Businesses usually have a negative connotation when it comes to the environment, but they don't have to be. Social entrepreneur Derek Sabori destroys the old way of doing business, and offers an alternative on how businesses spearhead social change and be a force for the environment. After launching a career at Volcom in 1996, Derek held many diverse roles at the company before finally serving 5 years as the Vice President of Sustainability under the leadership of the CEO and the Sustainability Team at Kering, Volcom’s parent company.
Mid-career, Derek received his MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine and then pursued a goal of sharing his vision of a healthy & sustainable future for his two children by carving out a professional niche in Sustainability and by self-publishing a children's Eco-Action Adventure picture book. After 19 years at Volcom, Derek left the company to play a co-founding role at KOZM the yoga-centered, sustainability-driven lifestyle brand.
Additionally, Derek is the founder The Underswell, a modern sustainability resource guide and advisory agency, and works with clients, big and small, allowing them to outsource their sustainability strategies and projects and integrate sustainability into their business and lives.
Derek has recently served as a director on the boards of the Costa Mesa Foundation, the Orange Coast College Foundation, and PangeaSeed, an NGO dedicated to shark and ocean conservation, and is a part-time instructor and project coordinator at Orange Coast College. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx