Let’s Give ’Em a Hand | YouMeWe Amplified Podcast

B the Change Weekly: May 24, 2019

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 onto the good stuff:

(Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash)

Change in the workplace can take many forms: technology, culture, innovation and more. Companies that embrace change as a positive force for workers, environment and community can create opportunities for themselves and other businesses.

This week on B the Change, find inspiration from Certified B Corporations that are leaning in to change and helping workers take matters into their own hands, sometimes literally. From apps that connect African artisans with expanded markets to a growing business shifting toward consensus decision-making, these uplifting B Corp practices evolve and advance the B Economy.

PS — Calling all B Corps (and aspiring B Corps) around Detroit, Michigan. Join B Lab at the Sustainable Brands Innovation Expo at SB’19, taking place June 3–6. We have 25 complimentary expo passes up for grabs — register with the code BLabXpo to claim your free pass! Meet our team, network with other B Corp members, and join the community committed to purpose-led change worldwide.

Kotsanai “Kaye” Matereke is chief operations officer for SOKO, a Certified B Corporation that uses an app and other supply chain technology to connect Kenyan artisans with business opportunities.

An App That Connects Artisans With Business Opportunities

SOKO, a women-owned B Corp, works with a network of Kenyan artisans to build their businesses, improve their production capacity, and sustainably increase their income. The B Corp creates a “virtual factory” through its artisan app that helps artisans track orders, payments and deliveries as they sustainably create and market handmade fashion accessories.

On B the Change, read how SOKO is working to achieve the UN SDGs and what your business can learn from it.

Can Consensus Decision-Making Work in Business?

Company growth affects company culture. And one of the most crucial elements of culture is the way decisions are made — especially in a mission-driven organization, where buy-in and alignment are crucial to success.

Growth and unity go hand in hand at B Corp W.S. Badger Company, which shares its phases of evolution in leadership and strategic planning and outlines how the company built a leadership culture around consensus.

Startups That Sustain

A marketplace based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology connects innovators with resources to solve global challenges, including the startup gender gap. In 2017, less than 3 percent of global venture funding went to female-led teams. With 62 percent women-led startups, the 2018 MIT Solver Class strikes more than balance and advances the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 for gender equality.

On B the Change, read about four MIT Solve startups using tech to change lives and empower women around the world.

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.

Let’s Give ’Em a Hand was originally published in B the Change on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.