How I Graduated from Corporate & What I’m Doing Now

Making things happen and delivering results is a big part of who I am. As an architect by training, my main interest has always been finding solutions and building things. From design to delivery, I can’t seem to get enough of the process of taking scattered pieces of something, seeing the entire field, and making them a whole.?

My decision to graduate from corporate and create my advisory firm was a methodical process. Better said, it was a conscious choice to start building something great—something greater than myself.?

A Hunger for Seeing Things Become?

The early stages of my career were as a Project Manager in construction, instilling a deep appreciation and awe for how buildings come to life. To give you a sense of the type of person I am, I was given three nicknames while working in construction—the pitbull, the Turkish tornado, and the Energizer Bunny.?

My coworkers would use them interchangeably as if one nickname wasn’t enough to fully describe me. Propelled by my tenacity, I wouldn’t give up until I got what I needed from field teams and was satisfied with the results. I don’t think I could have chosen better nicknames myself.?

I had half of my toolkit for a while—vision, drive, and curiosity being my go-to tools. It wasn’t until I started working hands-on in construction that this toolkit really started to take form. Here, I learned everything from budgeting to management.

Becoming a Sustainability Expert

During the recession of 2008, due to a sharp decrease in construction projects, my curiosity, and an interest in the built environment, I was pulled into the world of sustainability. Having previously assisted team members in their green building projects, I was put in charge of building a sustainability program from scratch—a program that would give the company a competitive edge once the projects started rolling back in.

Eventually, my impact peaked in that position and I moved on to work with Clark Construction. There, I made it a point to build them their first corporate sustainability program from the ground up. Eager to see sustainability programs become the norm, I knew that I was meant to have a hand in this process.?

From Leading Companies to Leading an Entire Sector?

Fast forward several years to 2016 and I transitioned to Nareit, still at a time when sustainability experts, nor programs, were the norm. ESG was not clearly defined nor was there any guidance on how to build such a program. As you can imagine, frameworks to foster sustainable practices were quite rare. So there weren’t that many of me.?

Nareit was looking for a leader to build a sustainability program for the entire listed US real estate sector, different from my corporate sustainability roles that focused on a single organization. Their program wasn’t just going to be green construction and corporate sustainability but this thing called ESG. At that time, not many people were familiar with the term, and even those who were didn’t fully grasp its meaning or significance.

This was very advanced thinking that Nareit was leading at that time. Although ESG was not being talked about much, they had the foresight to get started on it, knowing their members would need to pay attention. And the industry, by leading the way, would begin to do the right thing.

As may be obvious, I said yes.

Defining ESG for the REIT Industry?

This was much more significant than a new chapter in my career. It was a new book. My duty was not only to consider the multitude of factors within one company but the unique and widespread needs within an entire industry.?

From office and residential sectors to data centers and warehouses, I learned how to read and respond to what the entire real estate sector, what every pre-existing ESG initiative, and what every company size, was asking of such a program.?

I had to find the common denominator that would move the entire industry forward, an industry within which these three letters, E, S, and G, were just starting to take shape. Simple to say, this was the most daunting puzzle I had seen to date. But I had a few scattered pieces and I was determined to put them together.?

My Vision for ESG

When I have a project, I don’t start with the first steps but with a clear vision of what it will look like in its final stages and its impact once the vision is achieved. Naturally, there are some gaps in the scene, many details that aren’t worked out yet. But once the vision is there, I can start building a path to it.?

In every role I was in, I made it a point to ensure that the impact of the one to follow would be more scalable. I had started out with scattered singular projects, moved on to help an organization integrate sustainability in everything they do, jumped to do the same for a larger organization, and, eventually, made the leap to an entire industry.?

Each time I left a position to accept a new one, it was far from easy. A job that you’re accustomed to provides stability and safety, so whenever you make the leap, that security net that was previously wrapped around you seems to dissipate. But each time, I was driven by the knowledge that my impact in my current environment had peaked and the faith that there was something greater for me to work on. This is precisely what is happening now.?

Here I am now, ready to take my experience and insight and scale it once again—this time to a much greater extent. And for the first time, the vision, the value I can add, is for something greater than a single employer.?

The Vision - Accessible ESG Literacy?

My vision is driven by a solid belief that education is change. Without equitable, accessible education, ESG can only go so far.?

When I started working in sustainability, there was little information readily available. It was on us, the pioneers, to piece together what we did and how we did it. Now, with an ample toolkit, 2-decades of experience, and an incredible circle of support, I am building something new. What’s the use of having all the pieces of a puzzle if you don’t put them together? Furthermore, what’s the use of doing it alone?

I envision a platform that becomes the hub of ESG education. One that takes complicated topics and makes them accessible, relevant, and actionable. One that doesn’t preach but, rather, informs and inspires. This platform would be for anyone and everyone, from board members to boots-on-the-ground workers, arming them with the information they need to get to work.?

ESG literacy is not only important for the sake of education, but because it’s stakeholder engagement, it’s communication, it’s justice—both for humans and the planet.?

What I’m Doing Now & How You Can Help

In line with this vision, my overarching mission is to equip future sustainability leaders with the tools and knowledge necessary to transform multiple careers, businesses, and industries. And as a mission cannot be accomplished through one project alone, I combine instruction, writing, and creation to cause this scalable impact. I’m constantly building this through:

• Offering Strategic ESG Advisory Services
• Designing & Delivering Enterprise Level Educational Curricula for Corporations
• Board ESG Education
• Designing new LinkedIn Learning Courses?
• Speaking at sustainability, ESG, investment, and academic conferences
• Instructing sustainability, green building, and ESG workshops?
• Creating content through my newsletter and social media
• Authoring sustainability books?
• Serving on boards, councils, and committees?
• Mentoring Future Leaders?

So although I wear many hats, they all serve to maximize the impact of my expertise, equipping our future thought leaders and change drivers in the sustainability and ESG spaces to expand exponentially and cause extraordinary change.?

All of this being said, I can also only go so far alone. Can I help you in some way? Can you help me? Connect with me on LinkedIn , reach out via email [email protected] .? Look forward to more inside stories and ESG insights in my newsletter, Impact Catalyst, opt in at fulyakocak.com .?

Let’s build this vision together.