Light Dao Salon: Building to Last: Stewardship & Legacy with Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, CEO of ECOS (LA)
Join Light Dao and our community of conscious entrepreneurs and investors for a salon evening filled with connection, deep conversations, and a fireside chat with Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks and Katrina De Angelis.
What does it take to grow a business for decades while staying rooted in the values it was founded on?
Join Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO of ECOS, for a conversation on leading one of the world’s most recognized sustainable consumer brands. From carrying forward a family legacy to evolving a company through changing markets, Kelly will share how long-term stewardship shapes leadership, innovation, manufacturing, and decision-making.
Together, we’ll explore how businesses can create lasting value for people, communities, and the planet while remaining profitable and resilient for generations to come.
TOPICS WE MAY EXPLORE
• Building a business that lasts for generations, not just quarters
• Leading a family-owned company while evolving it for the future
• Stewardship as a leadership philosophy and business strategy
• Growing without compromising the values that built the company
• How purpose, profitability, and long-term resilience can grow together
• Innovation through the lens of human and planetary health
• What consumer brands need to thrive in the next generation of business
THE EVENING WILL INCLUDE
• 7-7:20 Curated connection experiences
• 7:20-7:30 Small-group discussions
• 7:30-8:15 Fireside chat with Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks
• Community Q&A
Come connect with founders, operators, investors, and leaders exploring how business can create regenerative value for people, communities, and the planet.
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Katrina DeAngelis is the LA Ecosystem Lead for Light Dao and a leadership and organizational systems architect working at the intersection of regenerative business and human development.
Her work focuses on supporting founders, investors, and organizations in evolving beyond extractive operating systems and into models that enable greater ownership, coherence, and long-term resilience. She advises leaders and teams on organizational design, leadership development, and ecosystem strategy.
ABOUT OUR GUEST
KELLY VLAHAKIS-HANKS President; CEO, ECOS
As President and CEO of ECOS® plant-powered cleaning products, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks is passionate about human and planetary health. She leads four manufacturing facilities across the U.S. as well as a European manufacturing platform. Vlahakis-Hanks is widely recognized for her highly effective leadership at ECOS and her influential voice in safer chemistry, regenerative manufacturing, and corporate social responsibility. Under her leadership, ECOS is the #1 selling green laundry detergent in the United States.
Vlahakis-Hanks led ECOS to become a Climate Positive company after achieving carbon neutrality, water neutrality, and TRUE Platinum Zero Waste certification. ECOS is the first manufacturer to receive LEED® Zero certifications in net-zero energy, carbon, and waste. The company has received many awards for its innovations in safer green chemistry, including the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Partner of the Year eight times.
Vlahakis-Hanks received her undergraduate degree at UCLA and her MBA at Chapman University. She has been featured on CNN, CBS News, ABC News, FOX News, NBC News, Bloomberg and MarketWatch and in publications such as Fortune and the Los Angeles Times. She has received several awards for her sustainable leadership, including Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Powerful Women, Conscious Company’s
World-Changing Women in Conscious Business, the Environmental Media Association’s Corporate Responsibility Award, and Global Green USA’s Corporate Environmental Leadership Award. Vlahakis- Hanks was played by iconic actress Shannon Elizabeth in the Hollywood feature film A Green Story, which chronicles the inspiring story of the rise of ECOS, overcoming the power of industry corporate giants to become a leader in green manufacturing.
Vlahakis-Hanks is an active member of several boards of directors, including the XPRIZE Foundation, which is incentivizing solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems like climate change. She is also active in public policy advocacy and industry councils, such as the American Sustainable Business Network, working to promote higher standards for consumer products to protect human and planetary health. In addition, she is an active member of YPO and Abundance 360, a select community of executives and entrepreneurs using exponential technologies to transform their businesses.
Vlahakis-Hanks resides in California with her husband Eric, an acclaimed African American art gallerist, their daughter, and rescue dog.
VENUE DETAILS: The gathering is in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. The exact address will be sent to confirmed guests.
DRESS: We encourage authentic self-expression!
GUEST POLICY: We are a members only (known as Dao Owners) community. All Dao Guests must be approved and can receive an in-person gathering for free. Dao Guests are eligible to become a Dao Owner Member. Otherwise, one must become a Dao Owner to continue attending gatherings. Please note that invitations are not a guarantee for entry, and we invite you to thoroughly answer the approval questions. Friends or +1s must RSVP individually. Unapproved show-ups will not be granted entry.
JOIN US: Light Dao is a fast-growing trusted global community of over 7,000 conscious investors and entrepreneurs with curated in-person and online gatherings across 16 cities in North and South America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia, and rapidly expanding. Our heartfelt mission is to bring abundance for all through enlightenment, expanding the collective consciousness, and empowering values-aligned relationships. Together, we are co-creating a thriving regenerative future for humanity. We are excited to welcome you to our global community! https://lightdao.one