Business for Purpose Network (B4PN) Weekly Announcement.
Update #25 — May 14, 2021
1.0 PODCAST. Former Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly: “Business must lead in new ways”. Minnesota Public Radio. May 5, 2021. 56:40 minutes.’ Joly was everywhere online this week but I thought I’d link to this podcast for those “lockdown solo walks”. According to Joly: “How do you ‘make purpose the cornerstone of the strategy can be found in the intersection of four things:
· What the world needs; What we’re good at and what we can execute; What we’re passionate about; and How we can make money.”
This approach reminds me of Jim Collins “hedgehog concept” as outlined in Good to Great (this article is a wonderful summary of the concepts in Good to Great, a nice refresher for fans of the book too). Let me know if that resonates with you too.
2.0 UPCOMING EVENTS.
2.1 The Partnership Conference will be held on June 15 and 16. The Conference explores the relationship between the corporate and charitable sectors and highlights best practices in employee engagement, community investment, cause marketing and sponsorship. Hope to see you there! Registration fee: $495.00 plus 13% HST
2.2 You may also be interested in the Canada Climate Law Initiative. Climate Change: Legal Implications for Canadian Pension Plan Fiduciaries and Policy-Makers. May 26, 2021 from noon to 1 pm EDT and 9 am to 10 am PDT. Register here for free. The CCLI is supported by the McConnell Foundation and thanks for the recommendation Cathy Glover.
3.0 GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES.
3.1 ReGenerate in the UK released their Purpose-Driven Business Ecosystem Map. Mapping 255 organizations (70% in London) against (7) categories with a taxonomy. Is this something we would want to do in Canada? Anyone want to explore this further? Please reach out.
3.2 Phil Preston, based in Australia is seeking beta testers to try out his Business Purpose Assessment Tool. Phil’s company works on connecting profit with purpose and you can read more about his work here.
4.0 B4PN FOUNDER RESOURCES. Can’t get enough of the B4PN Weekly Announcement? Please check out and sign up for these newsletters from our Founding Members.
4.1 Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR). CBSR champions business as a force for good so their newsletter features sustainable business milestones, public policy news and upcoming events related to advancements in diversity, equity and inclusion as well as progress towards a net zero and circular economy. Frequency: monthly Subscribe here in the top right corner.
4.2 Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation (CCPC). The Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation’s online publication, envisage is delivered to your inbox bi-weekly. It provides you resources and insights which will help you to think through the importance of an organization redefining — and living — its purpose. You can subscribe here.
4.3 Coro Strandberg Consulting. Coro has many great resources on her website but in particular, check out the Social Purpose Newsfeed.
4.4 Realized Worth (RW). The Realized Worth newsletter features RW’s newest and upcoming blogs relating to corporate citizenship, CSR, workplace volunteering, industry thought leadership, case studies, and more. The newsletter provides a glimpse into the corporate citizenship world by offering remarkable resources from industry peers every month including reports, webinars, blogs, and other resources. Frequency: twice a month Subscribe here in the top right corner.
And check out the upcoming RW session on Building impactful and engaging virtual volunteering experiences with the FitchGroup and KPMG on May 20, 2021 at 10 am. Registration is free.
4.5 Social Purpose Institute. United Way of Lower Mainland. The Social Purpose Institute presents a bi-weekly newsletter, the Social Purpose Pivot, where you will discover purpose resources, exclusive event invites, and the latest on all things social purpose to help you fulfill your purpose ambitions and become a champion of the purpose economy and advance the social purpose movement. Sign up here.
And reminder to Hold The Date for the SPI-led B4PN supported event Propelling Purpose: The Road to the Purposeful Economy. November 17–18, 2021.
5.0 Social Innovation Exchange (SIX). Our partners, Social Innovation Exchange are hosting an event that may be of interest as it introduces a new perspective from Asia. SIX Global Dialogue: From social innovation to business for good. May 25th from 10:00–11:00 BST (5 am EDT — a bit early for most Canadians but they will share a recording post the event). SIX is organising a global dialogue on how businesses are reinventing themselves to thrive in the fast-changing world, and do good at the same time. This webinar will bring together perspectives from the East and the West: David Yeung (Founder & CEO, Green Monday), Marcello Palazzi (Co-founder, NOW Partners & B Lab Global Ambassador) and Ada Wong (Founder, MaD & Good Lab). The contributors will discuss one of the key challenges facing businesses today — How to attract new audiences and continue to be relevant for younger customers with different priorities and values? How can businesses reinvent themselves to thrive in the fast-changing world, and do good at the same time? Registration is free here.
Quote of the Week — I really like that Hubert Joly says it is important to “connect individual purpose in life with the purpose of the company”. Bringing our whole selves to work, living and working our values, is something many of us are striving to achieve.
Enjoy the reading and enjoy the week-end … on purpose!
Allyson
What is the Business for Purpose Network? The B4PN is an initiative catalyzed by the JW McConnell Family Foundation and the MaRS Discovery District to help build a movement engaging companies to put purpose at the core of their work.
Past editions of the B4PN Weekly Announcements are available on LinkedIn and on Medium.
Interested in joining this movement? Please contact Allyson Hewitt, VP Impact at MaRS at ahewitt@marsdd.com to indicate your interest in this work, to join the mailing list or to unsubscribe. We’d also love your comments on anything you read here or to promote any relevant articles you would like to share with others.
