Cara Kennedy
By Zoë Eitel
There is a quote from Bill Nye that Cara Kennedy takes to heart: “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” As the Vice President of Sustainability for JLL—a global professional services company specializing in real estate—Cara has to be a “learner” and keep up with the ever-changing sustainability field.
“I attend trainings, continue education, study for personal accreditations and leverage networking opportunities to improve my knowledge by learning from others,” she says. “Stepping into leadership roles has required me to get outside of my comfort zone on a daily basis and learn skills on the fly. I wish I would have taken a business class while at DePaul!”
At JLL, Cara manages sustainability programs for single assets and entire portfolios as well as working with clients to develop and execute their sustainability goals. This includes things like helping them with everything from third-party certifications to custom advisory projects like ESG framework reporting, materiality assessments and net zero strategy.
Vice President of Sustainability at JLL
BA Environmental Studies 2015
MA Sustainable Urban Development 2017
Cara was drawn to JLL because of the fast pace of the environment and the global reach of the company. Through their breadth of clients, JLL is able to have a substantial impact on carbon reduction, water conservation, energy efficiency, health and wellness programming and more.
“I credit my sincere passion for sustainability for carrying me this far, it has helped me make authentic connections with clients, deliver the business case for sustainability and push the limits on conventional thinking.”
“I was also drawn to a firm that walks the walk in terms of reducing their own impact on the environment as this aligns with my personal values,” Cara says.
Even though it required her moving 500 miles to a brand new city, Cara knew she wanted to attend DePaul as soon as she reviewed the Environmental Studies program’s curriculum.
“The other universities I considered with similar programs were profoundly science-focused—which is important—but I wanted exposure to the humanities side,” she says. “I wanted to learn how to advocate for sustainability, how to explain climate change and the factors surrounding gentrification and urban development.”
Cara even continued her education at DePaul by becoming a Double Demon and getting her master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Development.
“Besides the double demon discount, my desire to continue my education around urban development and attend a night program while I entered the workforce was heavily influenced by the culture of DePaul,” Cara says. “I knew my experience, interests and feedback would be considered as this was a new program and I was intrigued by the course work.”
After graduating from DePaul, Cara worked for a small engineering firm and she also joined networking groups around the city, like Illinois Green Alliance. It was these connections that helped her get to JLL.
“I credit my sincere passion for sustainability for carrying me this far, it has helped me make authentic connections with clients, deliver the business case for sustainability and push the limits on conventional thinking,” Cara says.