Bonita C. Stewart

"Do not be afraid to follow the road less traveled,."

"If I had not ventured into technology with a business background, I would not have had this career trajectory."

"While my HBS classmates veered toward management consulting and Wall Street, I took the technology road less traveled. I’ve always followed my favorite quote from management guru Peter Drucker who says: ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’ Most of my career has been centered around technologies that ‘created the future’"

"Sugarcane EVA is a preferred material because it is made using swift-growing, rainwater-fed, renewable sugarcane. Using sugarcane provides a more sustainable alternative to petroleum-based, non-renewable materials often used in conventional footwear. Additionally, sugarcane captures CO2 from the atmosphere thereby sequestering carbon"

"For Deckers, being transparent and honest about our sustainability journey is key to the success of our program. We also have well over 200 targets which we use to guide our progress under each of our sustainable development goals. We hope to remain steadfast in our commitment to creating change in our communities, our employees and our planet"

"My best experience at HBS was taking the Corporate Information Systems Management class taught by Warren McFarland and James Cash. I inherently knew the intersection of business and technology was a winning combination and they confirmed my thinking early on"

"Since HBS, I have been intentionally inserting myself into businesses and technologies that have transformed humanity and the workplace as we know it today. In the late 1980s, I witnessed the PC revolution and rise of distributed data processing during my time at IBM. During the ‘90s, I saw the unfolding of consumer driven automotive online retailing at Chrysler and in the 2000s, I followed the allure of the wild, wild, web at Google. Today, I sit at the precipice of AI (artificial intelligence) with my role at Gradient Ventures, Google’s venture capital firm specializing in AI-enabled startups"

"For my board selections and my investments, I seek innovative products and services combined with a culture of corporate responsibility"

"Unfortunately, the term sustainable is ambiguous and not well defined, which has led to a lot of confusion in the marketplace. At Deckers, we believe in a holistic approach to sustainability, meaning you have to not only be looking at environmental indicators (greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, waste diversion, water consumption, etc.) but also the social indicators (minimum wage, forced labor, child labor, health and safety, etc.). We strive to be mindful of our actions, respectful of our planet, and to ensure our employees and factory workers feel appreciated and empowered to be their true authentic selves. If we do these things, we believe we will be a sustainable and resilient business"

"At Deckers, we are continually modifying our strategies, adding to our targets, reallocating our resources, and challenging ourselves to make an even greater impact. There is so much more that we want to do and while our own journey will likely never conclude, we hope our actions continue to inspire others, be a positive light, and create change for all."