Description

This week on The Underswell, I sit down with Monika Kumar — sustainability advisor at Ichcha (“a wish”) and former Sustainability Finance Specialist at The World Bank — for a deep, energizing, and deeply human conversation about what it really takes to drive impact in today’s complex sustainability landscape.

At first glance, it may appear to be so, but Monika’s story is anything but linear. Starting as an activist with NYPIRG, shaped by an international upbringing across Ethiopia, India, and the U.S., and refined through graduate work at Yale and a career in global development, she’s now blending sustainability, social impact, and grounded guidance across multiple arenas — including her family’s artisan-focused textile brand, Ichcha.

Together we explore:

• Sustainability as a rigorous, technical discipline
• Why today’s sustainability leaders must understand economics, risk, regulation, and how to speak the language of CEOs and CFOs.
• Why every role can be a sustainability role Monika shares how impact is created from every seat — not just “sustainability teams.”
• Collaboration > competition Her World Bank experience reinforces that systems change happens when we share knowledge, align goals, and work collectively.
• Leadership buy-in as the catalytic force
• Building resilient business models requires fluency in financial value, risk, and ROI — full stop. 
• Careers that bend, pivot, and persevere Visa barriers, global politics, economic instability — Monika opens up about navigating obstacles with adaptability and persistence.
• Hope as a professional strategy
• Progress is slow, messy, and nonlinear. But hope, resilience, and community keep this work alive.

It’s a rich episode for career builders, emerging sustainability pros, and anyone looking to integrate purpose and impact into their work.

Links:

• Monika on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/monikakumar/
• Her family brand, Ichcha - https://www.ichcha.com/ (Biggest Shop Small sale of the year going on)
• The latest on SB253 and SB 261 - https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/california-corporate-greenhouse-gas-ghg-reporting-and-climate-related-financial
• Global Footprint Network, Footprint Calculator - https://www.footprintnetwork.org/resources/footprint-calculator/
• Books she recommends right now: The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50998056-the-ministry-for-the-future Blood Over Bright Haven, by M.L. Wang - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208430658-blood-over-bright-haven?ref=nav_sb_noss_l_22

Music🎵 by Lidérc

Inquire about being a guest on The Underswell at www.theunderswell.com/livewithderek