Catherine Merlo's Linkedin Analytics

As a social and environmental impact strategist and MBA, my professional purpose is to drive systems change within organizations to support a fair green transition. With a 9+ years of experience in organizational strategy, governance, program, and project management across diverse sectors - from Arts & Culture to the Built Environment - I am passionate about the intersection of sustainability, storytelling, and business strategy. Today I combine expertise in stakeholder management and purpose-driven strategy with a broad corporate sustainability and ESG toolkit to drive Dissing+Weitling's sustainability program. I lead sustainability strategy across the firm - including materiality assessments, environmental impact management, service transformation roadmaps, non-financial reporting, and organizational capacity building. Working within the built environment is aligned with my personal history: I am the daughter of an architect and SME business owner in the California Central Valley. From my first job - project managing our family firm's digitalization efforts - to the crowning achievement of my nonprofit career: the $60M public/private investment in the new NBBJ designed Seattle Opera Center - to my work today leading Dissing+Weitling's first sustainability program - I find my way back to architecture, it is in my roots. A global citizen looking to participate in the creation of a more equitable economy - I am guided by a deep sense of justice and keen understanding of systems thinking. Committed to responsible business, I have a strong background in DEIA and anti-racist organizational practice - particularly within stakeholder value creation, internal change leadership, and active allyship. Prior to moving to Denmark in 2021, I scaled a career in social impact philanthropy: developing authentic relationships, creating and driving resource strategy, and building fundraising programs to support community giving as well as HNW and UHNW philanthropic investments. I have extensive experience in partnership development and facilitating difficult conversations around ethics, equity, and systems change. Key areas of management expertise include stakeholder value creation, resource strategy, capital projects, and board governance. Outside the office I am an avid cookbook collector and coastal hiker - in 2022 I walked 445 km of the Camino Portugues da Costa from Porto to Muxia. True to my value of lifelong learning, I am a Danish student at Speak Language School and a member of the 2023 Regenerators Academy Regenerative Leadership Cohort.