Changemakers Put Lessons to Work

B The Change Weekly: May 29, 2020

Delivered on Fridays, B the Change Weekly delivers the most important and most relevant stories about people using business as a force for good. The newsletter features a weekly note from the B the Change team alongside insight and context on the stories we share here on Medium. Below is our latest roundup. To receive these insights directly in your inbox, sign up for B the Change Weekly today. Now on to the good stuff:

School may be out for summer in most communities, but the subjects covered in the classrooms — or via the computer — can provide lifelong lessons for our work as changemakers.

This edition of B The Change Weekly shares how each of us in the Certified B Corporation community can create change from across “subjects”: from a civics lesson on advocating for adequate aid to small businesses, to biz school students observing how companies navigate a crisis, to a social work perspective on reshaping capitalism to work for all people.

Civics 401: Advocating for All Small Businesses

The B Corp Financial Resiliency Task Force is taking civic action to ensure that small businesses are supported and well-equipped to survive the effects of COVID-19.

On B The Change, task force member Ken LaRoe of B Corp First Green Bancorp provides a personal example of speaking up and reaching out to elected officials to save small businesses and jobs.

Business Professors and Students Connect Research with Reality

As companies navigate a constantly changing economy, business professors and students around the world are watching the impact of COVID-19 and discussing (virtually, for now) how businesses can manage such crises and set themselves up for a more resilient future.

Tima Bansal of the Network for Business Sustainability shares six observations from professors who have applied their many years of research to the COVID-19 challenge.

The Social Work Perspective on Capitalism

What can happen when capitalism and social work intersect?

On B The Change, contributor Sean David Smith uses his recently earned master’s degree in social work to outline three ways that businesses can help shift the U.S. economy toward a more just and equal system that works for all.

Stay in the Know

Here’s your chance to catch up on recent articles:

• A Call to Action for Small Business: From Short-Term Solutions to Structural Changes: Advocating for an Expanded CARES Act to Create a More Resilient Economy
• Why Is It When I Ask “How Can I Help?” I Rarely Get an Actionable Response? How Asking Different Questions Helps Us Move Toward Solutions
• How the B Corp Community Motivates Patagonia (Yes, Even Patagonia) to Improve Its Impact Strategies: Outdoor Apparel Retailer Uses ‘Holistic’ Guidance of B Impact Assessment to Raise the Bar
• Observations from the (Virtual) Classroom: 6 Priorities for Companies During COVID-19: Business Professors Around the World Identify Crisis Strategies
• Dear U.S. Capitalism: It’s Time to Change Our Economy-and We Need Your Help: How Ownership Shifts, New Incentives, and Social Work Could Fuel Systemic Change
• The Challenges and Rewards That Social Enterprises Encounter: Stakeholder-Minded Businesses Seek Long-Term Benefits
• 5 Lessons from the Great Recession to Help Businesses Build Resilience: How a Stakeholder Framework Can Help B Corps Weather Economic Challenges

B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.

Changemakers Put Lessons to Work was originally published in B The Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.