by Alexa Rose Pettinari
As a woman working in sustainability leadership within international schools, I’ve had the privilege (and challenge) of guiding students, staff, and communities toward whole-school sustainability. While students often bring passion and curiosity, I’ve faced pushback ranging from limited resources to scepticism about the feasibility of ESG initiatives. Navigating these challenges has required strategic planning, resilience, and creative problem-solving.
One truth has become clear: sustainability initiatives thrive when they have visible leadership support and allyship. Women leaders bring empathy, perspective, and collaborative approaches that foster engagement, but any leader’s support matters. When leadership is absent or challenged, initiatives struggle to reach their potential. This article highlights how thoughtful support from leaders, trusting teams, providing guidance, and championing initiatives can transform modest efforts into lasting, school-wide change and inspire others in education and sustainability to lead boldly and collaboratively.
Breaking Through Resistance
When I joined ISP as a Sustainability Engagement Specialist, my role was to embed whole school sustainability into the school culture and drive action on ESG targets by creating programs that connected students, staff, and operations. From the start, I encountered resistance. Some staff viewed sustainability as an “extra” rather than a core part of school life, while others were hesitant to change routines or adopt new practices. Cultural norms and preconceived notions about what was feasible made it difficult to gain traction, and initial enthusiasm was often met with skepticism.
These challenges underscored a critical lesson: leadership support is essential. When school leaders actively endorse sustainability initiatives, it sends a clear message that these efforts are valued and strategic, not optional. Their backing can transform hesitant staff into collaborators, create the space for experimentation, and ensure resources are allocated where they matter most. Without visible support from leaders, even the best-designed programs struggle to achieve lasting impact.
Lessons from Malaysian Leaders
In my journey leading sustainability initiatives across international schools in Malaysia, I had the privilege of working with several remarkable women leaders who modelled different approaches to effective sustainability engagement. Their guidance revealed how leadership styles, whether through empowering others or sharing expertise, can shape the success of sustainability programs and inspire meaningful change.
Making Space to Lead – Karlie Walsh, Straits International School Penang
One of the most important lessons I learned in my sustainability journey came from Karlie Walsh at Straits International School Penang. From the start, Karlie gave me the autonomy and trust to guide the sustainability team, encouraging collaboration rather than micromanaging. By creating space for initiatives, she empowered staff to bring forward ideas, experiment with new programs, and take ownership of projects. She even went so far as to create an entire department of sustainability, for which I was the inaugural head.
This approach demonstrated the power of “leaving space” as a leadership principle: when leaders step back strategically, they allow expertise and creativity to flourish. The result was a school community that felt engaged and accountable, with sustainability initiatives that were implemented and embraced by staff and students alike. Karlie’s leadership showed me that support does not always mean doing; it often means trusting others to lead and providing a platform for their voices to be heard.
Knowledge and Mobilisation – Dr. Mey Chea Khor, Tenby International School Setia Eco Hill
At Tenby International School Setia Eco Hill, Dr. Mey Chea Khor exemplified another critical aspect of effective sustainability leadership: using knowledge to mobilise action. Rather than merely delegating tasks, she equipped her staff with the understanding and skills needed to become what she called her “eco-warriors”. Through mentoring, workshop facilitation, and hands-on program creation, Dr. Mey ensured that every team member understood not just the what, but the why behind each initiative.
This empowerment accelerated implementation and created a sense of shared purpose across departments. By leveraging her expertise and investing in staff development, she transformed the sustainability program from a series of isolated projects into a coordinated, school-wide movement, with a whole new set of programs to go along with it! Her example underscored that leadership impact is amplified when knowledge is intentionally shared, and staff are prepared and confident to act.
Together, Karlie Walsh and Dr. Mey demonstrate complementary strategies for effective ESG engagement: one creates space and trust for teams to lead, while the other shares knowledge to build competence and confidence. For women leaders, these lessons show how empowerment, mentorship, and strategic guidance can overcome resistance, embed sustainability into school culture, and achieve meaningful impact.
Checking Bias and Empowering Teams
Leaders support sustainability most effectively when they leave bias and assumptions aside, creating space for others to lead. Preconceptions about who “should” lead or what is feasible can quietly stifle innovation. Practical steps make this principle actionable: grant autonomy, trust team members to implement initiatives; promote initiatives, signalling that sustainability is valued; and share expertise, mentoring staff to build confidence and competence.
This aligns with Freirean principles of empowerment and co-creation: instead of imposing solutions, leaders cultivate environments where staff and students collaboratively experiment and innovate. Leaving bias aside is an active choice that amplifies engagement, initiative, and impact, turning sustainability from a series of tasks into a shared, dynamic culture that thrives on collaboration, equity, and accountability.
Your Turn: Enabling Action and Impact
Sustainability leadership in schools is less about directing and more about enabling others to act. When leaders create space, share expertise, and intentionally check biases, they empower staff and students to co-create meaningful change. The examples from Malaysian schools show that leadership support can transform hesitant initiatives into thriving, school-wide programs. Every small act of encouragement multiplies impact, embedding sustainability into culture rather than leaving it as a side project. By leading with trust, mentorship, and intentional allyship, school leaders can ensure that environmental and social initiatives are not only implemented but embraced, sustained, and celebrated.
Sustainability thrives when leadership makes space for others to lead, learn, and innovate. Whether through trust, mentorship, or sharing expertise, leaders shape the culture that determines whether sustainability takes root. As you reflect on your own leadership, ask: how are you enabling your community to act with purpose? The future of sustainability in schools depends on the choices leaders make today.
Alexa Rose Pettinari, Sustainability Engagement Consultant
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