and have impact. Join Climate Corps network manager Yesh Pavlik Slenk for candid conversations with everyday changemakers about careers, motivation, how they're fighting climate change — and how you can too.

Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers Yesh Pavlik Slenk

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 121 Ratings

Want to use your job to tackle climate change? Today there are more opportunities across industries to find a job and have impact. Join Climate Corps network manager Yesh Pavlik Slenk for candid conversations with everyday changemakers about careers, motivation, how they're fighting climate change — and how you can too.

    How a punk-rocking paralegal harnessed employee power to green Microsoft

    How a punk-rocking paralegal harnessed employee power to green Microsoft

    Struggling to find a sustainability job? Well, good news. You don’t have to find one…you can MAKE one. Drew Wilkinson was a punk rocker and eco-pirate when he landed a job as a paralegal at Microsoft. He felt like a fish out of water in the corporate tech world, but instead of changing his DIY-contrarian tune, Drew leaned in. Though “sustainability” wasn’t in his job description, Drew co-founded a powerful employee sustainability community. It would grow to the thousands, stretch across the globe, and push Microsoft to use their billions to do better for the planet.

    In the first episode of Degrees Season 6: How to Green Your Job, Drew’s story is a top-notch lesson in forging your way into a planet-saving career. He took what he already knew how to do — disrupt a system, innovate solutions, and organize folks around him — and applied it to greening his workplace. Now, he’s taking his climate solutions work outside the walls of Microsoft and working independently to help organizations become more sustainable through employee-led solutions, and make sustainability part of everybody’s job.

    • 29 min
    Creating zero waste in an unexpected place: the hair care industry

    Creating zero waste in an unexpected place: the hair care industry

    Creating a green career out of thin air? That’s bananas! Literally. Ciara Imani May is the CEO of the company Rebundle, a hair extensions brand made out of the fiber found in banana trees. What started as a quest to live a zero waste lifestyle and find a career through which Imani May could live her values, has led to a consumer product that solves an environmental problem — and a health issue too.

    In this episode of Degrees Season 6: How to Green Your Job, join us as we take a trip down memory lane with Ciara Imani May to understand how she came up with her plant-based idea and transformed it into a product that’s positively impacting people and the planet. And while entrepreneurship might not be the path for everyone, her story shows that being values-driven and persistent can help you be the green change you want to see.

    • 23 min
    Eco-anxiety is fueling a new green career: climate psychology

    Eco-anxiety is fueling a new green career: climate psychology

    You likely have lots of feelings about living in a changing climate: from anger to frustration, dread and anxiety, but also motivation to do something about it out of love for being alive, love for your family and love for the planet. Rebecca Weston says that while these emotions can be difficult and scary, all of the feelings you have about climate change, including your love for the planet, can be "mobilized" into action on personal and community levels. Weston is a psychotherapist who practices climate psychology. She’s also co-president of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America.

    In the sixth season of Degrees, “How to Green Your Job,” Rebecca speaks with Degrees host Yesh Pavlik Slenk about how this approach to mental health care is different from how the field has historically been practiced. She also shares her journey from labor law to climate-aware psychology, and how she grappled with her own climate anxiety.

    • 24 min
    From mud cakes to high stakes with Youth Climate Collaborative’s Pooja Tilvawala

    From mud cakes to high stakes with Youth Climate Collaborative’s Pooja Tilvawala

    Ever wonder what it’s like to bring your own seat to the table at one of the world’s largest, high-stakes climate conferences? Youth Climate Collaborative (YCC) founder Pooja Tilvawala certainly knows. Since attending her first global climate summit in 2018 as a college senior, Pooja has been getting her foot in the door to participate in some of the most important climate convenings of our time, including the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, COP26.

    In 2020, at the age of 24, Pooja began laying the groundwork for YCC. She wanted to help other young people channel their climate anxiety into action on the global stage. On this episode of Degrees Season 6: How to Green Your Job, join us as Pooja–now 27–reflects on her journey. You’ll learn how you, too, can make your voice heard at global climate summits. And while it may all feel super serious, in the end there is always room for laughs.

    • 20 min
    Hollywood screenwriter and producer Scott Z. Burns on making climate change central to storytelling

    Hollywood screenwriter and producer Scott Z. Burns on making climate change central to storytelling

    Scott Z. Burns intends to be part of climate action, and he’s using his prolific storytelling talents to both entertain and inspire others to do the same. You’ve likely seen his work. Scott has spent years honing his storytelling chops as a screenwriter, director, producer and playwright. He wrote screenplays such as the 2011 medical disaster thriller “Contagion,” 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Informant,” and was also a producer on Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” His new project, “Extrapolations,” is a series about how climate change impacts our relationships, work, worship– and ultimately every aspect of our lives.

    In the sixth season of Degrees, “How to Green Your Job,” Scott speaks with Degrees host Yesh Pavlik Slenk about how he went from advertising (the famous “Got Milk” campaign) to Hollywood. He also talks about how a love for the planet has been an ongoing theme for much of his life, and how his experience volunteering at an otter rehabilitation center following a crude oil spill continues to haunt him. Finally, Scott shares advice for filmmakers and storytellers about “Trojan horsing” climate change into all genres.

    • 18 min
    Hotline Episode! Sustainability careers expert Shannon Houde answers your career questions

    Hotline Episode! Sustainability careers expert Shannon Houde answers your career questions

    Is the green job search making you feel downtrodden? Do you have application burnout? Do you lie awake at night wondering: Should I follow up — again? On this Degrees hotline episode with sustainability job coach Shannon Houde, we answer these questions and more.

    Through Shannon’s company Walk of Life coaching, she has helped more than a thousand changemakers from around the world unlock their passions, change their careers, and make an impact. In this episode, she tackles your job-seeking challenges and guides you through the frustrating and exhausting parts of the search, whether you’re just starting your career journey or making a mid-career change. She’ll help you translate your skills to a field you want. She’ll help you celebrate every win (even if it’s not THE job) and teach you which job-hunting tactics will actually get you results. Don’t miss the insights she shares with Degrees host Yesh Pavlik Slenk, a green careers expert in her own right.

    • 30 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
121 Ratings

121 Ratings

Kate PVD ,

Love it!

This podcast is so inspiring and helpful. I love the storytelling and really appreciate Yesh’s insights.

Thisiskartikey ,

Harvesting ideas everyday!

Every time I listen to this podcast, I gotta take out my notepad as all the episodes are filled with intriguing ideas, stories, and concepts!

sfm288 ,

Excellent and informative podcast

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this podcast changed the course of my life and my career. The episodes combine inspiring stories with real life tactical pieces of advice that feel accessible and truly helpful.

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