By Professor Dennis Shaughnessy
The Social Enterprise Institute (SEI) hosted Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab, for its Lecture Series this February. B Lab is an innovative organization that has spearheaded the creation and certification of Benefit Corporations (henceforth referred to as B Corps), i.e. businesses committed to both doing well and doing good.
Gilbert, to an audience of nearly 150 Northeastern students, alumni and community members, suggested that the future of business lies in these B Corps. B Corps, he explained, are able to attract and retain top-tier talent by offering their employees opportunities to make meaningful contributions to a better world simply by doing their jobs. “While the previous generation focused on work-life balance,” said Gilbert, “the current generation is looking for work-life integration.”
B Lab, a non-profit headquartered in Wayne, PA, has championed the concept of business for the benefit of all rather than for the few. In short, B Corps pursue financial profit and social impact with equal commitment, energy and resources. Unlike a CSR or “triple bottom line” strategy, B Corps appeal to all stakeholders as opposed to solely their shareholders. B Corps represent a “third option” in that they straddle the line between traditional businesses built to maximize shareholder value and charities established to meet a social need.
B Lab has established standards for companies to measure and evaluate their social impact. These standards, focused mainly on purpose, accountability and transparency, take many facets of companies into consideration, e.g. corporate governance structures, employee relations, environmental sustainability and community engagement. Nearly 1,000 companies have successfully achieved B Corp status and more than 16,000 companies use B Lab’s standards as benchmarks in their attempts to be more impactful. Twenty of the fifty United States now legally recognize B Corps. Included in this list are Massachusetts and most notably Delaware, where most “substantial” corporations are registered.
The latest addition to the lengthy list of B Corps is Warby Parker, one of the fastest-growing and highly regarded fashion retailers in the U.S. Warby Parker sells high-quality, fashionable eyewear online for $95 – a fraction of the prevailing market price. What’s more, Warby Parker is able to offer quality products at good prices while preserving its social mission: to provide eyeglasses to female micro-entrepreneurs throughout the developing world. Doing so allows them to offer women a dignified means to lift themselves from poverty while providing sight to those in need. Unlike TOMS Shoes and its “buy one, give one” model, Warby Parker contributes to sustainable development through micro-business ecosystems as opposed to undercutting local markets through charity.
Warby Parker is an exciting company to millennials for many reasons. Perhaps the most significant is its potential to successfully merge good business with good works. Greater than short-lived marketing or PR campaigns, B Corps are grounded in the belief that social impact is as viable a return as profit. Were Warby Parker to become the first B Corp to enter the public market via an IPO, many B Corps would likely follow suit.
Dancing Deer is a B Corp headquartered in Hyde Park, a neighborhood of Boston, that is committed first and foremost to improving the community in which it operates. This bakery hires chronically unemployed individuals and dedicates a portion of their profits to local development projects. Through its “Sweet Home Project” and other such initiatives, Dancing Deer is a leading, privately held, for-profit B Corp offering good products (try the snickerdoodles!) while bettering the lives of its employees and the community that surrounds it.
