Rising Stars in Sustainability: Stephanie Zhu
For our Rising Stars series, we're featuring the next generation of leaders who are working toward a more sustainable world. We recently spoke with Stephanie Zhu, Director of Climate at Yum! Brands, to learn about her role, inspiration, and advice for those new to the field.
Describe your role for your company and what a typical day looks like.
No two days are the same in my role—and that’s what makes it so energizing. I spend a lot of my time working across Yum!’s four iconic brands—KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger & Grill—focusing on how to find smarter, cleaner ways to raise the beef, poultry, and dairy used in our supply chain in ways that create less pollution and waste. Another large part of my role is looking at technologies that help increase restaurant efficiency and cut emissions.
At the heart of it all is a commitment to drive positive change and business value: ensuring our climate strategy is ambitious, actionable, and embedded in how our brands serve delicious tacos, chicken, pizza, and burgers every day.
© Courtesy of Stephanie Zhu
Why did you decide to pursue a career in corporate sustainability?
I started my career in finance, which gave me a strong foundation in business decisions and the corporate world. But over time, I realized I didn’t see myself staying in finance for the long haul. I wanted to shift into work that felt more purpose-driven for me personally, something where I could help create meaningful change that aligned with my values.
Sustainability drew me in because it’s both strategic and impactful. I love the idea that small, thoughtful changes at the enterprise level can lead to outsized results, far beyond what one person could achieve alone. And I still get to dive deep into technical work, like data, in support of our reporting and disclosure process.
What have you found most challenging and/or most rewarding about your work?
One of the most challenging aspects of my work is that food is a notoriously hard-to-decarbonize sector. It requires deep partnership and innovation across the entire value chain—from agriculture and sourcing to restaurant operations and food waste. And because food is central to everyone’s lives (and I love food), the impact of this work is both personal and global, which makes it incredibly meaningful.
Talk about a project you’re currently working on.
There’s a lot of great sustainability work happening across our brands. At Pizza Hut, we’re working with dairy farmers to find practical ways to care for the land and cut down on waste—like being more efficient with feed and improving soil quality. Over at Taco Bell, we’re exploring how to source beef in a way that’s better for both people and the planet, from how it’s raised to farmer livelihood.
For Habit Burger and KFC, one focus is on restaurant efficiency, including finding ways to reduce energy use and implementing solar or electric vehicle charging where it makes sense.
Do you have a sustainability role model or inspiration?
David Attenborough is an absolute icon for how he highlights nature and his advocacy for protecting it. Also, just as iconic are my parents, whom I refer to as the OG environmentalists. There is absolutely nothing that goes to waste in their home (eg, plastic freezer bags are washed and reused!).
Talk about your favorite moment in nature.
I’ve spent most of my life living in or near big cities. My outdoor adventures would mostly be classified as urban hiking (so, shopping…).
But my favorite moment in nature was visiting Iceland. Seeing the landscape and Northern Lights was one of the first times I truly understood what so many people are working to protect. That moment reminded me why sustainability matters—not just in theory, but in the real, tangible ways.
What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career in corporate sustainability?
Sustainability is the world’s largest group project. No one person or team can achieve this on their own, so building relationships across our internal organization at Yum! and partners like WWF is critical to making progress. I’ve also always said data is a big part of this—it’s important to understand what is most material to the company and build business cases from there.
What are you excited about for the future?
Sustainability isn’t slowing down. We’ve laid a strong foundation with climate-forward fundamentals, and now I’m excited about what comes next: continuing the work and making strategic changes that have the potential to drive impact at scale. It’s a powerful reminder that even incremental progress, when done at the enterprise level, can help shift entire systems.