ESG 2025-2030 Roadmap

"In 2015, while attending an HBS executive course, Professor Frances Frei posed a question to the room. How do you describe leadership in one sentence. As expected, the answers did not stay within one sentence? After about seven responses, she shared a quote from Sheryl Sandberg.

Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.

Over the next month, as I reviewed my notes and the message sank in, it became clear to me what the purpose of our organization needed to be. We should measure ourselves by the number of people we positively impact. And we should be in businesses where we can hire more people, because that is how we create more opportunity and expand that impact.

We embraced spreading happiness as our slogan, and we learned that sustained happiness comes from growth. It comes from continuous learning, teaching, and empowering one another to take ownership and improve. We amplify my father’s values to lead with care"

At NIRU, the metric we follow with the greatest care is the number of jobs we create each year to amplify the savoir faire of each location where we operate. Each new role strengthens our happiness supply chain. As our teams grow, so does our capacity to make meaningful progress across environmental, social, and governance priorities. People multiply our ability to create change. Growth also helps us reduce waste in all its forms, including material, time, energy, and effort, by continuously improving how we work.

We strive to build lasting habits that increase awareness and personal responsibility for caring for the planet. We want sustainability to be a daily practice. And through active participation in community projects, we aim to strengthen the value systems of the communities we are part of.

As you read through this year’s report, there is pride in the progress we have made and how much more we must do. We remain a work in progress, guided by our values and committed to learning. Our goal is simple. Think about the greater good, create opportunities, and ensure we spread happiness.

Rakesh Barmecha, President