Forces For Good Podcast Season 4 — Episode 1: How are businesses putting people at the heart of climate action?

In Season 4 of our award-winning podcast, Forces For Good, we move beyond pledges to explore tangible strategies for climate action. This season zeroes in on high-impact sectors—from finance to fashion to travel—to showcase how businesses can implement meaningful environmental solutions.
In our first episode, host Irving Chan-Gomez is joined by two B Corp leaders who are reimagining business’ relationship to nature: Simeon Rose, Brand Director at Faith In Nature, and Ben Mand, CEO of Yerba Madre. We discuss:
A novel governance model that gives nature a legal voice and vote in the boardroom
How to build climate-resilient supply chains through deep, trust-based partnerships with farmers and suppliers
Why addressing social and governance challenges is non-negotiable for achieving lasting environmental impact
Listen to the full episode, and subscribe to catch the rest of the season: https://lnk.to/forces-for- good-people-and-climate
TRANSCRIPT: Episode 1 — How are businesses putting people at the heart of climate action?
This is Forces for Good, a podcast from B Lab, the nonprofit network powering the global B Corp movement. I’m your host Irving Chan-Gomez.
Forces for Good takes a hard look at how businesses are helping to solve the biggest social and environmental challenges of our time.
Welcome to Season 4! As we've been working on this season we've been asking ourselves something…
What Would Nature Say? From governance to human rights many of our Impact Topic areas demand that we put an emphasis on the environment.
B Corp beauty company Faith in Nature has found a unique way of doing that…
Simeon: We now work much more with the question, what would nature say? And I think that's within us all to answer, right? So what nature on the board does is it creates that framework, it creates that space. It allows anyone across the company to, to ask that question and answer it.
That's Simeon Rose, Brand Director at Faith in Nature. In 2022 his company became the first to appoint nature to its board of directors. More on that in a moment.
We also have Faith in Nature to thank for the "What Would Nature Say" song. It's stuck in my head and hopefully yours as well.
Our second B Corp guest today is Ben Mande, CEO of Yerba Madre. Although they recently changed their name, you would likely recognize Yerba Madre's iconic yellow cans filled with Yerba Mate - a caffeinated beverage, similar to tea or coffee native to South America. In order to be a force for good, Ben says his company has to create long term relationships with farmers and indigenous communities in South America.
Ben: We believe, that we as humans and the environment are totally linked and one affects one another. And, um, when we work, uh, in, in a constructive way with people and with the environment, um, we will find success. And, and what I mean by that is so often, whether it be in farming or in business, I think people or leaders.
Companies make very short term kinds of transactional decisions. And for us it is a long-term relationship. Right? And it, you know, in order to take from the land and, and, and, and, um, benefit from the land, you have to give and you have to, uh, treat it respectively. And that's the same with human beings.
Each of our guests makes the point that climate must be centered and integrated into a company's business model. Climate and environmental solutions must be considered holistically - that’s why B Lab’s new standards push companies to meet requirements across 7 Impact Topics from governance to fair work to climate action.
We'll hear more about Yerba Madre in the latter part of our episode. Let's get started with Simeon at Faith in Nature!
Simeon: I joined the company in around 2016, 17. And my background is in the creative industry.
So I came from an advertising and branding background, meaning that when I joined the company, the company was around about 40 years old and it was a real mainstay of the independent sector. So like health food shops loved it. It was, it really was. For those who knew it, they loved it, but it was relatively small.
But it was around about the time when the real, you know, people were really turning to look at what was going on in the natural sector and becoming a little bit more aware of, you know, environmental choices. And it was the beginning of a wave, and so it seemed also the perfect time. Rebrand Faith in Nature, which is where we came in.
So that's kind of how we came at it. Uh, to begin with a very superficial question, right? Really to take what was a really beautiful product and make it look good enough to want on your bathroom sink. 'cause it's one of those things that you encounter first thing in the morning, last thing at night.
That has just led, it's just like one thing has led to another in us going, what, what can this really mean to have faith in nature?
What can we really make this mean actually? And um, and one of the very first jobs, and we started the branding, was not to, it wasn't just to jump straight into visuals. Actually what we did was. We, you know, went through consultancy, true consultancy actually just spoke to the people there and we're like, what?
What are your belief systems? What, what, what really rings true to you? And what do you want us to understand? And we spoke to, uh, Rifka. The found we're like, okay, so if there's one thing you want us to take away, what is it? And she said, uh, we're not in control. Nature is, and that's just such an amazing thing to hear, right?
Rivka Rose founded Faith in Nature in the 1970s. Her products were and still are natural, cruelty-free and vegan.
She had this philosophy that nature is the boss. When Simeon joined the company as brand director he took that idea and ran with it!
Simeon: So we went, okay, so if nature is your boss, what would that mean? On a very superficial level, what would that mean for the way the products look? Imagine the nature of the creative director. We are not. Nature is, how would that start to look and act, act? At the time in the UK the natural sector was very polite, looking, very polite, very minimal, very beige.
Simeon: We're like, well look out the window. That's just not what nature looks like. Like nature is a riot. Right. And that's so, so let's bring that in and I dunno how many people listening have seen our products, but they are equally colorful, patterned, and, you know, vibrant. And that was because of that initial thought process of going, if nature was guiding this, what would it look like?
Faith in Nature's shampoo, laundry detergent, soaps and lotions all feature floral patterns with vibrant yellows, greens, blues and reds. You can order large size refills for their product or go to a refill store in the UK.
Bottled products are offered in recycled plastic or aluminum and the large ones can be sent back for recycling. If you're looking for zero waste options, they have shampoo and conditioner bars. It's choosing your own adventure in terms of sustainability.
Simeon: Nature, uh, was appointed as a director in August, September, 2022. Shortly afterwards, we started a project. I mean, it was always in the timescales. Anyway, we started a project to essentially relaunch our entire product range. That was a two year process, and those products all hit the shelves last year, but that meant that for them.
For that, for the whole duration of that, that, um, product development phase. Nature was a voting member. So yes, there's a culture change. There's also a very practical change, you know, like it means that. Nature has inputted on the packaging, on the sourcing, on all the decisions that were made along the way.
Nature shares her input through a rotating set of guardians. They speak for nature the way a social worker might speak for a child at court.
Simeon: The nature guardians, they then have the time and the flexibility to look more broadly and go, okay, well actually I don't know enough about that problem, but maybe there's someone who does and I can approach them and, you know, so that that gives them the time and the flexibility to receive the information so that by the time they come back to the board, they can give whatever view they, you know, they need.
If it gets to a vote, then of course they can vote. But no, I mean, as with all board meetings, often things don't get to a vote. Often things are just decided through discussion. And that's been the real, uh, the real quality of this actually is just how rituals discussions have become because we've moved from being a very, sort of like having very operational discussions as, as all businesses do.
To having discussions that talk about, uh, what earth jurisprudence and what this really means and what it means to be part of a, of a, a natural system and what, what the rights of nature mean and how, how we all are part of that and what that means for everyone within the company and the communities within which we operate, and the customers to who we sell and who we serve.
You know, as I said, we come from again, me personally, I come from a creative background. I come from an advertising background. This needed to be real. I didn't want this to be perceived, and it shouldn't have been. It was not a piece of marketing. This was something with real, um, teeth and I wanted to make sure that it was rigorous.
Nature on the Board was not a marketing stunt but it certainly has been publicized. Simeon says he hopes other companies are able to copy this model and improve upon it.
Simeon: I remember towards the end of this process of creating this model, getting so overwhelmed and, uh. Kind of anxiety ridden that, that perhaps there was some hole in it. Perhaps there was some, um, you know, perhaps there we'd overlooked something or that maybe it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny in another way.
And I spoke to a friend of mine who works in software, right? And he said, well, just think more, think more like my industry. Just treat this more like an open source experiment.
You know, like open source code means you put stuff out there to be improved upon.
One UK B Corp, House of Hackney, has already added mother nature to its board. Faith in Nature made it as easy as possible!
Simeon: So on the Faith and Nature website is a page that Faith in nature.co uk is a page called, uh, um, nature on the Board. And within that are all the legal documents, all the q and as. It's literally as much as we've ever been asked, we've tried to answer there. And you know, if you're, if you're a UK based company, those papers are written in such a way that you can pretty much take that model and work with it, or at least approach the lawyers that we worked with helped you do that too.
All the reports from the Nature Guardians are there. Everything we, everything that we learn along the way, we'll publish there basically. So that's just really important for people to know. 'cause if, you know, if the natural question that comes out of this is, well, how do I do it? You know, as much as we know and as much as we can help you, we've already put it there.
Incorporating climate into the governance of an organization is just one way to treat sustainability holistically. Throughout this season we're going to show you that climate intersects with almost every other global challenge. Here's a sneak peak from B Lab Co-Executive Sarah Schwimmer.
Sarah: Hi, I'm Sarah Schwimmer, co-lead executive at Blab Global. I'm thrilled you're listening to Forces for Good. Throughout this season, you'll hear about nature focused solutions that work to tackle over consumption and drive innovation. We will show how companies are finding creative ways to safeguard nature and reduce carbon emissions while positively impacting local communities. From fashion to travel to agriculture, this series will elevate sectors with big environmental challenges and therefore those with the biggest potential to change our future. Societal progress can't happen with just one company, but one company can help show there is a different way of doing business.
On with the episode. Now we’re turning to Yerba Madre. CEO Ben Mande attributes much of the company's success to Market Driven Regeneration.
That means long-term conservation and regeneration of the land where the Yerba Mate tree grows as well as strong relationships with the people who grow it.
Ben: Yerba mate is, it's a leaf of a tree. Um, it is like tea, but it is actually not tea. Um, it is caffeinated. It is part of the Holly family, right? And so the leaf is caffeinated. We harvest it. We dry it, mill it, and then you can brew it. So, very traditionally in South America, so places like Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, uh, southern parts of Brazil, even parts of Chile, uh, they consume it in a gourd with a bombe. So that's the straw, the metal straw you put in and they put the loose in there. They, and they consume it that way. And that is how they, uh, consume yerba mate. Uh, we consume it like that in the US as well, but to a far lesser extent, what's most popular here in North America is, uh, the yellow can that most people associate with, uh, yerba mate. So we brew it into a liquid, into a ready to drink that's convenient for consumers.
In order to brew their mate and fill those yellow cans, Yerba Madre has to source those Mate leaves.
Ben: We have a minimum premium that we pay of 25%. So when you go to the market for yerba Mate, we will pay a minimum of a 25% premium. On top of that, one of the things that we do is we do an analysis just to make sure it's at least a living wage and. There have been circumstances, especially as you can imagine, hyperinflation and things like that in Argentina, where that price we determine is not a living wage.
In which case then we will pay the higher price. So in some cases, we're paying. More than double the market rate for yerba mate. But what it does is it allows us, we often have very long-term relationships with the farmers that we work with.
Paying a living wage is obviously the right thing to do. But more than that it means Yerba Madre has more control over its supply chain and can help implement more sustainable practices. Like I said, all of our Impact Topics are connected!
Ben: So obviously no chemicals, pesticides, things like that because we're organic. But then just making sure that we're con, we're preserving the areas of forest that we have. As well as adding to the forest. So, um, you know, we work with them. We build a nursery typically with these communities where they're growing the yerba mate.
In addition, you know, having different types of trees, right? So, um, the pioneer trees as you're expanding the forest. There's an ecosystem. Certain trees typically begin. Once there's a little bit of shade and canopy, then other trees start to come in. Um, and the YBA mate, so you know, we are working with them constructively on how we start adding to the forest and what are the right practices?
This ensures there will be mate leaves for years to come. There's also concern for preserving the cultural heritage of the drink.
Yerba Madre first partnered with the Aché Kue Tuvy of Paraguay in 2002. Since then they have partnered with other local and indigenous communities across South America.
Ben: I think what's, what's the beauty and the opportunity is like each e, each family, each farming, uh, community, they're all very different and have slightly different needs. And, um, I think what's important to recognize is there is.
It's like, because each one is different. It is about a long-term relationship. It is about working with them and understanding, uh, their basic needs. Uh, and, uh, you know, in, in some cases, um, it has been clean water where, you know, there's a lot of. Illness and sickness, and it was due to parasites and things like that in the water.
At first they were like, no, we don't need that. And then ultimately they were convinced that maybe they did, we, you know,built a deep well with some filtration systems and those illnesses and things started going away. So the diarrhea and the various different kinds of digestive issues that they had, that were quite, quite common. Went away, which, you know, was a very powerful thing for them as they realized, you know, that that source of water had been an issue.
But, you know, in that case it's water. In other cases, you know, uh, another community that we've started working with in Northern Argentina they, you know, the facilities, the buildings that they have places where, uh, the community can convene.
They don't, they lack those, some of those things. Or it could be the school needs some, you know, some refurbishment and some added services. Uh, sometimes it's laptops, you know, that they just, they don't have that. And you need a way for them to be able to communicate, participate. Each one is, is, quite different. Um, and you kind of meet them where they're at and understand, you know, I think one of the things from a, a, regenerative principle is, you know, deeper inquiry, right? And just understanding, you know, where they're at and what are their overall needs, and then how can we take the resources that we have. and start to help them, along this, in this journey.
You know what's interesting is, especially if you're planting a new Yerba mate, you know, with some of these communities, like it'll be five years before we start to benefit from the yerba mate. So if you, you know, if we construct a little greenhouse and get them going with seedlings and teach them how to do that, um. You know, it's five years. So you're making, that's a long-term investment in that community as well as in like, you know, your overall supply of yerba mate.
Market regeneration has to work up and down the supply chain. Sustainable practices can't end with agriculture. Emissions outside of a company's direct control are called scope 3 emissions.
Those are carbon emissions often associated with shipping and supply chain. They're often the largest portion of emissions and the most difficult to reduce. So Yerba Madre is setting an example by using relationships and investments to reduce its own emissions and those of its partners.
Ben: We have a new co-packer right now. Part of that negotiation for me, with the co-packer was not just the costs and the quality. It was. I actually put money into the contract that we will co-invest, um, as they move to LEED certified, as they add renewable, uh, sources of energy as they reduce water consumption, as they reduce waste. All of these types of things are really important and, and that does a number of things. One is when you make it a topic.
When you put in a contract that is a very clear demonstration of the importance that it is to me, our company, our mission, our brand, and what we stand for. And, and then when you put dollars in there, it actually helps incentivize, right? So we want to co-invest in these types of behaviors.
B Corps set an example for sustainability. If you're an executive or a business owner we want you to be able to pick up these ideas and run with them.
If you're an individual you can use what you learn here to encourage the companies and brands you love to become more sustainable!
Ben: I fundamentally believe from a long-term standpoint. Consumers are increasingly recognizing that through our commercial activities, the things they buy, the services they use, whatever it may be, that that has a profound impact on people and environment and maybe the government and other entities are not gonna drive change as fast as we need. And, uh, we as individuals can use our wallet to, to make, uh, change. And so if you believe that and understand that there's increasing consumers. Looking for businesses that are making the right decision by environment, by people. That therein lies a real opportunity to recognize that if that's where the marketplace is shifting you as a business leader, you as a person who can work in the company. Like how do you make better products, right? That reflects the realities and the need of making better choices, both from an environment standpoint and a community and people standpoint.
What's good for the earth is good for business, good for people, and good for the future. Supporting businesses that are working holistically to become more sustainable will make you a force for good!
If you'd like to learn more about B Corps and purpose driven companies visit BCorporation.net. And listen to the rest of our season! Please subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Your ratings and reviews help Forces for Good reach new audiences, so we thank you for your support.
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The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees and do not reflect the positions or opinions of the producers or any affiliated organizations.
The podcast was brought to you by B lab in partnership with The Gates Foundation. Special thanks to Sherri Jordan for coordination. Forces for Good is produced by Hueman Group Media.
I’m your host, Irving Chan-Gomez. Thanks for listening. And I look forward to catching you in the next episode!