Business for Purpose Network (B4PN) Weekly Announcement
Update #9 — January 22, 2021
The Business for Purpose Network (B4PN) is an initiative catalyzed by the JW McConnell Family Foundation and the MaRS Discovery District. Contact Allyson Hewitt, VP Impact at MaRS for more information or to join our mailing list ahewitt@marsdd.com
1.0 INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON PURPOSE.
1.1 The British Academy. Future of the Corporation. Second Purpose Summit. February 1, 2, and 4th, 2021 will focus on creating a purposeful business for an inclusive and sustainable economy. Registration is free. Other resources from this institute include the definition of the purpose of the corporation: “to profitably solve the problems of people and planet, and not profit from creating problems”.
· Information on the Future of the Corporation
· Principles for Purposeful Business
· Recordings from the first Summit on the Future of the Corporation — June 2020
· Thanks to the deeply connected and insightful B4PN founding member Coro Strandberg for this resource. Coro works with businesses, government and industry associations to envision and innovate a sustainable future, please check out Coro’s work here.
1.2 Harvard Business Review. Corporate Purpose in An Age of Crisis. Thursday January 28th Noon EST. Registration is free. Corporate purpose has never been more important. Purpose can unify organizations and give employees a reason to show up for work beyond earning a paycheck. At this event HBR will release new data on a survey with 168 executives and participate in a panel discussion on why corporate purpose is essential, especially during a crisis; how organizations enable purpose and philanthropy through technology (the event is sponsored by Salesforce); and why companies need to align purpose with racial justice, and how they can do it. Thank you to Jason Sukhram who leads the Impact Measurement and Management programs at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing for this resource.
2.0 WEBINARS. Highlighted below are two upcoming webinars and one webinar recording but for more information on the plethora of events in the broader corporate citizenship area, please sign up for the incredibly helpful RW Institute Weekly Webinar Roundup. Chris Jarvis of RWI is a founding member of the B4PN. The list also features past webinar recordings for those podcast listening walks. Subscribe here.
2.1 Public Policy Forum. Rebuilding the Local Economy: Inside the Mi’kmaq-Clearwater Deal. Virtual Event. February 17th . 3 pm to 4:30 pm (AST). 2 pm to 3:30 pm (EST) 11 am to 12:30 pm (PST) Registration is free. Join the Public Policy Forum “for one of the first public conversations about the purchase of Clearwater Seafoods Inc. by a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations. We will be joined by the architects of this deal, Chief Terry Paul and John Risley to outline and unpack this historic landmark of Indigenous ownership in the Atlantic region, what it means for Reconciliation, innovation and the economic opportunity it spurs.”
2.2 Conversations on Purpose. How to engage and connect employees when everyone is working from home. Wednesday February 24th. 1 to 2 pm (EST). Registration is free. Join veteran social impact professionals Verity Dimock and Sarah Saso for an interactive 60 minute discussion, as they tackle this issue with the help of Job Purposing expert Bea Boccalandro and employee volunteering pioneer with Realized Worth Angela Parker. That’s a powerhouse of women leaders sharing their expertise!
2.3 Last week we announced the CBSR Webinar on Leadership Trends for 2021. Leor Rotchild, B4PN founding member, has shared the recording with us here. Check it out for newly released Canadian data from GlobeScan; insights from the Director, CSR at Loblaw Companies Limited and information on the new $500m commitment from Scotiabank called ScotiaRISE
3.0 CORPORATE ACTION. Interesting to note how US-based corporates are responding to the situation regarding the inauguration of President Joe Biden
3.1 Airbnb to Block and Cancel DC Reservations During Inauguration
3.2 Amazon offers President Biden help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution
4.0 And speaking of the inauguration INSPIRATION. By now we have all heard Amanda Gorman’s poem at Joe Biden’s Inauguration which blew up the internet. Entitled “The Hill We Climb” it seems like it might be worth listening to one more time here or reading here and while this has nothing to do with “business on purpose” directly I was struck by this section of the poem which reminds me of our collective efforts:
“And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us”
