Brian Johnston

Brian Johnston is the current Head of Impact at CoGo. Prior to this, they were with The Formary Limited as an Associate delivering sustainability consulting services for New Zealand corporates. Brian has also worked with Proxima and Connective Impact. Brian has more than 5 years of experience in CSR & Sustainability, having worked as the CSR & Sustainability Manager at ASICS from April 2014 to December 2016. During their time at ASICS, the company achieved its first listing in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index - Asia Pacific Group.

Brian has driven fully integrated corporate sustainability strategy for 2020 based on materiality assessment, including planning and goal setting. Brian has actively identified company risks and opportunities related to sustainability, and lobbying of internal stakeholders to build awareness and buy-in for new initiatives. Brian has led cross-functional project team to develop an ambitious consumer and impact-centric sustainability strategy for products and services, to support Tokyo 2020 Olympic sponsorship. Brian has also led external engagement on carbon strategy including securing ASICS' as the first sports brand to commit to Science Based Targets. In addition, Brian has led sustainability reporting for CDP and supported for DJSI and other industry reporting initiatives.

Brian has strengthened Product Safety (chemical) risk management for material and final product through training of staff and suppliers, updating guidelines, integrating into PLM systems, alignment with industry best practice. Brian is also the company representative within AFIRM Group and involved in creation of first industry-standard AFIRM Restricted Substances List (RSL) for product chemical safety. Brian has integrated sustainability into product design and manufacturing through use of the SAC Higg Index and Product Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Brian has also implemented global sustainability data management system to enable local operations to analyse performance and drive improvements, and support sustainability reporting. Moreover, they have integrated sustainable building design concepts into decision making for Retail, Office and Distribution Centre locations. Brian is currently advising on crisis management regarding environmental sustainability topics.

Brian Johnston has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from The University of Auckland, and a Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering from The University of Auckland. Brian also has certification from CoLiberate in Mental Health First Responder, BSI in ISO14001 Lead Auditor, and International Society of Sustainability Professionals in ISSP-SEP (Sustainability Excellence Professional).

Brian Johnston reports to Ben Gleisner, CEO & Co-Founder. Mikaila Ceelen - Business Impact Manager, Clifford Moss - Country & Impact Manager, AUS report to Brian Johnston. Some of their coworkers include Eric Roest - Enterprise Sales Manager, Christina Baldarelli - Product Manager API, Solutions, and Patrik Niebur - Senior Developer.