William McDonough

Client: William McDonough
Sector: Circular Economy, Sustainable Design, Global Thought Leadership
Project: Long-term strategic communications support across publications, platforms, and narrative evolution

🔹 The Challenge

William McDonough is one of the world’s most influential sustainability thinkers—architect, designer, and co-author of Cradle to Cradle and The Upcycle. While his ideas had global reach, his evolving body of work needed consistent, high-integrity communications support to engage new audiences, translate thought leadership into media visibility, and shape the public discourse around circular design, climate-positive language, and carbon redefinition.

🔹 The Strategy

For more than 15 years, I’ve served as a strategic communications partner to William McDonough across his speaking, publishing, and organizational platforms. This includes leading media outreach for major book launches, managing ongoing communications for his various ventures (including MBDC and McDonough Innovation), and developing earned media strategies for key initiatives like “The New Language of Carbon.”

Working closely with Bill, I helped distill and frame messaging across complex domains—design, chemistry, policy, and climate science—ensuring clarity without compromise. Our efforts focused not just on press placements, but on shaping cultural conversations around carbon, circularity, and abundance.

🔹 The Outcome

  • The New Language of Carbon campaign earned coverage in Fast Company, Scientific American, and Sustainable Brands, reframing carbon as a resource, not a villain

  • National media visibility for “The Upcycle” and McDonough’s regenerative design philosophy, including features in USA Today, The Guardian, and Fortune

  • Ongoing positioning of McDonough as the global voice of the Circular Economy, supporting keynote moments at Davos, Google, and international design summits

  • Continued support for initiatives and partnerships with organizations like the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Fashion Positive, and high-impact corporate clients