Daniel Anderson
Sustainability Officer at Everyturn Mental Health
A squiggly career led to a new perspective for Daniel Anderson
Daniel Anderson is a Sustainability Officer for Everyturn Mental Health, a role that offered a fresh start and an entirely new career direction.
Summarise your career to date: how did you end up where you are now?
It’s been a squiggly career to date – I’ve not followed the typical route to arriving where I am now. My first role after leaving university was within the NHS as a Healthcare Scientist Assistant. Then I moved across a variety of roles within biomedical science and clinical research, in both senior leadership and laboratory management roles.
What was your educational / vocational path to where you are now?
My journey to a green career has been over ten years in the making, since I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport and Exercise Science. With that comes ten years of experience, knowledge, and transferable skills that can be applied to my role. I gained those through voluntary, self-funded, and employer-supported learning and development opportunities.
“There are many skills that I’ve gained across my career to date that I believe (and recent research suggests) are suited to being transferred and adapted to transformed and new green roles.”
Daniel Anderson
Sustainability Officer at Everyturn Mental Health
Tell us a little bit about your career change, what was the catalyst for the move?
Looking back, the first seeds of a sustainability career change were planted following a difficult and demanding leadership role in an NHS biomedical science laboratory. That role, in combination with personal difficulties I was having at the time, contributed to serious mental health struggles, and subsequently a long break from work. After returning to work and starting a new role managing a clinical research laboratory, I started to reflect on what my purpose and motivations were for my career, and the sense of supporting others that I wanted from any future role.
My newly found passion for sustainability and climate action, which was born out of my mental health struggles and searching for value and purpose in my life, would only get me so far with pursuing a change in career direction. I knew I’d need formal learning and development to transition to a green career. This is where IEMA comes in! I was fortunate enough that my employer at the time offered me a place on an IEMA Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management. This provided the entry point for starting a career in an environment and sustainability role. It was a way to get recognition for the knowledge I had gained so far through using the NHS trust’s sustainability engagement platform, and to become more of an active voice and advocate for sustainability within the workplace. As I did not need any prior knowledge or educational qualifications, this course was a great place to start my journey and gain a picture of sustainability that I could potentially apply to those roles.
In your current job, what are your key responsibilities?
As a Sustainability Officer, I support the Net Zero and Sustainability Lead, and consult with all teams and services across the organisation to deliver a programme that aims to support our net zero targets, reduce our impact on the planet, and improve health conditions for the people we support and our colleagues – now and in the future.
Key responsibilities each day include coordinating data collection and reporting to monitor progress against KPIs; playing an active role in promoting procedural change and sharing best practices with colleagues on key areas of emissions; and supporting the achievement of external accreditations. These areas, which I’m either responsible for or consult on, cover workstreams such as data monitoring, people and community, supply chain, and estates and facilities.
What would you say are the key transferable skills that you were able to bring from your previous role?
There are many skills that I’ve gained across my career to date that I believe (and recent research suggests) are suited to being transferred and adapted to transformed and new green roles. These range from communication and working well with people, to technical knowledge and critical thinking, to organisation behaviours and leadership traits. Undoubtedly, an ability to adapt to new environments and skill requirements is key, and being patient, persevering, and hopeful at the start of any new significant career change has proven to be a superpower of mine!
How have you found the learning curve of moving into a sustainability role?
It has been a challenging, and sometimes overwhelming change. However, I’m very thankful to my employer not just for learning and development opportunities to acquire the skills and knowledge needed in the role, but also for the emotional support to adjust to the changes so far.
What are the most rewarding aspects of working in your industry/sector? Do you feel you’re making a difference?
Working at the intersection of sustainability and mental health is a key driver for me and my interests. The opportunity to have open and honest conversations, sharing how we can all make an impact with many different team members across a wide variety of roles, is an incredibly rewarding aspect of the role and provides the sense of purpose, fulfilment, and support for others that I was looking for.
The awareness of climate change, and how this is communicated, is a complex and multi-factored challenge, but finding, planning, and implementing creative and value-driven ways of doing so is extremely rewarding.
What advice would you give to someone considering changing their career?
If you’re looking to transition to a green career, my recommended first or next step would be to:
- a) look at all that is on offer at the Green Careers Hub website, and
- b) register as a member of IEMA, at whichever level you feel is appropriate.
Remember that the path may be squiggly to a green career, but take heart that the skills you have now are worth much more to the green sector than you think, and have confidence in your value. Aim to be committed to learning and developing, and with time and patience, you can become part of the green skills movement.
Were would you like to go next – what are you career aspirations?
Now that I’m at associate membership level, the natural next step on my IEMA journey is to try to achieve the practitioner membership, which is for professionals who are working across organisations at an operational level, pursuing a career path in environment and sustainability. For now, I’m privileged to be in a position where I can combine my passions for sustainability and mental health and be part of an incredibly impactful team that makes sure no one needs to struggle alone.
