Sustainability Champion Spotlight: Melissa Gaudiel

• Time with Sodexo: 15 years
• Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
• Segment: Education
• Role: General Manager

Melissa is the General Manager at one of our education accounts in Vancouver, British Columbia. She joined Sodexo 15 years ago and has a background in nutrition and project management. Apart from her main role at Sodexo Canada and being a very engaged Sustainability Champion, she is also a Board member of Sodexo Canada’s Stop Hunger Foundation.

Along with her team, Melissa takes care of the catering and food services at the school, and they make sure that the meals are not just delicious and nutritious for the kids but also good for the environment. “For me, sustainability is all about saving the environment and educating others about our impacts not only in the environment but in our health as well”, says Melissa.

She has implemented several initiatives on-site, from using only compostable containers and utensils to including plant-based meals every week as well as giving the recycled coffee grounds from the kitchen to everyone who wants them to give a new life to their gardens.

Similar to the coffee grounds recycling, and inspired by other colleagues at Sodexo, Melissa and two of the students organized their efforts for eggshell diversion. This great collaboration between the kids and the Sodexo team resulted in the creation of the Shellevate project, which helped kids to donate the eggshells to local farms, gardens and even create eggshell chalk.

Melissa says:

For me, being a Sustainability Champion is being an active influencer and communicator to raise awareness and get others excited to follow and lead the sustainability initiatives. It is also a role that let me learn constantly so I can do better for my team, those we serve, our communities and the environment. You need to start the conversation in order to start making the changes you want.

Learn more about how we're trying to create a Better Tomorrow.