Jeffrey Hollender

Jeffrey Hollender (born 1954) is an American businessperson, entrepreneur, author, and activist. He was well known for his roles as CEO, co-founder, and later Chief Inspired Protagonist and Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation Inc., the country's largest distributor of non-toxic, all-natural cleaning, paper and personal care products. Hollender is also the co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council and a member of the board of directors of Greenpeace USA, Verite, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and the Environmental Health Fund. He speaks frequently at national venues and has advised companies on sustainability. He has published six books, including Naturally Clean, The Responsibility Revolution and Planet Home.

Hollender was born in 1954 in New York City to Alfred and Lucile Hollender. He attended Riverdale middle school, The Putney School, and Hampshire College. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Sheila, and their three children (Meika, Alex, and Chiara ).

Hollender is a nationally recognized expert on green and sustainable business practices and he works as an unpaid advisor to many large companies interested in sustainability. Under Hollender, Seventh Generation is a sustainably run business with sales growth of more than 40% a year, according to Fortune writer Marc Gunther. Hollender sits on the board of Greenpeace US and sponsored for several years an annual program with the organization that trained college students in how to become activists. He speaks frequently to business and civic groups around the country. He is a member and former Director of the Social Venture Network, a group of socially conscious business executives. He co-founded and was a Director of Community Capital Bank, a New York financial institution that invests in affordable housing and community development.

On June 1, 2009 Jeffrey stepped down from his role as CEO and became Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation. Jeffrey retained his title as "Chief Inspired Protagonist". Hollender's relationship with Seventh Generation was terminated in October, 2010. Hollender and Seventh Generation have not spoken publicly about the separation, but Marc Gunther sheds some light on the events in his blog. According to an email sent by Hollender to Gunther, "On Monday, October 25th, the Seventh Generation Board announced to its shareholders and employees that they have "decided to end the company's employment relationship" with me ". . .without cause". Seventh Generation's letter to shareholders and employees stated "In the life of every company, there comes a time when the most difficult of decisions must be made....recent events have forced us to choose between divergent paths."