by HIGH POINT – Susan Inglis, a founding executive of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, is stepping back from her role as executive director, a role she has held for the past 15 years.
As part of the transition, she will help lead the search for a replacement, which the SFC plans to have in place by this January. She will remain in the position until that time.
For the past 15 years, Inglis has served as executive director of the SFC, which was founded by Gerry Cooklin, also the founder and former president of case goods manufacturer South Cone. She has been an influential leader of the organization, not only helping educate the industry about the importance of sustainability, but also helping build the membership to its current level of nearly 400 wholesalers, retailers and designers.
Inglis accomplished this and more, traveling to furniture markets across the country, from Atlanta and High Point, to Dallas and Las Vegas to help communicate the mission and vision of the SFC, while also building the membership to its current level.
She also helped spearhead a sustainability score card, which ranks and recognizes companies for their efforts to create sustainable products that use wood and other raw materials responsibly and in a way that reduces their carbon footprint. The 2021 version of this report is being released Monday Oct. 18.
The SFC is an independent, nonprofit coalition that helps manufacturers, designers, retailers and other companies reduce their impact on the environment while also helping consumers find the types of environmentally friendly and safe products they are seeking in the marketplace.
Marketing has been a major area of emphasis for the SFC and its member companies, which have followed suit by marketing their own sustainability stories as a selling point to the general public. This includes to younger consumers, many of whom base purchasing decisions on the eco-friendly nature of products.
Inglis told Home News Now that she will continue to be involved with the organization as a “resident expert and chief education officer.”
However, while she has enjoyed and thrived in her role at the SFC, she added that it is now time for someone to take things to the next level of its growth and relevance to the industry.
“We want to expand our infrastructure and staff,” she said. “This is too important to depend on the small and insufficient infrastructure we have as an organization…We are excited about expanding our reach.”
