Employee Voice at Scale: EDF’s CHRO on Skills-Based Growth, Pay Equity, and AI Hiring Risks

Episode notes

Summary When politics and technology collide with your mission, how do you keep people engaged and moving forward? Elizabeth Mattila, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), shares how a 1,000-person, global NGO sustains morale, builds true employee voice, and modernizes talent practices. Elizabeth explains EDF’s science-driven, bipartisan approach to advocacy—and how transparent communication, town halls, and a clear legal strategy help teams stay focused even amid policy headwinds. She details two structural levers for engagement: a new, peer-elected Staff Council that represents employees worldwide and a Culture Council advancing DEI with data from annual engagement surveys. On talent, Elizabeth breaks down EDF’s shift to skills-based career growth and cross-functional mobility—making advancement less about tenure and more about capabilities. She also outlines why annual pay equity snapshots fall short, and how EDF now runs equity analyses on-demand for real transparency. Finally, Elizabeth flags rising AI threats in hiring—from deepfake candidates to data risks—and why HR must partner with security to protect the org.