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Andrew Dempsey

Director of Climate at REI

Andrew Dempsey is the Director of Climate at REI, a prominent outdoor retail company.2 With a strong background in sustainability and environmental engineering, Dempsey plays a crucial role in shaping REI's climate-related initiatives and strategies.

Professional Background

Dempsey's career at REI has evolved over time. He initially joined the company as a Senior Sustainability Manager, where he led sustainable operations initiatives. In this role, he was instrumental in developing and implementing REI's sustainability strategy, focusing on areas such as energy efficiency, waste reduction, and responsible sourcing.

Currently, as the Director of Climate, Dempsey is at the forefront of REI's efforts to address climate change and reduce the company's environmental impact.3 His responsibilities likely include overseeing REI's ambitious climate commitments, such as the goal to halve its carbon footprint by 2030.1

Education and Previous Experience

Andrew Dempsey's educational background includes:

  • Master of Science (M.S.) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University
  • Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Studies at Trinity College-Hartford

Before joining REI, Dempsey gained valuable experience in various roles:

  • Workplace strategist and innovation program manager at Google
  • WWOOFer (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) in New Zealand and Australia
  • Guest services at Kimpton Hotels
  • Job captain at McCall Design Group

Contributions to REI's Sustainability Efforts

Under Dempsey's leadership, REI has made significant strides in its sustainability efforts. He has been instrumental in:

  • Developing strategies to achieve REI's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from a 2019 baseline1
  • Collaborating with stakeholders to address supply chain emissions, which are not under REI's direct control1
  • Exploring innovative solutions such as low-carbon transportation and sustainable building materials1
  • Supporting REI's commitment to plant at least 1 million trees over a decade in U.S. national forests1

Dempsey emphasizes the need for collaboration and innovation in addressing climate challenges, stating, "We will need to evolve and reimagine existing business models in order to be successful".1

Highlights

May 10 · linkedin

Last week REI published its 2023 Impact Report. In addition to unpacking how we've begun to decouple our business performance from our carbon emissions, it highlights all the ways we drive positive outcomes for our co-op community and ensure the outdoors remains a transformative experience for everyone. All this delivered in a completely redesigned format that offers inspirational storytelling alongside rigorous reporting. Congrats to all that played a part in bringing it to life!

Apr 17 · linkedin

Emissions from ocean freight shipping remain stubbornly difficult to reduce, and they represent 3% of the global total. Progress will require collaboration, bold action, and corporates signaling demand. That's why I'm thrilled that REI, alongside several other leading organizations, is participating in the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) inaugural tender to purchase over 1 billion twenty-foot shipping container-miles of zero-emissions shipping. The net-result for REI is this will reduce our annual ocean freight shipping emissions on a lifecycle basis by over 90% as compared to fossil fuel service.

Congratulations to Loren VandenBerghe, Sylvia Wilks, Sue Long, Gillian Lui, Josh Petri, Matthew Thurston and Wilfredo (Fred) Antonetty for making REI's participation a reality!

https://lnkd.in/gKPTd4jh

Related Questions

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What specific initiatives has Andrew Dempsey implemented at REI to reduce carbon emissions?
How does Andrew Dempsey's experience at Google contribute to his role at REI?
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Andrew Dempsey
Andrew Dempsey, photo 1
Andrew Dempsey, photo 2
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Location

Seattle, Washington, United States