Members of the Western Arctic Caribou herd cross a river in Northwestern Alaska during their summer migration

Fifty-two years after its founding and three years since changing its ownership structure, Patagonia is releasing a report disclosing the company’s progress toward using business to implement solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.

Intended as a spin on the typical corporate impact report, Patagonia’s Work in Progress Report provides the most comprehensive view of the outdoor apparel company’s business impact, ownership structure and environmental giving that it has ever released. As company employees began creating the document a year ago, it became clear the report would need to balance data and metrics with narrative storytelling for context. The name of the report refers to the notion that Patagonia sees itself as an experiment in doing business differently and is a work in progress.

“We want to show our employees, customers and community where we are doing well, and where we have work to do,” said Corley Kenna, chief impact and communications officer at Patagonia. “We are not perfect, as this report will show, but we remain steadfastly committed to improving all parts of our business, from making the highest-quality products to supporting our employees and community of activists and ambassadors. This report is a transparency tool, not a victory lap.”

In September 2022, Patagonia announced founder Yvon Chouinard and his family had transferred ownership of the company to the Holdfast Collective and the Patagonia Purpose Trust. The ownership structure allows the company to indefinitely remain bound to its purpose of saving the home planet. Patagonia’s excess profits — the money left over after reinvesting into the business — are distributed to Holdfast Collective, a collection of nonprofits that use the money to protect nature and biodiversity.

“As a mission-led business in Australia, we’ve seen how transparency and long-term commitment has resonated with our communities and can drive real change for our most precious landscapes,” said Dane O’Shanassy, Country Director at Patagonia Australia. Through our sport activism, grants program, supporting local, grassroots campaigns, along with using our business, we strive to protect nature. And now, under our new ownership model, the local impact is growing. In 2023, our non-profit owner, the Holdfast Collective, committed US $1 million to support the protection of about 92,000 acres in the Mulga Lands bioregion of New South Wales—a landscape of deep cultural significance to the Budjiti People. In 2024, this became Cuttaburra National Park, delivering enduring protection and stewardship. But this report doesn’t just share where we’re making an impact, it shows where we still have work to do—because if we want to continue to make progress, being transparent and persevering is essential.”

As a privately held company, annual stakeholder reporting has never been required of Patagonia. Over the years, the company has shared its efforts, both the successes and the shortcomings, via Our Footprint on patagonia.com.au, B Corp assessments and other tools.

“With this first Work in Progress Report, we’re bringing it all together,” Kenna said. “Our goal is for our community to read this report and engage in constructive dialogue that can lead to better outcomes for people and the planet.”

The report spans Fiscal Year 2025, from May 1, 2024, to April 30, 2025, with some instances of older data to provide context. Key subjects include:

Responsible Business — How Patagonia exists as an experiment in doing business more responsibly.
Product — How the company builds quality, functional products responsibly and reduces the quantity of items its customers need.
Community engagement — How the company activates its community to connect with the natural world and become environmental activists.
Giving ecosystem — How the company uses its resources to find solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.

The report is available at LINK.

About Patagonia

We’re in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. As a certified B Corporation and a founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognised internationally for its product quality and environmental activism, as well as its contributions of more than US$240 million to environmental organisations. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

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