B Lab's New Standards Impact Topic: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI)
B Lab’s standards define the performance that a company must meet and continuously improve upon to achieve and maintain B Corp Certification. Since 2006, we have evolved the standards to improve their impactfulness and clarify what it means to be a leading business, incorporating feedback from diverse stakeholders.
To achieve these goals, the new standards require companies to meet specific requirements across seven Impact Topics. While we have developed the new standards with the existing standards in mind, you can expect to see new topics and evolved requirements where topics overlap, designed to improve business impact.
After all, the B Corp community is built on the principle of continuous improvement.
Persistent inequalities continue to shape access to opportunity, safety, and well-being across the globe. Bernard Gouw explains how this topic helps companies turn JEDI principles into action by offering a flexible, context-specific approach—empowering businesses to identify and remove barriers within their own operations and beyond.
Describe the impact topic in a nutshell:
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, or JEDI, is about breaking down barriers so that we can reach our full potential as unique individuals. When companies collectively advance JEDI principles, we create safer and more inclusive workplaces in a more equitable economy.
What is the purpose of the topic, and why does it matter in today’s world?
Systemic inequalities, historic and ongoing, create barriers to people reaching their full potential. To combat this, companies need to be specific and intentional about advancing JEDI principles within their workplaces and value chains. The JEDI Impact Topic helps companies in identifying the most relevant barriers to target, ensuring their positive impacts benefit all.
Our global population is diverse in countless visible and invisible ways. We are confident that JEDI is a universal priority, but acknowledge that the barriers to target are not the same for all companies. Except for gender equity, which the standards treat as globally relevant, other priorities are highly localized and context-specific. The priorities are shaped by local history, culture, values, norms, and demographics. This is why the JEDI requirements have flexibility built into them. In several requirements, companies have this type of flexibility to ensure they are implementing the required actions, focusing on the right people.
How has the emphasis of the topic changed throughout the development process and what factors contributed to that?
While the core of the JEDI Impact Topic has remained consistent, there have been some changes. Those familiar with the drafts shared in early 2024 will notice four changes to JEDI Requirement 2:
All options can now be chosen and implemented multiple times.
We removed the five Impact Business Model options given the overall removal of IBMs from the initial version of the new standards. Learn more about IBMs in the new standards in our FAQ.
We added a new option on digital accessibility of internal communication tools. After removing the five IBM options and adding this option, the total number of options reduced from 24 to 19.
The number of required actions changed after introducing the Year 0-3-5 system and bringing forward the transition timeline. Learn more about this new system.
What Impact Topic requirement(s) are you most excited about - and why?
Perhaps the biggest change to the standards is the move from a “pick and choose” points system to seven mandatory impact topics. JEDI Requirement 2 borrows from both approaches — all companies implement a set number of JEDI actions that they choose from a list. We informally call this list a “menu of options”.
The intent is that the “menu” demonstrates the broad range of JEDI actions that are possible.
As shown in the table below, there are 19 options in total across three sets: five in Foundation, seven in Within the workplace, and seven in Beyond the workplace. Depending on company size, they complete between one and seven of these options.
The long and varied list reminds us that JEDI is more than just staff training or writing a commitment statement. We hope the “menu” inspires companies whilst also providing a clear path for progress.
What similarities are there between this new Impact Topic and the existing standards?
As mentioned above, the “menu of options” in JEDI Requirement 2 to some extent maintains the “pick and choose” nature of the existing standards. Whilst there are options in other impact topics, JEDI Requirement 2 has the greatest number of options. This long and varied list of options will feel familiar to users of our standards.
In addition, many of the themes covered in the Community Impact Area reappear in the JEDI Impact Topic, such as:
inclusive hiring practices
supplier diversity
diversity among leaders
diversity in the workforce.
Where are the biggest growth areas for companies?
We expect companies outside the US and UK to be less experienced with the content in the JEDI Impact Topic. They should take time to read through the extra content under Further Guidance, Recommendations, and Implementation Resources. Given how regional JEDI priorities can be, we invested time into developing guidance and finding resources applicable to different geographical contexts. For example, there are helpful resources on inclusive language in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Another example is JEDI Sub-requirement 1.2, where the guidance helps companies collect demographic data in line with stricter privacy regulations that exist in parts of the world.
What is your biggest tip for companies working towards the new standards / this topic in particular?
Companies can take these initial steps to start achieving the intent of the JEDI Impact Topic.
Do a ‘gut feeling’ check and ask: “how might my company be accidentally excluding people”?
Understand the local context. Understand how the requirements interact with cultural and legal barriers. Look at the flexibility built into the JEDI Impact Topic to identify ways to manage those barriers.
Get inspired by the 19 options under JEDI Requirement 2. Learn about the breadth of actions available and how they benefit different groups of people, such as workers or consumers.
Do companies have to complete all 19 options under JEDI Requirement 2?
No, depending on company size, the company completes between one and seven of the 19 options. The same option can be chosen and implemented multiple times. For example, the company continuously meets JEDI2.m (The company’s website meets accessibility standards) across Year 0, 3, and 5.
Why are JEDI and Human Rights separate impact topics?
JEDI and human rights have deep conceptual links with one another. Their intentions and eventual goals are the same: that all people are treated with respect and live with dignity. Nevertheless, they remain distinct topics in the new standards because they inhabit distinct spaces in the “sustainability ecosystem”. Frameworks, standards, tools, and guidance often focus on one of the two. And within companies, they are often tackled by different teams.
Human rights in the context of business (‘Business & Human Rights’) is usually framed in terms of human rights due diligence, focusing primarily on preventing harm to people. This stems from the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights. JEDI on the other hand, is not explicitly rooted in any such framework and refers both to preventing harm and pursuing positive impacts.
With time, we expect to see JEDI and human rights converge in the “sustainability ecosystem”. But for now we treat them as distinct despite their conceptual links.
Do companies without workers have to work on JEDI?
Yes, all companies do. However, the requirements are proportionate to company size. For example, companies without workers and micro-sized companies are exempt from JEDI Requirement 1 and they implement fewer actions under JEDI Requirement 2 compared to larger companies. Want to learn more about the other Impact Topics in B Lab's new standards?
🪧 Purpose &Stakeholder Governance
🪧 Government Affairs & Collective Action