Laura Mozden didn’t start her career in sustainability—but her background in legal and compliance is now shaping how Westcon-Comstor approaches ESG across its global operations.
As regulatory requirements tighten and partner expectations rise, Mozden says distributors like Westcon-Comstor are uniquely positioned to lead pragmatic, data-driven sustainability efforts.
From emissions reporting to energy-use transparency, Mozden’s role sits at the intersection of vendors, partners, and customers. We spoke to her about the work she leads Westcon-Comstor and its wider value chain through as we enter 2026.
Mozden details how compliance background led her to leading ESG corporate programs
Mozden spent four years in Cisco’s legal department focused on compliance before moving on to SoftwareOne. There, she transitioned from compliance into the world of ESG following conversations with leadership about the opportunity to turn a passion into a career.
“I’ve always been really interested in sustainability more as a hobby than anything else, and with my background in the compliance and governance section, it felt like a really nice fit,” Mozden said.
After several years building the ESG program at SoftwareOne, Mozden accepted the role at Westcon Comstor to bolster the early work and commitments the distributor had already made to projects spanning emissions reductions, renewable energy consumption, and other goals.
Why Westcon-Comstor emphasizes its commitment to sustainability goals
Mozden says her work spans nearly every function at Westcon-Comstory, though organizationally she sites within the supply chain-focused arm of the business.
Through her work the company is aggressively setting targets to meet European Union and other regulatory requirements while also encouraging its partners to do the same.
“We have so many engagements with so many different people across the entire chain that we are kind of at the forefront or trying to lead the way when it comes to a lot of these topics,” she said.
In December, the company announced a partnership with ecoDriver. Following a successful trial in three UK locations, ecoDriver and its delivery partner Powercor have implemented a new energy management system (EMS) that enables Westcon-Comstor to centralize electricity usage data from its sites across Europe.
The sub-metering system provides real-time, actionable insights into energy consumption. As more sites are added to the ecoDriver system, Westcon-Comstor can gamify the data to promote planet-friendly behaviours by benchmarking buildings and running data-backed sustainability competitions between sites.
Ultimately, the company says its collaboration with ecoDriver and Powercor will drive continuous, measurable improvements as Westcon-Comstor works toward its 2050 net-zero ambition and other goals.
It is just one of many goals the company has set, and as Mozden says, these ideas are a collaboration across the organization, not just a directive from senior leadership.
“I can sit here and say, actually, yeah, we’re really interested in this or that topic and this is material to us from a risk perspective, but actually it’s our office staff in this scenario who say ‘I want to be able to do more. I want to be able to track if I turn off the air con at between, you know, six and eight. And what impact is that actually going to have,’ and that’s what’s really nice about this organisation,” Mozden said.
Balancing regulatory risk, stakeholder pressure, and ambition
With the excitement from employees around initiatives coupled with risk-based compliance needs and the varied expectations of stakeholders, Mozden has a lot on her plate when it comes to possibility.
To her and her team, prioritizing based on risk to the company and other fundamental needs is critical to keeping the work in focus.
“My background in legal and compliance helps be the bad guy to say, look, we’ve kind of got to sort of focus on these sort of areas first, and take a really key risk-based approach with [everything we do],” said Mozden. “The driver for me is just making sure we are being ambitious, but with a pragmatic mindset.”
Mozden says one of her favorite sayings is ‘you can’t keep the company green if it’s in the red,’ meaning that while ESG-related work is important, it can’t happen if the organizatioon is on the brink of disaster.
Mozden is a steward of financial and other resources as much as she’s a center for new ideas and approaches to the work.
How a distributor’s supply-chain role creates ESG opportunity
As a global distributor, Westcon-Comstor sits at the intersection of vendors, partners, and their mutual customers.
To Mozden, that means the company has an opportunity to bridge gaps and build the relationships necessary to bring everyone in the supply chain the data and other information they need to stay compliant and on target with various goals.
“I think what’s really key and different to the other businesses I’ve worked at is where we sit within the value chain,” sad Mozden. “We sit sort of in the middle and I think what’s really key is not only do we have that pressure from both sides… we’re also really nicely positioned as a middle man for want of a better word, but you know, really trying to connect the dots for people.”
“And I think that’s what allows us to sort of build trust and that credibility within our stakeholders to really make sure that we are seen as leading the way when it comes to responsible business,” she continued.
Why ESG data sharing remains one of the channel’s biggest hurdles
For many businesses, ESG targets are not simply a ‘nice to have,’ they are part of a larger framework of regulatory standards they must report on and address. To do that, companies need to quantify the impact of their individual operations and often that of the broader supply chain they exist within.
As Mozden points out, that usually requires data owned by other companies within that larger chain, making the work complex and fragmented. To her, Westcon-Comstor and its partners are stronger together.
“Us kind of going directly to them or the partners going directly to them as individuals doesn’t carry as much weight as being able to partner to say ‘look actually as a kind of cohort we all want this information for different reasons’ and you know we’re all kind of working towards it,” said Mozden.
“We have recently had some really amazing conversations up and down the value chain where I feel like there’s a lot of ESG professionals in a similar position saying what can we get from Westcon versus what can you get from us. I think knowledge sharing is key,” she added.
Why Mozden remains optimistic as ESG politics shift globally
Westcon-Comstor remains laser-focused on supporting global partners in EMEA, APAC, and North Africa, as we’ve previously reported. Still, that doesn’t mean American politics and sentiment around sustainability initiatives dont still impact how Mozden approaches her work.
“It’s been really fascinating for me because I came from a US company. I’ve still got a lot of connections with the US company and of course, everything that’s happening with the US is going to permeate across the globe, right? It it just is,” Mozden said. “But I am really optimistic. I will be optimistic until somebody tells me not to be.”
To Mozden, environmental goals are a shifting focus for many, though she remains confident in her commitment to the work.
“I think the ESG pendulum will continue to swing backwards and forth. There will always be pressure either side,” said Mozden. “You know, sometimes we kind of over pivot and you know want to try and change everything too quickly and people can’t keep up and sometimes.”
The advice Mozden gives to partners and customers still starting their sustainability journeys
Mozden has built ESG programs attechnology companies with the resources and dedication from leadership to do so. Still, she says, all organizations can get started on the most pressing risks to their businesses through governance work.
“My overwhelming response is just to start with what you know. There are going to be hundreds of unknowns, but just work with the ones that you’re aware of,” said Mozden, noting that it’s often helpful to start with concrete regulatory and compliance needs in a region that pose risks to businesses if not fulfilled.
From there, she says, it’s best to start small– organize a committee of people within the company who can dedicate some of their working time to sustainability and governance if you don’t have the capacity for a full-time hire in the area.
As regulations continue to change and businesses evolve, ESG is likely an area more partners will need to focus on and help their own customers address through technology and business decisions.
