This ongoing Q&A series profiles a few of the speakers at this year's Net Impact Conference. David is the Vice President of Safety and Sustainability at Amcor and participated in a session called Feeding People and Reducing Waste: Is Sustainable Packaging a Paradox? in our Corporate Impact track.

If you could spend 15 minutes with one impact hero past or present, who would it be and why?
I'd like to be able to meet Teddy Roosevelt. During his career, he broke boundaries to improve working conditions, workplace safety, and food and product safety -- and he expanded the National Parks system. He did it in a political environment where business influence, political machines, and partisan politics were probably worse than they are today. I'd like to hear how he was able to accomplish as much as he did.

What’s one surprising stat or emerging trend anyone looking to make an impact in your field should know?
The recognition that food waste has huge environmental and social impacts -- we have huge opportunities to improve environmental and social outcomes. Packaging plays an important role to preserving food and reducing waste.

What do you love about your work?
I work with a great team of people within Amcor. I especially like that we can have positive impacts on so many people, whether it's through improving workplace safety, increasing the eco-efficiency of our plants, doing projects in the communities where we operate, or improving nutrition and reducing waste through better packaging.

What's the single biggest challenge in your work?
Creating more opportunities to reduce and recover waste and litter going to landfill is a tough challenge for a number of packaging related industries. It's a challenge because it requires social and political changes and greater industry collaboration if we are to make significant inroads in this area. There's also a need for financial contribution to cover costs of infrastructure, collection and recycling, and technical solutions for more efficient collection and sorting. It's a classic "big hairy problem," and although different groups are trying different solutions, so far we've only had incremental improvements at best.

What's your best advice for someone who wants to create positive change through their career?
If you're at the Net Impact conference you're likely to be more passionate than many of your colleagues. We can't change other people. We can only influence them to change themselves. It can take a lot of understanding, creativity, and persistence to create positive change.

How has being part of the Net Impact community or attending the conference in the past made a difference in your work?
The Net Impact Conference is a great opportunity to hear from leaders in all different areas. I've learned how people in very different industries approach similar issues, and I've been able to incorporate what I've learned when I work on those issues within Amcor and with our suppliers and customers.

What’s your best advice for first-time conference attendees?
Use the opportunity to listen and learn from diverse points of view. Be open and allow your assumptions to be challenged and evolve. 

Watch conference highlights

See video from several sessions, including our popular keynotes. Watch now!