President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office Friday, but for many of those who oppose him, the Women's March — happening in Washington, D.C., and around the world Saturday — is providing a way to respond to the inauguration. Protest organizers anticipate that 200,000 people will be participating in the D.C. march alone, and there are sister marches happening across the country.
Donna Carpenter, the 53-year-old CEO and co-owner of Burton Snowboards, will be among the masses at the Women's March in Washington. And so will a group of her Vermont-based employees, thanks to Carpenter, who offered to pay for two nights in hotel rooms and subsidize flights up to $250 for anyone on her staff who wanted to walk in the march. She spoke to Cosmopolitan.com about her decision to be a vocal supporter of women's rights.
Why did you make this offer to your employees?
I knew there would be a lot of Burton women who were making the effort to get down to Washington. They're that type of people. We're in Vermont, in Bernie-land. I had a lot of employees who were volunteering for Bernie [Sanders]. But it's a long way from Burlington to Washington, D.C. For me, it's all about numbers. What they need are numbers to make a point.
How many people have taken you up on your offer?
About 25, and some are undecided. All of them are women except for one man. I think the number will end up being around 30. Most people are carpooling down. They're going to make an adventure out of it. Having a hotel room makes all the difference. I think my husband Jake is giving them a goodie bag and some money toward gas. I'm organizing a breakfast that day for the Burton employees.
My husband and I, we marched in New York after the election. It makes you feel better, to realize that you do live in a country that cares about women's rights and status, and that people understand the connection between a strong economy and women's ability to contribute to that economy.
Why is this issue so important to you?
I have been working on the issue of gender equality at Burton for 13 years now. It's been a passion of mine to find more women leaders internally and externally, and to make sure that women feel that they're as much a part of the snowboarding community as men are.
Thirteen years ago, less than 10 percent of our leaders were women and now it's over 40 percent. My senior team is fifty-fifty. It's made us a better company. All the men appreciate that we're more family-friendly, and that we've started to look at employees more holistically. When you address women's issues, you address work-life balance and quality of life. But the election felt like a slap in the face.
At a company meeting in December, I spoke out and said that we might live in a not-so-polite America now, but we can treat each other with respect and inclusion. We can have an impact on our own workplaces if we double down on our efforts. Offering to help my employees go to the march felt like a natural extension of this philosophy. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is.
What has the response been like to your post-election stance?
There's been nothing but positive feedback. I think people feel supported and heard. This election clarified our values and who we are as a company. It's made everybody more vocal about what we stand for.
We feel very much the same way around climate change. We've been a leader in sustainability in our industry but there's only so much one company can do. You've got to join forces and get help from the federal government at some point. Ironically, it's going to be business addressing the issues of climate change and gender equality. Things are better when we have women at the table.
Have you gotten been any criticism?
I do get pushback, a little bit, especially around climate change. The cool thing about snowboarding is we actually grew up in opposition to something: to skiing. They didn't want us at their trade shows. They didn't want us at their ski areas. But we felt it was right because it was too much fun. It's the same thing with this election. It's in our DNA to say that this isn't right. We've been working toward gender equality for more than a decade. And now we're going to be set back?
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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Helin Jung is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. She was formerly the executive lifestyle editor of Cosmopolitan.com.
