About Savvy

The People Making Purpose Work Possible

How It Started

Purpose is more than prose. It’s the sum of your actions.

Impact Savvy started to address a gap in the market: pragmatic ESG implementation. ESG encompasses dozens of functions: from sustainability to philanthropy, from corporate governance to employee diversity. This requires a multi-stakeholder approach to draw on industry best practices but stay anchored in the right-sized program for your business. Impact Savvy uses intuition grounded in realism and experience to co-design a plan that works for you and your brand. Impact Savvy is by your side to lead courageous conversations as you navigate this important work.

Our Founder

Kari Hayden Pendoley

Kari Hayden Pendoley has brought profit and purpose together for Fortune 5 companies, Nobel Laureates, Forbes Top 10 Self-Made Women, celebrated social entrepreneurs, and government agencies to advance the work of ESG, DEIB, sustainability, public relations/communications, and more. As the founder of Impact Savvy, she leads a team of dynamic and diverse professionals to build custom and creative programs for her clients.

Kari previously spent 8 years serving as the Global Head of ESG & Social Impact for a $1B+ consumer products brand. She led a cross-functional team of 25 to build the ESG practice from the ground up, conducting materiality with c-suites, setting supply chain and environmental targets with board members, adapting programs for international offices/affiliates, and authoring the company’s first public ESG report.

Kari’s deep philanthropy expertise ranges from U.S. public education to international women’s rights. She managed a portfolio of $15M in global grants. She developed campaigns between companies and charities, activated over 1 million new donors from the general public, and generated media for clients from GQ, CNN, NY Times, LA Times, The Today Show, and Access Hollywood. Kari’s deep marketing expertise has resulted in award-winning social media campaigns with celebrity talent that trended on multiple social platforms generating billions of media impressions while positioning the company as an ESG influencer. Featured in Forbes, Allure, and awarded by SocialMediaToday as one of the 5 Best Social Media Campaigns of the Summer.

Kari started her DEIB work through external grantmaking, with 90% of funding under the corporate foundation reaching underserved and Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) communities. Certified by the National Diversity Council as a DEI professional, Kari served on national boards leading equity cabinets, sets metrics for DEI external reporting, pilots employee resource groups and engagement programs, and serves as a bridge for anyone or any team dismantling personal bias to move toward collective gains.

Kari is a thought leader and industry expert speaking on panels and giving keynotes for Full Circle Fund, Sustainability Leadership Council, Tech Summit, Social Innovation Summit, Northern California Grantmakers, Cause Marketing Summit, Corporate Philanthropy Institute, Net Impact, Engage for Good, and lecturer at Northwestern University.