New Leadership Sets the Stage for GSLI’s Next Chapter

New GSLI Managing Director Brings 2 Decades of Energy and Sustainability Experience to McCombs

RoseAnne Franco joined the McCombs School of Business in July as the new managing director of the Global Sustainability Leadership Institute (GSLI), bringing more than 20 years of experience across energy, technology, and corporate sustainability sectors to the program.

Franco most recently served as global director of sustainability solutions at Salesforce, where she helped companies integrate technology into their sustainability strategies. In that role, she spoke on AI, technology, and sustainability at events including the GreenBiz sustainability conference, the Reuters Energy Transition Conference, and Dreamforce 2024.

At GSLI, Franco said she is looking forward to giving students a practitioner’s view of sustainability, one grounded in innovation, change management, and influence rather than frameworks and reporting alone.

“RoseAnne brings the perspective of an accomplished business executive who understands how to design better systems that create real economic value,” said McCombs Dean Bradley R. Staats. “Her ability to connect circular systems with business performance makes her an exceptional leader for GSLI as we expand its impact at McCombs and beyond.”

Jeffrey Hales, the Bake Chair in Global Sustainability Leadership and Charles T. Zlatkovich Centennial Professor in Accounting, echoed that welcome.

“I’m thrilled to welcome RoseAnne as GSLI’s new managing director,” Hales said. “With her strong professional background, RoseAnne brings with her a wealth of knowledge about the sustainability issues that companies are facing today and that our students need to understand so that they will be prepared to run the businesses of tomorrow.”

Franco pointed to UT’s strength as a hub of innovation, energy, and technology as one of GSLI’s biggest opportunities going forward, particularly as the institute considers what she called “GSLI 2.0” and how industry can catalyze change where existing systems fall short.

She has also launched a Responsible Tech initiative at GSLI, convening stakeholders to examine how an increasingly agentic AI world affects people and the planet, drawing parallels to earlier debates over globalization.

Her career began in international energy, advising oil and gas companies on nontechnical risk —  the political, social, and environmental factors that can make or break a project. At Wood Mackenzie and its sister company, Verisk Maplecroft, she valued energy assets, assessed value creation, and launched a new risk product, grouping social, environmental, and political issues under what would later be known as ESG (environmental, social, and governance).

She went on to join the global consulting firm ERM as a partner in corporate sustainability and climate change, scaling the firm’s regional practice in the Gulf of Mexico region. On more than 20 projects with private equity-backed companies and Fortune 100 enterprises, she counseled clients on sustainability strategy, ESG data readiness, and decarbonization across the energy and technology industries.

Story by Jaylin Gamboa