Leslie Skardon Leads South Carolina Sustainability Efforts
Check out SC Biz News’ Profile on Leslie Skardon: https://scbiz.com/leslie-skardon-sustain-sc-south-carolina/?ActOnUniqueID=CRBR20708
Leslie Skardon serves as CEO of Sustain SC and a Charleston City councilwoman.
Sustain SC focuses on economic development, resilience, conservation and education.
The organization evaluates sustainability factors before new business projects enter the state.
Skardon says sustainable growth is essential as South Carolina continues to expand.
She is CEO of Sustain SC by day and Charleston City Council councilwoman by night, but Leslie Skardon remains a South Carolina conservation and business advocate 24/7.
With almost a decade of service to a couple of Fortune 500 companies and time with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and other nonprofits and groups in Charleston — jumping from Durham, N.C., to Washington D.C., to her residence now in James Island — Skardon now wears the hat of South Carolina sustainable growth.
“I think the beauty of being in a place like Charleston is that people feel a deep sense of pride for where they live. They want to take care of where they live, they want to serve where they live and they want to protect it,” Skardon said. “To be able to do that on a state-wide level with Sustain SC is incredibly rewarding.”
Before arriving at Sustain SC, Skardon spent her career as a strategic communications consultant. Her role usually consisted of tasks from helping organizations develop a mission statement to internal change management to marketing and branding for crisis communication.
Skardon returned to the Carolinas in 2018, following her Mount Pleasant-native husband back to the Lowcountry. Three years into the organization’s existence, she was offered role as CEO of Sustain SC, a position she has held for two years.
“There are a couple of really important leadership lessons that I learned over the course of working at Global Prairie, and one is directness,” Skardon said. “If you have a question, you pick up the phone and you make a call. I have really tried to always be direct and up front, I think that it’s the kindest and best way to work with people.
Sustain SC works off four main pillars — economic development, organizational support, municipal resilience and outreach and education — which aim to work parallel to commerce and conservation. The organization partnership with the South Carolina Department of Commerce.
Before a new facility comes into South Carolina, Sustain SC analyzes water availability, energy usage, circulatory resources, supply chain, biodiversity, workforce and conservation information to ensure the resources are there to maintain new business.
“We know that growth is inevitable, but sustainable growth is imperative. So, how do we make sure we are growing sustainably?” Skardon said.
Skardon says in addition to monitoring growth in regions like Charleston, Greenville and Columbia, there is also something to be said for the regions of the state that aren’t growing, some even shrinking.
In rural areas that are struggling with maintaining a population, Sustain SC works to support their agriculture and forestry sectors that are under financial strain, while simultaneously ensuring they continue building economic development.
“I would also say our secret to success, in addition to the team, is our membership. We have a really diverse coalition of members that are not only the biggest companies across the state from BMW to Boeing, but it’s also our state agencies, utilities, non-profits, smaller businesses, and people coming together from across the state and across industries to sit down and have difficult conversations.”
This year, Skardon was elected to represent District 12 as a Charleston City Council member. She said the role has given her an even more direct touch for trying to improve her neighborhood of James Island, as well as Charleston as a whole.
“I am there to be a servant-leader, I want to serve them. I want to be their first phone call when their trash doesn’t get picked up or there is a pothole or their yard keeps flooding,” Skardon said. “So just the same way we cultivate our team in the business world, to me its supporting constituents on that face level.”
Skardon said her role is also 50% a passion for the vision of Charleston and making the city a comfortable place for generations to continue to grow up.
“Having a statewide understanding that economic growth, conservation and preserving and protecting our natural resources do not have to be in conflict,” she said. “They are vital to each other. I think that’s something we want everyone to understand and focus on.”