Young professionals today are channeling climate concerns into unprecedented corporate leadership and innovation.
What sets apart our 10th annual list of Trellis 30 Under 30 rising stars in climate this year is their ability to turn sustainability efforts into financial returns. These aren’t just environmental advocates — they’re young innovators embedding themselves in the machinery of global commerce and systematically rewiring it for a sustainable future.
Business leaders
Take Jaden Barney, 30, who developed an “eco-design” methodology for French industry company Legrand that will eliminate single-use packaging and improve repairability for more than 80 new products annually. Or Erica Pinto, 27, who launched Whirlpool’s comprehensive water strategy, setting the company up to add water efficiency features to its $5 billion washer and dryer category. Or Tyler Cobian, 28, who developed a software model at Amgen that automates the life-cycle assessment — and reduces its timeline from six months to on-demand — for thousands of products.
The 2025 Trellis 30 Under 30 work in every sector. Their efforts span supply chain decarbonization, data infrastructure for accountability, circular economy and financial services.
The scale of impact
The collective influence of this year’s honorees is large. Together, they:
- Oversee sustainability strategies for companies with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue
- Manage billions of dollars in sustainable investments and carbon removal portfolios
- Quantify millions of metric tons of emissions across global supply chains
- Deploy hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy contracts
- Build digital tools and frameworks being adopted across entire industries
Selection process
A team of Trellis climate journalists and experts evaluated 30 under 30 applicants based on their demonstrated sustainability leadership and the measurable, quantifiable impact of their work to address climate change. Honorees were required to have done the climate work while employed at a company or organization (not while a student) in the last two years.
The honorees are 30 or younger as of June 30, 2025.
They are listed here alphabetically by last name. Read through and click on all 30 profiles to get insights into decarbonization at UPS, Kate Spade, Cisco and more.
Be ‘agile’ and other management advice
Here’s also 10 tips for early-stage sustainability pros from rising stars who appeared on the Trellis 30 Under 30 list since it started in 2016.
