Happy B Corp Month! More than 3,700 businesses around the world are celebrating what it means to be a Certified B Corporation and why they are better for employees, community, customers, and the environment — the stakeholders that influence their everyday operations.

Throughout the month, B The Change will share examples and lessons from businesses that are finding ways to do better by shaping a more inclusive and regenerative economy. This edition of B The Change Weekly highlights B Corp policies and practices that uplift workers and benefit the bottom line.

In community,

B The Change  

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The income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of the country has widened in recent years — and the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed things even further. The wage disparity is most apparent when examining CEO salaries, which have climbed to new heights in the last decade while the minimum wage has not increased. B The Change shares how B Corps are working to reverse this trend by narrowing the pay gap between their highest- and lowest-paid workers and advocating for changes in policy and practice.
 

Unity Web Agency, a B Corp that builds accessible and sustainable websites for nonprofits and socially responsible businesses, looks to use business as a force for good externally and internally. Last year, as part of its commitment to equity, the B Corp eliminated pay differences. As CEO Alisa Ryan Herr shares on B The Change, that means she earns the same wage as web developers, project managers, and others at the B Corp.
 

B Lab and other partners are presenting Shift 2021, a virtual event April 14-16 featuring impact leaders and action-oriented workshops. A series of live-streamed Shift Conversations are planned in the lead-up to Shift 2021. Kim Coupounas of B Lab will be among the participants for the March 11 conversation on “What Will It Take to Build a Truly Inclusive Economy? The Role of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Impact Capital in Fostering an Economy that Works for All.”
 

To help workers make ends meet between paychecks, B Corp Payactiv created an Earned Wage Access app that thousands of employers use to enhance employee financial security. On B The Change, Cornell University Professor Christopher Marquis and Payactiv Founder and CEO Safwan Shah discuss how the app helps build stronger relationships between companies and workers while also strengthening employees’ financial health.
 

Here’s your chance to catch up on recent articles:

• (Comedic) Relief for Your Workflow: What Do Comedian Demetri Martin and Leadership Have in Common?

• How B Corps Do Business Better: Narrowing the Income Gap By Reducing Pay Ratios and Uplifting Workers: By Capping CEO Pay and Advocating for Lowest-Wage Employees, These Companies Seek a More Equitable Economy That Works for All

• I Earn the Same Amount as My Employees — and That’s OK: Why and How This B Corp Implemented an Equal Pay Policy

• Democratizing Capital: How Alternative Business Ownership Models Could Reshape the World: Rethinking Business with a Stakeholder-Minded Approach

• How Earned Wage Access Can Upend Predatory Lending and Build Employee Financial Wellness: B Corp Helps Employers Connect Workers with Income When They Need It Most

• This Month, Make Employee Engagement Your Reason to ‘B’: New Tool Shares the Basics of the B Corp Community

• H&R Block CEO Jeff Jones on Leading By Listening, and Building with Purpose: Meeting Employee and Customer Expectations for the Future

• How Leadership Diversity Improves Workplace Innovation and Productivity: Research Finds That Racial Diversity in Upper and Lower Management Leads to Better Strategy and Implementation