ArticleSAN FRANCISCO, January 7, 2025 – Today, Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), announces the addition of four new members to their Climate Solutions Portfolio Advisory Council (CSPAC): Lalit Toshniwal, Jimmy Summers, Sophie Mather and Kim Hellström.
Composed of Aii staff, apparel and textile leaders, and industry representatives, the CSPAC offers expert insights to Aii’s landmark Climate Solutions Portfolio (CSP). The initiative is designed to champion and fund a curated collection of solutions set on lowering greenhouse gas reductions in apparel and footwear manufacturing. All CSPAC seats are a minimum of two years, with the potential for a one-year extension.
“Our CSPAC advisors are key to helping simplify and accelerate the adoption of proven and promising solutions that tackle emissions and create a positive impact,” said Lewis Perkins, Aii President. “We sincerely thank the outgoing CSPAC class and look forward to this new group of leaders who will continue working to take the CSP to the next level.”
These incoming experts will continue the strategy and evaluation process developed by the 2022–2024 CSPAC members.
Lalit Toshniwal, Senior Director of Raw Materials at Target, will represent one of two leading funders of the CSPAC. Lalit brings expertise in the apparel and textile industry, with more than 16 years at Target, working across fabric engineering, global raw materials, and supply chain management.
Jimmy Summers, Vice President of Environment, Health & Safety and Chief Sustainability Officer at Elevate Textiles, will be joining as the second supplier representative. Through his role, he has cultivated a deep technical knowledge on the decarbonization needs for Tier 2 facilities and offers experience across global supply chains.
Sophie Mather, an independent consultant and Co-Founder of the Nice Co., joins with expertise in brand transformation, marketing, and purpose strategy. Her experiences range across key brands, including Allbirds, British Fashion Council, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger.
Kim Hellström, Senior Sustainability Manager at H&M Group, will also represent a leading funder of the CSPAC. Kim has more than 15 years of experience in the apparel industry with H&M, across corporate social responsibility strategy, green investment, and green supply chains.
Additionally, Abhishek Bansal of Head of Sustainability at Arvind Mills, and Beth Jensen, Senior Director of Climate and Nature Impact at Textile Exchange, have extended their CSPAC seats for an additional year.
Now at the halfway mark of the so-called decisive decade, the CSPAC’s work will be vital to scaling solutions by strategically working with registrants, grantees, and third-party stakeholders. Aii’s CSP grant is currently open for applications to textile manufacturers interested in implementing an innovative electrification program or technology. Applications close January 17, 2025. All CSP information, including live grant applications and the registry, can be found on Aii’s Climate Solution Portfolio webpage.
About Apparel Impact Institute (Aii): Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit collective founded in 2017. The organization is dedicated to identifying, funding, scaling, and measuring the apparel and footwear industry’s proven environmental impact solutions. Aii has built a $250M Fashion Climate Fund to leverage a first-of-its-kind collaborative funding model between philanthropy and corporate entities. It is designed to catalyze climate action by funding and scaling solutions for decarbonization, and marked to unlock a total of $2B in blended capital, to meet the industry’s goal to halve carbon emissions by 2030. Most recently, Aii has updated its widely credited 2021 “Roadmap to Net Zero,” a report and guide calling for the system-wide collaboration needed to reduce GHG emissions in the apparel and footwear industry by 45% at minimum by 2030 and to zero by 2050. To learn more about Aii, please visit: apparelimpact.org.
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