Editing by KK Ottesen. Photo by Sarah Kjelleran
Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global network with thousands of businesses and environmental organizations working together to support people and the planet in more than a hundred countries. Each 1% for the Planet business member commits to donating at least 1% of revenues to environmental partners, which the organization certifies. 1% for the Planet was founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, to recognize the responsibility of businesses for their environmental impact.
Terra Alpha has been a member of 1% for the Planet since 2017. As of year-end 2023, Terra Alpha has donated $68,000 to their environmental network partners.
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Can you talk a little bit about what brought you to your work at 1% for the Planet in the first place?
I literally had an ‘Aha’ moment. My high school graduation gift from my parents was to go on a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course. So five days after I graduated, I flew out to Wyoming and did a 30-day trip in the Wind River mountains. This is early June and we got a ton of snow. We didn’t have snowshoes or anything like that, so it was hard going. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong – and all of us were loving it. Then, the kind of ultimate thing to go wrong went wrong: One of our leaders broke his leg when he was scouting a climb. We were far away from a trailhead, of course, and this was pre-cell phones, so it was a big deal to figure out an evacuation. A runner group went out, another group went to carry the instructor, and then the lead instructor looked at me and said, “Okay, Kate, you’re going to lead the rest of the group from here to the pass and you’re going to stamp out a helicopter pad.” I had this moment: “Why in the world would you choose me? I don’t know how to do this.” But it was not a moment to have questions; it was a moment just to be like, “Yes, I’m on it.”
I look back and see that I so unabashedly knew I didn’t know everything, that I very comfortably was like, “Great, John, you’re super strong and we have to carry so much extra gear, can you take as much as you possibly can? This person, you’re really great at cooking, can you just feed all of us because we’re going to need it?” I was able to tap into people and we had a great day. We got up to the pass, did what we needed to do, helicopter came in, evacuation went off without a hitch. And I remember standing on the pass in the sunset looking at this helicopter taking off, exhausted, hungry – we had missed a re-ration because of the snow – my boots were wet, we just had this really big day and I was like, “I love this. This is what I want to do.” I didn’t know at the time what “this” meant, but it was some combination of I really, really loved the wilderness, being out there, and it felt so good to lead that group.
Did the leadership part surprise you? Had you had experiences analogous to that in the past?
It felt very natural. I mean, I was surprised when the instructor looked at me and was like, “Kate, you’re going to lead this group,” because I was one of the youngest on the trip. But now, when I reflect on it, and even at the time a little bit, I think I was able to tap into muscle memory of being on a team – I was an athlete and I’d been a team captain and I’d been on student council and things like that. I think it’s the way my brain works. I am interested in and pay attention to how people work together. And I’ve always had a kind of nerdy interest in, how do you get a bunch of people to do a hard thing together? So in that moment in Wyoming, I wouldn’t have necessarily said, “Yes, I’m a leader,” or, “Yes, I want to be CEO” – in fact, I never said, “Yes, I want to be a CEO.” But it more was a gradual coming to be aware that this is what feels like my flow state. And when I became CEO of 1% for the Planet, it felt right. A lot of what we’re doing is kind of psychology, fundamentally, it’s like how do you invite people into meaningful change? I’m really interested in that. And our model is a theory of change put into action, and so we’re all developing a better understanding to meet people where they are.
I love that term “flow state,” because I am always interested in hearing when people feel like they’re doing what they should be doing in the world.
Yes, absolutely. And I have such gratitude because what a gift to get to have found what I love and get to lean into what I love. And for me right now, too, our kids are 22 and almost 25, so for the first time, I also can totally lean in, and I’m really grateful that at this stage of my life, that’s what I want to do. I can get into that flow state and stay there more.
You’ve been with the organization for a while, can you talk about how it’s changed over the time you’ve been there and what you’re still hoping to see?
When I started, it was about 12 people and we’re now 50 people. So, from an organizational size standpoint, we’ve grown a lot. And that is to match the growth of our network and impact. We had about 1,000 to 1,100 business members when I started, and we now have about 5,500. But more importantly, we’ve been able to use that capacity to get better at how we’re doing what we’re doing.
I really focus on running 1% as a small business. In my mind, any good nonprofit is oriented towards mission as the outcome, but the fundamental operations are analogous with those of a business. So, we think about making sure we have a good revenue model so that we can continue to be there in 20 years, 30 years to serve. We’re now targeting getting $1 billion in lifetime impact. We’re at about 630 million US dollars in lifetime giving now, and pretty well on track to get to 1 billion by 2027, 2028. And we’re building an organization that can get to the next billion in five years, really hitting that milestone and becoming an accelerator to get to the next and the next even faster.
Do you see ways to dial down the polarization of climate issues?
We definitely try when we have opportunities to speak to that. In our view, the environment should not be a partisan issue. The important thing is to find common ground. And I think the more we can make a business case around things like 1% for the Planet, that’s a great argument because then it’s like there’s no requirement of belief. You don’t have to hold a certain viewpoint about anything. This is a good business choice and then we know that it will lead to good outcomes.
We do get asked, “Will you sign onto this letter? Will you stand up for this or that?” And we’re glad there are nonprofits out there that are in positions where they’re taking stances that they believe in; that’s part of what needs to happen in a civil society. Our position is to stand for the environment, leverage philanthropy, and bring it out of the partisan space.
Over the last years, there have been widespread charges of greenwashing, and there’s a cynicism that follows that. How much does that affect you and your partners?
In a lot of ways it gives us a great springboard because we are the opposite of greenwashing. Greenwashing is saying you’re doing something that’s not what you’re doing. Our companies truly are doing what they say they do, and we’re certifying it. It gives us a way to say, “Look, this is exactly what the logo means. If someone has the logo, they’re part of this model.”
Every now and then, I’ll have someone say, “Well, 1% of revenue, that’s not enough, that’s greenwashing.” And I’m like, “Well, if you want to go get 2%, go for it, that’s great. Most of the biggest reasons that people either don’t join or leave is because they can’t afford it.” So 1% of revenues is not insignificant. We do have internal conversations sometimes about, are there businesses where giving 1% would be sort of insufficient in the context of the overall enterprise. ExxonMobil is an example of this. If Exxon were to give 1%, would that be enough? Would that be brand damaging? We have interesting conversations around that. But we’re not going after them right now. There’s plenty of other businesses who join and drive impact, but I would 100% talk to ExxonMobil because I’d want to learn “how is this part of a theory of change?
You have talked about a sunglasses company that became a member, gave 1%, and then through the network got pushback about the plastic they were using.
Yeah, it’s such a great example because that’s part of why we’re always tipping to the side of, “Let’s get them in the network.” The whole point is to drive change. The point is not to rubber stamp companies that are already pretty good. We exist to be operating in the space where there may be some people who are like, “Really? You brought that company in?” And it’s like, “Yeah, if we could be part of their change story, isn’t that better for the world?” That’s what it’s about. And so, yeah, Sunski? Great company. Through the positive peer pressure of the model, they had a nonprofit partner and then even Yvon Chouinard saying, “Love having you in the network – or in the nonprofits case, love getting a check – and you got a lot of plastic.” They listened to that. And now if you order from Sunski, it comes in a nice recycled cardboard box and they have a whole manufacturing process that they’ve developed so the frames are recycled.
We don’t claim credit for that, but we know that 1% for the Planet was part of that story for them to take those next steps. We don’t certify any of that; that’s not part of the model. But that’s what can happen. And if we had said, “Well, no, Sunski has too much plastic, they don’t really have a sustainability statement, blah, blah, blah,” we would’ve ruled them out, and that would’ve probably been a loss for the world. And they’re super awesome people, so it would’ve been a loss for us. So there’s a ton of that that’s happening – kind of an exponential network effect.
Do you have examples of work you have seen that you find particularly inspiring, motivating, exciting?
One example recently is a company, Sunday. They’re a lawn care company and they hit a million dollars in lifetime giving. What that speaks to is how much they have grown as a company while being part of 1% for the Planet. So we did a little digging. And in, I think, 2021 to ’22, and then ’22 to ’23, in each of those years, 70% of our companies grew. If you were to look at all companies, 70% of total companies are not growing. We haven’t done a lot with this data yet, but back to the business case: we’re seeing that our companies are great examples of purpose-led companies being more economic-downturn robust. They do better in the hard times. They do better generally than the marketplace, and that drives more giving. So then they get to celebrate when they hit a million dollars in giving, and that’s part of the story that they tell. It’s not just like, “Hey, we grew, we became so big,” but, “We were able to give $1 million.”
Why do you think it’s the case that these companies may be more resilient?
It’s a good question. Some of the things that we hear from our members is that employee engagement is enhanced, so employees want to work at companies that are part of 1% for the Planet. And if you have good employees that stick with you and are engaged, that’s going to help. And I think, and I haven’t verified this, but for our members who are with us for more than just a couple years, they’re invariably going to go through economic cycles. So they’re going to have great years and they’re going to have hard years – I don’t know many companies that don’t. And to have the financial discipline to have 1% for the Planet continue to be part of you while you’re going through that, sort of speaks to a larger financial discipline and ability to focus on what matters. Because it would be so easy in a hard year to just be like, “No, we’re not going to do that.” But if you have the leadership and processes that enable you to keep your values centered, I think that really matters.
Can you talk about your Planet Impact Fund?
I’m glad you asked. So, we launched that two years ago. I had some donors who were curious about donor advised funds (DAFs) because they were saying, “It’s a little bit of a bummer to be as environmentally-oriented as I am,” speaking as this donor, “And to know that my DAF is sitting in Fidelity, probably doing more harm than my donation to nonprofit XYZ is doing good.”
So I kind of went to DAF school, and fortunately had some people who could educate us about it. There’s a lot of bad press around donor advised funds – that they lock up money, they’re sort of the province of the extremely wealthy, people don’t actually give the money away, it’s invested in bad things. So I was trying to figure out – are they inherently bad or are we just using a good tool in a bad way? And it seemed very much the latter. Where we landed is our Planet Impact Fund, which is not a DAF, but it’s similar and has two components. Basically, it’s a collaborative fund so donations from anyone of any size can flow into this fund and they’re donations, not investments. So donors make donations to this fund, and the fund is invested for positive impact and we have a really high bar. And then, 10% of the fund, of the assets under management, are donated to a portfolio of nonprofits we select from our network. And the last part is that individuals or anyone eligible can set up their own donor advised fund on our underlying investment platform. It’s a three-part partnership: we’re the philanthropic advisor for the fund, National Philanthropic Trust holds the fund, they’re the fiduciary, and then CapShift is our investment advisor.
If you could snap your fingers and get anything done right away, what would you wish into being?
An endowment, because I think it’s so important in our organization and in our space, broadly, to get into an abundance mindset and a what’s-possible mindset. To me, that is really important, and I am excited to fundraise to build that endowment. So snapping my fingers would not be to get work I don’t want to do out of the way, but to set us up to be able to work both with the resources and in the context that I think enables us to do even more. And do it in a mind frame of maximum creativity, which sometimes is born out of constraint, but sometimes can be aided by not feeling like everything is scarce.
Okay, last question: Do you have advice to live by?
I have two mottos. One is from Helen and Scott Nearing, who were New England homesteaders; I did some work on them when I was in grad school. One of them, it’s actually unclear who, said: “Do the best that you can in the place that you are, and be kind.” I kind of feel like that never doesn’t work. It’s always, always good. Then the other one is: “Nothing without joy.” My kids went to this really amazing preschool right here in our tiny little town of Vermont that was guided by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, which is from Italy and that was the motto. When I couple those two together, I feel like those always are the right approach.