Young guns: Perfect job is steering sustainability and outreach for big telco

Abbie Reynolds says her move into business was a happy accident.

Abbie Reynolds says she has the perfect job. As Vodafone's head of sustainability and foundation, her role is to help the company be more environmental and aware, as well as leading the Vodafone Foundation which gives money to communities across the country. Reynolds describes her transition into business as "a happy accident".

After studying law and politics and working as a lawyer for a few years she realised it wasn't for her.

"When I moved to the UK on my big OE I worked for a telco over there and it's kind of been no looking back ever since," she said.

The role of head of sustainability and foundation is an extremely diverse one and includes everything from the company's carbon footprint and environmental impact through to maternity cover and diversity in the workforce.

Her role with the foundation includes helping to decide which communities and groups would most benefit from the roughly $2.5 million a year that Vodafone gives to the independent charitable trust. Good role models have helped Reynolds.

"I was very lucky to have quite an inspirational woman boss early on in my career," she said.

"This was when I was working in the UK ... and I was able to ask her a lot of those dumb questions that you need to ask when you're new in a career." Reynolds said she had been fortunate to have a group of other mentors, mostly women, who had helped her. Among the most important things she was taught was being able to ask for feedback as a way of improving her work, and staying true to her values and morals, which she described as being authentic. "I think that's something that's really important to me, is how are we authentic leaders in the workplace, and you almost need other authentic women leaders to show you how to do that," she said.

When asked what she would like to see from the industry in five or 10 years' time, she said she hoped her role would be made redundant, although the reality would probably be different.

"For me if our business was being a force for good ... and affecting society and the environment, and was finding a way of making it better, you wouldn't need me."

Despite this, Reynolds is sure there will be plenty for the business to be looking at in the future.