From ambition to evidence
We started Brink to help global organisations tackle the big questions of our time. In the early days of our conversations about what the business might become, my cofounder Lea and I realised we share an ambition to do well, by doing good. Society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone and it’s no longer enough for business to just ‘minimise impact’ or stick a CSR plaster on it. The business models, technologies and mindsets exist for modern business to make a net positive dent on the world.
That’s why we’re delighted to announce we are joining the B Corp community and have been awarded B Corp pending status, a special status for new businesses.
This means that Brink is now committed to maximising benefits to the environment, community and staff alongside profit in any decision taken by the board. It sets us on a path to full B Corp Certification, which Inc. has called “the highest standard for socially responsible businesses.”
Holding ourselves to account with an objective rating
We have been seeking a way to hold ourselves to account for our commitment to using our business as a force for good, and we felt B Corp and its Impact Assessment was the most powerful means of tracking and demonstrating that commitment. By being measured and benchmarked against the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose, we have evidence of how we’re performing.
We also now have the tools we need to continually measure, compare and improve our impact over time. More than just a rating (and an objective, comprehensive rating at that) the B Impact Assessment provides a judgment on how significant a company’s current impact is. Most reporting systems or frameworks detail how a company should go about collecting impact data, but don’t provide a judgment on how significant that company’s impact is.
Ratings we’re proud of vs. room for improvement
The list of measurement criteria is long, over 100 areas of the business, our supply chain, location, governance, work, etc considered. As a snapshot and in the spirit of transparency, we are proud of our ‘above average’ scores in:
- Positive social impact of our work
- Diversity of ownership (hooray for female founders)
- Considering and managing negative or unintended consequences of our work
- Sustainable workplace, embedded in a local community
There’s room for improvement in areas including:
- Using more impactful suppliers including banking services
- Measuring and tracking our carbon footprint as a company
- Soliciting more structured stakeholder feedback on the company’s social and environmental performance
Over the next twelve months, Brink has the exciting challenge of working towards being a fully Certified B Corporation, with a full set of impact assessment results we can make transparent.
In our work and our research, we see so often how the ethos and spirit of an organisation infuses all parts of the business for years to come. Values of a fledgling organisation like ours, harden in its DNA and as it scales, that DNA is amplified and replicated. We are proud that doing well by doing good is now constitutionally baked into our DNA at Brink. We’re excited to join the B Corps community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Let’s see what impact we might have on the world as we scale.
What is B Corp?
B Corp status is to business “what Fairtrade certification is to coffee”, according to the organisation behind it.
The movement started ten years ago in the US. Its non-profit arm, B Lab, provides certification to for-profit companies that voluntarily agree to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
In the UK, the movement now includes more than 100 certified “B Corporations”, with over £750m in combined revenues, employing 3,500 people and representing 14 industry categories.
Certified B Corps include Patagonia, Kickstarter and Etsy. Also among them is Ben & Jerry’s, whose owner Unilever is working with B Lab to explore how the B Corp status can work for large multinational companies.
B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone. The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment
–– B Labs
Brink is a team made of strategy, coaching, psychology and tech expertise.
We believe it doesn’t matter if your goal is shareholder return in Silicon Valley or social impact in Kathmandu Valley, focussing on smart innovation method and an organisational culture to enable it is the most fruitful path to achieving impact and results. That’s why we created Brink, to bring together method, systems and mindset to deliver impact.
Talk to us at [email protected]
