Beyond the B: Latest on the B Corp Movement

Ryan Honeyman talks with Brigitta Nemes of B Lab about the purpose and stakeholder governance impact topic in the new B Corp standards. They discuss how it operationalizes the B Corp legal requirement, including public purpose, stakeholder mapping, materiality, responsible marketing, grievance procedures, and board oversight. Brigitta also explains what assurance providers are likely to look for and how ownership structures such as purpose trusts relate to protecting purpose over time.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/v2-standards-purpose-and-stakeholder-governance-w/-brigitta-nemes

Equator Coffees co-founder Helen Russell and Director of Coffee Culture Devorah Freudiger join Ryan Honeyman to share how the company has kept its founding values intact through 30 years of growth, pivots, and change. They explore how B Corp certification helped Equator codify and protect its values, why long-term supplier relationships sometimes require choosing partnership over short-term optimization, and how employee benefits, culture, LGBTQ+ visibility, and sustainability show up in everyday decisions. The conversation offers a practical look at what it takes to turn purpose from a set of intentions into the operating blueprint of a growing business. 

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/b-corp-as-a-blueprint-w/-helen-russell-devorah-freudiger

What happens to a values-led company when its founders or longtime owners are ready to step away? Ryan Honeyman speaks with Miren Oca of Ocaquatics and Claire Randall of Grand Central Bakery about employee ownership trusts, perpetual purpose trusts, seller financing, and the culture required before an ownership transition can work. They share what they learned from rejecting more traditional exit paths, why profitability and financial literacy matter, and how alternative ownership can help B Corps protect mission and keep wealth rooted in their communities.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/two-ceos-share-their-inside-stories-employee-ownership-and-purpose-trusts-w/-miren-oca-claire-randall

Maria Emilia Correa, cofounder of Sistema B and a pioneer of the B Corp movement in Latin America, joins Ryan Honeyman to explore why better individual companies are necessary but insufficient to build a better economy. Drawing on Sistema B’s origins, benefit corporation policy, business education, and her work with small and midsize businesses in Colombia, Maria Emilia makes the case for collective action that changes the rules surrounding business. The conversation offers B Corps and mission-driven leaders a practical challenge: keep improving your company while also working with investors, educators, policymakers, citizens, and people with different perspectives to create change at scale.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/the-next-frontier-of-business-as-a-force-for-good-w/-maria-emilia-correa

Professor Christopher Marquis joins Ryan Honeyman to examine what we can and cannot yet prove about the financial ROI of B Corp certification. They explore why Christopher supports B Lab’s shift from an 80-point threshold to minimum requirements across seven impact areas, what may be lost without clearer recognition of leading companies, and how businesses such as Tony’s Chocolonely, Dopper, and Triodos pursue systems change beyond their own operations. The conversation offers practical context for B Corps, aspiring B Corps, consultants, researchers, and mission-driven leaders weighing the value and future of certification.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/b-corp-roi-standards-and-systems-change-w/-christopher-marquis

In this rebroadcast of one of our most listened to episodes of all time, we dive into the prominent role of circularity in the new B Corp standards with Nellie Cohen, creator of Patagonia's Worn Wear project, and Dan Kurzrock, CEO of Upcycled Foods. Nellie and Dan share strategies for transforming waste into value across diverse industries like textiles and food. We also highlight how smaller companies and service-based businesses can integrate circularity more deeply into their operations. Tune in today!

Show Notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/circularity-lessons-from-patagonia-and-upcycled-foods-rebroadcast

Bernard Gouw joins Ryan Honeyman to unpack the new Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion topic as part of the V2 B Corp standards. Drawing on his four and a half years at B Lab developing the Human Rights, Fair Work, and JEDI topics, Bernard explains how companies can use data, stakeholder feedback, and context-specific action to move beyond good intentions. Ryan and Bernard also explore the anti-DEI backlash, concerns around demographic data, and why JEDI work must reach beyond the workplace.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/v2-standards-jedi-w/-bernard-gouw

Douglas Lamont, CEO of Tony’s Chocolonely, joins Ryan Honeyman to discuss how Tony’s is using business to help end exploitation in the cocoa industry. Drawing on his experience at Innocent Drinks and Tony’s, Douglas shares how Mission Lock, Open Chain, and the 5 Sourcing Principles help the company protect its purpose while scaling its impact. Listen in for a practical conversation about ethical sourcing, B Corp certification, the Better Business Act, and how companies can help shift entire industries.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/tonys-chocolonely-mission-lock-open-chain-b-corps-w/-douglas-lamont

What does it mean for a company to respect human rights, and how can the new B Corp standards help companies focus on the places where they may be causing or contributing to harm? Social impact specialist Bernard Gouw joins Ryan Honeyman to unpack the Human Rights topic in the new B Corp standards, including human rights due diligence, salient human rights issues, supply chains, procurement, client screening, and the limits of social audits. This conversation helps B Corps understand how to move beyond policy language and begin building the systems, processes, and judgment needed to take human rights seriously.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/v2-standards-human-rights-w/-bernard-gouw

In this episode of Beyond the B, Andy Schmidt guest hosts a conversation with Ryan Honeyman and Amy Bourbeau on the 20-year evolution of the B Corp movement. They reflect on what the movement has gained as it has grown from a small community of early adopters into a global network of more than 10,000 companies, and what has become harder to preserve along the way. Together, they explore the new B Corp standards, the tension between keeping a big tent and holding a high bar, and what the next 20 years may require from B Corps around the world.

View the show notes: https://go.lifteconomy.com/blog/the-b-corp-movement-at-20-what-weve-gained-lost-and-still-need-to-build-w/-amy-bourbeau-andy-schmidt