Jennifer Moses on changing direction and chasing a career with impact
How to build a career around what matters to you
The future of work is full of opportunity — and you don’t have to choose between career success and driving societal impact.
In this article, we speak with UNSW alumna Jennifer Moses, who transitioned from a successful career in business and the arts to pursue sustainability through a Master of Commerce (Global Sustainability and Social Impact) in 2022. Find out how she used postgraduate study to identify emerging opportunities and create meaningful impact.
Meet Jennifer Moses
Jennifer Moses has built a career on curiosity, adaptability and impact - and a readiness to embrace ambitious ideas. As Commercial Director at Carriageworks in Sydney, she led a commercial transformation that tripled the precinct’s footprint, expanded annual audiences from 100,000 to 1.4 million and delivered a 15x increase in revenue. The role required balancing creativity, community and commerce, and showed how strategic clarity and strong partnerships can unlock significant impact.
She developed the skills to deliver this growth at Merlo Coffee in Brisbane, joining the business during a period of rapid expansion. Working across operations, finance and leadership, she rose to become a partner and helped shape Merlo’s growth strategy and culture.
Drawing on this commercial and cultural leadership experience, she chose to redirect her career toward sustainability and social impact. Jennifer now helps organisations design strategies, measure impact and navigate complex change, informed by her postgraduate studies at UNSW.
“The golden thread through all of it has been curiosity, a willingness to adapt, communication, passion and developing teams to turn big ideas into tangible outcomes.”
Changing careers and working in new fields
I was actually inspired by the Chair of Carriageworks when I was there, Sam Mostyn, whose work in business, culture and sustainability I deeply admired. I also saw in Sam a leader demonstrating empathy, warmth, intelligence and steadiness – attributes I wanted to model in the next chapter of my career.
When I went looking for opportunities to study, I found the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at UNSW and had a total a-ha moment. I decided that pursuing a structured program where I could translate experience into systemic impact would work for me. I chose UNSW for its combination of academic rigour and practical application - and CSI for its philosophy that business can be a force for positive change.
Sustainable impact consulting roles like yours didn’t really exist a decade ago. How did you prepare yourself to be future-ready for a new and evolving field?
Interestingly, as I was pursuing my degree and looking for organisations to base assessments on, I kept scanning the global landscape for great examples of sustainability and social impact in arts and culture. There were a few examples with ad-hoc approaches, but the only compelling and strategic example I could find was the Sydney Opera House’s Environmental Action Plan 2020-2023. They are still global leaders today - in fact, the Sydney Opera House was recently recognised by an international study as the #1 cultural institution in the world for sustainability. (Muller & Grieshaber, 2024)
I was fortunate enough to meet the consultant who advised the Sydney Opera House on adopting the UN Global Goals (UN SDGs) and completed an internship there as part of my degree. Since then I have further advised Sydney Opera House on global sustainability best practice and other organisations in arts, culture and tourism including the Australian National Maritime Museum, Laneway Festival, Questacon and Intrepid Travel on sustainability strategy, purpose and action.
Looking back, what strategies or mindset helped you successfully navigate the transition and excel into a completely new field so quickly?
Well, let’s just say I was a very mature-aged student, so that helped! Experience, resilience and a can-do attitude were big ones - as was staying curious and open to both success and failure. I was able to leverage my experience in strategy, stakeholder management, leadership, finance and operations, while holding onto my belief that courage, empathy, and resilience are a powerful combination.
Turning passion for sustainability into a career
There was indeed. I had to pause work to manage a difficult health situation not long before COVID-19 hit. Like many people, I spent some time during lockdowns reflecting on what mattered most and how I might use my skills and experience to have a positive social and environmental impact in the post-pandemic world.
What was the most valuable thing you learned during your master’s that you still apply in your work today?
That collaboration, empathy and communication are essential for real impact - sustainability is as much about people as it is about metrics. Like most things in business, sustainability requires deep stakeholder engagement, empathy for where people are at, and ongoing education and communication to embed new ways of working that balance profit, performance, people and planet.
What skills do you think will be essential for future professionals — both in sustainability and across other emerging industries?
- Curiosity: ability to keep learning, adapting, and thinking differently
- Empathy: understanding the human side of systems change and meeting people where they’re at
- Critical thinking and communication: translating complexity into clarity
- Collaboration: building coalitions and co-creating solutions by aligning teams around shared priorities and practical pathways forward
- Courage: willingness to look at things from different angles and to test, fail, and refine
- Cross-disciplinary fluency: combining commercial, environmental, and social literacy
- Ethical leadership: making decisions that consider long-term impact
The UNSW postgraduate difference
How did you balance postgraduate study with your professional and personal commitments at the time?
I have a very supportive and patient husband who encouraged me to take the leap, and I was able to approach study as a privilege, not a burden.
Flexibility was key for me; almost my entire postgrad program was online, and while that sometimes posed challenges, it ultimately suited my situation. Most importantly my studies were practical, flexible and deeply relevant. Being able to choose real-world companies and organisations to base assessments on meant I could absorb the learning while considering real-world application.
There were even times when lecturers encouraged me to send my final assessment pieces to the businesses I had based them on. I did - and ended up having direct dialogue with companies on sustainability, which was deeply encouraging and really helped build my confidence in the value of what I was learning.
Position your career for future success and real impact
Strategic learning, practical experience and adaptability can open doors to emerging fields and drive tangible outcomes—whether that’s leading sustainable initiatives, innovating in new industries or shaping the future of work. With the right skills and mindset, you can turn ambition into measurable professional and societal impact.
Explore UNSW’s postgraduate programs and gain the expertise, confidence, and practical skills to advance your career while making a positive difference in the world.
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