Our story
Our roots can be traced back to 2007 when H&M celebrated 60 years. An idea was born to start a non-profit foundation that could contribute to positive change outside of the company sphere. However, to be able to drive an even bigger impact on the entire textile industry, it evolved and became an independent private foundation in 2013 with a new name: H&M Foundation. This is where our story begins.
The H&M Foundation is a philanthropic organisation privately funded by the Persson family, founders and majority owners of the H&M Group. Although we share a name, we are financially, strategically, and organisationally independent from H&M Group.
Our vision is to enable a socially inclusive and planet positive textile industry.
When my grandfather, Erling Persson, founded H&M in 1947, it was with a long-term perspective and with strong values. This philosophy was passed on to my father, Stefan Persson. His message to me growing up was that our family can, and should, also contribute to positive change beyond the company sphere. The H&M Foundation is a long-term commitment from my family and the work has just begun.
Karl-Johan Persson, board member of H&M Foundation
Our heritage and our reason for being forms our DNA, which includes putting impact first, promoting systems change and pioneering solutions. This informs us in our strategies and everyday work.
We believe that change is best achieved when a diverse group of people join forces and commit to a common agenda to solve complex challenges. For us, that means creating agile ecosystems of individuals, organisations, businesses, and academia sharing a mutual goal. We prototype together, try, fail, learn, and try again until solutions with the power to make a difference in the world can be shared and scaled.
Since 2013, the family has donated SEK 1.9 billion (approx. $190 million) to the H&M Foundation.
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How we work
At the H&M Foundation, we may be small, but we believe our ideas have the power to ignite big change. We focus on being the first spark that can catalyse…
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Our vision
Our vision is to enable a socially inclusive and planet positive textile industry. To get there, we focus our work on supporting the industry in halving its greenhouse gas emissions…
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Our role
We might be small, but our ideas are big, and we are determined to make a difference by accelerating change for the entire textile industry.