I'm Sarah Pinner

I believe the world can be made better by human effort.

I'm a founder, strategist, and circular economy nerd with 10+ years experience launching programs and products from 0 to 1, operating to hit growth goals, and building commercial partnerships.
I excel at distilling unique insights from customer and market research, quickly building highly effective working relationships, and translating big picture ideas into actionable roadmaps.
That feeling when you work with the property managers to get compost!

Human
centered design

My professional and personal pursuits are rooted in and fueled by empathy. My goal is to design solutions for people - solutions that meet their needs and help them live the lives they desire.
A student of design -> 

Sustainability through circularity

I'm dedicated to accelerating the circular economy so that we may create products and services that both meet people's desires and ameliorate the burden of overproduction on our planet.  
Why I started Beni -> 

Innovation by collaboration

I am constantly inspired by the creativity and intellect of those around me. My desire is to harness this collective brilliance and facilitate open innovation to tackle systemic challenges.
A cross-MBA climate conference -> 

Experience & education  

Features & Insights

Beni is creating an ‘easy button’ for secondhand shopping

TechCrunch
Entrepreneurship
Professional
Feature

Google for Startups Accelerator - Circular Economy Pitch Day

Google
Sustainability
Professional
Video

What If Buying Used Clothes Was as Easy as Buying New?

Bloomberg
Sustainability
Professional
Feature

A Fallow Season: Musings From an Idle Year

Blog
Personal
Article

It's Like My Charger Is Broken: Thoughts on Burnout

Blog
Personal
Article

Pathways to Net Zero: Circular Strategies for Climate Action

Deloitte & EDF
Professional
Feature

Sustainable Fashion: Mend, Thrift, Style and Sometimes Buy

KQED
Sustainability
Professional
Video

Scaling Secondhand Shopping with Sarah Pinner

Selling Circular
Sustainability
Professional
Podcast

Beni: Redefining Resale Shopping with AI-Powered Convenience

In With The New
Sustainability
Professional
Podcast

Inspiring Conversations with Sarah Pinner of Beni

VoyageLA
Entrepreneurship
Professional
Article

COVID Turned My Grad Program into a Design Case Study

Northwestern
Design Thinking
Personal
Article

Beni Makes Secondhand Shopping Seamless

Warming Up to Climate Tech
Sustainability
Professional
Article

How We Calculate Impact at Beni

Blog
Sustainability
Professional
Article

The Climate Hub at SXSW

We Don't Have Time
Sustainability
Professional
Video

Pitching Beni on Morning Brew

Morning Brew
Entrepreunrship
Professional
Video

A Student Story: Sarah Pinner of Beni

Northwestern
Entrepreunrship
Professional
Video

Co-Founder and CEO Sarah Pinner on Beni iOS App

RetailBoss
Entrepreneurship
Professional
Article

Beni’s Sarah Pinner on Making Shopping for Reused Clothing Fashionable

Earth 911
Sustainability
Professional
Podcast

Work Highlights

Sustainbility Strategy

Developing the first company-wide sustainability strategy at Imperfect Foods

What began as hosting a breakfast meet-up with colleagues to discuss sustainability turned into a mandate from leadership to establish company level sustainability targets to empower all teams to prioritize and pursue climate positive initiatives
Process
  • Advocated for and led 3rd party carbon audit with Watershed
  • Defined sustainability goals within the context of Imperfect's mission, user needs, and materiality, ultimately defining commitments for waste, energy, and sourcing
  • Created and led 3 cross-functional project teams to propose metrics and initiatives
  • Presented to senior leadership, gaining buy-in to establish goal and team
Outcome
Established and announced a Net Zero goal backed by a company-wide climate action plan and metrics; Hired a full-time sustainability team reporting to the CEO
Learn more ->
Design & Innovation Consulting

Uncovering how Marriott can repurpose assets to serve #vanlife travelers

Marriott presented our team with the challenge: How might Marriott identify new ways of realizing revenue through innovative repurposing of current hotel assets, or through rethinking current business models?
Process
  • Captured observations from comprehensive research including 30 user interviews, hotel visits, social listening, and competitive analysis
  • Leveraged insights to narrow the challenge to: How might we incorporate reliability and hospitality into unique, non-standard accommodations? 
  • Designed and tested Bonvoy Pathfinder app, a solution for van travelers to access Marriott amenities along their journey (e.g. showers, coworking)
Outcome
Selected as top proposed solution by Marriott senior leaders
Business Model Innovation

Exploring financing solutions for innovative food and ag startups at Rabobank

After winning an internal Moonshot competition, our team set out to explore how Rabobank might leverage their food and ag industry knowledge to more deeply serve a growing network of food and ag startups
Process
  • Conducted user interviews with nearly 100 food and ag startups and experts to understand financing needs
  • Prototyped credit analysis process with startups for venture debt offering and built in-depth financial models for a sample portfolio
  • Presented to Rabobank North America senior leaders
Outcome
Published select research findings via Rabobank Research, garnering interest from key corporate clients; Integrated research into Innovation Roadmap for Global Innovation Board