JLL Appoints New Chief Sustainability Officer

CHICAGO, IL – JLL has appointed Erin Meezan to chief sustainability officer. Within the role, she will work to grow JLL’s sustainability program and further its commitment to sustainable real estate operations.

Effective October 1, Meezan will succeed Richard Batten, upon his retirement. She will report to global head of sustainability services & ESG Guy Grainger.

Meezan holds more more than 19 years of sustainability experience. Most recently, she served as chief sustainability officer at Interface Inc., where she guided and surpassed company goals to achieve carbon neutrality across all product lines, developed the firm’s strategy to achieve a carbon-negative enterprise by 2040 and accomplished early success in the firm’s 25-year sustainability mission to have no environmental impact by 2020.

Meezan has a Masters degree in Environmental Law and a Juris Doctorate from Vermont Law School. She is a founding member of the advisory board for the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business’ sustainable entrepreneurship MBS program and she serves as a guest faculty member for Harvard University’s executive education for sustainable leadership program.

“We welcome Erin as the new chief sustainability officer who will build on the work JLL Is unlocking for climate action in built environments, leading us towards our goal of shaping the future of real estate for a better world,” says Grainger.

“JLL is a leader in the real estate industry, establishing ambitious net zero carbon and alternative energy goals and helping clients reach theirs,” states Meezan. “I am looking forward to helping JLL achieve its ambitious goals, and throughout our progress at JLL, showing the pathway for the rest of the industry and our clients to follow.”

Batten assumed the role of chief sustainability officer in January 2017. He also serves as an advisor on the Science Based Targets initiative and the Net Zero Expert Advisory group, and he sits on the BloomberggGreen council, for which he represented JLL’s efforts to drive climate action in the built environment.

This year, Batten has been recognized by Sustainability Magazine as one of the top 10 CSOs of global organizations, and he was also recognized by IR Magazine with its ESG integration award for best ESG by a senior management team. He founded the JLL Property Triathlon, raising nearly $5 million for local charities in the UK, and he also created and manages the HUGE Partnership to educate children in Uganda.

“I want to thank Richard for his contributions over the last five years as an invaluable leader helping transform the way our company and our clients view sustainability, embedding it as a key pillar of our business,” says Grainger.