Taleah Stofka - How a short course filled a skills gap

As Australia accelerates toward net‑zero, demand for the right skills is becoming a business requirement and not just for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) professionals, but for those across all teams. According to our latest report with Deloitte Access Economics, nearly 1.9 million Australian professionals already use green skills, and that figure is expected to grow by at least another 1 million by 2030. However, half of large businesses report struggling to find trained green-skilled talent amid tightening reporting mandates.

For Taleah Stofka, Head of Clients & Marketing at MBM and Co-President for NAWIC NSW, working in the property and construction sector, this shift meant upskilling through RMIT Online’s Sustainability and Social Impact course. Driven by rising ESG expectations from clients and evolving regulatory frameworks, they aimed to embed ESG capability and align project delivery with material sustainability metrics.

Working in the property and construction industry, I’ve seen how crucial it is for consultants to understand the broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts of their work. Our projects have significant implications for both people and the environment, so it’s essential that we not only understand and account for these impacts, but also communicate how we are minimising harm and creating long-term value.

Client expectations are also evolving rapidly. Both public and private sector clients are setting more rigorous ESG standards, and it’s important that our industry knowledge and capabilities grow in step with these demands. As ESG becomes more embedded in project delivery, I wanted to ensure my organisation understood our responsibilities, the key metrics we should be measuring, and the material issues most relevant to our work.

The RMIT Online short course provided a good balance of practical planning and real-world application. It aligned well with my goals to build internal ESG capability and contribute to our business's sustainability strategy. I also found the method of delivery - online and over six weeks, was very suited to a full-time working professional.

One of the most valuable aspects of the course was gaining a clear understanding of the various terms and frameworks related to ESG. This foundational knowledge has helped strengthen our approach and align internal conversations around shared language and goals.

Additionally, practicing the materiality assessment was extremely helpful. It provided a structured way to identify gaps in our existing strategy and has supported engagement with the business to address them. This is particularly useful for us; as a national business with regional presence across Australia, it's helped us cater our approaches in each state to address different requirements and expectations.

The course has definitely influenced my role, and in particular, my approach to how we present our external-facing material. It's positioned us to begin developing our first annual ESG report, which will be an important milestone in formalising and tracking our sustainability efforts. The report will help articulate our priorities, demonstrate accountability, and set a clear direction for continuous improvement. This is significant, as mandatory climate-related financial disclosures have been introduced, and this is something our business needs to plan for.

It has also created new opportunities for collaboration within our business. As representatives from both the Marketing and National Operations teams completed the course, we’ve been able to work more closely with different departments to embed ESG thinking across various avenues. This shared learning experience has strengthened cross-functional engagement and helped align our efforts.

Yes, the course content was highly relevant to the challenges we faced in integrating ESG into our business practices and more specifically, how we communicated externally what we were doing. One area where this has been particularly valuable is in refining how we set goals, apply metrics, and communicate progress, especially in tender submissions.

As ESG expectations increase across sectors, we are often required to demonstrate a clear and measurable approach. The course helped build our understanding of how to structure that narrative clearly and with credibility, aligning our commitments with recognised frameworks and providing tangible evidence of impact.

I was most surprised by the diversity of the cohort. There was a broad mix of people from different industries, levels of experience, and professional backgrounds. I had expected that many participants might be new to ESG, but most had at least a basic understanding, and some were already quite well-versed.

This created a really engaging learning environment where people brought different perspectives and experiences to the discussion. It made the course much more dynamic, and I found value in learning from the questions and insights of others.

In property and construction, sustainability skills have become a core component of how the industry operates. I think we’re moving away from ESG being the responsibility of just a few specialists to it being something that everyone in a business needs to understand and engage with.

As ESG expectations continue to evolve, having a shared understanding of relevant language and a baseline comprehension of material ESG issues across the business is essential.

Make time for the course each week and try to stay on top of the modules. The content builds as you go, so staying engaged week to week really helps with understanding and applying the concepts.

One of the most valuable parts of the course is learning alongside your peers. By keeping pace, you’re better able to contribute to the weekly discussions and get the most out of other participants’ insights and experiences.

My focus now is on working with our Operations team at MBM to deliver our first annual ESG report. This will be a key milestone in formalising our approach and communicating our progress to both internal and external stakeholders.

I’m also committed to ensuring that each region of our business is actively engaging with ESG in a way that reflects their local context. Through ongoing materiality assessments, we can better understand the expectations and priorities that matter most, and make sure our strategies are both meaningful and measurable.