With over 13.000 alumni worldwide, the IHS Alumni Network gathers international experts in urban development from across the globe. In this series we reconnect with some familiar faces and find out more about their professional path after graduation.
Meet Samyuktha
During her time in the Sustainability and Climate Change track of the MSc in Urban Management and Development, Sam discovered her passion for sustainability reporting; a field that connects business, data, and impact. Growing up in India, sustainability was part of her everyday life. Her mother taught her to use resources wisely, be mindful of waste, and respect the environment. Those lessons shaped her awareness from an early age and guided her towards the career she has now.
How sustainability is being applied in different sectors
During her studies Sam began exploring how sustainability is applied in different sectors. Her first internship was at Count Energy Trading in Rotterdam, where she joined the sustainability team as a commercial sustainability intern. Working in the petrochemical sector gave her the opportunity to see how complex and interconnected the sector is. She supported market research, compliance with EU plastics and recycling directives, stakeholder analysis, and internal communications.
After this, she joined UNDP’s New York office remotely, working with the Strategic Partnerships team on climate finance and gender. The role focused on mapping philanthropies and grants that could accelerate global sustainability projects.
She joined Otrium, an end-to-end platform for off-price fashion, in Amsterdam as a Sustainability Intern upon her graduation from IHS in 2024. The scale-up environment let her work across logistics, operations, marketing and partnerships, visit the warehouse and collaborate with teams in Amsterdam and the UK. Otrium also brought her into contact with external consultants, including the manager who later hired her into her current role. All experiences taught her new lessons, such as having a critical approach to work.
"You have to have a very critical approach, especially within sustainability reporting, because different industries and different companies have different requirements", Sam shares.
Developing climate transition plans and strategies
Sam now works at Willow Sustainability as a Project Manager, working remotely from Rotterdam for a Brussels-based team. She mainly supports large fashion companies in the Netherlands. Her work focuses on developing climate transition plans and strategies in line with EU requirements, defining data points, ensuring accurate disclosures, and coordinating across sustainability, and operational teams. She manages one client independently and supports her manager on another, balancing meeting-heavy days with time for research, writing, and delivery.
Inside the client work
One current assignment involves supporting a client whose Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) report is due next year. The team is navigating European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS_ sections that span which it deals with like environment or circular economy, resources, governance, and business models. The client is based in Germany, adding a layer of national timelines and requirements to consider. Her role demands a deep understanding of European sustainability reporting, such as double Materiality assessment, along with strong project, time, and stakeholder management. Equally important are interpersonal skills; being approachable and able to guide clients through complex concepts like climate transition planning.
Launching Reneu Media
Each internship, project, and new role helped her see her strengths more clearly and build confidence in her expertise. Coming from the Global South, she understands sustainability not only as a corporate agenda but also as a lived reality; one tied to social equity and resilience. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values she continues to advocate for.
Alongside her consulting work, she founded Reneu Media, an educational platform designed to share accessible insights on sustainability and reporting, as well as her personal journey in the field. The platform is set to launch on 19 December. She hopes it will serve as a hub for sharing knowledge and connecting professionals, students, and curious minds alike.
Climate change is real. Seasonal patterns are shifting every year. When I look back 50 years from now, I want to be able to tell future generations, ‘Hey, I helped make an impact, so can you.'
Samyuktha Sethuraman, IHS alumna
