Ten years after that avalanche in China, your company had a near-death experience. Why did that happen? And how did you turn it around? Well, we were growing our business in the normal ways. We went down to Patagonia and we sit for three, four hours a day and talk about why are we in business? What are our values? That's what eventually became this book, Let My People Go Surfing.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made headlines recently when he announced that he and his family had transferred their $3 billion stake in the storied outdoor gear company to a special purpose trust and nonprofit that would give away $100 million a year, specifically to environmental causes. Patagonia has a long history of donating at least one percent of its profits – and 100% of profits made on Black Friday – to grassroots environmental non-profits.
Yet even with this massive gift, and Laurene Powell Jobs’ own recent $3.5 billion pledge, climate philanthropy still only accounts for a small fraction of all charitable giving. This Thanksgiving weekend, we look back to our 2016 interview with Yvon Chouinard and bring the story up to date with Inside Philanthropy’s Michael Kavate.
Guests:
Yvon Chouinard, Founder, Patagonia
Michael Kavate, Staff Writer, Inside Philanthropy
For show notes and related links, visit our website.
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