Rose Marcario

Rose Marcario is the former CEO of outdoor apparel company Patagonia.^[1] She currently sits on the boards of two companies: plant-based protein brand Meati and electric car maker Rivian.^[2][3] A founding governing board member of The Society To Protect Underground Networks,^[4] an NGO to protect and harness the mycorrhizal networks that regulate the Earth’s climate and ecosystems, Marcario is a vocal supporter of environmental activism, fair labor practices, and corporate transparency.

Biography

Rose Marcario earned a BS in Business and Finance from the University of Albany and an MBA at California State University, Los Angeles.^[5] She then spent 15 years in private equity.^[6]

Rose Marcario joined Patagonia in 2008 as CFO.^[6] Marcario has been a vocal supporter of on-site child care,^[7] which Patagonia established in 1983. Under her leadership, 100 percent of the company's working mothers have returned to work after giving birth.^[8][9] On June 1, 2017, Marcario opened an on-site child care facility at Patagonia's distribution center in Reno, Nevada.^[10] Marcario believes that employer-operated child care facilities are the answer to getting more women on company boards and in CEO positions.^[10]

On June 10, 2020, Marcario announced she was stepping down as president and chief executive officer of Patagonia, effective June 12, 2020.^[11][12] She was included in the 2021 and 2022 Fast Company Queer 50 lists.^[13] In 2020 she joined the boards of two private companies: Meati, which makes plant-based meat, and Rivian, which makes electric cars.^[2][3]

As of 2023, Marcario is also a partner at ReGen Ventures,^[14] a venture capital firm focused on regenerative technology.

Political involvement

In February 2016, Marcario and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made a public statement about the company's commitment to public lands by choosing to withdraw the company's participation^[15] from the annual Outdoor Retailer trade show. The show was hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Marcario and Chouinard said they were protesting Utah Governor Gary Herbert's attempts to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument.^[16] Marcario's decision to use the company's participation in Outdoor Retailer as a bargaining tool^[17] to change Herbert's stance on public lands spurred a boycott of the trade show.^[18][19] Marcario and Patagonia said the brand would boycott the show, one of Salt Lake City's most profitable annual conventions,^[20] unless the state's elected officials backed down on their efforts to rescind Bears Ears.^[21] Many other companies said they, too, would boycott the show in solidarity with Patagonia,^[22][23] which caused Outdoor Retailer and the Outdoor Industry Association to seek a new home for the show in a state deemed more friendly to public lands.^[24]

On Election Day 2016, Marcario closed all Patagonia retail locations in an effort to encourage people to make time to vote.^[25] Four days after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, she spoke out against the Trump administration and in defense of public lands and the fight against climate change.^[26][27][28] Patagonia has sought to mobilize its customers over Trump's executive order to reduce some national monuments, particularly Bears Ears National Monument,^[29] and has sued the Trump administration over the matter.^[30][31]

References

1. "Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario Fights The Fights Worth Fighting". Fast Company. January 6, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
2. Gelles, David (February 18, 2021). "Patagonia's Former C.E.O. Retreats to the Rainforest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
3. Beer, Jeff. "Why former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario's next act is plant-based meat". fastcompany.com.
4. Toussaint, Kristin (November 30, 2021). "How you make a map of the trillions of miles of invisible fungus networks that give our soil life".
5. "Rose Marcario: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
6. "Patagonia CEO: 'There's No Way I Should Make One Decision Based On Quarterly Results'". Business Insider. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
7. "Patagonia's CEO Explains How To Make On-Site Child Care Pay For Itself". Fast Company. August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
8. "The CEO of Patagonia makes a convincing business case for this unorthodox perk". Business Insider.
9. Jackson, Joe (January 20, 2017). "The Outdoor Industry Has Too Many White Dudes". Outside Online. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
10. "Patagonia CEO: Open childcare center to get more women in top posts". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
11. "Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario Stepping Down". Patagonia Works. Patagonia. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
12. Beer, Jeff (June 10, 2020). "EXCLUSIVE: Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario is stepping down". Fast Company. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
13. "Rose Marcario is No. 35 on the 2022 Fast Company Queer 50 list". Fast Company. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
14. Beer, Jeff (November 1, 2021). "Former Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario joins climate-focused ReGen Ventures".
15. "Utah asks Trump to rescind Bears Ears NM, Patagonia pulls out of Outdoor Retailer". SNEWS Be an Industry Insider. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
16. "One CEO's Battle Plan For Protecting Our National Parks". GOOD Magazine. March 1, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
17. Anderson, Taylor W. "'We're going to have to part ways,' Utah guv told Outdoor Retailer execs after Bears Ears 'ultimatum'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
18. "Three more brands pull out of Outdoor Retailer". SNEWS. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
19. Eilperin, Juliet (February 18, 2017). "Outdoor industry pulls trade show from Utah, citing Bears Ears feud". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
20. "Outdoor Retailer Expo Returns to Salt Lake, Brings $20m in Spending" (Press release). Utah Business. January 9, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
21. "2 more companies join boycott of Outdoor Retailer shows in Utah". The Denver Post. Associated Press. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
22. Alberty, Erin (February 14, 2017). "More companies pull out of Outdoor Retailer show over Utah policies". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
23. Wattles, Jackie (February 11, 2017). "Outdoor retailers boycott Utah over public land policies". CNNMoney. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
24. Alberty, Erin (February 17, 2017). "Outdoor Retailer is leaving Utah over public lands issues, a move Herbert calls 'offensive'". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
25. Kaufman, Alexander C. (October 28, 2016). "Patagonia Is Completely Shutting Down For Election Day". HuffPost. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
26. "Brands In The Age of Trump: A Survival Guide". Fast Company. March 9, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
27. "Patagonia has vowed to fight Trump on his order to shrink national monuments — here's why". Business Insider. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
28. Johnson, Kirk (April 14, 2017). "Siege Has Ended, but Battle Over Public Lands Rages On". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
29. "Why Patagonia Is Using 360-Video To Defend Bears Ears National Monument". Fast Company. March 8, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
30. David Gelles. "Patagonia v. Trump". The New York Times, May 5, 2018.
31. Seipel, Brooke (April 26, 2017). "Patagonia threatens to sue Trump over national monuments order". The Hill. Retrieved June 2, 2017.