Giving Compass' Take:
- Janie Overland interviews Ellen Johnson, a team member leading sustainability efforts at prAna, about prAna and Surfrider Foundation's collaboration over the years.
- What does it look like to go beyond buzzwords and provide specifics about the products a company is selling, centering transparency and innovation in sustainability work?
- Search for a nonprofit focused on sustainability.
- Access more nonprofit data, advanced filters, and comparison tools when you upgrade to Giving Compass Pro.
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In 2025, prAna and Surfrider launched a partnership together that simply made sense. Both organizations were founded on a shared commitment to protecting the natural environments that inspire us to get outside – whether through surfing, hiking, climbing, or simply connecting with nature. Since the partnership began, this shared purpose has fueled meaningful impact, and together, we’ve already accomplished so much, centering transparency in sustainability since day one.
Wanting to learn more about what makes prAna prAna, I joined their team on Earth Day at a beach we had cleaned together last fall – a cleanup where volunteers removed more trash than had ever been recorded there. The prAna crew brought great energy and a genuine motivation to make a difference, and together we removed another 20 pounds of trash from the coastline.
After a morning spent with our toes in the sand, I headed to a nearby coffee shop to sit down with Ellen Johnson, one of the amazing team members helping lead sustainability efforts at prAna, centering transparency in her work.
Janie: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! To start, can you share a little about the relationship between Columbia Sportswear and prAna?
Ellen: Columbia Sportswear Company is the parent company of four brands: Columbia, prAna, Mountain Hardwear, and SOREL. My team sits within the company’s shared services division, where we support all four brands across sustainability and corporate responsibility initiatives.
Janie: Did you originally start on the Columbia side or with prAna specifically?
Ellen: I was with prAna specifically for eight years. I actually started as a temp employee in technical design before being hired full-time as a product developer. While I was in product development, my passion for sustainability really began to grow, so I started taking on a lot of stretch projects. We had a Green Team, and I became involved with that. Eventually, a role opened up [on the sustainability side] and I raised my hand for the opportunity. My first position primarily focused on social responsibility and certifications – a lot of the details, reporting, and compliance side of things.
Read the full article about working in sustainability by Janie Overland at Surfrider Foundation.