MIA’S MISSION

Mia works with purpose-driven brands to create positive change and better products for people and the planet.

Mia has been a leader in the movement for safer, more sustainable materials and processes since 2006. She is a clean beauty pioneer, and having created and implemented the most meaningful standards in the industry (the Credo Clean Standard, Beautycounter’s Ingredient Selection Process, including its Never List, and more). Mia is active in the burgeoning hemp oil & consumer products market, working to develop criteria and language that serves the greater good. Mia amplifies other thought-leaders, researchers and advocates, and connects stakeholders who are passionate about creating a truly sustainable, transparent, quality-driven economy.

Press, writing & Resources

Where there is a will, there is a (better) way.

Climate change, plastic pollution, toxic chemicals, ecosystem collapse, extinction, and increased illness and disease--they are devastating, connected, and complicated. In order to make a truly positive impact on the environment and human health, we cannot look for quick fixes.

Mia embraces the unavoidable complexities that our society faces. The better paths forward are not simple or easy; answers are rarely black or white, and tradeoffs can be real. But of course, inaction is not the answer, nor is “analysis paralysis.” Instead, Mia advocates for a holistic, data-driven approach that is precautionary, common-sense and action-oriented. (Yes, we can be all of these things.)

How?

Today, Mia works with other authentic leaders and brands to articulate their brand mission, and to define and operationalize “clean” with respect to ingredients, products and packaging. She pushes companies to get beyond the “free-of list” to really make change--otherwise we end up with a “regrettable substitution,” trading one toxic chemical for another, or one unsustainable package for one that is perhaps just as bad, but in a different way.

In the under-regulated world of consumer products, Mia has defined “clean” as the nexus of

Safety (could the ingredient or its contaminants cause harm at the levels used?),
Sourcing (is it natural? naturally-derived? Synthetic? If natural, is it organic? Genetically modified?),
Sustainability (how was it grown, harvested, mined, or made?),
Ethics (were workers paid fairly, and protected from hazards and poor conditions? is there a non-animal source for the ingredient? Is there a better way to make this thing?), and
Transparency (how much do we know about the material? are suppliers withholding information or greenwashing?)