Speaking & Workshops
Speaker • Author • Former CEO, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry • Host, Circularity Catalyst Podcast
Business Stewardship For A Future Worth Sustaining
For nearly five decades, Ken Alston has worked at the intersection of business, sustainability, product innovation, and circular economy.
His work has taken him from multinational corporations to boardrooms, executive teams, conferences, and global sustainability initiatives.
Today, his speaking focuses on a question that has become increasingly urgent:
How do we create enduring value without consuming the future?
Ken’s presentations challenge conventional assumptions about sustainability, circular economy, growth, leadership, and long-term stewardship.
Audiences leave with more than inspiration.
They leave with a different way of seeing.
Speaking Topics
Each presentation is tailored to the audience, industry, and event.
Common themes include:
Our Common Future Now
Why decades of sustainability efforts have produced progress that often feels real—yet remains insufficient.
The Belief Problem Business Has Not Yet Named
How hidden assumptions shape strategy, decision-making, and organizational outcomes.
Sustainable Circularity
Why sustainability and circular economy must be treated as a single challenge rather than separate conversations.
Design Like Nature™
What enduring systems can teach us about resilience, renewal, and long-term value creation.
Business Stewardship
The challenge of sustaining both economic vitality and the conditions that make future prosperity possible.
The Future Of Business
What leaders must understand as business enters an era defined by resource constraints, systemic complexity, and accelerating change.
Formats
Keynote Presentations
Conference keynotes and leadership events designed to challenge assumptions and provoke new thinking.
Executive Workshops
Interactive sessions that help leadership teams explore the implications of these ideas within their own organizations.
Board Briefings
Focused conversations for boards and governance bodies navigating long-term stewardship responsibilities.
Private Leadership Sessions
Small-group discussions tailored to executive teams, owners, and founders.
Recent Areas Of Focus
Recent speaking engagements have explored:
- Sustainable Circularity
- Circular Economy
- Business Stewardship
- Design Like Nature™
- Leadership and Decision-Making
- Organizational Transformation
- Future Value Creation
- The Twelve Beliefs
- The Tactical Tetrahedron™
About Ken
Ken Alston is the founder of Circularity Edge and host of the Circularity Catalyst podcast.
He spent more than twenty years with SC Johnson, ultimately serving as Director of Global Product Responsibilities Worldwide.
He later spent seventeen years working alongside William McDonough and Michael Braungart, serving as CEO of their consulting practice and helping shape initiatives that influenced the sustainability and circular economy fields.
Today his work focuses on stewardship, sustainable circularity, and the ideas explored in his forthcoming book:
Our Common Future Now
Publication: September 2026
Speaking and Workshop Inquiries
Ken is available for:
- Conferences
- Corporate events
- Industry associations
- Executive retreats
- Leadership forums
- Board programmes
- Private workshops
Speaking engagements are limited each year.
To discuss availability, audience fit, and event objectives:
→ Contact Ken About Speaking
(C) Ken Alston 2026. All Rights Reserved.