It may not be surprising to learn that Kearney sustainability director Angela Hultberg has a law degree. But surprisingly, that degree is in tax law—a field she only worked in for about nine months before deciding life is too short to do something she didn’t want to do!

Angela then spent eight years working for corporations in her native Sweden until discovering what she wanted to do for her career. “I discovered that I was interested in sustainability while at IKEA,” she recalls, reflecting on her move to a sustainability manager role with IKEA in her third year with the company back in 2016. “I didn’t have a passion for it previously, but I’ve always been interested in politics and current events and climate change is certainly part of that.”

This newfound passion intensified quickly, as Angela became IKEA’s head of sustainable mobility three years later and began to earn international recognition for her sustainability expertise. In 2021, she was named the road transport lead for the COP26 Climate Champions team during the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. As a climate champion, she led initiatives to accelerate the transportation industry’s decarbonization efforts, which tied back to her experience working toward IKEA’s goal of zero-emission home deliveries.

In 2021, she and Kearney began what Angela describes as a “four-month courtship” that saw her meet with partners on seven different occasions. “I didn’t even realize at first that I was interviewing for a position; they just seemed very interested in my thoughts on how they could work sustainability into every project,” she explains. “But it soon became clear that they wanted my thinking on a full-time basis, and I hit the ground running with the firm when I started with them in early 2022 in the Copenhagen office.”

After joining the firm, Angela quickly joined with several other Kearney experts to coauthor a book called The Sustainability Chessboard, which provides a framework for success in sustainability. “Many people in the corporate world have busy agendas that tie them up and reduce their attention to sustainability,” she notes. “The chessboard is a way for companies to self-assess around their ambitions, to help determine where to focus their efforts. The first step is figuring out where you are and where you want to get to and how to get there, how much you want to lead and be the best versus simply ensuring compliance.”

Angela and her husband Michael have two sons. She stays very busy with what she calls “her other full-time job”—coaching her older son’s youth soccer team. “It’s the most rewarding thing,” she says. “Watching them grow and develop, and knowing you might have had a little something to do with their achievements. Best feeling in the world!”

Taking action: Procurement

Taking action: Design and manufacturing

Taking action: Transport

Taking action: Consumer