Driving change: How three alumni are shaping the future through sustainable, inclusive growth

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Meet three changemakers: Brian Vo, Caroline Stern, and Kuldeep Jain. These three McKinsey alumni are at the forefront of sustainable growth, each spearheading initiatives that tackle pressing global challenges. From revolutionizing construction practices to pioneering renewable energy solutions and closing the digital divide, their stories are a testament to the power of innovation and commitment in building a sustainable world.

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Brian Vo and Connect Humanity

Brian Vo (Singapore, Washington, D.C 10-14), a passionate advocate for digital equity, is on a mission to bridge the digital divide in the United States through his work at Connect Humanity. With a staggering 42 million Americans lacking internet access and another 120 million with insufficient speeds for essential tasks like Zoom calls, Brian is determined to address this pressing issue.

The genesis of Connect Humanity was rooted in the recognition of a significant barrier: the lack of access to capital for many small internet service providers (ISPs). "There’s about 3,000 registered internet service providers in the U.S. . . . the vast majority of them serve less than 500 census blocks at a time," Brian explains. These hyper-local providers often struggle to expand due to financial constraints, particularly in low-income, rural, and BIPOC [Black, indigenous, and people of color] communities. Brian notes, "There just weren’t capital markets that understand how to serve broadband infrastructure particularly for low-income rural and BIPOC communities."

In response, Connect Humanity has developed financing products designed to empower these providers to serve historically marginalized communities. However, they quickly realized that the challenge was more than just financial. The outdated perception of the internet as a luxury service, rather than a basic utility, exacerbated the problem. "Regulations haven’t caught up... It still treats it as a luxury service," Brian points out.

To combat this, Connect Humanity not only provides capital but also advocates for community involvement in broadband infrastructure decisions. "We have to provide a voice for communities in how these networks are designed and operated," Brian emphasizes. This commitment led to the creation of digital equity covenants. "We write in mechanisms that hold the ISPs accountable to serving the low-income neighborhoods that they said they would, as seriously as if they were to miss an interest payment," Brian says.

Brian shares poignant stories that illustrate the real-world impact of digital inequity. In one instance, a family in the Midwest had to wake up at midnight to access the internet with sufficient bandwidth for work and school tasks. Another family was still paying $150 a month for dial-up in 2024. "When they called the cable company to ask, 'When can I get something faster,' the response was, 'Be grateful for what you have,'" Brian recounts, highlighting the failures in regulation, private markets, and capital markets.

Before his work at Connect Humanity, Brian’s career at McKinsey profoundly shaped his approach to leadership and problem-solving. "McKinsey was the single greatest crash course in leadership... How do you disaggregate ambiguity? How do you move forward in spite of and/or because of that ambiguity?" Brian reflects. This experience, he says, equipped him with the skills to navigate the complex landscape of digital equity and to lead Connect Humanity in its mission to ensure that internet access is treated as a fundamental right for all.

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Caroline Stern and Hilti

Caroline Stern’s (Salvador 14-16) interest in sustainability originated while working at the Firm. She recalls, “In 2014, I read some of the early reports that McKinsey co-wrote with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on the circular economy, and they really struck a chord with me. We have enormous environmental problems, but we will be most effective in rallying together to solve them by using the shared language of economics and opportunity.”

For the past four years, Caroline has served as the Head of Circularity at Hilti, a company that provides hardware, software, and services for the global construction industry. Her main focus was first on defining and then on operationalizing circularity. On the definition side, her team began by co-developing a scoring system for the circular economy since, unlike with CO2, there is no standardized measure for circularity. On the operational side, the program focused on establishing remanufacturing, creating data transparency, prolonging product use and integrating circular insights into product design.

Caroline is most proud of setting up Hilti´s re-manufacturing program. “Technically defining what can be reused is straightforward,” she says. “What is far more complicated but much less obvious is setting up all the surrounding systems. What is the legal status of a reused product? How do you reflect it in accounting? How do you make sure that your IT system can track it? Every single one of our standard business processes are set up for a linear economy. They all assume we use something only once and then it becomes waste. The difficulty in reorienting those systems to multiple cycles reflects how deeply entrenched the linear economy is in our way of doing business.”

In October, Caroline will transition to a new role as Head of Sustainability for South Asia at Hilti. This will expand her focus to working closely with customers and Hilti markets on their Sustainability journeys. A key goal will be to scale sustainable construction throughout Asia, including collaborating with the Hilti Foundation on driving bamboo construction.

Reflecting on how to create lasting change, Caroline highlights the importance of collective effort. “We don’t need huge sustainability departments isolated from the core business. What we need most is people who infuse their existing topic expertise with sustainability, at every level and role in an organization. We need to integrate sustainability into all aspects of business. Every role is now a sustainability role.”

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Kuldeep Jain and Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Private Limited

Kuldeep Jain (Mumbai 99-10), founder and Managing Director of CleanMax, has been at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution since leaving his mark at McKinsey to start the company in 2011. With a clear mission to transform corporate sustainability, CleanMax has emerged as a leading net-zero partner, offering innovative renewable and carbon solutions to help businesses drastically reduce their carbon footprints.

Operating across diverse geographies like India, Dubai, Thailand, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, CleanMax has achieved a remarkable $100 million EBITA, maintaining a robust growth rate of 45% to 47% over any two- to three-year interval. This success is backed by prestigious financial investors including Brookfield, Augment Capital, and the Danish government through IFU, with former stakeholders like IFC, Warburg Pincus, and the U.K. government exiting profitably.

Kuldeep’s journey began with his tenure at the Firm, where he led the energy practice in India. His deep engagement with climate change and his entrepreneurial spirit were catalyzed by the growing demand for quality sustainability partners among corporates. "The decision to focus on sustainability was not just a business opportunity; it was a personal calling," Kuldeep reflects. "Seeing the impact of our work on the environment and on our clients’ operations has been profoundly gratifying."

Today, CleanMax boasts a portfolio that includes rooftop solar, large solar farms, and wind-solar hybrid power plants. With over 400 leading corporates as clients, much of the company's new capacity growth comes from repeat business, underscoring the effectiveness of their solutions and the trust they've built with their partners.

Kuldeep also highlights the critical role of carbon capture in achieving net-zero goals and discusses the company's ambitious targets in agroforestry to capture atmospheric carbon. "Every step we take towards sustainability is a step towards securing a better future for the next generations," he states, expressing a mix of gratitude for the progress made and concern for the ongoing challenges posed by climate change.

He calls on fellow McKinsey alumni and leaders in emerging markets to advocate for green initiatives, emphasizing the dual benefits of environmental responsibility and significant cost savings on energy. "In emerging markets, going green is not just good for the planet—it's also economically prudent," Kuldeep advises.

This narrative of innovation, responsibility, and visionary leadership not only defines Kuldeep Jain's career but also encapsulates the ethos of CleanMax as it continues to lead the charge towards a more sustainable and equitable world.

"The worry that we may be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic is a genuine one, I think, for all of humanity,” Kuldeep says, “but I feel very grateful to have a chance to do something about it."