From Brazil to Bloomin’ Brands: How a PCGS alumna built a Career in Corporate Sustainability at one of the world's largest American casual dining companies

When Amanda Kardosh talks about sustainability, she speaks with the clarity of someone who has watched the field evolve for more than two decades. Today, she leads sustainability at Bloomin’ Brands, the company behind Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Her passion for the field began long before ESG became a corporate priority. It started with a short radio broadcast in her home country, Brazil. Years later, her career in the United States took shape at the Patel College of Global Sustainability (PCGS), where she built the academic foundation and professional network that opened the doors to her role today.

Years ago, while studying business administration in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Amanda heard a short news segment announcing that Brazil had signed the Kyoto Protocol. The idea of carbon markets — of environmental impacts quantified, priced, and traded — was so revolutionary that few people understood it. But for Amanda, it was a spark. She remembers thinking, “How can an environmental commodity be monetized? How can it drive investments?”

Her curiosity became her undergraduate thesis topic, a subject so new that no professor quite knew how to evaluate it. That early fascination with climate finance and economics ended up shaping her entire career.

A Career Forged Through Reinvention

After completing her MBA in sustainability in Brazil, Amanda built a career working with renewable fuels and fleet management. But everything changed when she moved to the United States. Suddenly, the network she had built over the years no longer existed. The professional landscape, regulations, and opportunities were different. “Arriving here felt like starting from zero,” she recalls.

Her curiosity became her undergraduate thesis topic, a subject so new that no professor quite knew how to evaluate it. That early fascination with climate finance and economics ended up shaping her entire career.

She enrolled in the Master’s of Science in Global Sustainability at the USF Patel College to accomplish several goals at once. Understand sustainability from the U.S. perspective, gain hands-on experience with American companies, build a new professional network, and strengthen her technical foundation in renewable energy.

“In Brazil, I knew everyone working in sustainability. Here, I didn’t know a single person.

Amanda Kardosh

Her time at the PCGS became a turning point. She learned from professors like Dr. George Philippidis, current acting dean of the college, and gravitated toward the Energy concentration. During the program, she found the combination of business strategy and practical implementation she had been seeking. The college’s applied learning approach stood out. She still remembers working on the greenhouse gas inventory for the City of Dunedin. “A real project, for a real client, and present the findings to city officials,” she says.

“These projects gave me the analytical lens I use every day,” she explains. “They helped me understand how to take a problem apart and build a solution.”

Through Curricular Practical Training (CPT), Amanda secured an internship with a consulting firm in Atlanta, later transitioning into full-time employment and gaining sponsorship support. It was a journey defined by resilience, and it prepared her for the opportunity that would define her next chapter.

Leading Sustainability at Bloomin’ Brands

When Amanda moved back to Tampa during the pandemic, a headhunter reached out with a rare opportunity: Bloomin’ Brands was building its first-ever sustainability role. The company had been working with an external consulting firm, but it needed an internal leader to own the strategy and bring it to life. Kardosh stepped into the role and began shaping the area from the ground up.

Much of her work revolves around navigating a rapidly changing regulatory landscape. She monitors new rules across U.S. states, from packaging laws to mandatory climate reporting, while also preparing the company for international regulations

Her work also extends deep into supply chain sustainability, particularly around proteins such as beef, pork, and seafood. Because environmental and social risks are often concentrated among suppliers, she spends much of her time engaging with vendors to ensure ethical labor practices, animal welfare standards, and environmental protections across global sourcing regions. This includes high-risk issues like deforestation in the cattle supply chain, labor rights in seafood sourcing, and certifications that demonstrate environmental compliance.

Her leadership extends to climate strategy as well. Bloomin’ Brands has set a goal to reduce emissions by 46% by 2030. Under Amanda’s guidance, the company has already achieved a 16% reduction. The path forward includes energy efficiency, equipment electrification, and exploring renewable energy solutions, each initiative requiring long-term planning and cross-department collaboration.

One of her most significant achievements has been building Bloomin’ Brands’ sustainability reporting framework from the ground up. Under Amanda’s leadership, the company released its first sustainability report and now produces a comprehensive annual publication that meets investor expectations and provides transparent insight into key environmental and social performance indicators. “It’s like a nine-month project every year,” she jokes. “Half of the year is reporting, and the other half is doing the work that will appear in the next report.”

The Skill That Makes Sustainability Leaders: Speaking the Language of Business

When asked what advice she gives to students pursuing sustainability careers, Amanda’s answer is immediate: learn how to communicate.

“Corporate sustainability is not activism,” she says. “It’s influence. It’s strategy. It’s understanding what each department values and framing sustainability in a way that matters to them.”

In her view, the most successful sustainability professionals are those who understand both impact and incentives. Sustainability only moves forward when people buy into it, and people buy into what they understand.

How the Patel College Helped Shape Her Career

For Amanda, the Patel College of Global Sustainability was foundational. She credits the program with preparing her technically, professionally, strategically, and culturally for leadership roles in the United States.

“It absolutely made a difference,” she says. “The network, the professors, the hands-on projects, the exposure to U.S. business culture. I would do it again.”

Her degree gave her credibility during interviews, confidence when navigating American corporate structures, and a deeper understanding of the energy and climate systems she now manages at scale. Even though she already had a sustainability MBA from Brazil, earning a U.S. degree was essential. “It helped me understand not just the language, but the corporate language,” she emphasizes.

Looking Ahead

Despite her success in large corporations, Amanda dreams of one day working more closely with small and medium-sized businesses. She believes they need the most guidance and have the most to gain from accessible sustainability strategies.

“Big companies have resources,” she says. “Small businesses don’t, but they’re a huge part of the economy. I’d love to help them adopt sustainability in ways that make sense for their size.”

It’s a vision grounded in experience and empathy. The same qualities that carried her from a curious business student in Brazil to a sustainability leader shaping the future of one of the largest restaurant groups in the world.