From the President & Board Chair

The last year has been marked by so many significant achievements for Consumer Reports. It’s also been a time for me to reflect on my 10 years leading this remarkable enterprise. It has been a deeply fulfilling journey to stand alongside such a committed team and experience the loyalty, creativity, ingenuity, and trust of our CR community. From generation to generation, CR has helped build a better, safer marketplace for all, and I am truly grateful to have played a part.

As my tenure draws to a close, the momentum of the CR team is only growing. Facing a marketplace steeped in deceptive tactics—and digital platforms that trace our every move to control what we see and the prices we pay—we are continuing to meet the moment by lifting up consumers’ voices in a changing world. I am proud that CR remains a harbor of truth—beholden not to powerful interests but to the people, and relentlessly committed to helping consumers get the fair shake they deserve.

The world has changed, but over the last 10 years CR has continued to raise the bar on safety, stand up to big brands, and put people’s needs and interests at the center of innovation.

Safety threats have rapidly evolved—including not only dangerous products, contaminants in our food, and insufficient government standards but also increasingly complex digital threats. CR has evolved in turn, standing with consumers at those moments when the stakes are highest. We’ve made critical safety achievements: improving car safety features, like rearview cameras and automatic emergency braking; working with parents to help establish the first-ever national standards preventing deadly furniture tip-over injuries to children; and exposing the dangers of toxic chemicals in our food and water.

We also stood up to big brands, exposing the hidden fees that cable TV companies charge, uncovering the dangers of Fisher Price’s Rock ‘n Play and other infant sleepers that put children’s lives at risk, and revealing the biased algorithms impacting your car insurance prices from companies like Allstate, Geico, and Liberty Mutual.

With innovation accelerating at lightning speed, CR has brought our historic commitment to safety, security, and fairness from the physical world into the digital arena, earning Fast Company’s recognition as one of the “Most Innovative Companies of 2024.” We pioneered the testing of connected products, apps, and digital services, ensuring that the voices and values of consumers are reflected in the digital sphere—from the privacy of their smart TVs and routers to the security of their payment and banking apps. We also created a groundbreaking tool, AskCR, to make the AI revolution work for consumers, harnessing the latest generative technologies to help people navigate the modern marketplace with ease and with trust. And we built innovative apps like Permission Slip and Security Planner that empower consumers to control their own data and digital security.

Together, we can look back with pride at the laws my inspiring colleagues have helped pass, the standards they’ve helped set, and—the true measure of our mission—the lives they’ve impacted for the better. When companies or governments fail to put people first, CR brings consumer power to the fore. At every turn of the marketplace, CR steps up, speaks up, and raises the voices of consumers.

Together, over the last 10 years, we have renewed our commitment to investigate, educate, and advocate for all consumers. CR has something unique and valuable to offer every generation of consumers today—a true partnership that delivers confidence, trust, and real solutions.

I want to thank all the courageous consumers who made this possible, from my talented colleagues who work tirelessly toward our mission to the dedicated members and donors who make our community of consumer advocates a powerful force across the country.

Thanks to you—nearly 90 years into CR’s history—our organization, our voices, and our mission have never been more relevant than they are today.

In a time of unprecedented change for consumers on every front—from the rise of electric vehicles to the proliferation of fake online reviews—CR remains committed to making a difference in the lives of consumers.

Over the last year, the team has focused on the urgency of widening our reach and deepening our impact.

A critical part of this is redoubling our work to reach new audiences, connecting with more consumers than ever, from the members who are already such a critical part of our work to the next generation of consumers shaping the marketplace. That starts by seeing the world through your eyes, asking where, when, and how CR can make the most meaningful, valuable difference for every community.

CR has also sharpened our commitment to making a real difference in critical life moments where the stakes are high. And surrounding these moments is the digital marketplace that CR’s experts are working with consumers to improve, determined to roll out bold new technologies, initiatives, and innovations that help prove a pro-consumer digital marketplace is not only possible but essential.

With this focus in mind, our team has made an incredible impact for consumers over the last year: testing thousands of products and services, surveying and connecting with over a million consumers to better understand their needs and thoughts, coordinating 1 million actions to policymakers and CEOs advocating for pro-consumer policies. And, as you can read in our Impact Report, they’ve worked with consumers to accomplish so many critical achievements: vehicle standards that will prevent hundreds of deaths a year and eliminate 7 billion tons of climate pollution, state laws that improve the digital rights of tens of millions of consumers, reducing exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals for 100 million Americans.

All of our success is thanks to our incredible team dedicated to CR’s consumer mission, as well as the leadership of our president and CEO, Marta Tellado. For 10 years, Marta has consistently helped steer CR ahead of the curve by investing in our institutional agility, our digital prowess, our internal and audience diversity, and our unique and influential role lifting up consumer voices. As she prepares to step down from this role, we are deeply grateful to Marta for her tremendous leadership and the legacy of innovation and success that she has built. And I would like to add my personal thanks and appreciation for Marta’s steadfast dedication to the CR family and to consumers nationwide.

The mission of CR is as vital today as it has ever been, and our work is well underway to identify a new leader who will carry forward the success of the last year—and the momentum that Marta has helped build over the last decade. While this is a moment of change, our mission stays true: to build a better marketplace—through innovative partnerships, trailblazing investigations and advocacy, and cutting-edge testing—for consumers everywhere.