| Jeffrey Hollender | |
| Birth Date: | 8 November 1954 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education: | Hampshire College |
| Occupation: | Business executive Author Activist |
| Known For: | Founding Seventh Generation Inc. |
| Boards: | Greenpeace, Kimberly-Clark |
Jeffrey Hollender (born 1954) is an American entrepreneur, author, and environmental activist who co-founded Seventh Generation Inc.
Hollender was born in 1954 in New York City into an affluent family.[1] His father, Alfred, was a businessman and advertising executive, and his mother, Lucille, was a former actress from a wealthy Chicago suburb.[1]
At the age of 17, Hollender left home for Santa Barbara, California, and attended the Santa Barbara High School, briefly living in his car and protesting the Vietnam War.[1] Earlier, in New York and Vermont he attended three other high schools, the Putney School, Riverdale Country Day School, and The Baldwin School.[2] [3] [4] Later, he attended Hampshire College for a year and a half, until 1974.[1] However, he left college after a year to move to London, where he explored psychoanalysis under the Philadelphia Association.[1]
In 1976, Hollender established the Skills Exchange in Toronto, a nonprofit adult education venture.[1] [5] Later he moved back to New York, where he founded the Network for Learning, which he eventually sold in 1985.[1] [5] After selling the Network for Learning to Warner Publishing, a division of Warner Communications (now known as Time Warner), in 1985, Hollender was named president of the company, which was then renamed Warner Audio Publishing.[6] Later, Hollender shifted his focus towards environmental and social activism.[1]
In 1987, Hollender partnered with Alan Newman to purchase a mail order catalog business that focused on selling environmentally friendly products.[4] A year later, this business became part of Seventh Generation Inc. which he also co-founded with Alan Newman, focusing on producing environmentally friendly products.[1] [7] Despite initial challenges and a split with Newman, Hollender's involvement in the environmental movements of the time helped establish his reputation.[1] His commitment to the cause deepened following the suicide of his brother Peter in 2000, who had played a major role in the company.[1]
In 2009, Hollender co-founded the American Sustainable Business Council.[4] He also co-founded and was a director of Community Capital Bank, a New York-based financial institution focusing on investments in affordable housing and community development.[5] Later, in the same year, Hollender stepped down as CEO of Seventh Generation and was succeeded by Chuck Maniscalco, a former PepsiCo executive.[1] Maniscalco aimed to substantially increase company revenues but resigned after just over a year due to disagreements over the pace of expansion.[1] In September 2010, Hollender was placed on leave and later split from the company under disputed circumstances.[1] [8] [9] In 2016, after Unilever acquired Seventh Generation for $600 million, Hollender was asked to rejoin the company's board of directors, an opportunity he gratefully accepted.[4]
In 2013, Jeffrey Hollender, his daughter Meika, and wife Sheila Hollender co-founded Sustain Natural, a company that focused on producing sustainable, fair trade, and non-toxic condoms in the sexual wellness industry.[10] [11] Sustain Natural was acquired by Grove Collaborative in 2019 for an undisclosed sum.[12]
Hollender has continued to advocate for corporate responsibility, social equity, and addressing climate and population issues.[4] He currently teaches in the Business & Society program at New York University's Stern Business School, where his courses focus on guiding students in creating socially responsible businesses.[4] He is also "An Executive in Residence", at Stern where he mentors and coaches business school students.[4] He also serves on the board of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.[4] Previously, Hollender served as the president of the Rainforest Foundation US as well as the Board Chair at Greenpeace US.[5]
Hollender has written six books on corporate responsibility and sustainable practices. Hollender's writing has been published in academic journals such as the Stanford Social Innovation Review.[13]