The Growth of the B Corp

The rise of the B Corporation is tied to a company’s desire to show sustainable support for social good. But why now?

The rise of the B Corporation is tied to a company’s desire to show sustainable support for social good. But why now?

Well, do you remember dancing around to Hair, Pippin, and Jesus Christ Superstar? Did you sing along as Coke said, “I Would Like to Teach the World to Sing” or strut with Sly & The Family Stone to “We Are Family”? Did everyone you knew growing up watch Animal Farm, Raisin in the Sun, and Stranger in a Strange Land.  Do you remember when cable TV remotes had cords, microwaves arrived to cook our meals, and the going away gift to college was an electric typewriter?

Well, this generation might not have been hippies, but their actual and proverbial older brothers and sisters were.  This is why companies are now structuring themselves around more than profits with social good across their structures.  Those of us who grew up in the late 1960s and 70s have spent our time in the mines and are now the leaders and executives of impactful companies and organizations.  We are now actively instituting and targeting our attention to the knowledge that a better world is available if we all just think.  This knowledge was a part of our childhood. We chanted, “Power to the People!”  Now we are in power to bring peace to the people.

Many of us have had the usual out-of-the-box careers (successful or not) that our parents expected of us.  Some of us are now deciding to start new ventures in areas we have a personal passion for.  Others have risen the corporate ladder and are putting their mark on corporate America, and are dispelling long-held beliefs. We are raising our millennial and x-generation to recognize the prosperity brought forth by peace. 

The shortening of this generational gap is why we see companies rise and join a movement to demonstrate social and environmental sustainability is at the root of good business.  It is now our time to change the world.