Sandra Odendahl

Sandra has led environmental sustainability efforts at RBC since 2000, during which time the company has risen to be rated among the top corporations for environmental sustainability in Canada, receiving numerous awards for its environmental strategy and programs.

Sandra believes that the only way to make sustainability mainstream is to integrate it into business and focus on things that add value, mitigate risk or enhance reputation.  For example, since 2010, she played a key role in establishing an internal working team to “green” RBC’s retail branches; she developed and hosted an “Oil Sands Day of Learning” for bankers from 17 global banks, with presentations from the NGO, government, legal, First Nations and industry sectors; she led a team that trained over 1000 bankers and risk managers on incorporating environmental and social issues into credit risk assessment; and she has identified and screened prospective grant recipients for the Blue Water Project. She is also a board member of Pollution Probe and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.