Jane Madden
Executive Vice President
Director , CSR & Sustainability, Chicago
Jane P. Madden, who has headed Edelman Chicago’s CSR & Sustainability practice since April 2009, has 23
years of experience as an authority on sustainable development in more than 20 countries, including
Afghanistan, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. She offers a wealth of expertise in emerging markets,
stakeholder engagement, non-governmental and multilateral organizations.
At Edelman, Jane has developed a comprehensive CSR strategy for Humana, among the country's largest
Medicare providers and a top health insurer, which applies the triple bottom line of healthy people, healthy
planet and healthy performance. She advised SC Johnson on building NGO partnerships in India and China
and has provided counsel on ingredients disclosure, executive positioning and sustainability. Jane leads
Edelman’s work with Kimberly Clark and Burger King. She also oversaw strategy for the Chicago Climate
Action Plan and the Environmental Defense Fund. Abbott, Darden and Kohl’s are also among her clients.
Jane leads the Edelman partnership with the Global Reporting Initiative, the gold standard for sustainability
reporting and has led the development of CSR and sustainability reports for Northern Trust, Humana , Best
Buy and Cognizant. She is a leading voice for integrated reporting and is a frequent speaker at the Milken
Global Conference, Net Impact, and the Kellogg School of Management.
Previously, Jane ran her own CSR consulting firm, Social Sustainability International, where she advised
multilateral agencies, NGOs and private-sector clients on environmental, social and governance strategies,
capacity building and partnerships.
Jane served at the World Bank for 12 years with a portfolio that encompassed technology, education, gender
and transitional economies. She launched the World Bank Global Development Learning Network in Kabul,
Afghanistan. By engaging key stakeholders from the Afghan government, NGOs and the local community,
she expanded local policy makers’ access to technology, global information and knowledge.
Jane has held positions at CARE, UNICEF and the European Union. She serves on the Board of Trustees of
CHF International, an international humanitarian organization, and is a Director at Citizen Effect, a microphilanthropy NGO as well as I-GO, Chicago’s non-profit car sharing company. Previously, she served as
director of the Step Up Women’s Network, the Sustainable Business Network of Washington and, as
president of the Washington Literacy Council where she also taught adult reading for 10 years. Jane is a
member of the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Fordham University and a Master of Arts degree with
distinction in international affairs and political economy from American University’s School of International
Service.
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