Since Commitment to Zero launched almost three years ago, Vail Resorts has been applauded for its industry-leading sustainability pledge with recognition from the ski industry, resort communities, and state of Colorado. With this week’s announcement of the 2020 Denver Business Journal “40 Under 40” recipients, it’s the person running Commitment to Zero being honored – Kate Wilson, senior director of sustainability at Vail Resorts.
The annual award celebrates 40 dynamic business leaders under 40 years old who have made huge professional and community contributions. Kate is being recognized for her leadership at Vail Resorts and the impactful sustainability contributions she’s made within the ski industry and across the Denver community.
“I’m thrilled to be named a ‘40 Under 40 winner’, along with so many influential leaders in the Denver area,” said Kate. “Through Commitment to Zero, Vail Resorts is pioneering what it means to be a sustainable mountain resort operator in the face of climate change. Sustainability is one of our company’s top priorities and I feel privileged to get to drive our bold commitments.”
Under Kate’s leadership, Vail Resorts is positioned to reach a zero net operating footprint across all 37 of its resorts by 2030, including five resorts in Colorado.
“Achieving our goals of zero net emissions, zero waste to landfill, and zero net operating impact on forests and habitat is no easy feat when operating in unique mountainous regions across the globe – but our employees and communities have no shortage of passion to get the job done,” Kate continued.
In her role, Kate oversees local sustainability teams who are implementing strategies specific to each resort and works with leaders across the company to ensure the full Vail Resorts’ employee base is inspired by, and contributing to, Commitment to Zero.
Kate has over 15 years of experience in climate change mitigation and sustainability strategy. This year, she’ll be a member of the Resource Central Board, a Colorado-based nonprofit with programs that help people save water, reduce waste, and conserve energy. In 2019, Kate led sustainability discussions at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit, Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference, and MT2030 – a coalition of mountain towns committed to achieving ambitious carbon reduction goals by 2030.
“While the work we’re doing at Vail Resorts is important, sharing ideas, lessons learned and best practices across our industry and beyond is vital to addressing climate change,” said Kate. “We’re all in this together – from operationalizing sustainability to advocating for effective climate change policy.”
Learn about Commitment to Zero, and check out Vail Resorts’ most recent progress report, at epicpromise.com.