VENTURA, Calif. (March 4, 2019) —Patagonia was created to explore wild places, and we are still in business today because we fight to protect them. Since our founding more than 40 years ago, we have worked to protect and preserve the natural world—from our ongoing efforts to reduce our company’s environmental footprint to supporting hundreds of environmental nonprofits around the world. We use our brand to address the most pressing issues of our time, and every employee hired is committed to our mission of saving our home planet. Today, we are pleased to extend our actions with the creation of a new, first-of-its-kind position: a dedicated Environmental Advocate. Avi Garbow, the Environmental Protection Agency’s longest-serving general counsel, will join Patagonia’s senior management team to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect our planet.

Avi is a nationally recognized environmental lawyer and advocate. He served as the EPA’s general counsel under President Obama. With decades of experience in tackling many of the most critical threats to our air, water, and lands, Avi will help provide strategic leadership and vision to Patagonia’s robust environmental advocacy efforts. This new role will help focus our resources and sharpen our voice, as we defend our planet and find solutions that can move us toward a more sustainable future. He will work in close partnership with teams across the company who are on the front lines of our company’s environmental work.

“The climate crisis is here, and it is dire, and our government is refusing to address it. We are excited to welcome Avi into the Patagonia family and extend the urgent work that is needed to address the climate crisis,” said Rose Marcario, president and CEO of Patagonia. “As Patagonia’s Environmental Advocate, Avi will provide leadership and strategy to our commitment to the planet. He will help us advance policies that support land and water, renewable energy and regenerative organic agriculture. These are solutions that can not only curb our carbon problem, but also reverse it.”

“The need for private sector leaders to protect our environment, conserve our lands, and address the climate crisis has never been greater,” Garbow said. “Patagonia, whose very mission is to use its business to save our planet, brings a legacy of action and resolve to meet the challenges ahead. I am excited to join Patagonia as its first dedicated Environmental Advocate, as together we confront our most serious environmental problems and promote sustainable solutions for our people and our home planet.”   

About Patagonia
We’re in business to save our home planet.
Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. A certified B-Corporation, the company is recognized internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism—and its contributions of more than $100 million in grants and in-kind donations to date.

Contacts
Corley Kenna: Corley.Kenna@patagonia.com
Tessa Byars: Tessa.Byars@patagonia.com
Corey Simpson: Corey.Simpson@patagonia.com
J.J. Huggins: John.Huggins@patagonia.com

 

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