Endurance Sportswire Executive Interview Series – Julie M.H. Brown, Senior Director of Industry Impact and Engagement at OIA

August 27, 2026

Do you know what your certifications actually cover, and what they leave out? One wrong claim can turn into a compliance mess fast, so we sat down with Julie M.H. Brown, Senior Director of Industry Impact and Engagement at OIA, to talk through OIA’s new course, Sustainability Standards and Certifications in the Outdoor Industry, and the questions every outdoor industry professional should be asking.

How would you describe the Sustainability Standards and Certifications in the Outdoor Industry course?

It’s a practical, refreshingly honest crash course in how sustainability certifications actually work — taught by Amanda Symm, a materials and traceability veteran from Theory and Ralph Lauren, who spent a decade learning this system the hard way and clearly loves sharing it. The video module builds the conceptual framework, including why programs exist, what they can and can’t do, different types of programs, chain of custody, who does the work, and how brands use them. A companion handout is a reference tool covering 18 specific programs commonly used in the outdoor industry. It helps companies understand what certifications might work best for them, what questions to ask, and how to set themselves up for success. This course doesn’t sugarcoat: It names real mistakes, uses concrete brand-facing examples, and never pretends this is simple. It’s the resource a lot of us wish we’d had ten years ago.

Who is this course designed for, and what types of outdoor industry professionals would benefit most from taking it?

Anyone at an outdoor brand, retailer, or supplier who has to make sense of certifications in their day-to-day work. It’s great for sourcing, product development, sustainability, compliance, even marketing teams writing claims copy. It’s especially valuable for people newer to the space, but experienced practitioners will get a lot out of it too…even ten-year veterans still trip over scope and chain-of-custody nuances. If your job involves evaluating a supplier’s certificate, responding to a retailer questionnaire, or deciding whether a claim on a hangtag is defensible, this is built for you.

Sustainability standards and certifications can feel overwhelming for many companies. Why is this topic especially important for outdoor industry professionals right now?

Because the pressure is coming from every direction at once — NGO campaigns, retailer scorecards that are becoming market-access conditions, and a stacking set of regulations (EUDR, CSRD, ESPR/Digital Product Passport, the EU Empowering Consumers Directive). The course frames this really well: no single brand can audit and verify everything in its own increasingly complex supply chain, so these programs exist as shared infrastructure to make verification scalable. And there’s a genuinely exciting reframe here too: voluntary standards can serve as a testing ground to build the documentation, traceability, and supplier-engagement capabilities that regulatory requirements will demand anyway. Programs selected well now become an asset, not a compliance scramble later.

The course description says the goal is to help professionals ask the right questions and select the right tools for the specific problem they are trying to solve. What are examples of the kinds of questions companies should be asking?

The course reframes the whole exercise around one core question: not “which program is best,” but “which program is the right tool for this problem?” From there, it offers concrete questions to run any program through:

• What exactly is certified — and just as important, what is not certified?
• What type of program is this (standard/certification, chain of custody, audit/verification, commitment/membership, or benchmarking/disclosure)?
• Who actually executes the work — farm, mill, factory, or brand?
• What chain-of-custody model backs it, and does that support the claim we want to make?
• Is our supply chain actually ready for this, before we make any public commitment?

What are some of the biggest misconceptions brands have about sustainability certifications and standards?

This is where the course really shines, because it’s built almost entirely to correct these misconceptions:

• Assuming a certification covers more than it actually does. A certification for one part of a business — say, a single factory, or a single product — doesn’t automatically mean the whole company or supply chain has been checked. The course uses a great real-world example: one well-known certifier offers three different certifications under the same name, and each one covers something completely different — one tests a finished product for harmful chemicals, one certifies a factory’s environmental and social practices, and one combines the two into a consumer-facing label. Seeing one of these marks doesn’t tell you the others apply too.
• Confusing a company’s commitment with a product guarantee. Some well-known sustainability logos simply mean a company made a pledge — like donating a percentage of revenue to environmental causes, or committing to reduce a harmful sourcing practice. That’s meaningful, but since it says nothing about whether the specific product you’re holding meets any particular environmental standard, it can only be communicated in certain ways.
• Mistaking a rating or scoring tool for a certification. Some programs are genuinely useful scorecards or benchmarking tools, but they’re not certifications — there’s no independent enforcement mechanism, and no claim can legitimately be made about the finished product using them. Treating these as equivalent to a real certification is called out as a common and costly mistake, even among experienced professionals.
• Assuming claims can be “rounded up.” Sourcing systems allow varying degrees of certainty about where a material actually came from. A weaker level of traceability can never be upgraded into a stronger claim after the fact — the final claim on a product is only ever as strong as the least rigorous step anywhere in that supply chain.

With so many certifications, standards, and programs available, how should companies think about choosing which ones are actually relevant to their business?

Start from the actual problem you’re solving, not the program’s reputation.

The course’s five-category framework (standards/certifications, chain of custody, audit/verification, commitment/membership, benchmarking/disclosure) gives you the vocabulary to sort any program you encounter into “what it’s actually built to do.” Then evaluate: does our supply chain have the operational maturity this requires? Evaluate supply chain readiness before making commitments, and think about where market expectations are heading, not just where they are today.

Sustainability standards and certification programs are constantly evolving. How can professionals use this course as a foundation while still staying current as programs change?

The course is very upfront: everything is accurate as of March 2026, and programs update standards, fees, and contacts constantly. The advice is direct: “verify before you act” is described as operational advice, not boilerplate disclaimer. Use the module to build the durable conceptual toolbox (what these program types are, how CoC models work, how to ask the right five questions), use the handout as your reference and contact directory, and always go back to the organization directly before a sourcing decision, claims statement, or retailer response.

What risks can companies face if they misunderstand, misuse, or overstate sustainability certifications in sourcing decisions or public claims?

The risks are real: Greenwashing exposure under the EU Empowering Consumers Directive, reputational risk when an affiliated program faces controversy, and the practical risk of building a strategy on a program that isn’t operationally mature yet. The course explains that these are mistakes “experienced sustainability teams” make, not just beginners — which is exactly why this kind of grounding matters.

What is one practical takeaway you hope outdoor professionals can apply immediately after completing the course?

If you walk away able to explain what chain of custody means to a colleague, ask the right questions about any certificate, and distinguish a product claim from a company-level commitment — that’s a win. OIA has essentially handed the industry a shared decoder ring for one of the most confusing (and very consequential) parts of doing business today, and it’s hard not to come away from this course excited to actually put its teachings to use.

For more information on OIA’s Sustainability Standards and Certifications in the Outdoor Industry course and other valuable webinars, courses and certifications, visit OIA Learning.

About Julie Brown

Julie Brown is senior director of industry engagement and impact at Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). OIA champions the outdoors by safeguarding public lands and providing expertise and solutions to brands, retailers, suppliers, and nonprofits. Our work in research, sustainability, participation, and advocacy aims to create equitable outdoor experiences that strengthen the outdoor industry.

As senior director of industry engagement and impact, Julie leads OIA’s sustainability strategy, which focuses on supporting members with climate action, clean chemistry, and sustainability compliance. She organizes member governance and collaboration opportunities to achieve industry impact, and she creates simple ways for companies to engage with OIA to get the most out of their membership. She also leads OIA Learning, the organization’s education platform offering courses and certifications for industry professionals on sustainability, government affairs, and business intelligence, and shapes programming for OIA’s signature gatherings, including the Catalyst Conference and OIA Rendezvous.

Julie is no stranger to member-driven organizations. She previously served as director of the Higg Index at Cascale (formerly Sustainable Apparel Coalition), where she was immersed in the apparel and footwear industries, first connected with OIA, and honed her skills in facilitating industry stakeholders toward shared sustainability goals. She has also consulted directly with brands and service providers on sustainability projects, with particular depth in quantitative impact assessment, circularity strategy, and goal-setting. Immediately before joining OIA in 2023, Julie served as head of sustainability at EON, a technology company building digital product IDs to power data transparency and circularity programs. That background, along with a master’s degree in environmental science and management from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School, shapes her focus on translating sustainability strategy into practical value for OIA’s members.

Based in Santa Barbara, California, Julie spends time outside every day with her family — especially on the trails or in the ocean. She is also a classical pianist and a commercially rated pilot, bringing that same sense of adventure to life outside of OIA.