Mary Kay and 15 North Texas Companies Are Rooting for Trees With the Arbor Day Foundation

Good things come in trees! Have you ever thought of trees as solutions for climate and ecological resilience, health and well-being, and economic inclusion?

That was the business case presented by the Arbor Day Foundation at a roundtable hosted by Mary Kay that gathered sustainability & ESG leaders of 15 companies from North Texas at the end of January.

Recognizing the critical role companies play in conservation, Mary Kay is deeply involved in reforestation initiatives through our partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. Guided by its mission of inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees, the Foundation has planted more than 500 million trees since it was founded in 1972. Last year, the Foundation committed to the ambitious goal of planting another 500 million trees alongside its members, partners, and supporters by June 2027.

Ryan Rogers, Mary Kay Chief Executive Officer, and Deborah Gibbins, Mary Kay Chief Operating Officer, greeted Dan Lambe, Arbor Day Foundation Chief Executive Officer and Foundation team members and welcomed the group by highlighting the brand’s sustainability journey with women empowerment at its core.

Did you know:

• The partnership between Mary Kay and the Arbor Day Foundation started in 2008 with a corporate recycling program, where one tree was planted for every old reusable compact recycled. The program exceeded the brand’s goal of 200,000 trees planted in the U.S.
• Mary Kay also supported the Foundation’s Nature Explore Classrooms in domestic violence shelters from 2009 to 2012, providing safe natural spaces for survivors.
• From 2013, Mary Kay supported large-scale reforestation projects globally, and in 2018, celebrated the planting of its one-millionth tree.

Milestone: 

• By the end of 2024, Mary Kay will have supported the planting of more than 1.4 million trees in the U.S. and around the world. 

Dan Lambe said, “Trees are the connectors for people across generations and cultures. Trees, we believe, can be the cornerstone of any scalable sustainability initiative.”

Deb Gibbins emphasized the unique value of the partnership. “Tackling the vast scale of climate change requires collective effort, that’s why we engage in impact-focused partnerships with change-makers like the Arbor Day Foundation. The work of the Foundation enables us to keep on learning about climate and biodiversity, but also about urban forestry and forestry carbon. Their network of partners allows both local and global engagement while the dashboard allows us to measure our impact in real time.“

Notable speakers from AT&T and Marriott International contributed to the business case while influential leaders from 15 companies across various industries from the North Texas business hub shared their sustainability journeys.

The meeting concluded on a high note with a visit to the Mary Kay Museum and Mary Kay Ash’s office.

Mary Kay Ash once said: “We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives. “The Arbor Day Foundation has helped to plant over 500 million trees in 50 years and has cultivated the largest tree planting network in the world. What’s next? Planting another 500 million trees in 5 years – and we are rooting for it!