2026 Leadership-in-Action Award Recipient
Christian Tolentino
Lead, Environmental ProgramsTakeda Pharmaceuticals
Award Category: Minimizing the Corporate Footprint
Christian Tolentino, Lead for Environmental Programs at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, was nominated for the NAEM Excellence Awards’ Leadership in Action – Minimizing the Corporate Footprint category in recognition of his 24 years of EHS and sustainability leadership and his role in transforming laboratory sustainability across Takeda’s global operations. Tolentino leads environmental programs across Takeda’s Greater Boston operations and is the driving force behind Evergreen, Takeda Cambridge’s Green Team, as well as the company’s expansion of the My Green Lab certification program from zero certified laboratories to a global initiative spanning 70 laboratories in 12 countries and engaging more than 1,500 employees.
Under his leadership, all participating laboratories in the first two certification waves achieved certification, 100% exceeded Takeda’s Silver certification target in FY2025, 63% achieved the highest Green level, and participating laboratories improved their assessment scores by an average of 35%, with an overall average score of 80.8 out of 100. The program has helped address the significant energy, water, chemical, and waste impacts associated with laboratory operations while supporting Takeda’s broader greenhouse gas reduction and long-term decarbonization goals. Through strong employee engagement, training, cross-functional collaboration, and a scalable certification framework, Tolentino has embedded sustainability into laboratory operations while creating a repeatable model that balances environmental performance with scientific productivity, safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.