Hi Alanna, welcome to the team. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and previous experiences?

Hello! I am originally from San Francisco, California but have called Sweden home now for almost 7 years. I was lucky to land my first job abroad with the Good Cause organization, more specifically GodEl and GodDryck. With a background in design, production, and business, I had my hands in a few projects there and most recently was the CEO at GodDryck.

GodDryck was a pioneer in the alcohol-free industry in Sweden and we worked hard to deliver sustainably produced world class organic sparkling wine. We were a piece in the Good Cause puzzle and being able to stand with our sister companies, GodEl and GodFond, and give our profits to our fantastic partner organizations was a dream. I feel quite lucky to have learned from all my amazing colleagues and mentors there.

What inspired you to apply for this CFO roll at ZeroMission?

Great question! I worked with ZeroMission when I was at GodDryck. We were on a journey to examine how we could produce our beverages in a sustainable way. Our goal to “measure, reduce and bind” was achieved through performing climate calculations to assess our companies’ emissions, examining how we could take steps to reduce our emissions and in our final step, investing in the tree planting Plan Vivo certified project in Bolivia through ZeroMission. A year or so later I was looking for a new challenge when I came across the role at ZeroMission.

Firstly, what I knew from working with ZeroMission was that I liked their products, especially the Plan Vivo tree planting projects. Each project is local, contributing to the social fabric of the area, and really making a difference in the lives of these farmers and their communities. This felt close to my heart. And that it was also a purpose driven company where everyone worked together to act on climate change. Add to it all that the skills and experience they needed to complement their team were ones that I had to offer and wanted to develop as well said to me that this could be a good match.

You have been with us a couple of weeks now. What has your first time at ZeroMission been like?

Exciting! While everyone was getting ready to go on holiday in July, I couldn’t wait to start. It felt good to jumping straight in, getting to learn more about how the sourcing of the carbon offsetting process works, sitting in on really fascinating meetings with suppliers where I am learning about their missions and how their products fit in our portfolio, understanding how the sales team works together to understand our customer’s needs and then finally getting to know these really intelligent, warm and friendly people who I get to learn from and laugh with every day. It feels good to have begun this path.

Is there anything in particular that you look forward to this fall, both professionally and private?   

I can’t wait to grow with this eager and enthusiastic crew at ZeroMission. All my learnings of this first month are sinking in, and I look forward to contributing in a meaningful way. Privately I would like to dust off my ukulele and start practicing again. I picked it up some years ago and would play for my son when he was a baby. I am still a beginner at best but I think it is time to expand my repertoire beyond, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.