As people increasingly look to align their money with their beliefs — especially amid a climate crisis and renewed movement for racial justice — more companies are increasing their focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. A growing policy focus on corporate accountability and climate risk disclosures also is prompting companies to re-examine their practices and products to reduce negative impact in order to increase their long-term financial returns.

But Rick Alexander of The Shareholder Commons believes that “doing well by doing good” is insufficient to address systemic issues like climate change and racial injustice. He is calling for…

People can get trapped in cycles of poverty and unemployment for myriad reasons, many of which involve systemic issues and injustices. This reality can hold back people in many communities, especially marginalized ones, and keeps us from reaching our full potential on innovation and economic growth as a nation. One business innovation that addresses one root of chronic poverty is open hiring.

Open hiring is the practice of hiring anyone who applies for a job, no questions asked. People put their names on a list and get a call to start work when an opening comes available. Greyston Bakery, founded…

The materials that make up the things we use every day often get overlooked as simply parts of a whole. But for nature lovers and adventure seekers specifically, who care deeply about the environment, it may come as a surprise that the products and gear they use while enjoying the outdoors can actually be harmful to the planet.

Take petroleum, for example, a fossil fuel that is a key component of many materials often used in the production of outdoor recreation equipment. …

One principle—the desire to find work with purpose—has guided John Salzinger on his winding career path through a variety of jobs, from advertising to entertainment and others in between. Eventually he found his job with meaning, inspired to shine a light and provide a sense of safety for people around the world through solar lanterns. In launching MPOWERD in 2012 after witnessing the devastating effects of an earthquake on people in Haiti, Salzinger started a business that created a profit while also serving a social and environmental purpose.

“It aligned with the values that had been ingrained by my parents…

Margo Walsh knows the power of connections. She saw it for years in her work as a recruiter for a New York investment firm, a competitive field that had her visiting Ivy League schools and helping students envision their professional success. Now, she sees it as the leader of MaineWorks, an innovative staffing agency in Portland, Maine. MaineWorks links people in recovery from substance abuse and reentry from jail or prison with construction companies that need workers — an even more important pairing now amid growing labor shortages.

“That’s my superpower — to be able to hustle and meet everybody…

Many development models rush to answer the question, “How can we eradicate poverty?” without first asking, “Why does this poverty exist?” Focusing only on the first question has led to the common aid mishaps we hear about: villages with new schools but no ability to employ teachers, broken water systems that none of the local residents can fix, local economies wiped about because of free, imported alternatives, and so on. For example, the $22 million failed Lake Turkana fish processing plant in Kenya or the $60 million project focused on eradicating malnutrition in Bangladesh.

A further challenge is that development…

Before the pandemic, travel and tourism accounted for almost 8% of all human-made emissions. Historically, the industry has been slow in addressing climate challenges due to industry fragmentation and low margins that have hindered necessary sustainability-focused investments. The result is maintenance of the status quo for too many years. As we emerge from the pandemic, when travel and tourism fell by more than 75%, we must look for better solutions to reduce the environmental impact of this critical industry.

Fortunately, the demand for sustainable travel has been on the rise. Recent studies show that almost 90% of us want to…

When family ties led to moves to two new cities, colleagues Anne St. Peter and Douglas Bell decided to seize the opportunity to build a new marketing consulting enterprise with what they call an “inside-out approach.” In establishing Global Prairie in 2008, they built an employee-owned firm designed to help clients identify their purpose and engage their stakeholders around it.

Now, with offices in nine cities around the globe — including their respective offices of Kansas City and Cleveland — St. Peter and Bell have further baked purpose into Global Prairie’s DNA by becoming a Certified B Corporation and adopting…