Meet Feimatta Conteh, Environmental Sustainability Manager

To celebrate International Women’s Day and Careers Week, we got in touch with members of our team for some career advice. On LinkedIn, we'll be sharing their stories and tips throughout the week, so keep on watching this space!

Feimatta Conteh, Environmental Sustainability Manager

Build connections, get to know people, network. Attend events and follow up with people who inspire you. You never know where a conversation might take you. If you’re starting out in an organisation, find out what they’re doing about environmental issues, and if there’s a staff green team you can join.

Feimatta embeds sustainability across the organisation at every level, finding ways to reduce our environmental impact and help us work towards a future based on climate justice.?

What made you want to apply for your role and what was your career journey before that?

I was excited by the idea of working towards The Factory. I’ve previously been Sustainability Manager at a small theatre in London, so the idea of working at a much larger organisation with a much greater impact was appealing.

Over the years, I’ve worked in the arts, technology research and development and at a university. I started on a path towards a career in sustainability as a Community Officer with Groundwork, creating community gardens in North Manchester.

Favourite part of your job??

Connecting with my colleagues’ enthusiasm for sustainability and collaborating on ways to make positive changes. So many of them have brilliant ideas!

Biggest challenge in your role??

Trying to get it all done! Sustainability is important across everything we do, and sometimes it can feel like a lot. It’s helpful to have our strategy and plan, because it helps me see how every action contributes to progress.

What excites you most about The Factory??

The fact that this huge, extraordinary building is landing in the city, to be a place for people of Manchester. I’m excited to see what the building can do; how we might us it as laboratory to test ideas about sustainability. I’m also inspired by our vision to invent tomorrow together because it’s something we can’t do alone; we need people to collaborate and create with.

Do you have any tips for entry-level or graduate job seekers who want a job in environmental sustainability? If it’s difficult to find entry level positions in the field, what kind of things could they do to build a portfolio?

If you’re starting out in an organisation, find out what they’re doing about environmental issues, and if there’s a staff green team you can join. Think about any volunteering opportunities you could get involved with in your local area, along the lines of litter picks and?community gardens. Sign up to relevant newsletters, such as Julie’s Bicycle or Vision 2025. (Remember to unsubscribe if it’s not relevant to you, because every email has a carbon footprint!)

Build connections, get to know people, network. Attend events and follow up with people who inspire you. You never know where a conversation might take you.?

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For our future sustainability managers, would you have any tips on preventing burnout and staying optimistic?

At times, it might feel like immediate results don’t match up to your passion. It’s important to remember that progress takes time! Here are some specific actions you can take to sustain yourself first:

• Make a note of positive things to remember when it’s all a bit much. I have a page in my notebook of things I’ve done which I’m proud of, including formatting a newsletter and someone giving me nice feedback on a presentation.
• Have a list of websites and quotes you find inspirational. In the front of my notebook I have a quote from Rebecca Solnit: ‘Hope means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is not possible without hope’.
• Check out https://www.wearepossible.org/
• Student Guide to the Climate Crisis (https://climateemergencymanchester.net/student-climate-handbook/) is a great resource written by students at the University of Manchester, including chapters such as ‘there is no one kind of ‘activist’ and ‘intersectional environmentalism'. Check it out!