9 natural company leaders highlighted among 35 World-changing Women in conscious business
Natural products companies are well represented on Conscious Company magazine’s 2019 list of 35 World-changing Women. Here are just a few of the inspiring women the magazine listed.
January 8, 2019
Founder and CEO, Shea Yeleen Washington, D.C. After observing her Ghanaian mother, who was not allowed to attend school because of her gender, navigate a new culture as an immigrant in America, Rahama Wright developed a passion for women’s rights globally. She studied international affairs in college and soon after joined the Peace Corps, which took her to a small West African village. It was there that the idea for her shea-butter skincare company was born. Wright founded Shea Yeleen to address two key issues: the overuse of chemical and synthetic ingredients in beauty products and the cycle of poverty created through supply chains that do not fairly compensate small-scale farmers and producers for their raw material.
Caroline Duell is committed to creating cruelty-free products that are organic, plant-based and good to the environment. Her track record includes following the work of coral reef scientist Craig Downs, Ph.D., to create a set of criteria that defines “reef-friendly” sun-protection products and developing a nationwide campaign that contributed to the historic legislation in Hawaii banning harmful sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate. All Good donates 1 percent of all sales to organizations that are creating direct solutions to environmental issues. As a Certified B Corp, the company also invests in the wellbeing of its employees, offering among many things a monthly box of organic fruits and vegetables grown on its farm.
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Product Development, Alaffia Olympia, Washington Daya Fields’ work is about strengthening Alaffia’s mission, brand and unique social enterprise. Each sale of one of the company’s fair trade skin care products supports Alaffia’s empowerment work in Togo, West Africa, the 12th-poorest country in the world. Alaffia employs more than 700 cooperative members and pays fair-trade wages to more than 14,000 Togolese citizens, making the company one of the largest employers in Central Togo—second only to the Togolese government. The company is also Fair-for-Life-certified, which means it pays its members four times the living wage in Togo and provides full health care benefits as well as one month or more of paid time off. Fields has had her team create marketing-led business processes, which have led to the promotion of gender equality, diminishing poverty, reducing component waste, and empowering a community that previously was voiceless, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Co-owner and Farmer, McClelland’s Dairy Petaluma, California Jana McClelland starts her day by strolling around her 100-percent-organic 3,300-acre dairy farm. The third-generation dairywoman is changing the face of farming and blazing a climate-smart trail for others. In the next five years, McClelland’s carbon farming and manure management methodologies will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount of carbon that is the equivalent of saving 46.8 million miles of driving by standard passenger vehicles. With the help of Organic Valley, her farm’s work at local and regional events is already shaping the conversation around how farms in California and other states might follow suit.
Co-founder and CEO, Sweet Earth Enlightened Foods Moss Landing, California An engineer by training, marketer by trade and foodie by love, Swette and husband Brian Swette started Sweet Earth Enlightened Foods on the belief that the world needs more sustainable food systems. Under Swette’s leadership, Sweet Earth has produced more than 5.7 million pounds of plant-based protein—that’s the equivalent of avoiding 37.5 billion gram equivalents of greenhouse gases (CO2) and saving 119 million BTUs of energy. As for health, that’s 121.5 million grams of saturated fat not consumed. Beyond their business, the Swettes founded the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University to study food systems from a holistic standpoint and uncover real solutions to the environmental impacts of the food industry.
Owner and Co-CEO, Clif Bar & Company Emeryville, California Kit Crawford’s conscious business philosophy at Clif Bar & Company is not so much about a triple bottom line as it is a quintuple bottom line. In 2001, when the energy-bar industry was experiencing rapid growth and consolidation, Crawford and husband Gary Erickson made the decision not to sell their company. Staying private allowed them to further develop a business model which focuses on sustaining each of Clif Bar’s “Five Aspirations”: business, brand, people, community and the planet. Just a handful of Clif Bar & Company’s many sustainability efforts include diverting 85 percent of its office waste from local landfills, doing business in a LEED® Platinum-certified headquarters and implementing an employee stock ownership plan starting in 2010.
Founder, Cora San Francisco, California While working in Kenya Molly Hayward became increasingly aware of how often girls skip school during their periods due to a lack of access to pads. After looking deeper into the issue, Hayward created Cora, a company that provides feminine products and tackles many of the social issues and stigmas surrounding periods, including the tampon tax and period poverty. Since its launch, Cora has absorbed the cost of the tampon sales tax on behalf of its customers because of the company’s belief that women should not have to pay more to manage their bodies. For every Cora purchase, the company donates pads to girls in India and Kenya so that they can stay in school during their periods. To date, Cora has donated more than 2 million pads.
Founder and CEO, Goddess Garden Organics Boulder, Colorado After the birth of her daughter, Nova Covington’s appreciation for nature grew into a pledge to clean up our oceans and leave the planet better off for the next generation. Because coral reefs support nearly a quarter of all marine life, and a healthy ocean can better combat the effects of global warming, Covington founded Goddess Garden Organics to create reef-safe sunscreen, skincare and essential oil products made with benign materials and organic plants, and has also supported the Hawaiian ban on chemical sunscreens like oxybenzone and octinoxate.
Founder and CEO, Poo~Pourri Dallas, Texas Suzy Batiz has built an empire by tackling taboo topics and challenging societal norms. Fed up with the lack of natural bathroom-odor solutions, Batiz created Poo~Pourri, the cult-favorite, all-natural before-you-go toilet spray. Batiz grew the company into an enterprise worth $400 million without borrowing a cent or enlisting a single investor. She is also the force behind supernatural, a new line of all-natural, sustainably sourced cleaning products.
Founder and CEO, Poo~Pourri Dallas, Texas Suzy Batiz has built an empire by tackling taboo topics and challenging societal norms. Fed up with the lack of natural bathroom-odor solutions, Batiz created Poo~Pourri, the cult-favorite, all-natural before-you-go toilet spray. Batiz grew the company into an enterprise worth $400 million without borrowing a cent or enlisting a single investor. She is also the force behind supernatural, a new line of all-natural, sustainably sourced cleaning products.
Conscious Company magazine each year honors women business leaders who transform business—and planet—for the better. Unsurprisingly, the natural products industry makes an impressive showing on the inspiring list of 35 World-changing Women in Conscious Business. Here we've highlighted our industry changemakers as identified by Conscious Company.
Visit the magazine’s website to find even more inspiring women who change the world.
If you or someone you know is a female business leader, check out the World-changing Women’s Summit, Jan. 28-30, 2019. This three-day gathering is less conference, more retreat. It’s a time to join voices and forces, share stories and resources, eat and drink, laugh and cry together—and support each other as we change the world. For more inspiration, check out these seven reasons to attend the World-Changing Women’s Summit. Use the code NEWHOPE15 for 15 percent off.
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