Once a year, B Lab presents Certified B Corps with a list of focus areas where their social and environmental sustainability could be improved upon through the Inclusive Economy Challenge. B Lab provides resources and opportunities to collaborate and learn from one another, so we can collectively improve our impact and move towards a more inclusive economy for all.
CauseLabs is committed to striving for environmental and social sustainability. To hold ourselves accountable, we participated in the 2019 Inclusive Economy Challenge marking our 2nd year in a row setting and achieving our goals.
After reviewing last year’s Impact Assessment, we opted to focus on:
- Environmental sustainability,
- Life Learning, particularly in financial capability, and
- Diversity & Inclusion policies and initiatives.
Being a remote team helps our carbon footprint by eliminating the commute, but we know there is more to be done. To reduce our footprint even more, we purchased greenhouse gas emissions offsets to counter our environmental impact. So far, we’ve offset 15% of our carbon emissions in the first year, with a goal of 25-49%. We also surveyed our supply chain and choose to use green hosting providers or hosting companies that are moving towards being green and reporting on their annual progress. These include hosting companies like Google Cloud, WP Engine, and AWS.
Our team has worked on many Financial Capability projects. We realized we had not given the same resources to ourselves and were missing out on an opportunity to be involved in what we’re building for our clients. This year we extended Life Skills training to our employees by providing everyone with access to Linkedin Learning subscriptions, joining a PEO with Health Advocates who advise and assist with many different areas of life, and providing Financial Literacy resources.
Diversity and Inclusion is one of our company values. In addition to our company’s Diversity and Inclusivity policy, we have annual trainings on Bias and Anti-Discrimination. We also host a quarterly Hour of Power™. Hour of Power™ is set aside for our employees to voice and share any concerns, comments, or suggestions they have with the team, our work or our clients as it relates to inclusion. Our aim is to provide a safe work environment and to keep us accountable to our values and goals.
In 2020, we will continue to strive for environmental sustainability, provide Life Skills for our employees, and promote Diversity and Inclusion. We also want to encourage giving within our community with an employee Volunteer Service Program, with the ultimate goal of Paid Volunteer Time Off.
Creating an inclusive economy is a learning process for everyone. It’s important to value progress over perfection. At CauseLabs, we aim to be an exceptional employer and mindful of how our choices affect not only our economy but also our world.
