Profile
As chief sustainability officer at FedEx, Karen Blanks Ellis leads the global sustainability strategy for the world’s largest global express transportation company. Ellis’ deep technical expertise across engineering, environmental compliance, and aviation informs her solutions-driven approach to sustainability leadership and her work to guide FedEx towards its goal of carbon neutral global operations by 2040.
With a career at FedEx that spans several decades, Ellis has consistently championed the company’s approach to environmental stewardship in previous environmental compliance and engineering roles.
Ellis most recently held the role of managing director, Strategic Environmental Management & Sustainability for the FedEx Express division. In that role, she provided strategic leadership to integrate environmental risk management into business planning, successfully obtained ISO 14001 certification for all U.S. FedEx airport locations, and led the execution of emerging chemical risk mitigation actions. Her team also launched the first shipping emissions calculator for FedEx customers. Concurrently, she co-chaired the company’s air operations sustainability impact team.
Ellis holds a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Christian Brothers University in Memphis. She is a graduate of the Leadership Memphis Executive Program, and a former appointee to both the Shelby County Ground Water Quality Control Board and the Alaska Governor’s Climate Change Strategy Committee.
She serves on the board of the International Aviation Women’s Association and is former chair of the Airlines for America Environmental Sustainability Council. As CSO, she remains a passionate mentor and advocate for women in the fields of aviation and engineering.
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