WEconomy by Craig Kielburger & Holly Branson & Marc Kielburger

Author:Craig Kielburger & Holly Branson & Marc Kielburger
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781119447795
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2018-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

Want to Prove Your Purpose to the Socially Responsible Shopper? Get Certified

For Jay Coen Gilbert, it was like watching someone take a wrecking ball to his dream. In 1993, Gilbert and two college friends launched AND1, an ethical basketball footwear and apparel company outside Philadelphia. They'd built an above-board supply chain and a business that gave back to the community, donating 5 percent of the company's annual profits to youth organizations. When they sold the business in 2005, AND1, was worth US$250 million. But the new owner moved production to low-wage Chinese factories; the only charity he supported was his own pocketbook.

Frustrated by this experience, Gilbert wanted to help other entrepreneurs build socially responsible businesses with a public legacy that would be preserved, even if the reins were passed on. Equally important, Gilbert wanted to help consumers make informed choices, to invent a way to check the authenticity of a company's purpose.

Enter the benefit corporation, or B Corp, a nonprofit that assesses for-profit companies against rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

The assessments are done at the B Lab, based in Pennsylvania, which evaluates and grades any organization that wants B Corp certification. Gilbert created a system to measure the veracity of corporate causes, and certification to offer transparency to shoppers—ideally, unlocking new socially conscious customers and encouraging more businesses to take up sustainable practices. To uphold standards, B Lab puts a series of questions to companies about packaging, employment practices, energy and water use, sourcing and recycling programs, and other processes. Candidates are given a score (a minimum score of 80 out of 200 is required for certification) and every two years, the purpose audit is repeated. As of 2017, more than 2,100 businesses in 50 countries are certified B Corps.12

Find out more about the exciting work at B Corps: Click for video.

“We're at a tipping point in the evolution of capitalism.”

—Jay Coen Gilbert, Founder of the B Lab

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