A drive to make a difference in her community has propelled Ashton Rudanec to a career in sustainability and workplace diversity, and recognition on Edify Magazine’s 2024 Top 40 Under 40 list.

Rudanec, director of sustainable investing at Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), was honoured by the Edmonton magazine as someone who betters their community. She serves as president of the University of Alberta Alumni Association and as a board member of the Civida Housing Foundation.

At AIMCo, which manages over $160 billion in assets, her responsibilities include advising its Total Fund team on sustainability issues and playing a role in its corporate reporting.

From a young age, she has been an avid volunteer, including participating in fundraising for health research.

Having taken an “untraditional career path” to the finance field, the marketing and communications professional and MBA graduate from the University of Alberta sought to make deeper impact in the corporate world after working for non-profits such as the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

“I think that sustainability really spoke to those values I already had, where I wanted to meet the needs of today but also ensure that future generations have the ability to meet their own needs,” she said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

Working her way up the corporate ladder from analyst to manager to director, she has endeavoured to enhance how the Edmonton-headquartered Crown corporation conducts environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies across its investments and internal operations. It's a role that carries increasing responsibility these days, as more beneficiaries see sustainability as a crucial consideration.

Seeking to make impact at AIMCo

Corporations with a large global footprint, Rudanec came to believe, have the influence to change the world for the better. Driven by this idea, she applied for and was accepted into the MBA program of the University of Alberta in 2016, majoring in sustainability. There, among other skills, she learned about environmental management, law and economics, how to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, and how to craft a sustainability report.

Jobs in the field were scant in Edmonton at the time, an observation that may have tempted others to move to Vancouver. But strong attachment to her hometown and the potential to make an impact led her to stay, Rudanec recalled.

Following graduation, she took a contract position as director of recruitment, admissions and marketing at her alma mater. One of her principal aims was increasing the number of women in the graduate business program.

When speaking at an International Women’s Day event about her objective, she heard AIMCo’s former director of responsible investing Alison Schneider give a keynote speech, which discussed how the company, as an active investor, promotes gender diversity.

Schneider's ideas intrigued Rudanec enough to strike up a conversation with her fellow alumnus. Despite her own doubts that she had the skills for the job, Schneider eased her worry, telling Rudanec a marketing background would come in handy with the increasing need for ESG transparency.

The networking eventually led to a job as an analyst in responsible investing, followed by managerial positions and promotion to director in 2023.

Helping to craft sustainability efforts

As an internal ESG advisor to AIMCo, Rudanec’s team conducts sustainability due diligence on its investments. A cattle business will have methane emissions and biodiversity as factors to consider; Indigenous relations are material to a stake in an oil and gas pipeline. The investment will then be managed and monitored.

When she jumped aboard AIMCo, Rudanec said she joined at an “exciting time to start.” New reporting standards like the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures were released.

AIMCo’s clients and beneficiaries began to express greater interest in sustainability, and advocacy groups applied pressure through shareholder engagement and proposals. The company’s response was to enhance the transparency of its ESG reporting, better customize it for clients and integrate it more thoroughly across asset classes, Rudanec explained.

Alongside managing director of sustainable investing Carmen Velasquez, she co-led reforms to AIMCo’s ESG reporting. Previously, one report every year condensed all the information in 50 pages. Client feedback resulted in the ESG report being broken down into three to four documents that are published over the course of a year.

The decision got a positive reception, Rudanec said. Readers found it easier to digest the complex information and the reports contained more case studies to illustrate AIMCo’s work. The effort is something she is deeply proud of.

Another source of satisfaction is co-founding a gender equality resource group at AIMCo that advocates for better parental leave policies.

AIMCo’s climate activities

AIMCo’s climate taxonomy establishes its framework for investments, subscribing to the aim of the Paris Agreement and “credible climate transition pathways”. It collaborates with investor initiatives such as Climate Engagement Canada, Climate Action 100+ and the Responsible Investment Association.

The institutional investor does not have a net-zero target nor any firm emissions reduction goals, and has argued that divestment from fossil fuel investments does not lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

AIMCo is taking steps to address climate change with investments into a 100-megawatt solar facility in Ontario and Constantine Energy Storage in the U.K. Among its other initiatives is a $1-billion Energy Transition Opportunities Pool, announced earlier this year, which is investing in the energy transition and decarbonization sectors.

As a leader in the sustainable investing team, Rudanec said she will continue to help expand on the company’s ESG reporting on a wide range of matters, including forced labour and nature-related opportunities and impacts.

“For us, navigating the regulatory landscape as it evolves, not just in Canada but around the world, is a big focus.”