Why we’re a B Corp

She+ Geeks Out became a Certified B Corp in early 2017. This is important stuff. We’re often asked if we’re a nonprofit because we’re a social enterprise. When we share that we aren’t, the responses and reactions sometimes vary. The myth that only nonprofits can be social mission-driven is lessening, but is still very much prevalent. The reality is businesses can both do good and do well, and we should settle for no less as a society with the greatest wealth in the world. Because we live in a capitalist system, it’s incumbent upon businesses to lead the way. This is even more critical since we see increases in the wealth gap year over year, and the difference between CEO pay and average worker pay has grown to obscene levels.

Companies who get certified as B Corporations are doing more than simply virtue signaling. In order to be certified, companies must meet stringent standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability, all to balance profit and purpose. And, in order to keep the certification, companies must update their information and re-verify every three years. 

As a certified B corp, we are committing to do our part to make sure that we do right by our employees, by our community, and by our planet. The process to become certified takes meaningful effort, and we’re glad that’s the case. It shouldn’t be easy to receive a certification if it’s important. And it most certainly shouldn’t be achieved by handing over some cash. We’re doing our best to walk the walk, and we count on our fellow B Corps to do the same. The B Corp community is a growing network of companies who care, and we hope that the community gets exponentially larger. We need each other.

If you have a few minutes, you can watch this short video about what a B Corp is right here.

Here’s what we’re doing:

• We’re helping companies be better about diversity, equity, and inclusion – We’ve developed a wide variety of programming on best practices for supporting inclusive workplaces. Our workshops range from recruiting inclusively to assessing organizations through an anti-racist lens. This type of education is good for business and it’s also about being good humans.
• We’re creating community – She+ Geeks Out is honored to have a growing, inclusive community of individuals who support our mission, and who embrace their inner geek! We work with companies to connect them to people of marginalized genders for jobs, and we work with our community members to provide space to connect and grow personally as well as professionally. 
• We care about the environment – We’ve put together and follow a list of corporate best practices that we adhere to as we scale and grow. We believe it’s important to pay attention to resource use, even as a small service-based business.
• We believe in giving back – We donate to nonprofits supporting racial and gender equity. 
• We’re looking to the future – We are intentional in how we hire and retain our own team members, striving to foster an inclusive culture– and one that honors everyone we work with.

As we keep growing, we’ll continue to self-assess and work hard to improve our ability to positively impact the community and the environment. We’re so thankful that there’s a certification body out there that we can work with to help continue to do just that.