Expert Details
Beauty Industry: Safety and Sustainability Standards
ID: 737192
Massachusetts, USA
She is the VP of Sustainability & Impact at a prestigious beauty company, the largest clean beauty retailer. She created the (undisclosed) Standard, including the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines-- retail's strongest "clean" formula and packaging standards.
Expert co-founded a new nonprofit membership organization to start to make a dent in hard-to-recycle beauty waste, and to bring beauty stakeholders together to move toward circularity.
Expert was on the founding team at (undisclosed), where she developed the company's stance on safety, including the industry-leading "Ingredient Selection Process," and led sustainability and social responsibility efforts.
She has advised Novi, goop, Honest Company, type:A, ILIA, Bawdy, Sundaily, Merryfield, and more. Expert advised Follain on its standards in its early years, and Environmental Working Group when they created their "EWG Verified" certification for clean skin care products. Previously, she was a leader in national environmental health coalitions working to move industries away from chemicals known to cause harm in favor of greener chemistries.
Expert is a big-picture thinker and a DO-er, a strategic leader and activist committed to systemic equity. She's a confident, compelling communicator and moving public speaker, capable of delivering complex information to diverse audiences.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2003 | Degree: MA | Subject: International Development, Community and Environment | Institution: Clark University |
| Year: 1997 | Degree: BA | Subject: Geography | Institution: Clark University |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2017 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: VP | Department: Sustainability & Impact |
Responsibilities: |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2021 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Co-Founder | Department: part-time |
Responsibilities:A collective of beauty industry stakeholders taking responsibility for the impacts of our packaging. Pact’s main goals:1) To take back hard-to-recycle beauty packaging so that it (or its parts) can be recycled or used again, and 2) To educate and engage beauty industry stakeholders (including packaging designers, beauty brands, policy makers and customers) so that we can all make more informed, sustainable decisions. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2016 to 2021 | Employer: Self Employed | Title: Principal Consultant | Department: Consulting |
Responsibilities:Advising purpose-driven startups and established, disruptive companies, including Merryfield, goop, Honest Company, ILIA, type:A, Sundaily, Bawdy Beauty, Standard Dose and others. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2012 to 2016 | Employer: Beautycounter | Title: Head of Environment, Health, and Safety | Department: |
Responsibilities:Beautycounter creates safer, performance-driven skin care and beauty products. Was the first official hire at Beautycounter HQ in January 2012. The company launched in 2013 and grew to over $100 million in annual revenues by 2016, with a compounded annual growth rate of 250%. The company is currently valued at about $400 million.Established Beautycounter's chemical policy, and led environmental health education at HQ and with the field of 30,000 independent consultants. She forged new collaborations within the marketplace and with academic institutions, as well as meaningful alliances with nonprofit organizations that extend far beyond traditional cause marketing. While Expert was on the Executive Team at Beautycounter, the company - Sold over 7 million products - Lobbied Congress for smarter cosmetics legislation - Acquired NUDE Skincare from LVMH - Launched operations in Canada and at 1,500 Target stores nationwide - Empowered over 25,000 people to share our mission to get safer products into people's hands - Donated over $500,000 to nonprofit organizations working to create a better, safer, more equitable world - Piloted the Chemical Footprint Project, and was the top scoring company in first report in 2016. - Led cross-sector conversations around safer, greener preservatives and other ingredient/material challenges. - Established ground-breaking ingredient research partnerships with leading academic institutions to generate new data about under-studied chemicals. - Led corporate social responsibility programs and initiatives ranging from materials LCA to Benefit Corporation certification to broad environmental health education. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2007 to 2011 | Employer: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics | Title: Organizing Director | Department: |
Responsibilities:The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is a coalition effort launched in 2004 to protect the health of consumers and workers by securing the corporate, regulatory and legislative reforms necessary to eliminate dangerous chemicals from cosmetics and personal care products. The Campaign is housed at Breast Cancer Fund, one of the only cancer organizations focused on identifying and eliminating the environmental links to the disease.As Organizing Director, Expert led work with over 150 endorsing organizations, outreach to over 100,000 individual supporters, and worked with dozens of mostly small and medium-sized companies to create a safer, better way of making products. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2006 to 2011 | Employer: Clean Water Action | Title: Coordinator | Department: |
Responsibilities:Clean Water Action is a one million member organization of diverse people and groups joined together to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life. Goals include clean, safe and affordable water; prevention of health threatening pollution; creation of environmentally safe jobs and businesses; and empowerment of people to make democracy work. Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and solve environmental and community problems. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2007 to 2011 | Employer: Workgroup for Safe Markets | Title: Co-Leader | Department: |
Responsibilities:The Workgroup for Safe Markets is a national coalition working to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals in consumer products and manufacturing, including carcinogens in baby shampoo, reproductive toxins like BPA in food cans, and harmful, unlabeled ingredients in a myriad of everyday products.In this capacity, Expert organized large, complex environmental health campaigns, including those that reduced consumers' exposure to bisphenol-A, parabens, phthalates, triclosan and other potentially harmful chemicals. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2003 to 2005 | Employer: Ecopledge | Title: Environmental Health Advocate | Department: |
Responsibilities:At Ecopledge (a former project of Environment America), developed innovative campaigns focused on environmental and public health, including the Detox Nalgene Campaign, which resulted in Nalgene phasing out BPA in favor of safer materials, a key catalyst for the national BPA campaign. In this time, also assisted with shareholder advocacy work (including more responsible energy development and use of chemicals) at Green Century Capital Management. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2001 to 2002 | Employer: Clean Start Redevelopment | Title: Research Coordinator | Department: |
Responsibilities:Clean Start Redevelopment, formerly a project of Resource Controls, LLC, specialized in brownfields remediation and smart growth investing. Clean Start's GM now runs Investar Redevelopment.At Clean Start, performed a number of preliminary site inspections throughout MA and RI, as well as regulatory and technical file reviews. Completed extensive background research of sites, drew preliminary site plans, and developed over 40 site profile reports. Worked closely with the General Manager to develop new ideas and approaches to brownfields redevelopment; brought conservation and environmental justice issues to the forefront of plans. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| Bloomi- Member of the Board of Advisors Verity- Board Member Beyong Benign: Green Chemistry for a Sustainable Future- Board Member Natural and Organic Health and Beauty Alliance- Board Member |
| Professional Appointments |
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| Merryfield, PBC Novi Underdog ResQ Inc. |
| Publications and Patents Summary |
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| Publication: 1; topic on pinkwashing for profit Projects: 1; topic on chemical footprints |
Additional Experience
| Training / Seminars |
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| GreenScreen Hazard Assessment Training |