BCorp Releases its “Best for the World List”

A few weeks ago BCorp released its “Best for the World 2019” list of Honorees, identifying the top 10% of all certified BCorp businesses, some of the most sustainable companies in the world. Brand Geek is proud to say we are among that 10% and we are being recognized this year as Best For the World in Governance. And yes, as a law firm, of course we should be. 🙂 Yet, in eleven years of being Certified, never before has Brand Geek been a Best for the World Honoree. Every year I seek to improve for myself as well as for my clients and for the world we live in. The announcement honoring Brand Geek gave me a moment to ponder why being a B is important to me.

Brand Geek became a BCorp 11 years ago (in February 2008) as a way to demonstrate that we are doing it right. It’s kept us accountable since then, and has meant we cannot be complacent. The B Impact Assessment is a dynamic, aspirational survey that gets increasingly challenging with each revision (dammit!). In order to maintain our score we must continually improve our policies and practices. Every. Single. Year! (Phew!)

What makes it worth the effort, you might be wondering? Brand Geek exists to craft creative solutions to legal puzzles and to cultivate connections among the members of the various communities in which it operates. Being a ‘B” makes us a member of a community of businesses and business owners who share our values and are also committed to continuous improvement. I am proud to be a part of this community and with all that we have in common, it makes it easy to strive to support one another and to do business together.

Motivated by Yvon Chouinard’s, Let My People Go Surfing and the practices of Patagonia, Brand Geek first set out to make its own practices as environmentally and socially conscious as possible. Brand Geek was the world’s second B Corp law firm, first achieving certification in February, 2008. Motivated by Yvon Chouinard’s, Let My People Go Surfing, (prior to Patagonia becoming Certified in 2012), Brand Geek first set out to make its own practices as environmentally and socially conscious as possible. We later realized the impact (not to mention the joy) we could have from representing like-minded soulfulpreneurs who, like Brand Geek, measure and manage not just their profitability but also their enterprise’s environmental and social impact. We are stronger and more impactful together than on our own and being part of the B Corp community is a powerful commitment to corporate transparency and social good.

It’s attributed to Carl Jung, the Father of analytical psychology and has been one of my guiding life principles ever since I first read it. Being Best for the World in Governance is important because how Brand Geek governs itself affects everything the firm does. It also shows that even a small, one-woman enterprise who aligns herself with other strong enterprises (Thank you Ramsey and Tom!) can be a leader in the B Corp community.