Abby Litchfield

NBS Staff discuss their interests, their goals, and what drove them to pursue business sustainability.

What is your official job description at NBS?

I support NBS in a variety of areas, especially regarding partnerships, communications, and strategy. I run NBS social media, sharing our content and curating other related opportunities and ideas to build community around advancing sustainability. I work with external stakeholder who run events, create content, or are working to create impact in ways which align with NBS. And, as someone with a knack for creativity and initiative, I work with the team to evaluate new ways for NBS to enhance our impact and advance our mission.

What are you personally trying to achieve at NBS? Or, why did you decide to work at NBS?

I studied at Ivey to pursue my interest in connecting business skills with my passion for sustainability to create a positive impact. As a part of NBS, I get to engage in the topical conversations in my field of interest, while learning more about the thought leaders and key players in the space. My long-term goal is to make sure meaningful conversations about things like climate change and inequality are happening in more and more boardrooms, driving more and more positive change. With NBS, I’ve been so fortunate able to start working towards that goal now. 

How did you become interested in this area (e.g., business sustainability)?

I have been passionate about sustainability for as long as I can remember, but the first catalyst for that passion was a semester I spent in the Community Environmental Leadership Program (CELP) during high school. This experience gave me a taste of working in a collaborative environment to take on large-scale problems, and I realized that it felt great. From there, my number-one question became: where can I position myself to create the most potential for impact? After talking with many people, business was the resounding answer. Given the increasing power of corporations in our consumer-driven society, business has become immensely impactful in our everyday lives. I believe the intersection of business and sustainability not only has huge potential for wide-scale impact, but also a lot of room for improvement. I’m happy to be a part of NBS to help equip today’s business leaders with the resources and knowledge to meet that potential.

What are your interests outside work? 

My longest-standing hobby is music; I play the piano and sing. In normal times, you might find me performing a few covers at The Spoke, the on-campus restaurant at Western, or with friends around a campfire. In recent times, with limited live music opportunities, I’ve moved to sharing performances digitally through covers on Instagram and the odd original on Spotify. Besides that, I am a big fan of anything outdoors, especially around water and trees. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

As I was heading towards graduation this spring, I received no shortage of advice – from peers, mentors, family members and professors. One common theme I have found particularly helpful is around the notion of creating your own meaning of success. There is no point in throwing every ounce of energy into goals that are based entirely on the interests and aspirations of others, or those most prevalent in society. Instead, fulfilment is more likely to come from choices driven by your own intrinsic sense of purpose; it takes strength to avoid constantly measuring up to others instead of staying true to the path that feels most right to you.