Apollo strengthens its leadership bench with the appointment of Jaycee Pribulsky, former Nike CSO, to lead sustainability strategy.
Transition follows the planned retirement of inaugural CSO Dave Stangis, who built Apollo’s sustainability platform since 2021.
Move reinforces Apollo’s integration of ESG risk and opportunity analysis across its $600bn+ investment platform.
A Leadership Transition at Apollo
Apollo Global Management has named Jaycee Pribulsky as Partner and Chief Sustainability Officer, effective October 1, marking a significant leadership transition at one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers.
Pribulsky, who most recently served as Chief Sustainability Officer at Nike, will take the reins from Dave Stangis, Apollo’s first CSO, who established the firm’s sustainability function in 2021. Stangis will support the transition before retiring, remaining as a senior advisor from 2026.
The appointment comes as private equity firms face intensifying scrutiny over how sustainability strategies translate into real-world risk management and value creation. For Apollo, with assets under management surpassing $600 billion, the leadership handover signals continuity but also a deepening of sustainability integration into investment and operational frameworks.
Experience from Consumer, Finance and Technology Sectors
Pribulsky brings more than two decades of cross-sector sustainability and operational experience. At Nike, she oversaw the company’s global sustainability strategy, spanning product innovation, supply chain management, and corporate governance. Earlier in her career, she directed Nike’s global footwear sourcing and held senior roles at Bloomberg and Citigroup, focusing on corporate responsibility and stakeholder engagement.
She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in French and Communications from American University.
Apollo Co-President Scott Kleinman said Pribulsky’s track record made her uniquely suited for the role. “Jaycee’s cross-sector experience and track record of building durable, business-aligned sustainability programs will continue to advance Apollo’s differentiated approach and competitive leadership,” Kleinman said.
Pribulsky noted that Apollo’s scale and investment breadth offered an opportunity to link sustainability with performance outcomes. “Apollo is known for its scale, capabilities and focus on delivering performance and resilience for clients and portfolio companies,” she said. “I am excited to build on that foundation, using Apollo’s sustainability strategy as a practical tool for long-term value creation.”
Stangis’ Legacy and Succession
Dave Stangis, a well-known figure in corporate sustainability, joined Apollo as its first CSO after pioneering roles at Intel and Campbell Soup Company. At Apollo, he created a sustainability management system embedded across asset classes, aligning ESG considerations with investment processes and governance.
His planned retirement underscores a trend among private equity firms to institutionalize ESG functions rather than rely on founder-driven initiatives. By shifting to an advisor role through 2026, Stangis provides continuity while Apollo strengthens leadership for the next phase of its sustainability agenda.
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Implications for Investors and Portfolio Companies
Apollo has framed sustainability not as a standalone reporting function but as a tool for assessing material risks, driving operational efficiency, and fostering innovation. This orientation places ESG directly within the investment calculus, with implications for how portfolio companies adapt to tightening regulatory requirements, climate risk disclosures, and shifting consumer expectations.
For C-suite executives and investors, the appointment signals Apollo’s intent to maintain ESG alignment with capital deployment strategies, at a time when regulatory frameworks such as the SEC’s climate disclosure rules and Europe’s CSRD are reshaping expectations on transparency and governance.
The succession also highlights a broader theme in asset management: the professionalization and cross-pollination of sustainability leadership. Executives with operational and supply chain expertise, such as Pribulsky, are increasingly sought to bridge corporate ESG commitments with measurable financial outcomes.
A Broader Global Context
As global capital flows continue to shift toward low-carbon and sustainability-linked assets, leadership stability and sector expertise in ESG roles are becoming decisive factors for firms competing for institutional mandates. Apollo’s move aligns with peers in private equity and asset management who are embedding sustainability into the core of investment strategy rather than treating it as a compliance function.
The transition from Stangis to Pribulsky provides investors with continuity and credibility while signaling Apollo’s readiness to meet evolving ESG demands. For global markets, it reflects the maturing role of sustainability leadership at scale — less about messaging, more about measurable impact within multi-trillion-dollar capital flows.
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