Inside PPAI | Community Lisa Parker, MAS, Honored With PPAI Regional Volunteer Award LISA PARKER, MAS, Southeast sales manager at American Ad Bag – the No. 52 supplier in the PPAI 100 – is the recipient of the 2024 PPAI Regional Volunteer Award. Her achievement was celebrated on September 30 during the PPAI Leadership Development Conference in Southlake, Texas. Given annually to regional association members who demonstrate an outstanding level of volunteerism and leadership, or who have made other significant and measurable contributions to one or more regional associations, the award recognizes recipients who have helped associations thrive through hours of dedication and hard work as volunteers. Parker has been heavily involved in various regional associations over the past two decades, including serving as president of the Carolinas Association of Advertising and Marketing Professionals from 20212022. She has also served on the board of directors of the Sunbelt Lisa Parker, MAS PPAI Partners With Green Business Benchmark For Industry Success In Sustainability WE’VE HEARD IT BEFORE: Sustainability is a journey. Realistically, it’s the sort of journey that requires more than just a map. You’re best suited with a GPS system that has tracked every step you’ve taken. That’s why PPAI has partnered with Green Business Benchmark to not only provide members with the opportunity to receive a GBB certification, but also equip them with detailed progress plans to achieve outside certifications or to select and execute sustainability initiatives. GBB offers sustainability management, program management, benchmarking and offers well-respected certifications. • PPAI members can now access GBB’s standard or premium memberships for 50% off of the normal price. “Green Business Benchmark is thrilled to collaborate with PPAI in driving the promotional products industry toward a more sustainable future through best practices and certification,” says Paul Ghiz, chairman of GBB. “As consumer demand for eco-friendly products grows and environmental regulations tighten, businesses must adapt.” GBB’s many offerings and possibilities come together to take the daunting and often unrealistic tasks in front of an organization that might find itself Googling, “How to be sustainable” and turns them into initiatives that are every bit as approachable and detailed as any other business plan. “This really starts to narrow your scope and gives you a better sense of what you can do,” says Elizabeth Wimbush, PPAI’s director of sustainability and responsibility, who played a large role in helping curate the specifics of the partnership. The Association hopes this enables large-scale progress by empowering members to go further in a direction than many clients and end users may already be asking of them. Over time, the industry can reshape its reputation into one in which companies are known for their efforts in sustainability. “PPAI’s partnership with Green Business Benchmark marks an important step toward embedding sustainability into the core of the promotional products industry and our day-to-day operations,” says Denise Taschereau, founder of Canadian supplier Fairware and chair elect of the PPAI Board of Directors. “By offering members tools and benchmarks for ethical and sustainable business practices, this collaboration empowers PPAI members to meet rising consumer demand for sustainable products, while also positioning the industry for long-term growth in a responsible and impactful way.” Customizable/Industry- Specific Initiatives In practice, GBB can be used to create and track sustainability-based initiatives, whether trying to attain outside certifications or achieve the criteria to be able to make a certain environmental claim. “This is a really good starting place, and it’s a great place, even if you’ve already started some initiatives and put in some effort, to come back and benchmark yourself,” says Wimbush. A natural fit for both distributors and suppliers, GBB users will be able to develop industry-specific initiative packs, essentially creating detailed and organized to-do lists. A company can also assess itself through other existing frameworks and certifications. While GBB cannot hand out an outside certification, it can help a user check all the appropriate boxes with the relevant data. PPAI • OCTOBER 2024 • 67
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