Jennifer Gootman, Vice President of Sustainability for Williams-Sonoma
Jennifer Gootman is the Vice President of Sustainability for Williams-Sonoma, Inc., leading social and environmental strategy and programming across the company’s eight brands. Jennifer started with the West Elm brand in 2013 where she launched the first Fair Trade-Certified factory program in home retail, was a founding partner of the Nest Standard for Ethical Handcraft, and piloted a partnership with nonprofit VisionSpring to provide vision screenings to factory workers that is now targeted to reach half-a-million people. Today, she is building on Williams-Sonoma, Inc.’s leadership in responsible materials and ethical production to launch a comprehensive climate and environmental strategy. Prior to this role, Jennifer spent more than a decade with nonprofits and social enterprises in New York, Nicaragua, and India, working within design-driven industries to create impact through supply chain innovation. Jennifer holds a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business, is a fellow in the Aspen Institute’s First Movers program, and serves on the board of Chicago-based ethical fashion company Mata Traders and as an advisor to NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business.