A Call to Sustainability Leaders: Lead with Love

Yesterday I was invited to keynote at GreenBiz24, produced by Trellis Group , and I share this loving critique to the community of Sustainability Leaders in the room. Today, it seems appropriate to share this message to more of you, so that we can think (and act) collectively about what we need to become in order to choose love over fear in the midst of a climate crisis and growing inequality. With this in mind, here's what I shared yesterday, and you can watch my talk on the main stage from GreenBiz24 here (10 minutes). Look forward to your reactions, and so please comment and let me know what resonates, and what does not.

Facing crisis with Love

I joined B Lab 3 years ago amidst the pandemic when my community in New York City was hard hit.?

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty, an accidental fire burned down the beloved sanctuary of my church, Middle Collegiate Church, a historic congregation in the East village of Manhattan that has a 400 year history.?

Displaced and seeking a home, I joined other members of the community and our pastor, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis , in front of the church that tragic day, holding fear and love, simultaneously, amidst a growing uncertainty for what would be needed to be rebuilt. What happens when a place of refuge for those in need finds itself in greater need?

From that moment forward, Rev. Lewis led with a new kind of courage to move beyond this tragedy, which I believe was inspired by Fierce Love, the title of her book.?In it she talks about the ancient wisdom of Ubuntu, I am because you are.

Ubuntu is a fierce love of humanity and a philosophy that recognizes our interconnectedness to get through tragedy and crisis. Because in that moment, our community of refuge and our fierce leader, Rev. Lewis, would need the support of so many others to get through.

Fear is preventing collective action, and we need love

This experience has me thinking a lot about what the sustainability movement must need right now, especially our senior leaders and CEOs, like the ones here in this room.?

Having spent two decades in the sustainability movement, I am here to share this loving critique.

We may have unintentionally built a movement more on fear, rather than on love.?

We may not like (or love) everyone, but when we learn to love the particular nature of humanity, we begin to understand how interconnected we are.

When we structure business with love; when we use Environmental, Social and Governance frameworks that inherently recognize the interconnected nature of people and planet,

When we move as a true collective, with the knowledge that I am because you are, we overcome.?

The anti-ESG movement is rooted in fear

We are living through a moment of incredible division.?

Nationwide, over the last year we have seen an incredible increase of fear and vitriol —? in the courts and in the public square on affirmative action, against diversity, equity, and inclusion; against environmental and social responsibility; because there’s a fear that as more people benefit, others will lose.

In 2023, 37 states introduced 197 pieces of fear-motivated anti-ESG legislation in state legislatures.?

Let's be clear: this effort is intentional, backed and funded by powerful interests.

The anti-ESG campaign is a coordinated effort to dismantle so much of what has been created over the last 60 years since the Civil Rights and environmental justice movements collided over discriminatory corporate practices.

These attacks on us are not new, and I believe they are working because we have fallen out of love, we’ve become more disconnected from the problems that directly affect communities, especially the 100 million people living under the poverty line in America.

We’ve been sold a lie, rooted in fear, by people who want to maintain power.?

Fear may be winning. We need more love right now.?

Lack of racial solidarity is holding back our movement

So if I think we need more love to sustain our movement: what do we need to become in order to choose love over fear?

We need to be comfortable challenging? the status quo.

We understand that short-term impact on our bottom line is a small price for creating long-lasting impact.

We bravely dismantle policies, programs, and practices that reinforce inequality.

We are not terrified of each other, of what our future will look like, of floods and fires and scarcity and political turmoil.

And while fear may be a natural response, a human response, the question I am posing today is: Where is the love?

bell hooks, author and activists, says that “when we choose to love, we choose to move against fear – against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect – to find ourselves in the other.”

Let’s think back to 2022 when SCOTUS came out with the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In that moment we saw fear, yes, but also an outpouring of emotions, and love, for the freedom of bodily autonomy and privacy. (side note: at this point I give a shoutout to Susan McPherson and the Don't Ban Equality platform and campaign that needs more companies and CEOs engaged to sustain the fight.)

Then we get to 2023 when another SCOTUS ruling overturns affirmative action. Where was the outrage? Where was the anger? Protest? Concern? Where was the love for people like me whose opportunities, and livelihoods, are now threatened by this??

Where was the love for Black and Brown workers? What will this mean for our LGBTQIA’s workers? What will this mean for workers with disabilities who also look to gain access and live better lives by fully participating in our economy?

While imperfect, affirmative action put cracks in a system of walls, it lowered barriers of entry, and it made it possible for so many of us to be leaders in a movement that was not always inclusive.

We need business to put people first

The dominant narratives suggest to me that companies come first, planet second, and people come last.

We need a movement to change our mental models and priorities and redefine the role of business if our society is to center humanity.?

Fear should not be holding us back. B Corps – 8,000 of them worldwide – are living examples of the love proposition:

• Nearly 25% of all B Corps are fully owned by their employees
• 69% of B Corps offer bonuses or profit-sharing to non-executive workers
• B Corps are 1.5 times more likely to certify their company's fair trade practices, doing better for suppliers?
• Almost 5x times more likely to have Supplier Diversity Policies that support underrepresented populations
• We’ve protected 1.1 million hectares of land (about the size of Jamaica) and diverted 8.4 million tons of waste from landfills or incineration.

We’re driving action on Climate Justice. Inclusion and belonging, as well as reconciliation, community restoration, and other actions rooted in love, are fundamental principles of this movement.

At B Lab, We’ve come to learn how Indigenous wisdom and the experiences of frontline communities must be respected and listened to if we’re to get this right.

Collective action is the key to our success.

Being a B Corp today is not just about performance and continuous improvement, or even our legal requirement for stakeholder governance.?

It’s about acting beyond your four walls to make a broader systemic impact.

It’s about connection, and finding ourselves in each other.?

Help us build an offense

This year, B Lab is mobilizing our community of over 2,500 Certified B Corps in the United States & Canada to show that love and business are not contradictory.

Labor, business, and state and city officers are combining forces with climate and racial justice advocates to show the power of coalition building.

We are not afraid, and we’re building a collective offense in support of purpose-driven business.

Our narrative must stretch beyond the B Corp community to be effective

I want to invite you to download our pro-ESG messaging guide at wearebcorps.com/messaging.

In it, we share what messages are working and appealing to both sides of the aisle. There are hopeful messages. Ones based in love, not fear. Demonstrating that business can create high-quality jobs, transparency, cleaner and more sustainable communities – while turning a profit. Poll after poll, the public wants corporate responsibility, nothing less

Lead with Love

Together, we are a force to reckon with, when we lead full of courage.

Even if we believe our impact may not be seen for generations to come, what we do today matters for tomorrow.

And at the end of the day: May love win!