Talks and Insights LEADERSHIP Meetup #6

B Corporations by Andreas Renner, Founder B Corp Germany

B Corp Certification Overview

Outline 1 B Lab & B Corp Overview

2 Why Certify?

3 Steps to Certification ü  Business Case ü  Measure What Matters ü  Protect your Mission ü  Final Steps

4 Resources

B Lab serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. B Lab’s vision is that one day all companies will compete to be best for the world, and as a result society will enjoy a more shared and durable prosperity.

Building a movement of leaders

Creating paths for others to follow

A Shared & Durable Prosperity

Certified B Corporations

Building Collective Voice

Mission-Aligned Governance

Measure What Matters

The Evolution of Business 20th Century 21st Century

Shareholder Corporation Stakeholder Corporation

Maximizes Shareholder Value

Creates Social Value and Shareholder Value

was about is about

Today there are:

60 Million Conscious Consumers

$2.7 Trillion in Socially Responsible Investments

100,000 Social Entrepreneurs & Responsible Businesses

People are Demanding Better Last 20 Years

Good Products

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21st Century

Good Companies

90% of Americans say that companies must not only say a product or service is beneficial, but they need to prove it.”

– Cone Communications

73% of consumers care about the company, not just the product when making a purchasing decision.” “

– BBMG

vs. • A certification conferred by the nonprofit B Lab • A company that meets a high level of social and environmental performance AND makes a legal commitment to consider all stakeholders • Any for-profit company in any country can pursue certification (LLC’s included)

• A corporate form (taxed like a C-corp or an S-corp) that has a higher level of transparency, accountability and purpose

• A legal entity that has protection and permission to consider its impact on all stakeholders, not just shareholders

• Available in 31 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico, & Italy

Certified B Corporation

Benefit Corporation

B Corporation certification is to business what Fair Trade is to coffee, Bioland is to milk or FairWear is to a T-shirt.

Certified B Corporations are leaders of a global movement of people using business as a force for good. They meet verified higher levels of

1.  Social and environmental performance

2.  Transparency

3.  Accountability

1800+ CERTIFIED B CORPS

50+ COUNTRIES

140+ INDUSTRIES

1 UNIFYING GOAL

The B Corp community is good company to keep.

The B Corp community is good company to keep.

Location: Hopland, California Product/Service: Wine

100% of workers paid above living wage.

Free on-site financial education to all workers.

>30% suppliers create employment in chronically underemployed populations.

Scholarship programs for children of employees.

100% organic vineyard practices.

B Corps in the Public Market

Why Certify? 1.  Maintain Mission 2.  Differentiate from Pretenders 3.  Benchmark and Improve Performance 4.  Attract and Engage Talent 5.  Collaborate with Peers 6.  Save Money and Access Services 7.  Generate press 8.  Raise Capital

Maintain Mission 1

Adopting the B Corp legal standards:

1.  Bakes the values of the company into its legal DNA

2.  Gives protection and permission to consider non-financial stakeholders (community, employees, suppliers, environment)

3.  Ensures that mission can survive through new management, succession, or ownership

“Benefit corporation legislation creates the legal framework to enable mission-driven companies like Patagonia to stay mission-driven through succession, capital raises, and even changes in ownership, by institutionalizing the values, culture, processes, and high standards put in place by founding entrepreneurs.”

Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia First to register as a benefit corporation in California on January, 2011

Differentiate from Pretenders 2

Benchmark & Improve Performance 3

“The biggest surprise to me was realizing that our employees deeply cared about the things the B Impact Assessment measured.”

Jennifer McKaig, Etsy

Attract & Engage Talent 4

B Corp certification provides a platform to engage current staff and give employees more meaning in their work. B Work: In partnership with Fitzii, a hiring platform to help B Corps win the war on talent. Free

B Corp Leadership Development (BLD): 1 day conference for B Corps, by B Corps for thought leadership development for employees of all levels of the company. SF, NYC, Boulder, BC, Australia, New England.

Collaborate with Peers 5

Save Money & Access Services 6

A suite of partnerships and discounts

Tuition Discounts / Forgiveness

ERP Software Discount Software Discount

Legal Advice Software Discount

Hiring platform & Free Job Postings

Generate Press 7 “B Corp is one of 20 Moments That Mattered Over the Last 20 Years”

“‘B Like a B Corp is one of 5 Business Trends to Master in 2016”

“Benefit Corps are one of “5 Noteworthy Happenings in 2015”

In my work, I often wonder to what extent business can help society in its goals to alleviate poverty, preserve ecosystems, and build strong communities and institutions… B Lab has proven that there is a way – the B Corp movement shows us that business, the driving force of our economy, can be an agent of change and live up to society’s standards.” - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

“

Raise Capital 7

Find Companies & Funds

Gain Visibility With Leading Impact Investors

GIIRS rated companies and funds are highlighted in the search features of B Analytics as being best in class in terms of measurement practices.

Getting listed on B Analytics exposes a company to 100+ impact-focused investors who have a stated preference for GIIRS Rated Companies.

Steps to B Corp Certification

Get a baseline Engage your team

Documentation & Review

Finalize & Submit

Understand your roadmap

Know your business case

Engage leadership and board

Meet the requirements

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Who Can Certify? •  For-Profit Companies of Any Size

•  Any Industry / Geography

•  Customized assessment based on industry, size, geography

•  Any Legal Structure (sole proprietors, LLC’s, Corporations, etc.)*

•  Companies over 1 year old – special Pending B Corp program for start-ups*

Know your business case

B Corp Certification helps companies:

1.  Maintain Mission 2.  Differentiate from Pretenders 3.  Benchmark and Improve Performance 4.  Attract and Engage Talent 5.  Collaborate with Peers 6.  Save Money and Access Services 7.  Generate press 8.  Raise Capital

Know your business case

Engage leadership and board

Engage your leadership & board

Identify relevant decision makers (President, CEO, CMO, etc.) Explain objectives and benefits Start conversation about requirements, particularly legal

Know your business case

Engage leadership and board

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Understand your legal roadmap

❑ Determine your path based on corporate structure and country (US or Canada) or state of incorporation: ▪  Amend your governing documents OR ▪  Adopt benefit corporation status

Examples: ❑  LLC in the United States: Amend operating agreement ❑ Delaware Corporation: Adopt Benefit Corporation form

within 2 years of certification

Meet the legal requirement Adopting the B Corp legal standards: •  Bakes the values of the company into its legal DNA

•  Gives protection and permission to consider non-

financial stakeholders (community, employees, suppliers, environment)

•  Ensures that mission can survive over time

Measure What Matters

Governance

Workers Community

Environment

Customers

Get a baseline

Dedicate two hours to get a baseline.

Create a free B Impact Assessment account

Take a first pass of assessment

Review initial score

See how you stack up compared to the 40,000+ businesses globally

Get a baseline Engage your team

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Impact Business Model

May be based on a product, beneficiary, particular process, activity or structure

Unique to the B Impact Assessment

Extraordinary & contingent upon company

Covers facilities, purchases, employees, and governance

Aligned with other best-in-class standards

Applies to all companies independent of design or intent

Operational Impacts

Take a first pass and use estimates

Registration responses determine your company’s assessment track ●  Company Details

●  Geography

●  Sector and Industry

●  Size

●  Shows questions marked to ‘revisit’

●  Questions can be answered within reports.

Revisit Question Report

Explain This & Show Examples Provide resources, case studies, and definitions to answer questions

Gather a team to steward the process ●  Identify the right people (eg. Human

Resources, Operations, Finance)

●  Explain Objectives and Benefits

●  Assign Questions and deadlines

Engage your team Get a baseline Engage your team

OR gather documents It may be easier to gather information from your team and respond to assessment questions yourself. ✓  A payroll register/employee roster ✓  Employee handbook ✓ A list of our "significant suppliers" (top 80% of suppliers/vendors by dollar volume) ✓ A breakdown of revenue from our various products and services ✓ A P&L ✓ Any resource use tracking (energy, GHG's, water, etc.) ✓ Any sustainability / corporate social responsibility goals, reports, progress tracking

Meet the Requirements

Filter by:

1.  Section, Impact Area

2.  Difficulty of change

3.  Score Value

Customized Improvement Report

Documentation & Review

Finalize & Submit

Meet the requirements

Finalize & Submit

Company Profile Disclosure Questionnaire Submit Assessment for Review (90% complete)

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Upload Operations Documentation ●  6-10 questions ●  Randomly Selected

Examples:

●  Employee handbook ●  Breakdown of suppliers by location ●  List of board members

Complete 60-90 minute review call

Documentation & Review

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Final Steps ❑  Sign B Lab Term Sheet

▪  Certification term is 2-years ▪  Participate in on-site review if randomly

selected (10% of Certified B Corps each year)

❑  Sign the Declaration of Interdependence ❑  Pay licensing fees

▪  Annual licensing fees based on the tiered structure

❑  Public profile on bcorporation.net

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Pending B Corp Status for Startups

A one year program designed to help startups (< 1 year ops) understand and improve their impact with the ultimate goal of creating a lifelong leader in using business as a force for good.

Two step process:

1.  Protect your mission

2.  Start measuring impact

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Redefine success in business. Help create the new economy. Build

a better business.

Compete to be not only the best in the world, but the best for the world.

Join Us

Resources

View past webinars at www.bcorporation.net/videos/webinars ●  Why: Case for Certification with Fetzer Vineyards

●  Increasing your Impact, Improving your Score

●  Maintaining Mission: Meeting the Legal Requirement for B Corp Certification

●  B Impact Assessment: http://bimpactassessment.net/bcorporation ●  How to Certify as a B Corp: http://www.bcorporation.net/become-a-b-corp/how-to-become-a-b-corp ●  Legal Requirements: http://www.bcorporation.net/become-a-b-corp/why-become-a-b-corp/protect-your-mission ●  FAQ for Investors & Directors:

http://www.bcorporation.net/sites/all/themes/adaptivetheme/bcorp/pdfs/faqs_investors_and_directors4.pdf ●  Pending B Corp Status for Start Ups:

http://www.bcorporation.net/become-a-b-corp/how-to-become-a-b-corp/steps-start-ups ●  Case Studies: http://bimpactassessment.net/case-studies ●  B Corp Press: http://www.bcorporation.net/news-media