DesignForce is Proud to Announce We are Now B-Corp Certified!

After four years of incremental progress, change, and intention, it is with great excitement and pride to announce that DesignForce has officially been recognized as a Certified B-Corporation!

Becoming a B-Corp is a tangible affirmation of the meaningful impact we seek to create and the core values that we have upheld as building blocks for our organization: collaborative, intentional, people-first, and impact-driven. Achieving B-Corp status is a symbol to us, our people, our clients, and our industry that it takes a people-driven approach to develop and nurture workplaces that allow people to grow and flourish.

What is B-Corp?

B-Corps are for-profit, mission-driven companies that seek to balance profit with purpose while boldly reimagining the role that the private sector plays in our society. The B-Corp Certification, administered by the nonprofit, B Lab, is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified accountability, performance, and transparency on factors ranging from charitable giving and inclusive hiring to employee benefits and supply chain practices. A core principle of B-Corp is to put people over profits. In order to achieve certification, a company must meet high impact thresholds in the following areas:

• Corporate Governance: This section looks at a company’s overall mission, engagement around its social and environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This area also evaluates the ability of a company to uphold their mission and formally consider all stakeholders in decision-making through their corporate structure and policies.
• Employees: This impact area evaluates a company’s contributions to its employees’ financial security, health & safety, wellness, career development, engagement, and overall career satisfaction.
• Environment: This impact area evaluates a company’s overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of a company’s operations and, when applicable, its supply chain and distribution channels. This section also recognizes companies with environmentally innovative production processes and those that sell products or services that have a positive environmental impact.
• Community: This section evaluates a company’s engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics for evaluation in this area include but are not limited to diversity, equity & inclusion, economic impact, civic engagement, charitable giving, and supply chain management.
• Customers: This impact area evaluates a company’s stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. In addition, this section recognizes products or services that are designed to address a particular social problem for or through its customers, such as health or educational products, arts & media products, serving underserved customers/clients, and services that improve the social impact of other businesses or organizations.

Why is this Important to Us?

Since our inception, we have made it our mission to utilize our social capital and reach to positively transform the A|E|C industry. Our people-first approach to our strategic hiring, career development coaching, and workforce strategy consulting has been the foundation of our organizational ethos and infrastructure. As we have grown, our mission has also grown to include the ultimate goal of positively impacting both our society and the planet. The #bcorp designation not only serves as formal recognition for the impact we are making through our daily work but also continued motivation to be the change we seek in the world.

What’s Next for DesignForce?

Becoming B-Corp certified is just the first step in the process. To ensure that the designation is not merely used as a one-and-done achievement by member organizations, recertification is required every two years against evolving standards. These evolving standards incentivize member organizations to continuously innovate, evolve, and reimagine ways in which companies can catalyze purposeful change for our planet and society. Additionally, this certification serves as a legal commitment to enhance our governance structure and operational transparency.  Additionally, we have formally signed a declaration that proclaims:

• We must be the change we seek in the world.
• All business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
• Through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
• To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations.

As an organization that promotes and practices transparency, DesignForce believes this B-Corp certification will provide us with a clear impact roadmap that not only holds us accountable for maintaining our positive social influence but also drives us to continue to reimagine new ways to utilize DesignForce as a vehicle for good within the built environment and society at large!