Executive Moves

Global Reporting Initiative’s lead North American executive steps aside

Matthew Rusk headed GRI's North America strategy for four years. Read More

By Heather Clancy May 20, 2025

Matthew Rusk was head of GRI's North America strategy from 2021 to 2025. Source: Matthew Rusk

Key Takeaways:

Rusk left the organization in April, but is helping GRI organize comments on draft reporting standards for the financial sector.
GRI has no immediate plans to recruit a new North American lead.
A new CEO took over in February, to guide GRI’s direction as corporate disclosures become mandatory in certain countries.

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Matthew Rusk, head of the Global Reporting Initiative’s North America strategy for the past four years, has moved on.

Rusk, who exited in April, has taken a part-time role through the end of May as a fellow with the Sustainable Investing Research Initiative, which is assisting GRI with the creation of reporting standards for the financial sector. Rusk hasn’t announced plans for his next full-time position.

Rusk’s last corporate role was as a sustainability and corporate social responsibility manager at Swarovski. He has extensive experience in managing ESG and sustainability initiatives for big entertainment companies: The Walt Disney Co., Dreamworks and Paramount.

GRI, based in Amsterdam but with community engagement, policy and fundraising staff in the U.S., is not recruiting a replacement but remains committed to “this strategically important market,” a spokesperson said.

GRI was founded almost 30 years ago to create voluntary disclosure standards that corporations use to report emissions reductions, human rights policies and environmental impact information. It’s one of several sustainability-related nonprofits undergoing leadership and and strategy overhauls, along with climate data nonprofit CDP and target-setting standards body Science Based Targets initiative.

As sustainability disclosures become mandatory in regions including the European Union, Singapore and the U.K., GRI has increasingly allied itself with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which is part of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation. The goal is to harmonize approaches: GRI’s standards are among the most widely used by corporations, while the ISSB’s framework adds the element of financial materiality for an investor-centric audience.

GRI hired a new CEO in February: Robin Hodess, who was previously chief of strategy and impact for The B Team, the nonprofit founded by Richard Branson. The organization’s priorities this year include expanding the educational resources available to corporations.