Isagenix Impact Report Cites 3.4 Million in Grants and a Female CEO

Isagenix International released a 2019-2020 social impact report covering grants, workforce diversity, and packaging changes. Chief executive Sharron Walsh said contribution has been part of the company since it started in 2002.

The ISA Foundation, launched in 2018, has awarded 3.4 million dollars in grants to 79 nonprofits in the United States and Canada. That includes 12 grants totaling 525,000 dollars to U.S. nonprofits for COVID-19 relief. The company said the grants have provided more than 5 million meals, funded more than 30,000 educational events, and served more than 225,000 children and families.

In June the foundation added racial equality as a fourth focus area. Its first partnership in that area was a 50,000 dollar grant to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

As of August, 64 percent of U.S. workers were women and 39 percent were racial minorities. In September the company named Walsh its first female chief executive. She sits on the executive team with co-founder and executive vice president Kathy Coover.

On packaging, Isagenix said it is working toward zero waste packaging by 2028. More than half of products in bottles and canisters now use 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. In July it introduced a recyclable gusset bag for Whole Blend IsaLean Shakes that it said will use 80 percent less plastic, or about 5,073 fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 12 months. In 2020 it stopped using cardboard boxes to move shake canisters from third-party manufacturers to distribution centers and switched to cardboard trays, cutting cardboard use by 3.2 million square feet over a year. Solar panels on parking shade structures at the Gilbert headquarters produce about 463,000 kilowatt-hours a year, nearly one-fourth of the building power.

The company is a 2020 Az Business Angels Awards finalist for outstanding corporate responsibility, with a decision expected in November. In September it won a bronze Stevie Award in the Most Valuable Corporate Response category of the 2020 International Business Awards for employee and community wellbeing during the pandemic.