Co-Sponsored by SIA & SIMA
Hosted & Led by The Underswell
This is a first-of-it's-kind, 12-week Experience
Only for SIA and SIMA member company employees.
- Sessions begin Mar 9th, 2023
- One week break April 24th, 2023
- Sessions end June 8th, 2023
Cost: $1,200 per person
Meeting times: Thursdays, 9am PT
Registration Deadline: Feb. 24th, 2023
Enroll Your Team Now
Why Now?
Tackling sustainability and climate impacts in our industry has become a crucial business objective. Yet, how many on your team are fully prepared to be a part of that movement?
The Snow & Surf Industry Sustainability Sessions is an initiative that will deliver the education and prep your team needs to better understand the complexities of this urgent space.
Gain confidence & competence in sustainability & climate matters. Whether you’re early in the journey, or further along the path, anyone from your team will benefit from this multi-week cohort experience that starts with the basic concepts and topics and evolves into the complex realities of today’s business landscape.
Enroll employees at your company in this experience to:
- Gain a new outlook on the depths of the sustainability & climate conversation
- Build a strong foundation in the topics and concepts that have become crucial components of manufacturing, marketing, and selling
- Build confidence in understanding and avoiding greenwashing
- Network with other like-minded individuals at companies making similar products
- Get caught up on the sustainability & climate education that’s more necessary than ever
- Fire up sustainability & climate action at your company
This is an experience that companies like New Balance, Zumiez, Billabong, RVCA, Blue Tomato, and others have put team members through.
The Surf & Snow Industries Are Coming Together to Tackle Sustainability
Make sure your company is a part of this exciting opportunity!
Spots Are Limited: Watch the video for more details or click HERE to ask questions &/or sign up now
Space is Limited to 3 People Per Member Company.
About the Sustainability Sessions:
Brought to you by SIMA and SIA, this is a 12-week guided education program led by Derek Sabori, a sustainability expert in our industry and former VP of Sustainability for Volcom. Derek built & taught a sustainability curriculum for a California college, and now brings his years of industry experience and educational lessons directly to brands and retailers.
Collaborate: This is a cohort experience where up to 3 people from your company will come together in a guided group of 20 that will be made up of other SIMA and SIA member company professionals from multiple roles and various sectors of the Surf & Snowsports industry.
Learn & interact: The experience is led by an experienced college instructor and industry consultant and will adhere to a weekly schedule that will include on-demand videos, live meetups, individual reading (2 books), and online assessments.
Dive deep: The group will be responsible for keeping up with online learning content and reading material and will meet 12x for 1hr each week as a group.
Sessions begin Mar 9th, 2023 and end June 8th, 2023. One week break in the middle.
Meeting times: Thursdays, 9am PT
Benefits: Give your team the chance to earn a Certificate of Completion, learn the essentials of sustainability and climate impacts in our industry, hear from others in similar positions, and immediately apply what you’re learning to your company’s operations.
Who is this good for and what do they get?
Any Level
This accelerator program is good for anyone – at nearly any level of sustainability knowledge – who is involved in the making, producing, buying, selling, and/or managing of goods in the apparel & footwear industry.
Ready to Learn
This program will take learners on a journey through foundational learning, the history of the movement, and the essentials of sustainability and triple bottom line thinking. It then progresses to the most modern perspectives on supply chain traceability and the topics of justice, biodiversity impacts, and reversing climate change while managing the health of our brands.
Transformation
The goal is to transform your team into life-long learners and deep understanders when it comes to the complexities of sustainability (environmental and social) in rapidly evolving economies AND to give them the tools, confidence, and wherewithal to help make your brand or organization more sustainable. They'll finish ready to best understand and support the initiatives you already have in place, or help you launch new ones.
Course Content:
Part 1 (12 lessons) – The Essentials of Sustainability & Climate Change
Topics Include:
- Sustainability concepts
- The history of the modern environmental movement
- Top environmental & top social concerns
- Life cycle thinking and life cycle impacts
- Reporting & assessing sustainability
- Rankings & consumer sentiment
- The SDGs (overview + deep dive)
- Nonprofits & Certifications
- Sustainable living in our modern world
Part 2 (12 lessons) – 30 Years of Sustainability Action in the Apparel Industry, 1990 – 2020
Topics Include:
- History of Sustainable Fashion (2-part series)
- Review and explanations of important industry reports:
- Global Fashion Agenda (Pulse Reports + CEO Agendas)
- Fashion Revolution Transparency Index
- Greenpeace Fashion at a Crossroads
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation – New Textiles Economy
- Earth’s Filthy Fashion Report
- KPMG & Textile Exchange – Fashion & the SDGs
- Course wrap up – final advice
- Key Takeaways
Additionally:
Book Club (2 books) – In addition to the video lectures, we will read, discuss, and apply the content from the following book two books (included with enrollment):
Books We'll Read/Discuss Include:
- The Responsible Company, by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley
- The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken
After taking this course, and working with Derek for 3 months, your team will be able to:
💯 Understand the sustainability language that’s used in professional, academic, and social articles
💯 Authentically contribute to your company’s sustainability program (or help build one)
💯 Make more conscious purchasing decisions (personally & professionally)
💯 Credibly explain your sustainability initiatives to customers and critique the sustainability claims of brands that are in your space
💯 Confidently critique "eco" alternatives that are being sold to you
💯 Confidently and boldly enter, and participate in, the modern, conscious economy
Sustainability Needs to Be a Part of Your Brand's Culture
Enroll your most passionate and ready-to-learn individuals to empower them with the tools they need to help. Special pricing: $1,200 Per Person.
More Questions? Schedule a time to chat w/ DerekWhat’s included in the Sustainability Sessions Accelerator Package?
- 24 hours’ worth of on-demand lectures for convenient e-learning
- 12 weekly guided group-meetups with Derek to further enhance learning, interact with colleagues, discuss & clarify material, and address current challenges and opportunities at your company
- 24 mini quizzes to assess learning
- 3 comprehensive college-level exams to earn certification
- 24 lecture pdfs available for download
- 3 key takeaway docs for summarized learning
- 4 months access to The Underswell Membership portal for continued learning & resources
- 2 digital books for download: The Responsible Company, by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley, and The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
All Together: Every enrollee in a Sustainability Sessions Cohort will receive:
✓ 5 Months access to The Full School of Understanding Course (Parts 1 & 2) - 12 Modules, 24 hrs of recorded lecture material with links & resources.
✓ 12 weekly teacher-led discussions – Over the course of the program learners will meet 1x per week (Zoom) for 60 minutes in a group setting with Derek at a regularly scheduled time (Thursdays, 9am PT). This is an open-forum discussion session where topics and learnings can be clarified, or where the learnings can be directly applied to the brand. Derek will lead discussions, add additional insights, offer additional learning materials, and offer sustainability-related advice.
✓ BONUS: Complimentary Supplemental Digital Reading Material - Each learner will receive a complimentary audio version of The Responsible Company: Patagonia’s First 40 years, by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley and an e-book version of The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken.
✓ BONUS: Additional Resources - 5 Months access to The Underswell membership portal. Includes: Insights, Knowledge, Resources, and News.
✓Access to PDFs - Included in the course, are viewable PDFs of the lectures, with links to many recommended 3rd party resources, videos, books, movies, etc.
✓ And:
→The Underswell All-In-One Resource Guide – Best sites, Best Books, and Best Movies
→The Underswell Three Top 10 Sustainability Checklists for Sustainable Living: Fashion, Food and Travel.
✓ Upon completion learners will receive a Certificate of Accomplishment, so long as they’ve gone through the entire course, taken all the assessments, and participated in at least 8 of the in-person meetings.
✓ And finally, the Cohort Experience includes:
→ Group Kick-Off meeting
→ Individually Graded Assessments
→ Progress Updates
→ Goals-driven meetings (as required by, and specific to, each brand)
This is a fantastic TEAM BUILDING & NETWORKING experience!
Join other great brands that have gone through or are going through the program like Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy,
RVCA, DC Shoes Element, New Balance, Blue Tomato, RicherPoorer and Zumiez. References available upon request.
What are brands saying?
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“So thankful to have had this opportunity and will continue to use this additional education going forward in both my professional and personal future. Derek Sabori is such an amazing professor! I highly recommend the course to anyone seeking to learn more about sustainability and how to utilize eco-friendly practices in the apparel, footwear and accessories industries.” – Jessica S., Roxy
About Derek.
An apparel industry veteran with more than 24 years in the action sports/lifestyle industry and two degrees (BA, MBA) from UC Irvine, Derek balances multiple roles, all revolving around sustainability & mindfulness, and the apparel industry. He’s a co-founder at Kozm, a consultant to lifestyle brands, a former college instructor, and an entrepreneur, helping brands, individuals, and students start, strengthen, and scale meaningful sustainability programs through foundational education, solid understanding, compelling storytelling, and best-in-class solutions.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DEREKNeed Sustainability Help Beyond This Offer
Let’s spend 25 minutes getting to know each other and talking about where you or your team is at today in regards to sustainability and where you’d like to be in the future.
Schedule a Free Call to Get Started