Embracing Sustainability:
A Day in the Life of Allyson Prokes – Stewardship and Sustainability Manager
With its tree-lined streets and green spaces, Atlanta lives up to its nickname—the “City in the Forest”—making it a fitting home base for Allyson Prokes, Stewardship and Sustainability Manager at Georgia-Pacific Corrugated.
As Allyson starts her workday, she’s intentional about her choices—from carrying a reusable water bottle to commuting with her husband to reduce their emissions in the busy Atlanta traffic. These small, everyday actions reflect the same values she brings to her role.
At Georgia-Pacific, Allyson’s mornings begin with purpose. Her work bridges the gap between responsible sourcing and broader environmental impact. Whether she’s guiding conversations on waste reduction, leading fiber recovery efforts, or helping others understand sustainable packaging, Allyson brings her passion for stewardship to every part of her work.
As Georgia-Pacific continues to innovate and optimize for a more sustainable future, Allyson’s story is a testament to the power of conscious living and working. It’s about small choices, meaningful conversations, and the shared goal of nurturing our planet.
We spoke with Allyson to learn more about how her passion for sustainability shapes her role and how she helps customers make smarter, more responsible decisions.
Q&A With Allyson Prokes
A: A customer once approached us with a goal to shift volume from one box plant to another to increase recycled content in their packaging. After evaluating the full environmental impact, we discovered that the change would have increased transportation emissions by 600%. Instead of focusing on a single sustainability metric, I worked with the customer to take a broader view—balancing recycled content with emissions and sourcing proximity. Together, we found an approach that prioritized an informed and holistic decision for stewardship.
Q: Which Principle-Based Management™ (PBM) principle most influences how you create value for customers?
A: Being contribution-motivated is the principle that guides me the most. Collaborating to create the greatest value for customers is at the heart of everything I do. In PBM, being contribution-motivated means focusing on how I can use my abilities to help others succeed—whether it’s customers, teammates, or the company as a whole. I’m always looking for ways to create mutual benefit and achieve shared success.
For more information about PBM, you can visit the Principle-Based Management website.
Q: What’s something unique about our corrugated solutions that customers often say, ‘I didn’t know you could do that’?
A: Many customers are surprised to learn that Georgia-Pacific doesn’t cut down large, mature trees to make boxes. Instead, we use residuals from forest thinning. I enjoy showing customers how this process works during in-person and virtual forest tours. These tours illustrate how thinning at 10, 15, and 25 years helps maintain forest health while providing raw materials for corrugated packaging. It’s always rewarding to share how environmental stewardship is built into our stewardship. For a closer look, check out our virtual forest tour.
Q: What symbol or animal best represents your team and why?
A: My team has adopted the gopher tortoise as a meaningful symbol of who we are and what we stand for—it’s even become our unofficial mascot. For me, it reflects our contribution-motivated mindset and the importance of creating space for others to thrive. The gopher tortoise is also a protected species near one of GP’s mills, so it’s a meaningful symbol of our commitment to stewardship and environmental responsibility.
Q: How does your personal passion, as featured in the video, enhance your professional life?
A: I love working for a company I feel passionate about because I know we’re doing the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do. In the video, I appear with my family, which serves as a powerful reminder of what fuels my commitment to stewardship. I want to help create a better, healthier planet for future generations—including my children. My personal passion for helping others help themselves drives me to share knowledge and empower people to feel confident about the work we’re doing at GP.
