B Labs Achieves Big Wins for Social Enterprises

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The past month has been full of exciting news from the social enterprise sector, and in the middle of it all is Echoing Green board member and co-founder of B Lab, Andrew Kassoy. B Lab is a nonprofit organization that certifies B Corporations through its B rating system.

Last month, Maryland became the first state to adopt legislation creating a new type of corporate entity specifically designed for social enterprises. These Maryland “Benefit Corporations” will have the legal protection to consider employees, the community, and the environment in addition to shareholder value and the obligation to create public benefit. Several other states including Vermont and New York are considering similar legislation.

President Obama also endorsed GIIRS (Global Impact Investment Ranking System), a social enterprise assessment tool similar to that of for-profit ranking systems. A product of B Lab, GIIRS will evaluate the social and environmental impact of companies. According to Andrew Kassoy, “for the entrepreneurs themselves, [GIIRS] is another way to give them assessment tools and best practices to achieve impact.  It also helps them to become part of a community of companies that are likeminded.” Furthermore, Andrew believes this is crucial for Echoing Green, as we see a steady increase of for-profit businesses in our pipeline.

Congrats B Lab for the impact you’re having on the way the social enterprise sector measures their success. We look forward to seeing more effective businesses who are improving the social change space at large.