Everything said at the Proof Over Promises conference in Winter Park, Colorado, was off the record.

Coming immediately on the heels of PPAI’s Responsibility Summit, about 40 of the branded merchandise industry’s most notable and passionate leaders in sustainability got on a bus outside of the Responsibility Summit’s closing reception and headed 90 minutes west, not just to talk about climate change, but to leave two days later with a concrete plan to take back to the industry.

Discussions were structured, and there was open dialogue. In order to plan for success, being transparent about failures is necessary. In order to reach consensus, disagreement is inevitable. In other words, it was a safe space. ASI’s executive editor Theresa Hegel and I were both present, but it was made clear to us that we were not invited for reasons of media coverage. We were there for our roles as stewards of sustainability in the industry (Hegel and I collaborated on the industry’s first carbon impact study, a joint task between PPAI and ASI, and both of us have worked on many other sustainability initiatives).

Each individual had to feel confident they could speak freely without their words being quoted later. That said, Denise Taschereau, CAS, Fairware’s CEO and immediate past chair of the PPAI Board of Directors, would certainly be comfortable with the public reading the sentiment she shared to the room after the group had workshopped and debated pledges that they would commit to going forward.

This is the room that all of us will be thinking about in the future and saying, ‘I was there.'”

Denise Taschereau

CEO, Fairware

“This is the room that all of us will be thinking about in the future and saying, ‘I was there,'” Taschereau predicted on the final hour.

The inaugural Proof Over Promises event, or POP, was organized by Acylmate, a sustainability-focused business service provider and PPAI member. While small enough to create a camp-like environment in the off-season ski lodge, attendees brought perspectives from different backgrounds in the branded merch industry. The conference breakout groups were led by group leaders including:


“There were different perspectives in the room,” says Elizabeth Wimbush, CAS, PPAI’s director of sustainability and responsibility. “Different generations. Different types and sizes of companies. People who have been doing this work for years and people figuring out where they fit into it.”

Breaking Down Challenges + Creating Goals

On the second day of the event, attendees split into a handful of small groups. They were tasked with coming up with challenges that are preventing the branded merch industry from making greater strides in sustainability, and whether solutions are more likely when considered with distributors, suppliers and business service providers in the same room proposing options.

  • Each smaller group brought their proposal to the larger group for amendments, and eventually, a discussion on whether the group would take the plan forward to earnestly try to work together to accomplish said goal.


“Proof Over Promises came from an observation I had while working with professionals across our industry,” says Mike Smith, CEO and founder of Acylmate. “The promo industry needed more than a panel telling people what sustainability should look like. It needed a room where people could actually build the next steps together.

Nearly 40 sustainability professionals in merch – from new to well-established – rolled up their sleeves and made real, actionable recommendations that individual companies can adopt to move not only sustainability forward, but the branded merch industry, too.”

Mike Smith

Founder & CEO, Aclymate

“The results were phenomenal. Nearly 40 sustainability professionals in merch – from new to well-established – rolled up their sleeves and made real, actionable recommendations that individual companies can adopt to move not only sustainability forward, but the branded merch industry, too. I’m optimistic and excited about how this movement will continue to grow.”

Much of what came out of the conference will reach the branded merch industry as each goal is refined with terms that are fully settled and agreed upon with no loose ends. Shared practices and even the vast importance of a standardized data sharing process was a big point of emphasis at times. Sustainability information (credentials, validations, requests, data, basic information) is often requested or needed at various points in the supply chain. Currently, that information is often requested and satisfied on a case-by-case basis, slowing down processes all across the board. Even beginning to come up with a standardization process in such a large industry requires buy-in, brainstorming and some amount of data sharing. POP provided a backdrop to talk through possibilities like these, as just one example.

Elizabeth Wimbush - smiling woman with curly brown hair
We asked hard questions. We challenged each other. We talked about the urgency of climate change, but also about what is actually within our power to change.”

Elizabeth Wimbush, CAS

Director of Sustainability & Responsibility, PPAI

“We asked hard questions,” Wimbush says. “We challenged each other. We talked about the urgency of climate change, but also about what is actually within our power to change. And we connected.”

Smith says that Aclymate hopes to make Proof Over Promises an annual event in order to keep facilitating ongoing conversations and active work among passionate sustainability leaders in this industry.