“When I was in fifth grade, my teacher told me that girls couldn’t be engineers.”, Jodie Morgan told Barry Chong in an interview with Career diary.
It’s inaccurate and unfortunately widely held belief that Jodie was more than up for challenging — and converting into a career that goes beyond the blueprints.
Previously, she was the president of Pinova Holdings Inc., which is a “global leader in specialty chemicals manufactured from natural and renewable feedstocks”, as described on their website.
Jodie developed the company’s flourishing success and eventually sold it for $417 million USD to Symrise AG.
Jodie Morgan is the recently departed CEO of GreenMantra Technologies, an molecular recycling company that transforms plastic into polymer additives. On top of that, she is a seven-time executive and in-demand board member.
Let’s take a look at how her life and career were shaped.
Planting a seed
Jodie vividly remembers the day her fifth grade teacher said that girls can’t be engineers.
She said, “I remember all the details: the expression on the teacher’s face, who was sitting next to me — all of it. From then on, I was compelled to be an engineer, even though I didn’t truly know what an engineer did. So, I focused on math and physics, eventually studying mechanical engineering at the University of Delaware”.
Later, she earned a master’s in business administration-finance from the West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
That sense of defiance and the drive to go beyond expectations served her well in university, where there were only 4 other women in her class of 150 students.
On top of that, she graduated early and enrolled at only 16 years old. She admits to having growing pains at the beginning but her desire to prove her detractors wrong got her through.
”I ended up earning my degree and loving the curriculum. Call it bullheaded; call it practical”, she said.
Navigating reality
As a graduate looking for work in her field, she was met with discrimination and was treated as lesser than. It was a different world in the 80s and breaking into male dominated industries, while it still has many challenges, was tough.
Jodie describes going to meetings at clubhouses where women weren’t allowed to walk through the front door. She was forced to enter through the back going up a flight of stairs.
She told Career dairy that “It was harder to balance my emotions back in the day. A lot of people accused me of being ‘aggressive,’ but would praise a male counterpart for acting in a similar way. How I was perceived was out of my control. And that was OK. I faked it and grinded it out until I could do the things I wanted to do. It was worth it.”
Career growth
Jodie’s resilience proved prosperous in her career trajectory. In her own words, she loves “orphan companies”, specifically ones that are struggling. She has a gift for helping businesses turn things around through servant leadership and practical guidance.
”It’s about supporting employees so they can do more than they ever thought possible. That’s the most fun part of what I do,” she said.
Before GreenMantra, she served as president for several companies: **Pinova Inc.: A** global supplier of renewable rosin and polyterpene resin innovations **Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals LLC: A** multinational food ingredients company.
And SPI Polyols Inc., a global manufacturer of specialty polyols and sugars.
In 2017, she secured a spot on GreenMantra’s board and soon became CEO in 2018.
Ever loyal to her work, Jodie always stayed on with her previous role in some capacity to ensure a smooth transition. Her goal was to foster a purposeful, thriving company culture and then handing it off to the best purpose to continue that legacy.
What exactly does GreenMantra do?
As mentioned before, Jodie was the CEO of GreenMantra. It is a cleantech recycling company based in Brantford, Ontario that focuses on turning waste plastic into valuable industrial materials. This goes a big step beyond traditional recycling.
Unfortunately, most plastics are either landfilled or “downcycled” into lower-value products.
GreenMantra upcycles plastics, meaning they take hard-to-recycle plastic waste (like film, bags, containers) and turn it into **specialty waxes and polymers.** These are more valuable than the original waste.
These end products are used in everyday things, such as:
Roofing materials
Asphalt for paving
Plastics processing aids
Coatings and inks Construction-grade composites
GreenMantra’s process diverts millions of pounds of plastic from landfills and gives it a long-lasting second life in applications with lifespans of decades rather than months.
In essence, GreenMantra makes waste plastic economically desirable and functionally useful. **It represents a key shift toward a circular plastics economy.
Why GreenMantra became successful
GreenMantra developed and commercialized a unique recycling technology that can handle difficult plastic waste and turn it into industrial materials that *cost more than the feedstock*. This commercial value proposition helped it gain early adopters and market traction.
The company also had significant commercial support. It benefited from early funding partnerships, including government-linked innovation investors, to scale production facilities and build manufacturing capacity.
Plus, GreenMantra’s materials found buyers in a range of industries because they improve product performance and help companies meet sustainability goals.
International distribution partnerships and R&D collaborations expanded the company’s footprint.
In addition, it carries a lot of credibility through the awards and recognition it has earned over the years.
For example, the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) recognized GreenMantra as one of its 2025 Plastic Sustainability Innovation Awards, “recognizing outstanding innovations in plastics manufacturing that deliver environmental advantages in design, material, and end-of-life management”.
What is Jodie Morgan doing now?
Jodie’s chapter at GreenMantra was a career defining part of her part of her story. In 2025, former GreenMantra president **Domenic Di Mondo was promoted to CEO. He is trusted to** continue the legacy Jodie helped put in place.
Morgan’s current role as CEO of Nexus Circular shows her continued commitment to transforming plastic waste into valuable industrial inputs using advanced processing technology.
Her leadership there draws directly on her experience scaling GreenMantra and other sustainable businesses.
Explorations and experiments
An entrepreneur at heart, Jodie also dabbles in a variety of side projects to satsify her curiosity and creativity.
At one time, she ran a food ingredient business that she successfully sold. Along with a friend, she opened a wine bar in New York and founded a real estate company that invested in undervalued real estate. It’s purpose was to revitalize at-risk communities and support single moms.
Jodie is clearly a people person and dedicates time to coaching CEOs as well. Not only does this impart valuable wisdom on others but also expands her knowledge of leaderships styles.
Her approach to life and business is refreshing. She is the embodiment of a life-long learner who is willing to take a risk while supporting and nurturing others.
In an interview, she said “I only want to work with organizations that will make the world a better place, one year from now or 100 years from now. Companies can do good and still make money. This may be a bit of an ego trip, but if I were to have a legacy, it would be defined by cleaning the planet, and helping as many as people as possible as they progress on their paths.”
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