How can companies move from incremental change to systemic transformation? In this episode, we speak with Grace Son, Senior Manager on the Standards Team at B Lab Global, about the newly developed B Corp impact standards for Government Affairs and Collective Action, also known as GACA.
Grace shares her transition from a finance background to a values-driven career at B Lab, where she works on shaping standards that guide companies to responsibly engage in lobbying, collective action, and tax transparency. She reveals how businesses can align their advocacy and public influence with social and environmental goals, and how the new standards provide a flexible yet rigorous framework for companies of all sizes and contexts.
We also explore the rationale behind incorporating responsible tax policies into sustainability conversations, why public disclosures serve as a powerful accountability tool, and how B Corps can start building the relationships and collaborations necessary to meet the new GACA requirements. Whether you’re a certified B Corp or just values-curious, this episode offers valuable insight into how businesses can become stronger agents of systems change!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Grace’s shift from shareholder primacy in finance to stakeholder governance at B Lab.
- How her investment research skills transferred to B Lab’s standards work.
- An inside look at how B Lab develops rigorous, research-driven standards.
- The limits of individual action and the power of collective systems change.
- What GACA means: responsible lobbying, collective action, and tax transparency.
- Flexible requirements tailored by company size, industry, and geography.
- Ways that trade association conflicts are managed through transparency and red lines.
- How B Corps can stay in misaligned chambers of commerce and still drive change.
- The role of public reporting and B Lab’s complaints process in enforcement.
- Five specific types of collective action that companies can engage in.
- Why tax policy belongs in sustainability (and what’s required of multinationals).
- Major challenges and opportunities for B Corp navigating this new impact topic.
- How B Corps can start building external partnerships for deeper impact.
- Moving beyond compliance to an authentic embodiment of B Corp values.
Quotations:
“In shareholder primacy, we’re prioritizing financial returns. This is oftentimes at the cost of exceeding planetary boundaries [and] exacerbating social inequality. Basically, the system is broken and we need a new one.” — Grace Son
“Individual company actions create incremental change. Through collective action, we can transform systems.” — Grace Son
“[It’s] an exciting opportunity for B Corps to work closely with their local community of B Corps and other nonprofits [and] actors in the sustainability space – to collectively identify different resources and network opportunities – to engage in collective action.” — Grace Son
“Even if certification isn't your ultimate goal, – just reviewing the standards, being aware, and treating them as best practices, as recommendations, – could go a long way.” — Grace Son
“The standards alone – [do] not achieve impact. It's the movement and all the different B Corps and community members engaging with and implementing the standards that [are] achieving the social and environmental impact.” — Grace Son
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
- Grace Son on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracejson/
- B Lab Global: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/
- B Lab Resources: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/resources/
- B Lab Standards: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/standards/
- ‘B Lab's New Standards Impact Topic: Government Affairs & Collective Action’: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/news/blog/b-lab-new-standards-impact-topic-government-affairs-collective-action/
- ‘Collective Action: Developing local, regional, and global communities for change’: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/programs-and-tools/collective-action/
- UNDP Tax for SDGs Initiative: https://www.taxforsdgs.org/
- GRI Standards: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/
- ‘One-in-four major companies report with GRI Tax Standard’: https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/one-in-four-major-companies-report-with-gri-tax-standard/
- OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS): https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/base-erosion-and-profit-shifting-beps.html
- B Hive: https://connect.bcorporation.net/BHiveLogin
- B Academics: https://bacademics.org/
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