Who Certifies?
We are supporting B Corporations through an organization that we call B Lab.
The mission of B Lab is to support B Corporations and this emerging sector by 1) certifying and rating B Corporations through the B Ratings System; 2) developing and disseminating a legal framework to institutionalize stakeholder interests within existing corporate law; 3) recruiting and promoting B Corporations; and 4) helping B Corporations access purpose-driven capital markets.
B Lab is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization governed by a process of broad, transparent multi-stakeholder engagement. The Board of Directors has already convened a nine person Standards Advisory Council (SAC) that oversees the certification ratings and auditing requirements for B Corporations. The SAC members are thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, and practitioners with expertise across environmental sustainability to community engagement to responsible governance. Their recommendations to amend the public beta version of the B Ratings System have been accepted, and Version 1.0 of the B Ratings System was published October 19, 2007. Today they are working on Version 2.0 and various industry addendums to be launched publicly in January 2010.
The Standards Advisory Council is an independent body to ensure that the B Rating System is a fair yet rigorous standard for social and environmental performance. B Lab management only occupies one seat in the SAC (Bart Houlahan, Co-Founder). Recommendations from the SAC can only be rejected with a 2/3 majority vote by the Board of Directors.
In addition to Standards B Lab has already identified other strategic initiatives to grow this marketplace and will establish Advisory Councils for Capital Markets (access and development) and Branding (recruitment and promotion) in the near future.
