Every decision a business makes, whether conscious or unconscious, produces a ripple effect that impacts people, communities and the environment far beyond the scope of its primary stakeholders.
This becomes clear for all the wrong reasons when we see companies make decisions that result in devastating oil spills, factory collapses or the continued exploitation of people and animals, impacting economies and ecosystems far beyond themselves.
We also see companies make decisions that create the best kinds of ripple effects, whether that’s by taking a stand on an important issue, committing to better business practices or producing a values-based ethical marketing campaign that improves the lives of a marginalised community.
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Harnessing the power of business to address complex issues
Businesses have immense power to address the world’s most critical challenges. From investing resources in reducing social inequality and increasing access to public health education to creating jobs and supporting financial freedom for people who experience barriers to employment — businesses have the power and the resources to do it all.
At a fundamental level, wielding business as a force for good means using the power of the market to positively impact stakeholders and shift the global economy to one that prioritises inclusivity and regeneration over profit and greed. And this movement of over 5000+ businesses is filled with companies and individuals who live their commitment to openness, transparency and equity out loud.
But none of this would be possible without one important thing: community. Communities help businesses to flourish, making it the role of businesses to ensure that communities flourish too.
In 2022, we are so proud to have 22 B Corps recognised as being Best for the World in the Community impact area from our region, achieving an average of 56.74 points on their B Impact Assessment. These top scoring B Corps are putting their best foot forward on purpose to create a positive difference in peoples’ lives, across communities near and far, and showing us all that ‘giving back’ is far more than a buzzword. Let’s learn a little more about what it takes to make the list and what makes these 22 B Corps so good.
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What it takes to be Best for the World: Community
The Community impact area of the B Impact Assessment evaluates and celebrates a business’ impact on all its stakeholders. Points in this area are allocated according to ‘JEDI principles’ of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as charitable giving, economic impact, supply chain management and more.
This impact area also recognises and rewards business models that are specifically designed to address community-based problems, such as ‘poverty alleviation’ through fair trade sourcing, ‘local economic development’ through job creation or employment pathways, and ‘formal charitable giving’ commitments like having a percentage of profits donated to charity.
Top scoring B Corps in the Community impact area demonstrate how investing in meaningful partnerships with stakeholders at the community level has the power to amplify impact and build material connections that improve lives.
About the B Impact Score – what it is and why it matters? ↗
The work we have cut out for us
In 2018 in Australia, First Nations people experienced significantly lower employment rates compared to non-Indigenous people, at around 49 per cent compared to 75 per cent.
Between 2020 and 2021, more than 278,000 Australians sought help in regard to homelessness and housing insecurity.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, 41,644 people were severely housing deprived in 2020, and in 2022, 25,500 families are in desperate need of a home.
According to the ABS, only one in 13 adults eat enough fruit and vegetables daily, and 94 per cent of children do not eat enough vegetables.
34.2 per cent of LGBTIQA+ people have reported that they have experienced discrimination, 52.8 per cent of whom experienced discrimination due to their sexual orientation.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, women are paid an average of 9.1 per cent lower than men. As of February 2022, Australia’s national gender pay gap between women and men is 13.8 per cent.
From the age of 15, 1 in 4 women experiences physical or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner and women with disabilities are around two times more likely to experience sexual violence and intimate partner violence.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, 34 per cent of women with disabilities have no educational qualifications, compared to the 15 per cent of non-disabled women who do not have educational qualifications.
These stats give a surface-level insight into just some of the most pressing issues facing our region, and they each intersect to amplify the impacts on the wellbeing and livelihoods of our communities.
Having a ‘community lens’ embedded in our businesses positions B Corps alongside governments, not-for-profits, NGOs, faith-based organisations, and other community groups, to make meaningful inroads into tackling these important issues.
Some of the ways B Corps are giving back
B Corps like Clothing the Gaps have created over 9,000 hours of employment for First Nations peoples, with 81 per cent of their employees identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
There’s GOGO Events who are opening doors for people experiencing homelessness to enter the workforce and upskill, with a ‘Designed to Give’ business model that donates a percentage of turnover to mission-aligned charities. Or Outland Denim who creates denim fashion garments with the primary objective of supporting women who have come from backgrounds of modern slavery, exploitation, or vulnerability. By providing stable and safe employment, they enable women to support their families and contribute to the prosperity of the wider community.
Of course, there’s Who Gives A Crap, working hard to ensure there’s no worldwide toilet paper shortage again, while increasing access to hygiene and sanitation infrastructure in communities around the world.
And there’s strategic marketing firm Harvey who have some of the best diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the business, from broad gender representation in management and supplier diversity programs, to purchasing from local and Certified B Corporation suppliers, which they report on annually to provide the level of transparency and accountability that B Corps are known for.
“We are committed to sharing our journey of better business because, if it inspires just one other individual or company to walk a slightly more ethical path, then that’s a brilliant result.”
— Harvey
Image: Harvey
Everywhere you look in this movement, you will find a business that is sharing its success and making the world a whole lot better. By now, you’re probably itching to find out more about this list of inspiring B Corps, so, without further ado, meet the 2022 Best for The World in the Community impact area.
Behold, Best for the World: Communities
Adara Partners | Community impact score: 50.7 | B Impact Score: 99.9
Adara Partners is a corporate advisory firm providing financial and strategic advice and commercial problem solving services to Aussie companies. 100 per cent of their assignment profits go towards benefitting women and children living in extreme poverty with a focus on maternal, newborn and child health, and remote community development. So far, they have impacted over 200,000 people through knowledge sharing and helped to achieve a 99.8 per cent survival rate for women admitted to the Kiwoko Hospital maternity ward in rural Uganda, and tripled the number of students enrolled in Ghyangfedi, Nepal, since 2017.
Clothing The Gaps | Community impact score: 63.9 | B Impact Score: 123.9
Clothing the Gaps is a Victorian Aboriginal-led and controlled, and majority Aboriginal owned social enterprise based on Wurundjeri land in Naarm/Melbourne. At the heart of Clothing The Gaps lie the values to elevate, educate, advocate, and motivate people for positive social change. A ‘profit for purpose’ organisation, Clothing The Gaps uses business as a vehicle to self-determine the future of First Nations people. Funding the work of the Clothing The Gaps Foundation, they strive to bridge the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Image: Clothing The Gaps
Ecosa | Community impact score: 46.7 | B Impact Score: 106.8
Ecosa’s mission is to enhance people’s lives with thoughtful sleep solutions and education on the importance of a sustainable night’s sleep. From Australia to the world, they’re transforming the lives of millions, while doing their bit for the planet. Returned mattresses and pillows are donated to charity partners such as The Salvation Army, where they are given to those in need. So far, Ecosa has donated over 5000 mattresses and pillows to those in need through The Salvos and smaller local charities.
Eat Me Chutneys | Community impact score: 63.4 | B Impact Score: 111.7
Eat Me Chutneys create jars of delicious chutney from wonky and bruised produce, tackling food wastage and unfair trade terms for farmers. Focused on providing employment to those who often face barriers to employment, Eat Me Chutneys aims to provide communities with increased financial security, living skills and a stronger sense of purpose. Over a third of the suppliers that Eat Me Chutneys works with are also owned by women or individuals from underrepresented populations.
Ethique | Community impact score: 47.1 | B Impact Score: 117.9
Ethique sets the bar for plastic-free hygiene solutions from shampoo to skincare for your home and pets, with plenty more exciting products in the pipeline. They have worked with over 270 community groups and organisations globally, running plastic-free initiatives, tree planting sessions and beach clean-up projects. Ethique donates two per cent of sales to charity partners and they have positive fair trade relationships with organisations such as ‘Women in Business Development’ in Samoa, supporting farmers and workers to gain greater control over their financial futures.
GOGO Events | Community impact score: 49.3 | B Impact Score: 87.3
GOGO Events is an event management social enterprise creating employment for people experiencing homelessness. Over the past eight years, GOGO has employed over 85 at-risk employees as part of their team. They contribute to workforce development within the community by training and hiring individuals who face complex barriers to employment, and their business practices are designed to build an inclusive, safe society.
Good Stuff Global | Community impact score: 49.6 | B Impact Score: 100.9
Prompted by a realisation that there was “nothing in the masculinity space that was really driven by purpose,” STUFF is a hygiene brand committed to challenging outdated and toxic male stereotypes. Proud partners of The Man Cave, a preventative mental health and emotional intelligence service for men and boys, for every $1000 in sales, STUFF sponsors one boy to experience one of The Man Cave’s life-changing mental health programs. From changing the game for boys and young men, to making sure their ‘stuff’ is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic materials, they’re here to support men as they navigate a new era of masculinity and create a movement of men living a life of connection, purpose and positive impact.
Good Goods Holdings (Who Gives A Crap) | Community impact score: 46.7 | B Impact Score: 108.9
Who Gives A Crap is a far from crappy company that makes all sorts of goods from toilet paper to tissues. Created to help the 40 per cent of the global population, or 2.4 billion people, who don’t have access to water and hygiene services, Who Gives A Crap donates 50 per cent of profits to sanitation projects. Donating over $10 million thus far to partners including WaterAid, Splash, Water for People, and others, the company is also on a significant Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey to foster a culture of honesty, vulnerability and empowerment, and to increase diversity across leadership roles.
Goodtel Communications | Community impact score: 49.9 | B Impact Score: 94.9
Goodtel is an Australian social enterprise telco who donates 50 per cent of profits to charities. Customers are invited to select which charity aligns most with their values, ranging from organisations that combat homelessness to those that support mental health or animal welfare. With the goal of making it easier for people to do some good through the services they use everyday — phones and the internet — Goodtel is contributing to a better world now and in the future.
Image: Goodtel
GravityLab | Community impact score: 51.3 | B Impact Score: 106.2
GravityLab is a social enterprise that helps organisations to drive growth by solving performance gaps across processes, people and technology. They help their community by giving their team time to volunteer and ‘work with charities’ budgets. With the majority of GravityLab’s profits given to these causes, the business is 95 per cent owned by a charitable investment trust that fights hard to put an end to child sex trafficking.
Hepburn Energy | Community impact score: 61.9 | B Impact Score: 143.2
Hepburn Energy is Australia’s first community-owned wind farm, producing enough clean energy for over 2,000 homes since 2011. With a ‘Local Economic Development’ Impact Business Model, Hepburn Energy helps members of its community to move towards net-zero emissions in their homes, schools, workplaces, and farms through partnerships and initiatives. With electric vehicles, solar and battery storage initiatives, and home assessments, they are positively impacting local residents by providing tools and resources to go 100 per cent renewable.
Harvey | Community impact score: 81.7 | B Impact Score: 134.1
Harvey is a strategic marketing agency dedicated to helping businesses who are making the world a better place. To give you a snapshot of what makes them Best for the World: 84 per cent of their clients impact the SDGs; the team donates 29 per cent of its time to conscious businesses; they donate five per cent of revenue to regenerating the environment; and they are committed to supporting local suppliers and partners throughout their business operations.
Latrobe Valley Bus Lines | Community impact score: 48.5 | B Impact Score: 94.3
Believing that public transport is vital to a strong, healthy community, Latrobe Valley Bus Lines (LVBL) is committed to providing professional bus services and access to work, school, family, social activities, health appointments and more across the Latrobe Valley and surrounding areas. Their commitment is to continue to foster a culture of inclusion and continuous improvement of efficient, safe, quality bus service by caring, listening, and inviting all forms of feedback. They also support the Kindred Spirits Foundation, who are dedicated to help communities build on their strengths and reach for their dreams despite what life throws at them.
Image: Latrobe Valley Bus Lines
Little Yellow Bird | Community impact score: 76.9 | B Impact Score: 115.5
Little Yellow Bird creates sustainable, fair trade, ethical clothing that you can feel good about wearing. Their fully traceable garments are made from 100 per cent rain-fed organic cotton that you can track all the way from cotton seed to the factory floor. By supporting these co-operatives, Little Yellow Bird is empowering historically underdeveloped farming communities with education and training to help them achieve economic stability.
Miei Group | Community impact score: 57.8 | B Impact Score: 113.8
Miei Group harnesses the money spent on flowers, produce and gifts to close the poverty gap in Australia and improve children’s lives. With a 100 per cent net-profit-to-charity model, Miei gives all net profits to The Smith Family, which supports children to participate fully in their education to break the cycle of disadvantage. They also repurpose 81 per cent of their corporate flower arrangements, which are sold to support The Big Issue magazine vendors each month.
Minimum Wines | Community impact score: 50.1 | B Impact Score: 129.4
Minimum Wines create mindful wines that not only respect the land they come from but the people who drink them. Committed to always contributing at least 5 per cent of revenue to social and environmental impact causes, one per cent of their revenue goes towards paying the rent for First Nations’ land through Djirra, Pay the Rent and the Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Corporation. Another one per cent of their revenue plants trees in various locations around the world such as a woman-led mangrove in India and bushfire recovery in Australia. The rest is donated to various causes such as supporting local artists, community organisations and their own employees’ emotional and physical wellbeing.
“Early on we made an internal promise to give at least 5% of our revenue each year to a number of social and environmental initiatives. The idea is that as our business grows, so does our impact.“
— Minimum Wines
Image: Minimum Wines
Ozeano Vision | Community impact score: 77.7 | B Impact Score: 127
Ozeano Vision creates unisex plant-based eyewear. Using traditional artisanal methods combined with cutting edge innovation, they produce handmade frames from the finest natural and sustainable materials on earth, and then use the proceeds to fund impactful environmental and social causes. Driven by a desire to make a difference, Ozeano Vision donates at least five per cent of annual revenue to fund treatment that restores vision for people in need.
Outland Denim | Community impact score: 51.8 | B Impact Score: 111.5
For too long, fashion has come at the expense of the people making it. Outland Denim is a socially-minded clothing label that creates premium basic garments while giving training and employment opportunities to survivors of human trafficking. By combating some of the most egregious trends in the fashion industry — waste, environmental degradation, human exploitation — they are helping people earn a living wage, receive support, training and employment, all in order to build a brighter future.
Red Gum BBQ | Community impact score: 73.6 | B Impact Score: 108.1
Red Gum BBQ is a southern-style BBQ and craft beer restaurant, located on Bunurong land on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Their B Corp certification drives decision-making across the business, and they seek small, locally crafted brewers to supply beer to their restaurant, and are dedicated to knowing their suppliers and nurturing a community of like-minded businesses. Contributing to the local economic development of their surrounding area, Red Gum BBQ provides high-quality employee workforce development and has the score to prove it.
Image: Red Gum BBQ
Start Broadband | Community impact score: 50.2 | B Impact Score: 80
Being connected to the internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. After finding out that two million Australians were living every day without an internet connection, Start Broadband started its mission to help low-income Australians to get online. A broadband and communications service, to date, they have delivered over 35,598 days of free internet to people in need, providing access to education, employment, health services and social inclusion.
The Benefit Consultants | Community impact score: 51.4 | B Impact Score: 100.3
The Benefit Consultants provide stakeholder engagement and impact consulting to purpose-led organisations. Embedding impact into their operations, they have a formal commitment to donate one per cent of revenue and five per cent of their time to pro-bono work to projects that help to build community. With community at their core, they help companies to increase and embed their impact and engage all their stakeholders in the vision, mission and values while sharing their stories of impact.
U Ethical Investors | Community impact score: 48.1 | B Impact Score: 131
U Ethical is an investment manager that believes in creating a better world by investing with purpose. Established in 1985, U Ethical has granted over $64 million to community initiatives from social justice advocacy to helping asylum seekers, and to pensioner support for affordable housing.
Inspired to up your impact on the community?
If celebrating and learning from these B Corps has demonstrated one thing, it is the imaginative and boundary-pushing ways in which businesses can positively impact communities both near and far.
Congratulations again to the B Corps recognised as Best for the World in the Community impact area for 2022. We’ll leave you with this piece of wisdom from the top scorer, Harvey:
“Prepare to be challenged, to push boundaries of what you might be comfortable with to improve your impact and remember — it’s about progress not perfection!”
— Harvey
Excited to learn more and get inspired by the top-scoring B Corps? You can now search the B Corp Directory by Best for the World!
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