Kim Coupounas Kim Coupounas is a values-driven leader and a passionate advocate for responsible business and the environment. She has dedicated much of her career to getting people outdoors and preserving and protecting our planet’s natural and wild places. She co-founded and served as CEO of an international outdoor products brand, GoLite, that was sold in 23 countries and beloved by hundreds of thousands of customers around the world. GoLite was a Certified B Corporation and the first outdoor company to achieve an A+ level verified sustainability report from the Global Reporting Initiative. Kim is past Chairman of the Board of the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), the trade association representing the $646 billion+ outdoor recreation industry, an economic powerhouse in the United States that creates over 6 million jobs. The first Outdoor Recreation Economy Report, documenting the economic impact of outdoor recreation in America, was completed during her term as OIA board Chair. She co-founded and served as founding Chairman of the Outdoor Industry Political Action Committee, a non-partisan PAC focused on supporting candidates for federal and state office who support improved access and funding for outdoor recreation on our public lands and waterways.
Kim currently serves as a Director of B Lab, a nonprofit organization that certifies “B Corporations” and serves a global movement of people using the power of business as a force for good. There are over 2,000 Certified B Corporations globally, companies meeting the highest standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. She co-founded and has served on the Advisory Council of the Outdoor Industry Association Sustainability Working Group (OIASWG), a collaboration of over 250 companies in the outdoor and apparel industries that created the Higg Index, a groundbreaking tool that enables textile manufacturers to quantify sustainability practices and product impact throughout the supply chain.
Kim earned an A.B. with honors in Philosophy from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an M.P.A. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She conducted graduate work at Pembroke College, Oxford University as a Rotary Foundation Graduate Scholar. She spends her free time with her family, in nature, singing, doing yoga and martial arts, and climbing big mountains.