IGP leads B Lab Trailblazers Program
We’ve entered a new era for B Corp Certification. Companies can now recertify under the B Lab Standards V2, deepening their ability to make a positive impact as part of a global movement working to benefit people and planet.
Developed through countless hours of research and refinement, B Lab Standards V2 are really about creating processes to listen, understand, experiment, build systems, and mark progress in iterative cycles. As companies evolve and improve, they also build models that lead other businesses along their own journey. These journeys, collectively, generate momentum for a global movement working to benefit people and planet.
In the spirit of building momentum through shared success, B Lab U.S. & Canada decided to invite companies to participate in a pilot program. A cohort of early adopters for the B Lab Standards V2, dubbed our “Trailblazers,” got to trace the first steps they’ll need to take—both individually and collectively—as they begin the next phase of their transformation.
Now that the program is complete, we had the opportunity to interview participants, along with key personnel responsible for its creation. Here’s what we learned.
How did the Trailblazers program get started?
Alesha Hartley (Associate Director, B Lab U.S. & Canada): When we were finalizing the B Lab Standards V2 last year, it felt like the end of one long journey but the beginning of another. Companies now had put the recommendations into action — not just as a one-time exercise, but as a permanent, gradual, and iterative transformation.
That new journey of getting companies to adopt the V2 standards was full of promise, thanks to the work we had put into building them from a practical and academic standpoint. But it also meant uncertainty: what would it look like or feel like for a company to even get started?
The concept of Trailblazers was to conduct a “trial run” for adoption of the new standards by providing guided, cohort-based support. B Lab and others in the B Corp movement could then know what that looks like in action.
Our results could elevate the visibility of current B Corps actively working towards certification, while also showing others that they literally weren’t undergoing this journey alone.
And what were the results of the program? How did everything go?
Devin Nelson (Senior Manager, Key Account Management, B Lab U.S. & Canada): Overall, it went great!
To break down some stats:
We had 10 participants, many of which were what we call “X Large” and “XX Large” companies, these big multinationals
100% of participants completed the gap analysis portion of the program and formed an action plan based on it
100% of participants increased their familiarity with the B Lab Standards V2
88% felt they had increased their readiness to re-certify, and the same number reported a positive experience with the program
Overall, by the end of the program, our participating companies said they weren’t just more ready to re-certify on B Lab Standards V2 but that they also felt more confident and more relieved.
Our main goal was to help them figure out how they should approach the transition—or transformation—required to implement the new standards. We partnered with a consulting firm, Impact Growth Partners (IGP), to do a tailored gap analysis for each Trailblazer. This could act as a self-help tool for each company to determine how to best engage their teams. From their, they could decide what systems they needed in place for the desired changes to actually happen and work towards the goals the company set.
There are still areas that feel challenging to our participants, and finding out what those challenges were was one of our main goals of the cohort. We now have more knowledge on what guidance or tools could be needed, so we’ll be developing and releasing some of those in the near-term.
The most exciting part of the program, though, was seeing our Trailblazers collaborate with one another! They shared policy templates, offered perspective, and really helped each other along when it came to wrapping their mind around the standards.
Full Article: https://usca.bcorporation.net/trailblazers-stories-of-recertifying-under-b-lab-standards-v2-from-early-adopters/