CSR Press Release

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11 /CSRwire/ - GOOD Worldwide LLC, a mission-driven business focused on helping people live well and do good, today announced it has become a Certified B Corporation™, joining a group of over 600 companies from over 60 different industries – including socially-conscious businesses like Patagonia, Method and Change.org – that have committed to rigorous standards of social and environmental performance in order to redefine what business success means. These companies are aiming to be not just some of the best businesses in the world, but some of the best businesses for the world.

“When we founded GOOD in 2006, we wanted to use business as a force for good. We wanted to have—and to create—jobs that would make us a living, individually, and make a difference, collectively,” said Ben Goldhirsh, founder of GOOD Worldwide. “It’s not only an honor to join these other incredible organizations in becoming a Certified B Corporation, but furthermore, it illustrates our credo: that you can do well by doing good.”

Since its inception, GOOD has seen tremendous success, experienced exponential growth and has continued to take evolutionary steps to demonstrate their mission. GOOD has expanded beyond a magazine into a multi-platform media company, most recently responsible for the development and launch of good.is, an interactive, community-driven platform that connects, informs and empowers people to make a difference. Good.is will collaborate with B Lab, the non-profit organization behind B Corporations, to develop content for businesses working towards B Corporation certification and trying to improve their social performance.

Certified B Corporations operate the same as traditional businesses but meet higher standards of corporate purpose, accountability, and transparency. In order to achieve B Corporation certification, GOOD passed the following five areas of assessment:

1. The Governance – an evaluation of the company’s mission, stakeholder engagement, and overall transparency of the company's practices and policies.
2. The Workers – the company’s relationship with its workforce by measuring the overall work environment, as well as how the company treats its workers through compensation, benefits, training, and ownership opportunities.
3. The Consumers – an assessment of the business structure and if the public benefits either through their product offerings or through exceptional business models.
4. The Community – the company’s impact on its community. Specifically, supplier relations, diversity, involvement in the local community, and community service/charitable giving.
5. The Environment – an evaluation of a company’s environmental performance through its facilities, materials, resources, energy use, and emissions.

“We look forward to sharing key learnings and collaborating with B Lab and other Certified B Corporations through good.is to improve our business and use business as a force for good,” concludes Mr. Goldhirsh.

About GOOD

GOOD (www.good.is) is a global community of, by, and for pragmatic idealists working towards individual and collective progress. Good.is is the platform for collaboration between members of the GOOD community and the organizations and corporations that work with the GOOD community. For each member of GOOD, the mission is to learn and do what’s good for you and good for all.

About B Corp

Certified B Corporations 1) meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance; 2) legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests; and 3) build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand.  As of October 2012, there are 635 Certified B Corporations from over 60 industries in 15 countries, representing a diverse multi-billion dollar marketplace.

About B Lab

B Lab is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.  B Lab drives systemic change through three interrelated initiatives: 1) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between “good companies” and just good marketing; 2) accelerating the growth of the impact investing asset class through use of B Lab’s GIIRS impact rating system by institutional investors; and 3) promoting supportive public policies, including creation of a new corporate form and tax, procurement, and investment incentives for sustainable business.

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