Greenwashing corporate environmental and social sustainability efforts are all-too-common, eyeball-rolling, marketing spin these days. However, there is a growing movement of people and businesses who genuinely believe that governments alone cannot tackle global challenges and that the success of a business cannot be measured by profits alone. They’re walking their talk by becoming part of the Certified B Corporation (B Corp) movement which seeks to inspire people in business to balance profit against the impact of businesses on people and the planet.
Sharesource is proud to be part of this movement and has actively set out on the road to becoming a certified ‘BCorp’. Shannon Boyce, our 21-year-old Impact Manager overseeing this initiative, is passionate about the environment. Her primary role is to create an impact program that directly aligns with our core values of equalising opportunities through making a social impact, creating value for all our stakeholders (including the environment), being proactive and being fair, open and honest. These values align perfectly with those of BCorps which aims to tackle significant challenges, including environmental destruction, inequality, poverty and unsafe workplaces, amongst others. B Corps must adopt steps to ensure that they positively impact workers, customers, the community, governance and the environment. She’s super-excited to be project managing our vision of creating a social impact across global communities, starting with our hubs in the Philippines and Vietnam.
One of Shannon’s main focuses at the moment is to reduce Sharesource’s energy usage by 20% by the end of the year. We’re doing this by switching desktop computers to more energy-efficient laptops - a small change that will have a big impact. Once we move back to a hybrid work model of office and home working, we will be looking into solar power sources for our office space.
Shannon’s also seeking out local charities to support and communities to partner with in our global hubs. We’re choosing charities and initiatives that align with our values, are transparent and where we’ll be able to have on-the-ground support to ensure the effectiveness of our efforts. We’re looking to support climate companies like Substation33 - an electronic waste up-cycling and recycling centre that also provides training and work experience for people to gain confidence and skills to transition to sustainable employment. They function on circular economy principles (read our blog on doughnut economics here) as well as skills development and transfer between professional mentors, volunteers, students and people seeking to return to the workforce.
There’s no doubt that the way business is done is changing. Collaboration between governments, businesses and individuals is a shared responsibility - we all need to be part of the solution to the problems facing our planet. The thorough and holistic B Corp certification process is a useful roadmap for companies who want to think more deeply about their mission and their impact. Sharesource is proud to be a part of accelerating a global culture shift, redefining business and building a more inclusive and sustainable economy. Together, we’re a community of change-makers, genuinely working to make a positive impact through our work.
#unleashinghumanpotential; #SocialImpactOutsourcing
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