Higg Co, the technology company behind the Higg Index platform, has appointed ex-Microsoft executive, Josh Henretig, as the company’s new vice president of global partnerships.
Henretig joins the Higg Co executive team and will lead the year-old company’s expansion through strategic partnerships. The Higg Index is a sustainability measurement platform for the footwear, apparel and textile industries.
Higg Co’s CEO, Jason Kibbey commented on the combination of technology and collaboration expertise that Henretig brings to the company. “Achieving Higg Co’s mission of consistent and comparable sustainability data across consumer goods industries requires rapid proliferation, exchange and disclosure of the data. Strategic partnerships are absolutely critical to that effort. Josh brings a unique combination of technical understanding and insight into the sustainability challenges being addressed by the world’s largest businesses, and we’re thrilled to have him join the executive team.”
A 17-year veteran of Microsoft, Henretig helped shape the sustainability agenda at the company from its first public environmental commitments in 2008 to its announcement earlier this year to become “carbon negative.” In his time with Microsoft, Henretig worked on all aspects of corporate sustainability design and execution, from product development and strategic partnerships to develop scalable programs and tools to drive innovation while decoupling environmental impacts from business growth. In 2016 Henretig developed and launched Microsoft’s AI for Earth program, a $50 million, five-year commitment focused on deploying Microsoft’s AI research and technology in the four areas of climate change, agriculture, water, and biodiversity.
At Higg Co, Heneretig is responsible for developing new partnerships with key stakeholder organizations aligned with Higg Co’s mission and vision and identifying new collaboration and scale opportunities based on future product plans.
“In a world that is desperate for increased transparency and reliable data to avoid the worst impacts of a rapidly changing climate, Higg Co is blazing a path forward. I couldn’t be more excited to join a company that is on the leading edge of helping organizations measure and improve the environmental impact of their products and supply chain from cradle to cradle,” said Henretig. He added, “The urgency and complexity of the climate crisis is simply too large for any single organization to solve alone. We need the collective action of partnership and the speed and scale of technology if we are going to reverse the harmful impacts of human activity on the environment. I couldn’t be more excited to join the Executive team at Higg Co to help leverage the power of partnerships as a force multiplier to help companies around the world measure, prioritize, and improve the health and sustainability of their products and value chain.”
Henretig’s appointment is the second executive appointment at Higg Co this year. The SaaS company, which is incorporated as a public benefit organization, recently appointed former Nike executive, Del Hudson as vice president of marketing & communications.
Higg Co has enabled the completion of more than 20,000 factory assessments in 80+ countries and now employs more than 60 people.
Photos courtesy Higg Co
