In January, we showed food bankers our commitment to them by making the decisions to ensure everyone gets a meal. Now, we are sharing that commitment with the rest of the world by becoming a Certified B Corporation.
This prestigious certification is honoured exclusively to organizations who are dedicated to using the power of business to solve complex social problems. The “B” in “B Corporation” stands for “Benefit” as, unlike traditional corporations, Certified B Corporations must adhere to comprehensive and transparent performance standards that measure their social impact.
“We’re out to change the world,” says Link2Feed President, Emily Branton, “And to do this we need to adhere to the highest possible standard. That’s what B Corp represents to us; an ongoing commitment to improvement and a dedication to meeting the highest standards of social impact.”
Walking the walk
As we continue to grow and serve food banks around the world, our Certified B Corporation status will help us attract the right partners to work toward our “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” of creating a metric about hunger in developed nations. It will also ensure that we are aligning ourselves with other organizations that believe in the power of business for social good.
“It helps us walk the walk,” says Branton, “Increasing food bank accountability to help feed hungry people is the core of what we do. Becoming B Corp certified keeps the focus on our social mission and allows us to demonstrate the important role of business in tackling hunger.”
To become a Certified B Corporation, companies must receive a score of 80 or greater on a rigorous assessment that looks at performance in core social areas. Link2Feed greatly exceeded this requirement, receiving a score of over 100. To see Link2Feed’s full impact report, click here.
Link2Feed joins over 1,000 corporations in 32 countries across 60 different industries with the common goal to redefine success in business and is proud to be featured beside such socially-minded companies as Patagonia, Etsy and Ben & Jerry’s.
“We couldn’t be more excited to have Link2Feed join the Global B Corp movement,” says Aaron Emery, B Corp Lead at MaRS Discovery District, “They are a great organization with a very big idea. They’re an impact-driven business that fully embodies the B Corp spirit in the work they do.”
What is a Certified B Corporation?
The B Corp Certification is issued by a non-profit organization called B Lab, which leads a global movement to redefine success in business so that all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but also the best for the world.
B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiatives:
- Building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for consumers to tell the difference between “good companies” and good marketing
- Passing legislation to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing
- Developing B Analytics, a customizable platform for investors to benchmark and report on the impact of their global equity portfolios
- Providing free, powerful tools for businesses to measure, compare and improve their social and environmental performance.