Impact entrepreneur Geoff Gourley signs up as Apricot’s ESG director

Impact Investment Fund founder Geoff Gourley has signed on as the director of ESG at leadership and executive coaching firm Apricot Consulting.

Gourley will lead all ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), social value & impact, NetZero and social and sustainable procurement management consultancy activities.

Apricot founder Derek Linsell said the appointment recognised Gourley’s experience as a social entrepreneur, innovator and impact investor, and will deliver a step-change in expertise and capability for the business nationally.

“Our work has always centred on the principles of ESG. Some of our earliest work involved establishing social impact programs back in 2002. Geoff’s appointment is the culmination of this experience, accelerating the natural progression of this trajectory,” he said.

Apricot’s client list includes Aurecon, Transurban, John Holland Group, Kraft Heinz, R.M.Williams, APA and SA Water.

Head of Partnerships Ben Hellstrom said that when it comes to ESG, a lot of companies focus on the strategy at exec level, and that’s where it remains.

“Our passion as a business is in the implementation part of this; helping businesses lead ESG change, And we are really averse to just walking off once a strategy has been written – we want to be part of the journey here, and we get stuff done.”

Gourley, chair of the Advisory Board at Swinburne University Innovation Precinct, said there had been a rapid increase in demand for ESG support and consultancy across a range of industry sectors.

“Boards and executive management teams are being influenced, in some cases pushed, by investors, stakeholders, employees and customers to have an ESG strategy, to measure their impact and baseline and set targets for improved performance and compliance,” he said

“I am excited to be taking up this executive leadership role with Apricot and to be at the forefront of working with clients and their supply chains to rapidly adapt to a changing business and operating environment.”