Cotopaxi's Smith moving to board leadership; new CEO announced

Salt Lake City-based Cotopaxi has announced that Damien Huang will become CEO of the company on July 1, replacing current CEO and founder Davis Smith, who will transition to chairman of the board. Cotopaxi is a designer, manufacturer and seller of outdoor products including backpacks, jackets, T-shirts and accessories for men and women.

Smith has been called by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a mission president in Recife, Brazil.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

Smith launched Cotopaxi in 2013 and has grown the company to over 300 employees, has assisted an estimated 3.5 million individuals living in poverty through Cotopaxi’s impact work, and as of 2022, surpassed $100 million in revenue. Smith said that the remainder of the leadership team, including Stephan Jacob, chief operating officer and co-founder, will remain intact.

Huang currently serves as president of Cotopaxi. He joined the company in May 2022 from Eddie Bauer, where he had served as CEO. He has also held positions at Patagonia as vice president of design and merchandising and at The North Face, where he spent a decade in a number of product roles.

“Cotopaxi has experienced remarkable growth over the last nine years and is proof that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive,” said Smith. “There is indeed a better way of doing business which is putting people and the planet first. We have a team of leaders who believe deeply in our mission to do good in the world, which gives me a lot of confidence in this transition. I am excited for this next phase in my career as the lifelong steward of Cotopaxi’s brand, purpose and mission, while also creating the right conditions for me to pursue something of great importance in my personal life.”

“Like all great companies, Cotopaxi thrives not only because of a single visionary leader, but because that leader created and nurtured a culture and team that fuels the vision. We are all part of something more meaningful than our individual roles. This past year, Davis entrusted an expanded leadership team with taking the Cotopaxi brand to its next level, and I am honored to take an elevated role as part of that team,” said Huang.{/mprestriction}