Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks is the president and CEO of ECOS, one of the most innovative, diversified and socially responsible companies on the planet. She leads the strategy and production of environmentally friendly cleaning products across the company’s four geographic locations in the United States, as well as a European manufacturing platform.
Kelly earned her undergraduate degree from UCLA and an EMBA from the Chapman University Argyros School of Business and Economics. She is a proud alumna who currently serves on the ASBE Board of Governors and Council of Advisors, and she was the first recipient of ASBE’s Distinguished Alumni Award, alongside George Argyros. Kelly has been featured on CNN, CBS News, ABC News, FOX News, NBC News, Bloomberg and MarketWatch as well as in publications including Fortune, Entrepreneur and the Los Angeles Times. She has received numerous awards for her sustainable leadership, including Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Powerful Women of 2020 and Conscious Company’s World-Changing Women in Conscious Business Award.
The daughter of an African-American mother and a Greek immigrant father, Kelly grew up in a small town (population 3,000) outside of Chicago. “You can do anything,” his mother often told him. During her undergraduate years, Kelly studied history and communications and committed to learning more about her ancestral heritage, completing study abroad programs in Africa and Greece. After graduating, she had the opportunity to deepen her cultural connections by working as a curator at the California African American Museum and as executive director of the American Hellenic Council.
In 2003, a call from her father led her to join the eco-friendly cleaning products company he founded in his garage in 1967. Aware of the need to modernize the company and strengthen ties with consumers and retailers, Kelly created the company’s first media relations department. Over the next decade, she worked in all aspects of the business. In 2012, she was promoted to executive vice president and in 2014, when her father died, Kelly was chosen to succeed him.
Over the past 8 years, Kelly has transformed the company far beyond its original mission of selling cleaning products that are safer for people, animals and the planet. Under his leadership, ECOS became the first company in the world to be carbon neutral, water neutral and TRUE Platinum Zero Waste certified. A self-proclaimed “planetary warrior” and mission-driven CEO, Kelly leads the industry on a variety of fronts, including ingredient safety, sustainable manufacturing and employment practices. She has built an extraordinarily diverse and inclusive company culture, with a leadership team that is 63% women and 45% BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) – ECOS is a WBENC-certified women-owned business and an NMSDC. Certified Minority Business Enterprise. In addition, Kelly offers its employees exceptional benefits such as paid family leave and financial incentives for the purchase of a low-emission vehicle and solar panels.
While most of ECOS’s competitors have been bought out by multinational corporations, Kelly is committed to making his company an independent family business. With a focus on long-term growth rather than quarterly results, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks has become a leading voice in the green movement and corporate social responsibility, making ECOS a model green business in the USA.
