Photo: A resupply to Dave and Amy Freeman’s “A Year in the Wilderness” led by representatives from Patagonia Chicago and St. Paul.
We’re pleased to announce Ibex Outdoor Clothing, Patagonia, and KEEN as the winners of the Outstanding Partnership Award for 2016. The award recognizes member companies that go above and beyond in building relationships with Conservation Alliance grantees.
All Conservation Alliance grantees from the past three funding cycles were invited to nominate member companies for recognition. Each nomination described how the company engaged in a meaningful partnership to help the organization succeed in its conservation work.
The Trust for Public Land nominated Ibex Outdoor Clothing for a partnership that has spanned many years and includes board service, event hosting, in-kind donations, and public and outspoken support of full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
“Over the past two years, Ibex Outdoor Clothing has been an outstanding partner and friend to The Trust for Public Land,” says Michael Giammusso, Director of Institutional Giving, The Trust for Public Land. “Our relationship with Ibex began in Vermont, and has developed into an invaluable connection.”
Portland, Oregon-based KEEN was nominated by Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) for an unprecedented organizational commitment.
“It would be difficult to imagine a company making a stronger commitment to conservation than Keen has over the last year,” said Dan Morse, Conservation Director, ONDA. “Above and beyond the company’s ingrained conservation ethic and ongoing support for organizations like ONDA, this year KEEN upped the ante for conservation across the country with its Live Monumental campaign. For the ONDA and the Owyhee Coalition this effort brought critical attention and support to the campaign to permanently protect the Owyhee Canyonlands.”
Patagonia was nominated by two grantees, Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and Raincoast Conservation Foundation, for its financial support and awareness raising efforts to garner public support to protect these special places.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support from Patagonia that is helping us reach and inspire hundreds of thousands of people to protect the Boundary Waters and has the attention of national leaders who can take action this year to protect this great canoe country wilderness,” said Samantha Chadwick of the Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness.
“Patagonia gets behind ideas that matter and makes change happen,” said Ross Dixon of Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “We hold up this collaboration as an outstanding example of what is possible when the business community lends not only resources, but their skills, their people and their passion to protect wild places for habitat and the recreational values that we all share.”
The Outstanding Partnership Award is an annual initiative. Previous winners of the award include: Outdoor Gear Exchange, prAna, Mountain Equipment Co-op, The Forest Group, Eagles Nest Outfitters, Filson, Black Diamond, Juniper Ridge, and Footzone of Bend.
