Dr Karen Cripps is a Senior Lecturer in Responsible Management and Leadership at Oxford Brookes University. Her research and teaching practice focus on the intersection of sustainability and the skills development needed for ‘every job to be a sustainable job’.
Since her research report was published in 2024 with ‘Climate Change Coaches’ entitled ‘Holding back climate progress – sustainability’s critical skills gap’, Karen has increasingly focused on ‘soft’ skills development for sustainability and the potential for coaching to enable and enhance sustainability action alongside workforce wellbeing.
As lead editor of the book ‘An Organisational Guide to Skills for Green Workforce Transformation’ (to be published in September 2026 by Routledge), Karen thrives on engaging with organisational leaders to drive understanding of the softer, transferable skills demands on sustainability professionals and the broader workforce in addressing ESG, and implications for training and education.
As an educator, Karen’s work is premised on the UN-supported ‘Principles of Responsible Management Education’ (PRME) (the educational arm of the UN Global Compact), within which she co-leads a group on ‘Careers and Sustainability’. Her mission is to enable every graduate to integrate sustainability into their careers, based on close observation and collaboration with industry to identify the skills and attributes required to drive forward the sustainability profession.