Katie Smith Milway

Catch Katie on Do Radio: It’s Not About Trees with John Lunn, 19th - 25th October 2026.

Katie Smith Milway is a sustainability and social impact leader, author and adviser whose career spans international development, business strategy, philanthropy and education.

She has worked with organisations across Africa, Latin America and North America, focusing on issues including poverty alleviation, food security, sustainable agriculture, healthcare and education.

Katie began her career in journalism, working with The Wall Street Journal and The Montreal Gazette, before moving into international development with Food for the Hungry. She participated in the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, an experience that helped shape her approach to connecting environmental sustainability with economic and social development.

An INSEAD MBA graduate, Katie co-founded INDEVOR in 1993, establishing one of the school's earliest student initiatives focused on international development, nonprofit leadership and socially responsible business. The initiative has since developed into a global student and alumni network, contributing to the wider integration of sustainability and social impact into business education.

Her professional experience also includes work with Bain & Company, The Bridgespan Group and the Gates Foundation, and she previously served on the board of World Vision US. She is also the founder of Milway Plus.

Alongside her professional work, Katie is an award-winning children's author whose books introduce young readers to global development and sustainability through stories inspired by real people and communities. Her titles include One Hen, The Good Garden, Mimi's Village, The Banana-Leaf Ball and One Hen and Then. Through her writing, she encourages children to understand the wider world and recognise their own ability to contribute to positive change.

Katie's work reflects a longstanding belief in the importance of collaboration, practical action and the role that businesses and communities can play in improving lives while protecting the natural world.

DO Radio Show Notes

In this episode, John Lunn speaks with Katie Smith Milway, author, sustainability and social impact leader, and co-founder of the INSEAD INDEVOR movement, about the relationship between business, communities and the environment, and how we can create lasting positive change.

Katie's career has taken her from journalism at The Wall Street Journal to international development work across Africa and Latin America, and later into consulting, philanthropy and organisational leadership. She reflects on the experiences that shaped her thinking, particularly her early work on food security and poverty alleviation, and how she came to recognise that improving people's lives and protecting the environment cannot be treated as separate challenges.

The conversation looks back at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where Katie was involved in bringing together environmental and international development organisations. She recalls the energy and optimism of that period, when sustainability was beginning to enter mainstream thinking, and reflects on what has changed over the three decades since. John and Katie discuss the progress that has been made, the political and commercial pressures now facing environmental action, and why she believes there are still good reasons to be optimistic.

Katie also shares the story behind INDEVOR, which she helped establish at INSEAD in 1993. What began as a student initiative to bring social responsibility and international development into business education has grown into a global student and alumni network. She explains how the original ambition was to influence three things: the curriculum, career opportunities and the personal compass of future business leaders. More than thirty years later, sustainability is embedded across INSEAD's core courses, something Katie sees as an important sign of progress.

The discussion also explores the role of storytelling, creativity and community. Katie talks about her children's books, which draw on real stories from around the world to help younger readers understand issues including poverty, education, sustainability and the importance of play. She also reflects on the contribution artists and writers can make in helping people understand environmental challenges, particularly when the language around sustainability becomes politically divisive.

Looking ahead, Katie finds particular encouragement in what's happening at a local level. Drawing on her experience of living on an island off Vancouver, she describes communities where sharing, recycling and looking out for one another are part of everyday life. She believes cities, neighbourhoods and local leaders have an important role to play in building more sustainable societies, and that much can be achieved when people feel connected to those around them.