Who founded Sustainable Guar Initiative?
Known for her contagious passion and strong drive, Mechelle Engemann was nominated for the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) award in the ‘Excellence’ category. The award recognizes women leaders for their outstanding and sustained contribution to advancing sustainability in their companies.
Mechelle launched and led the Sustainable Guar Initiative (SGI) at Novecare a few years ago, successfully led the integration of Solvay Way in GBUs Technology Solutions and Composite Materials, and has also managed to attract interest from business leaders for both SPM (Sustainable Portfolio Management) and Circular Economy.
Today, she is GBU Technology Solutions’ Solvay Way Champion, and has occupied various industrial and technical positions over the past 30 years. Let’s find out more about her…
What can you tell us about your current role and your experiences working at Solvay?
I consider myself quite fortunate. It is first and foremost about the foundation of our people. Not many find the opportunity to interact with a very strong network that reaches across all functions of Technology Solutions and within the Group. Most exciting is engaging externally with our customers alongside our business line teams. Working collectively, we are focused on developing activities that allow us to enhance our engagement by leveraging Sustainable Development as a key commercial strategy and point of competitive differentiation.
My approach is to influence the development of short- and long-term objectives that support the Group’s Sustainability objectives as well as our customers’.
As for previous experiences, my opportunities have been many. Sometimes I laugh and say out loud, I have “grown up” within Solvay.
What was your experience like working on the Sustainable Guar Initiative?
Simply, one of the most defining moments of my career. It was incredible to be a part of the Novecare organization supporting the need to ensure sustainable sourcing solutions. The leadership team trusted me to focus on significant challenges faced by guar farmers and build this initiative.
To be successful, we needed to engage the right Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partners and, more importantly, to develop an inclusive approach with the identified farmer groups. We identified the most critical area of need, focusing first in the region of Bikaner, Rajasthan, where there was little to no intervention and the farmers were quite vulnerable as they were primarily dependent upon non-irrigated crops for their livelihoods.
Our multi-stakeholder commitment evolved into long-term goals ensuring a holistic approach linked strong to sustainability principles. We wished to ensure the improved livelihood of farmers including a strong focus on women empowerment, protect local resources and ensure a resilience of income for guar bean farmers while not forgetting how we might help them understand and be impactful to their climate change activities.
When we first started the assessment, women’s perspectives were often not considered, and the community was not receptive to a large organization. It took a lot of work to make sure that the local women’s vital role in the initiative was recognized and that they were involved. Fostering female empowerment is something that we did very well. I consider this as one of our greatest achievements.
After several years of multiple changes, including my role within Solvay, I’m happy to follow the continued success led by others who carry on this vision.
What does the WBCSD leading women’s award nomination mean to you?
I’m humbly honored to be recognized by Solvay alongside so many leading women. With this nomination I have reflected more on what it might mean to be a “leading woman,” and while I believe we are instrumental in bringing a unique dynamic of balance amongst our team, I must admit that I find myself thinking beyond gender.
My focus is on helping make a difference. Always share the best of your abilities, be passionate about influencing others, and perhaps more importantly, recognize the contribution of others.
What is your idea of a successful initiative?
Successful initiatives bring impactful change. “Be the model that changes the model!” I believe this comes from our interactions with people — being part of a team. My approach is to face each opportunity or challenge head on and think about the people I can surround myself with who can help me deliver meaningful plans. Cross-functional teams of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, including gender, are most successful.
What do you enjoy doing as a hobby?
I love fishing and could do this every day! I recently discovered that I also enjoy kayaking. But most of all, I really enjoy spending time with my family.
