Driving Sustainability Through Collaboration

Jennifer Jewson, President, Together for Sustainability

© Together for Sustainability

Since its founding in 2011, TfS has grown to over 50 members, bringing together leading companies across the global chemical industry. Led by President Jennifer Jewson, TfS continues to advance collaborative progress and resilience across the chemical sector – driven by the shared commitment and action of its member companies. Christene Smith of CHEManager discusses with Jennifer the origins of TfS, its evolving goals, its present-day challenges, and the initiative’s enduring impact and outlook for the future.

CHEManager: Looking back, what inspired the founding of TfS, and what gaps did the initiative seek to fill in the chemical supply chain sector?

Jennifer Jewson: TfS was founded on a shared vision among six leading chemical companies – BASF, Bayer, Henkel, Evonik, Lanxess, and Solvay – who saw procurement as a lever for change. In 2011, sustainability action across chemical supply chains was fragmented and inefficient. Each company was running its own assessments and audits, often duplicating efforts and missing opportunities for real improvement. TfS was launched to fill this critical gap: a unified, industry-wide approach to responsible sourcing that addressed environmental, social and governance issues holistically.

The founders understood that collaboration was key. By pooling resources and agreeing that ‘an audit for one is an audit for all’, they created a system that was not only more efficient but more impactful. 

How has TfS evolved since its founding?