Cascale Membership Brochure
Discover the possibilities of becoming a Cascale member by downloading our membership brochure.
Discover the possibilities of becoming a Cascale member by downloading our membership brochure.
Cascale’s Jeremy Lardeau takes an honest look at what Corporate membership delivers — and how the value is sharpening under CEO Ying McGuire.
I’ve now spent five months in a new seat at Cascale, leading industry activation and growth — the team responsible for how we define and deliver value to you as members.
In this post I want to clearly articulate what Corporate membership is actually worth now that Higg Index access is decoupled from Cascale membership, and why its value is differentiated.
Most of my time so far has gone into considering one question: what does Cascale membership actually get you, and is that clear enough? That question sits at the center of everything we do as a membership organization including how we approach our relationship with Worldly, the membership changes we rolled out this year, and how we’re working with our new chief executive officer to sharpen where Cascale goes from here.
This still trips people up, so I think it’s worth restating here. Cascale is a global nonprofit industry alliance: we govern and steward the frameworks and methodologies behind the Higg Index. We convene brands, retailers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders in a pre-competitive space, and turn that alignment and community into collective action at scale. Worldly is a technology company that exclusively delivers data and insights through the Higg Index tools — the platform you log into to actually collect and manage data. Worldly enables measurement; Cascale enables alignment, improvement, advocacy, and collective progress. We work in close partnership, and increasingly you may hold a relationship with each of us separately — but we are not the same purchase, and one is not a subset of the other.
Until May 1 of this year, there was one Cascale membership, and it came with Worldly platform access bundled in — a single line item that covered both the tool and everything Cascale did on top of it. On May 1, we split that into two distinct membership types: Associate, conferred when you purchase a Worldly plan, and Corporate, a separate commitment with its own dues. Higg Index access now comes directly through Worldly; Cascale membership stands on its own.
For a lot of you, the immediate experience of that change was subtraction: something that used to arrive as part of one membership now shows up as two separate decisions, and in some cases two separate invoices. That’s a legitimate reason to ask what Corporate dues specifically buy you that a Worldly plan doesn’t. So here’s the concrete answer.
Associate membership is the measurement door: it comes with a Worldly plan and gives you credible, comparable data for reporting, benchmarking, and decision making. Corporate membership is a different kind of thing entirely: the improvement and influence door, built around what a data platform isn’t built to deliver. Cascale’s global peer and expert community often means it’s your first call when you’re confronted with a sustainability challenge. Before you launch an initiative or build a new approach from scratch, it’s where you can see what the industry has already developed or aligned on. Corporate membership breaks down into three areas, which we are actively reinforcing with increasing member opportunities and content:
1. Sustainability Performance Acceleration — turning measurement into meaningful improvement. Companies come to Cascale to solve the challenges they cannot solve alone, for one of two reasons. Either they lack a capability and need to learn it, and the fastest, lowest-cost way to acquire it is from peers who have already solved it. Or the challenge is systemic — no single company can shift it — and progress requires collective action. In practice, here’s what it means, with some concrete example outcomes for our members:
2. Policy Insights & Advocacy — navigating and shaping an evolving policy landscape. In practice, that’s:
3. Industry Influence & Representation — a hand on the frameworks that will shape your business. We help members shape the future of the industry through governance participation, structured feedback, and collaboration to develop shared priorities, methodologies, and industry approaches that reduce duplication and accelerate progress. For manufacturers notably, this provides a voice in a system historically dominated by brands. In practice, that’s:
The strongest position for most organizations combines both: a Worldly plan for measurement, Corporate membership for everything above. That’s the case we should have been making clearly from day one, and it’s the one my team is making now.
A word to our manufacturer members, because your question here is a different one. Most of you first met the Higg Index because a customer asked you to, so “what do the dues add on top of the platform” was never quite your question. You want to know whether the number of audits required of you is manageable, whether the frameworks you’re measured against get built with your reality in mind, or without it. And increasingly, you want a seat at the table in shaping regulation. That’s what Corporate membership is for you: not another measurement layer, but a seat where those methodologies are shaped; and, as MAS Holdings and Sapphire put it: “a way to rebalance a conversation that has been brand-led for most of its history”.
Ying McGuire joined as CEO on June 1, coming from leading the National Minority Supplier Development Council and, before that, senior global supply chain roles at Dell. In the two months since, a lot of my team’s work has shifted into direct partnership with her, holding every part of our value proposition to one test: could a member get this by simply buying a Worldly plan without joining Cascale at all? If the answer is yes, it doesn’t belong in our pitch for dues — full stop. That’s a harder bar than we’ve held ourselves to before, and it’s the one we’re keeping.
Ying has been clear she wants Cascale’s role judged by whether collaboration across the industry becomes more actionable and measurable, not just better articulated. She’ll lay out more of that agenda at the Annual Meeting in Athens this September, and the membership and value proposition work above is being built as a key part of that agenda.
We’re also going back to where this organization’s thinking started. Back in 2010, Cascale’s founders (then the Sustainable Apparel Coalition) worked with the systems-change consultancy Nexial to map out, node by node, how the industry actually moves — how good data feeds decisions, how decisions create business value, and how business value, government regulation, collective action, and consumer choice reinforce each other into real impact. That map held up: it’s a large part of why this organization scaled the way it did over its first decade. We’ve re-engaged Nexial to redraw it for the next one.
The original System Strategy Map, developed with Nexial in 2010, which guided this organization’s first decade-plus of work.
Any valued membership requires participation. Cascale literally means collective action at scale. So the value you see in membership compounds the more your organization is represented in the room. Bring a colleague into a Community of Practice, put your name forward for a Task Force before the next governance cycle, invite your sourcing team to the Annual Meeting, or ask your membership manager which of this year’s sessions or programs map to the challenge on your desk right now.
There are benefits to sharing Cascale outside your organization as well. Earlier this year, we revealed our first member referral program. That means your organization gets a discount for a successful Corporate referral. Get in touch with your member activation manager for more details.
We know the increasing pressures your organization is up against. But passivity isn’t an option in the mounting environmental and social issues our industry faces. If membership hasn’t fully resonated this year, I’d still rather hear that directly than have you quietly let it lapse, because lapsing isn’t a neutral choice. It means the frameworks you’ll be measured against get built without your input, you go back to tracking regulatory change one file at a time, and you lose the room where a peer has usually already solved the problem in front of you. Tell us where we’re falling short: bring it to your membership manager, raise it through the Member Advisory Committee, or reply to this post.
We changed a lot this year, and we didn’t get all of it right the first time. But the direction is set, the value is real, and it sharpens from here; starting with what Ying lays out in Athens next month at our Annual Meeting. I’d love for you to be there and hear it live.
New Board representatives elected across all three caucuses; approved updates advancing the organization’s broader governance evolution.
Cascale members elect new Board representatives across all three caucuses and approve updates advancing the organization’s broader governance evolution.
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – August 7, 2026: Cascale, the global nonprofit alliance uniting more than 300 members across the consumer goods industry, today announced the results of its 2026 Board of Directors election and member vote on amendments to the organization’s Bylaws.
Members elected three new Directors — one representing each of Cascale’s Brands & Retailers, Manufacturers, and Affiliate member caucuses — and approved governance updates designed to strengthen Board expertise and perspective while maintaining strong member representation.
“Cascale’s future will be shaped by the strength of the perspectives around the table. As we map our 10-year vision and strengthen 2030 strategy, Nate, Tobias, and Abhishek bring exactly the kind of practical expertise, credibility, and value-chain insight this moment requires. Their leadership will help us stay grounded in what creates real value for members, ask better questions, and turn collaboration into measurable progress for the industry,” said Ying McGuire, CEO of Cascale.
“This year’s election and member vote reflect the strength of Cascale’s member-led governance and the importance of an engaged membership in shaping the organization’s future. Welcoming new directors with diverse expertise strengthens the Board’s ability to govern with broader perspective, deeper industry insight, and long-term focus. The approved Bylaws amendments also give Cascale a thoughtful path to bring future independent directors — adding complementary experience while preserving meaningful member representation,” said Mallory McConnell, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility Operations at PVH Corp and Chair of Cascale’s Governance & Nomination Committee.
Nate Herman is Executive Vice President at the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), where he helps steer the association’s strategic plan and oversees its policy, lobbying, and regulatory affairs work. With more than 20 years at AAFA and prior experience at the U.S. Department of Commerce, he brings deep expertise in trade, regulation, corporate social responsibility, and industry engagement. Herman will represent Cascale’s Affiliate member caucus.
“I am continuously encouraged by the progress we’ve made in sustainability and social responsibility, and by the collective commitment to building an industry that works better for both people and the planet. I have also learned that this work is never finished, and that the progress we’ve made has only been possible through collaboration. That’s why I’m especially proud to join the Cascale Board of Directors, a team dedicated to bringing the industry together, tackling shared challenges, and helping to drive meaningful impact,” said Herman.
Abhishek Bansal is Senior Vice President, Sustainability & Innovation at Arvind Limited, where he leads sustainability strategy across climate action, renewable energy, water stewardship, circularity, sustainable raw materials, and responsible supply chains. With more than two decades of experience in sustainability consulting and corporate leadership, he brings extensive experience advancing environmental and social strategies within textile and apparel manufacturing. Bansal will represent Cascale’s Manufacturer member caucus.
“Manufacturers play an essential role in turning sustainability commitments into operational reality, making their perspective critical to meaningful industry progress. Greater alignment across the value chain will be key to translating ambition into measurable outcomes while supporting long-term business resilience. I’m excited to bring that experience to the Board and help strengthen the value Cascale delivers to manufacturers and the broader industry,” said Bansal.
Tobias Fischer is Senior Sustainability Adviser at H&M Group, where he currently advises the Global Head of Sustainability. With more than two decades of experience spanning sustainability strategy, responsible supply chains, and sourcing across Asia, Africa, and Europe, he brings a global perspective shaped by work with brands, manufacturers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Fischer will represent Cascale’s Brands & Retailers member caucus.
“For me, meaningful progress is about finding practical ways forward that organizations can confidently adopt and scale across their value chains. As sustainability requirements and stakeholder expectations continue to evolve, no company can solve these challenges alone. Strong collaboration and alignment across the industry will be critical. I’m looking forward to contributing to Cascale’s continued evolution and helping ensure it remains a valuable and trusted resource for members navigating this fast-changing environment,” said Fischer.
Alongside the Board election, eligible Voting Members approved amendments to Cascale’s Bylaws as part of the organization’s broader governance evolution.
The updates are intended to strengthen Board governance, bring additional expertise and perspective into Cascale’s leadership, and clarify key governance provisions while maintaining strong member representation.
The vote builds on governance changes introduced earlier in 2026, including the establishment of the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) and Membership & Stakeholder Advisory Council (MAC). Together, these developments are intended to create clearer avenues for technical expertise, member and stakeholder perspectives, and independent insight to inform Cascale’s strategic direction and work.
The newly elected Directors will be formally seated at Cascale’s Q3 Board meeting on September 18, 2026, in Athens, held in conjunction with the 2026 Cascale Annual Meeting. They will serve a three-year term.
Cascale also extends its sincere appreciation to Harsh Saini and Dr. Delman Lee, whose service on the Board will conclude in September.
Saini has represented Cascale’s Affiliate member caucus and also served as Interim CEO during an important period of organizational transition. Her leadership, continuity, and commitment helped guide Cascale through a pivotal chapter and supported the organization as it prepared for its next phase.
Lee has represented Cascale’s Manufacturer member caucus, bringing a valuable manufacturer perspective to the Board and helping ensure the realities and priorities of producers were reflected in Cascale’s governance and strategic discussions.
Cascale thanks both Saini and Lee for their leadership, service, and continued commitment to the organization and its mission.
Cascale also extends its appreciation to all candidates who stood for election and to Voting Members who participated in this year’s governance process.
For more information about Cascale’s governance and to view the current Board of Directors, please visit our governance webpage.
Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk
Cascale welcomes new brand, retailer, and manufacturer members in Q2 2026, spanning AMER, APAC, and EMEA.
Cascale is pleased to welcome four new members to its membership community in the second quarter of 2026.
Spanning brands, retailers, and manufacturers across AMER, APAC, and EMEA, these organizations join a network of more than 300 corporate and affiliate member organizations working toward a more equitable and restorative consumer goods industry.
Organizations that joined Cascale between April and June 2026 include:
The new members join at a time when consumer goods companies face intensifying pressure to demonstrate credible progress — from regulators tightening due diligence and reporting requirements, from customers, and from supply chains that overlap across the same countries and facilities. Those pressures are largely shared, and Cascale’s belief is that the response should be coordinated as well.
Cascale membership is built around that logic. Organizations bring their hardest operational questions to peers who have already worked through them, and take on the systemic challenges collectively, drawing on industry data, expert guidance, and training to move from measuring performance to improving it. The work runs in both directions: the frameworks and methodologies Cascale stewards and governs are shaped by the organizations that use them, and members set priorities through Cascale’s councils, task forces, and governance bodies. For manufacturers in particular, that is a route into industry decision-making that has not always been open.
Cascale will support the new members’ participation across its programs, events, and member-led initiatives throughout 2026 and beyond.
Please join us in welcoming Bemis Associates, Shahi Exports, Pepco Poland, and Celio France to the Cascale community.
Interested in learning how Cascale membership can support your organization’s sustainability journey? Explore what membership offers and find out how you can be part of driving industry-wide change.
Before strategy or reporting, you need a data-driven baseline. Here is how Cascale Associate membership opens the door to shared industry ambitions.
Sustainability isn’t fully embedded across most fashion organizations — and that’s not a criticism. It’s the reality. Today’s fashion chief financial officers are candid about the fragmentation within their own companies, and the pressure filters down through every layer of the industry.
In this pressurized climate, companies have to make smarter decisions, and faster at that. Organizations need to understand where they stand today and what they should prioritize next in order to stay afloat of shifting tides. They need to communicate across disparate teams as well to investors and consumers – with clarity – without losing sight of action.
Before strategy, before reporting, before any claim of credibility — there has to be a credible, data-driven baseline.
That’s what the Higg Index offers. Trusted by 40,000+ users and counting, it’s one of the industry’s leading frameworks — and a proven first step toward meaningful sustainability progress.
In a recent Cascale case study, Orsolya Janossy, senior sustainability manager at textile-to-textile recycler Recover, said, “Using frameworks like the Higg Index alongside collaboration across the value chain helps us turn circularity from ambition into action.”
Separately, Cascale member Komar used reliable data to inform its broader climate strategy. “One of our first tasks was to create a proper strategy and then identify credible tools to collect the data needed to monitor progress,” said Komar’s chief sustainability officer, Dr. Thiwanka De Fonseka. “If you have a strategy without credible data, there’s nothing you can do.”
Cascale’s Associate membership offers a direct connection to the industry’s shared measurement system.
Built as a straightforward gateway to credibility, Associate membership gives organizations the industry access they need without the complexity:
It’s designed for organizations focused on measurement, reporting, and building a credible sustainability baseline — wherever they are in the journey. Meaningful progress doesn’t begin with having all the answers. It begins with taking the first step.
Growing together, Cascale expands its global community in Q1 2026
Cascale is pleased to welcome seven new Corporate and Affiliate members to its global membership community in the first quarter of 2026. Representing manufacturers and service providers across EMEA and APAC, these organizations join a network of more than 300 organizations working together to advance a more equitable and restorative consumer goods industry.
Organizations that joined Cascale as Corporate or Affiliate members between January and March 2026 include:
Cascale membership brings together organizations across the value chain to address complex sustainability challenges that no single company can solve alone. As the industry continues to navigate rising regulatory expectations, shifting market demands, and the need for measurable progress, Cascale provides a trusted space for members to learn from one another, align around common approaches, and contribute to solutions that support both business resilience and long-term impact — moving from ambition to action across climate, decent work, and policy.
By joining Cascale, these new members become part of a collaborative community committed to accelerating progress at scale. We look forward to engaging with them throughout 2026 and supporting their participation across programs, events, communities, and member-led initiatives.
Please join us in welcoming our seven new Corporate and Affiliate members to the Cascale community.
Interested in joining Cascale? Explore membership opportunities and discover how your organization can add its voice to a global community driving collective action for a more sustainable consumer goods industry.
The 2026 Cascale memberships offer organizations the support they need in a complex sustainability landscape.
In the age of artificial intelligence, geopolitical instability, and tariff turbulence, sustainability has never been more challenging to get right. The rules are changing. As sustainability expectations grow and regulations evolve, the industry does not need more disconnected systems. It needs greater alignment around credible approaches, shared measurement, and common expectations.
Cascale’s origins are all about collective action. Today, we help organizations reduce duplication, improve efficiency, navigate regulatory complexity, and make more informed business decisions through common measurement, shared tools, pre-competitive industry collaboration, and shared progress on climate action and decent work.
By bringing companies together around credible frameworks and practical solutions, we help members spend less time navigating fragmentation and more time driving measurable progress across their value chains.
Our 2026 offerings address every level of sustainability ambition while giving a clear sense of ownership, flexibility, pricing transparency, and stronger alignment.
In this upcoming blog series, we’ll walk through some of these pathways in greater depth. For now, here’s what prospective members need to know.
At a glance, there are three unique sustainability offerings, which were shaped in consultation with 110 Cascale members. Affiliate membership remains a dedicated pathway for nonprofit, academic, public-sector, and other non-corporate organizations to contribute expertise, perspective, and partnership to Cascale’s mission. Associate membership is designed for organizations primarily focused on measurement, reporting, and building a credible sustainability baseline.
Corporate membership is designed for organizations ready to go further — beyond measurement — and actively engage with the industry to help shape shared priorities and drive collective progress, while strengthening owned sustainability performance and business resilience. Across all pathways, Cascale membership brings the industry together to set shared priorities and turn alignment into measurable progress.
No matter what stage you are at in your sustainability journey, Cascale membership offers a like-minded community and a place to pre-competitively scale impact. Cascale’s role in stewarding and governing the Higg Index framework and methodology remains, as does our commitment to member guidance, value, pricing transparency, and community. That’s why we went straight to the source when redesigning these offerings (thank you to all who supported this transformation).
These new plans further emphasize member and prospective member needs, so that together we can drive systems change in consumer goods. You don’t have to do it alone. By working through common frameworks and pre-competitive collaboration, you can help reduce duplication, strengthen consistency, and move the industry from fragmented action toward shared progress.
For anyone curious about Cascale – no matter your sustainability ambition – we encourage you to get in touch. And for members, the May member webinar (available now on Cascale Connect) captured all of the updates, including unchanged Affiliate plans, new Associate offerings, and refined Corporate membership. As Jeremy Lardeau (our newly appointed senior vice president, industry activation and growth) shared in the webinar: many members will actually see reduced pricing this year.
That’s a reflection of the renewed flexibility, transparency, and differentiated offerings we committed to delivering to our members.
Whether organizations are establishing foundational sustainability practices or helping shape industry-wide solutions, the goal remains the same: enabling meaningful progress through shared action. No single company can transform the consumer goods industry alone, which is why Cascale membership has become an imperative.
Latest Cascale News
Stay up to date with the latest news and events from the forefront of sustainability in the consumer goods industry.
New advisory council to strengthen expert input into Cascale tools governance
Cascale has opened applications for its Technical Advisory Council (TAC), a new advisory body being established as part of the organization’s governance evolution.
The TAC will provide strategic recommendations on the maintenance and evolution of Cascale’s tools, including the Higg Index, and offerings from Better Buying and the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC).
As a global multi-stakeholder nonprofit, Cascale brings together diverse voices from across the consumer goods value chain to help shape decisions that support industry transformation and collective action. The TAC is designed to provide structured technical and expert input on high-impact, complex, or sensitive topics — supporting the continued credibility, effectiveness, and regulatory alignment of Cascale’s tools.
The TAC is one of two new advisory councils Cascale is gradually phasing in, the other being the Membership & Stakeholder Advisory Council (MAC) to be established in Q3 2026. Both are designed for more targeted, timely, and structured engagement, with the TAC providing strategic recommendations on the maintenance and evolution of Cascale’s tools (e.g., Higg Index, Better Buying, SFC), including responses to emerging regulatory requirements, and MAC focused on membership engagement, impact programs, and collective action across stakeholders.
To complement these two new advisory councils, governance will also form time-bound task forces. Together, the TAC, MAC, and task forces are part of a phased approach designed to clarify and transition existing governance models. Certain existing elements, like the Board of Directors, will remain in full force on decision-making. Based on ongoing member consultation, the new governance bodies will provide clearer pathways for recommendations to reach Cascale’s Executive Team and Board of Directors.
Members have the opportunity to become part of the front line of experts guiding some of the most formative tools in our industry.
TAC applications are now open to Cascale members in good standing with relevant technical, regulatory, or implementation experience. As with the other advisory council updates, TAC will include member representative seats and invited external expert seats. This ensures balanced perspectives, structured guidance, and a wide breadth of experience and skills.
After applications close January 31, Cascale will formally establish the TAC in Q1 2026, convening quarterly, with three virtual meetings and the first in-person meeting planned for Cascale’s Annual Meeting in Greece.
Cascale will host two member-only Governance Information Webinars on January 15, 2026, to walk through the evolution of the TAC, its role, and how members can get involved. See the Events Calendars on Cascale Connect for details and registration.
Cascale members can view current governance updates, outputs, and related resources on Cascale Connect, Cascale’s member platform.
This application launch marks an early milestone in Cascale’s phased governance evolution, with additional opportunities for members and industry experts to engage through advisory councils, task forces, and consultations rolling out through 2026.
For questions, contact governance@cascale.org.
Cascale held Manufacturer Members Roundtable, with 13 participants from nine Casale manufacturer members based in Hong Kong and South China Greater Bay Area.
Cascale recently held a manufacturer members roundtable, with 13 participants from nine Cascale manufacturer members based in the Hong Kong and South China Greater Bay Area.
The session aimed to explore how decarbonization conversations between brands and retailers, and manufacturers could be better balanced to achieve mutually-beneficial decarbonization goals.
Cascale identified this roundtable topic in a previously held manufacturer and brand event. During this event, several manufacturers urged the importance of exploring their decarbonization viewpoints in deeper nuance, utilizing their unique expertise and perspectives to implement real supply chain solutions.
The roundtable uncovered a wide variety of win-win solutions and best practices for both sides.
For both sides, mutual trust and an open mindset is a critical starting point for any decarbonization discussion. The session underscored the need for brands to communicate their reasons, rationale, benefits of priorities, targets, and timelines clearly. Too, manufacturers need to share their own roadmaps – mapping out any technical, financial, and resource limitations.
Having the right stakeholders in the room is another key factor. Brands have a part to play in convening representative teams. By brands gathering both the sustainability and commercial teams together and aligning with manufacturers, a more coherent discussion unfolds.
And context is key. While decarbonization target-setting is a significant opportunity for mutual alignment, there is nuance involved. Manufacturers cited the tendency by their customers for generalized environmental assumptions and solutions that ignore local contexts and regulations. Manufacturers suggested decarbonization conversations need to urgently evolve to match the maturity and complexity of social and labor discussions.
Exploring day-to-day realities for manufacturers was another critical inclusion. The current reality is that a manufacturer supplying multiple brands often faces the duplicate challenge of trying to harmonize conflicting brand-specific carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets and timelines across all of their customers. This is on top of setting and achieving their own greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction roadmaps.
Manufacturers need to be consulted first when it comes to goal-setting. Otherwise, there is risk for a mired landscape leading to frustration and stalled progress. It’s why convergence of data requirements, tools, and data collections across brands offers an opportunity to reduce workloads and administrative costs for manufacturers.
This engagement demonstrated how manufacturers are often on the front lines of implementing climate solutions while navigating evolving regulations, brand requirements, and investment needs. Through these dedicated spaces for open dialogue, Cascale looks to continue surfacing real-world challenges and opportunities that might not otherwise reach decision-makers, ensuring that decarbonization strategies are grounded in operational realities.
Cascale members elect new and returning board directors
Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Oakland (CA) – July 8, 2025: Cascale, the global nonprofit alliance of more than 300 members across the consumer goods industry, has elected a new board director and re-elected two incumbent board directors to serve on its Board of Directors. These elections to the organization’s parity-based Board ensure equitable representation across manufacturers, affiliates, and brands & retailers to guide Cascale’s aim of powering collective action for a more sustainable, restorative consumer goods industry.
Cascale is pleased to welcome the following new board director:
Mallory McConnell, VP, Corporate Responsibility Operations, PVH Corp
McConnell is a seasoned sustainability executive at PVH Corp, where she leads global programs in ethical sourcing, social compliance, and environmental impact, integrating human rights and environmental stewardship across the apparel supply chain. With over a decade of experience, she has designed and implemented ESG strategies that boost operational efficiency and drive long-term business value. A strategic, solutions-driven leader, McConnell excels at building cross-sector partnerships, enhancing transparency, and delivering measurable impact. She will join Cascale’s Board as the representative for the Brand & Retailer member caucus.
Cascale also congratulates the following individuals on their re-election to the board:
Tamar Hoek, Senior Policy Director, Sustainable Fashion, Solidaridad and Cascale Board Chair
Hoek serves as senior policy director, sustainable fashion for Solidaridad, where she leads global advocacy on climate action, decent work, and responsible purchasing in fashion supply chains. She collaborates with public and private stakeholders to advance sustainable practices and effective regulation. Hoek has served on Cascale’s Board representing affiliate members since 2021, and contributes to multi-stakeholder initiatives including Better Cotton and the Policy Hub. At Solidaridad, she aligns industry actors to drive measurable improvements and impact in fashion production worldwide. Hoek will continue to represent Cascale’s Affiliate member caucus.
Krishna Manda, Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, Lenzing Group and Cascale Board Vice Chair
Manda is Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at Lenzing Group, where he embeds responsible practices into core business functions and fosters culture change anchored in sustainability values. He leads executive-level strategy for TENCEL™, ECOVERO™, and REFIBRA™ fibers—advancing circular-economy solutions in fashion, home textiles, and hygiene products. Since 2022, Manda has served on Cascale’s Board representing the Manufacturer member caucus. He previously co-chaired the Policy Hub from 2020–2022 and holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability from Utrecht University. He will continue to represent the Manufacturer member caucus.
“The 2025 class brings both continuity and fresh insights,” said Harsh Saini, Cascale Board Director, Governance & Nomination Committee Chair, and interim CEO (as of August 1). “Tamar and Krishna’s ongoing service, together with Mallory’s operational expertise, will strengthen our Board’s ability to steer Cascale’s strategic plan and drive transformative industry change.”
“Strong governance is the backbone of Cascale’s impact,” said Colin Browne, Cascale CEO. “With this mix of experienced directors and new talent at the helm, I’m confident we’ll accelerate our mission—leveraging data, driving collective action, and continuing to build an industry that gives more than it takes.”
The newly-elected directors will be officially seated at the Q3 Board meeting in Hong Kong on September 15, 2025, which will be held in conjunction with the 2025 Cascale Annual Meeting.
Cascale also extends its heartfelt thanks to Sean Cady, vice president, global sustainability, responsibility, trade and government affairs at VF Corporation, whose dedicated service on the Cascale Board concludes this September 2025. Sean’s steadfast leadership has laid a strong foundation for the organization’s continued progress. The Board is grateful for his many contributions and looks forward to building on the momentum he helped create.
For more information about Cascale’s governance and to view the current Board of Directors, please visit our governance webpage.
ABOUT CASCALE
Cascale is the global nonprofit alliance empowering collaboration to drive equitable and restorative business practices in the consumer goods industry. Formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Cascale owns and develops the Higg Index, which is exclusively available on Worldly, the most comprehensive sustainability data and insights platform. Cascale unites over 300 retailers, brands, manufacturers, governments, academics, and NGO/nonprofit affiliates around the globe through one singular vision: To catalyze impact at scale and give back more than we take to the planet and its people.