Donna Carpenter met her late husband, Jake Burton Carpenter, the founder of Burton, in a Southern Vermont bar on New Year’s Eve 1981. Ever since, she’s been a driving force at the world’s leading snowboard company. Thanks to Carpenter’s leadership, Burton now has progressive parent policies, mentoring programs, and more women in leadership roles. In 2010, Carpenter stepped up to the role of president, and then in 2016 went on to become Burton’s first female CEO. In February 2020, she became the chair of the Burton Board of Directors. Under her ownership, Burton commits $2M of profits annually to support values-aligned organizations doing work that positively impacts people, planet, and the sport of snowboarding. As a founder and co-chair of the nonprofit youth development organization Chill, Carpenter is dedicated to the organization’s mission of inspiring young people through boardsports and building a more equitable outdoor community.