Kara Fulcher

About Kara Fulcher

As a SUSTAINABILITY LEADER at Michelin NA, I’ve built sustainability functions from the ground up, shaping environmental and social practices across multiple regions and business verticals, and aligning strategies with broader—and evolving—organizational commercial priorities.I continue to refine strategies for decarbonization, circular economy, biodiversity, and stakeholder engagement, drawing on a cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary background to transcend boundaries and collaboratively set goals across diverse profit centers and regions (including the Americas, Europe, and Asia). The key is ensuring our initiatives resonate across communities, from internal executives and front-line employees to external partners. I rely on my ability to interpret signals and balance stakeholder interests with the big picture to inform my strategic positioning. A byproduct of my advocacy for sustainability initiatives is raising my organization\'s visibility and expanding its influence. In 2024, I secured 5 prestigious ESG awards for Michelin:🟦 Top 50 Companies for Social Impact (Forbes) 🟦 ESG Leadership Award (The Conference Board) 🟦 Supplier of the Year Award (Honda) 🟦 Crystal Peach Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (Atlanta French-American Chamber of Commerce) 🟦 Most Effective Planning, Research & Evaluation of a ESG Programme (AMEC) It’s been a privilege to share my environmental and social sustainability expertise globally. But a vision requires buy-in to become reality, so I collaborate on the strategy, and then motivate and rally people to engage.From smaller, cross-functional meetings to fireside chats and high-profile conference keynote engagements, I’ve covered topics that span circularity, culture, energy transition, engagement, sustainability, and transport for internal and external audiences. & My ability to connect with diverse populations draws on a lifetime of experience, like spending 7 years of my youth in a one-stoplight town in the Navajo Nation. Within a decade I progressed from Window Rock, AZ to Germany, Chicago, and Princeton, learning powerful lessons along the way.My formal education led me most recently to an MBA from Clemson.My commitment to environmental and social sustainability extends beyond corporations and conferences. I’m an orange belt facilitator for the awareness-raising workshop Climate Fresk, and I helped launch the nonprofit Sustaining Way to empower an underserved community.

Experience

1. Director of Sustainability Strategy, North America

   Michelin

   Oct 2024 — Present · US

   Collaborate with and lead 60+ cross-functional partners embedded within the sustainability umbrella. Champion sustainability through public engagement, fostering networks for collaboration. Guide sustainability and decarbonization practices across multiple business entities, globally distributed (Americas, Europe, and Asia). Designed and launched internal educational program, mobilizing transverse resources to engage employees, from salaried production teams to corporate executives. Tracking to reach >10k employees in 2025.Developed, piloted, and promoted narrative to leverage corporate investments in environmental sustainability to secure brand differentiation in fluid landscape and market mood.

Education

• Princeton University

  PhD, History

• Loyola University Chicago

  BA, History

• Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson University

  MBA, Business Administration and Management, General

  2011 — 2013

Skills

• IT Project & Program Management
• Certified Green Belt
• Public Speaking
• Six Sigma
• Microsoft Excel
• Operating Budgets
• Qualitative Research
• Leadership
• Analysis
• Research
• Dashboard
• Writing
• Lean Fundamentals
• R
• Budgets
• Multilingual
• Project Management
• Market Research
• Minitab
• Business Strategy
• Budget Monitoring