What role do B Lab's standards play in shaping a new economic system?

A movement to change the system

As we near the final stages of the most substantial rewrite of the standards in B Lab ’s 18-year history, we’re excited to share the publication of our Second Consultation Summary Report. This report showcases the vital role that stakeholder feedback is playing in shaping the future of our standards and the leadership role of #BCorps.

One key highlight is the incredible response from our latest public consultation, with over 16,000 pieces of feedback collected from participants across more than 50 countries. This invaluable input is shaping standards that are clear, attainable and impactful, as well as responsive to the contexts that our diverse community of B Corps operate within. Explore the interactive report.

A vision beyond certification

“B Lab is not here to create a certification and standard for the sake of certification. Were here to change the economic system.” — Clay Brown , interim Co-lead Executive and Head of Standards, Certification, and Product Delivery at B Lab Global.

Our standards and certification have always been important tools to achieve a broader mission: to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. Achieving this requires us to redefine the role businesses play in tackling systemic issues that fuel inequality, environmental degradation, and social disintegration. This is why the evolution of our standards has been central to our strategy over the past few years.

However, it’s important to emphasize that our vision extends far beyond certification. This month, Clay joined Ryan Honeyman and Emmy (Maria) Allison 's podcast, Beyond the B, to further elaborate on this vision, discussing the complexities of developing standards that are both universally impactful while driving the meaningful change our world urgently needs.

Celebrating the businesses already leading the way

For this vision to become a reality, we know we must bring the B Corp community along with us on this journey. It’s why we’re so committed to supporting and celebrating this collective of frontrunners, the businesses that are already leading the way in rethinking what it means to do business.

To celebrate one corner of this growing movement, earlier this month we joined over 1,300 UK-based B Corps in Oxford for the largest community gathering to date, B Lab UK 's #LouderThanWords. The two days facilitated conversations around the standards, the wider movement of purpose-led businesses, and the next steps toward systems change.

A highlight? Meeting B Corps in person for daily lunchtime Ask-Me-Anything sessions to answer burning questions on the standards. We shared behind the scenes on the process and why this work has been made possible by invaluable stakeholder feedback.