# Beyond "Good" and "Bad": How to Measure Corporate Sustainability.

1 Opinion July 30, 2025 Trellis ![Alison Taylor Article 230 x 260](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/Alison%20Taylor%20Article%20230%20x%20260.png?itok=bqXNQmQV)By Alison Taylor

>

As a professor and author focused on corporate sustainability, there’s one question I’m asked more than any other: Which companies are getting it right?

I wish I could tick off a list of role models or whip out a cheat sheet of organizations that are checking all the boxes. But I can’t — and won’t — because not only is asking that question missing the point, but it’s also actively dangerous.

While the intention behind the question is positive, the outcome is a quagmire of confusion, in which we obsess over being perfect at the expense of making progress. Our obsession with sustainability poster children illustrates how much we confuse context with performance. It also stops us learning from practices that actually work, many of which are forged by companies in the most controversial and troubled sectors that wrestle daily with the thorny side effects of simply doing business.

Read the full [*Trellis* article](https://trellis.net/article/the-trouble-with-sustainability-poster-children/).

\_\_\_
*Alison Taylor is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Stern.*

## More from Alison Taylor

- [Why We’re All Part of Sustainability's Elitism Problem.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/why-were-all-part-sustainabilitys-elitism-problem)
- [The Case For Ditching 5 Underlying Sustainability Assumptions.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/case-ditching-5-underlying-sustainability-assumptions)
- [Is That Brand’s Mission For Real? Here’s How to Spot BS.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/brands-mission-real-heres-how-spot-bs)
- [4 Leadership Tips to Start a Sustainability Career in 2025.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/4-leadership-tips-start-sustainability-career-2025)
- [How Wall Street Wound Up the Last Bastion of Support For Diversity.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/how-wall-street-wound-last-bastion-support-diversity)