Maybe your company gives employees volunteer time off, or donates to sustainability organizations. Maybe you support a hybrid or remote work model that prioritizes employee work-life balance. You’re doing your best to make the world a better place, but… how do you know, for sure, that you’re making the positive impact you think you are? Are there areas your organization is falling short on? After all, true sustainability isn’t a zero-sum game, and can’t happen on the margins; it needs to permeate every part of an organization’s operations to make a true, lasting impact.

This is where the B Corp certification process, overseen by B Lab, comes into play: a comprehensive way for businesses to track their philanthropic efforts and hold themselves accountable for making the world a better place. In this episode of Sustainability @ Work, we’re looking at how B Corp certification serves as a model for businesses to go beyond profit and commit to making a positive impact.

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Key Quotes

00:03: “I think inherently, people are good, and they want to do good. But how do you know you’re doing good?”

04:09: “Typically, corporations are in business to make profits, and to make money for their shareholders… but B Corp believes that businesses can use those profits to give back to society and the world.”

06:03: “[The B Corp certification process] is about more than committing to something. It’s about making it part of our identity, part of who we are, part of our culture.”

08:30: “Your heart has to be in this, but your head’s got to be in it too, because you’re going to have to deliver on all of this.”

09:26: “[B Corp certification] isn’t just a framework for how we treat the environment; it’s also a look inwards at how we treat our people.”

11:25: “Honestly, I don’t know how you go through this process and don’t end up wanting it even more if you don’t get it.”

12:44: “The B Corp certification makes you put your money where your mouth is.”