How do you turn an exciting idea into a global movement? To unpack the globalization of the B Corp movement, we are joined today by Juan Pablo Larenas, social entrepreneur, co-founder of Sistema B, and former Executive Director of B Lab Global.
Juan Pablo begins by detailing his journey to joining the B Corp movement before explaining how Sistema B was founded—the first of a number of Global Partners formed in conjunction with B Lab. We explore the challenges of contextualizing a local system for a global audience, the importance of community in the B Corp system, and what separates B Corp from other certifications.
In the second half of the episode, Juan Pablo describes B Lab's transition from a founder-led organization to an executive-led organization (at B Lab Global and at all of the Global Partners) and the challenges of governing an increasingly complex B Corp movement. We also discuss the future of B Corps—including Juan Pablo's belief that we need to refocus the B Corp community's efforts on collective action and impact.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Juan Pablo's journey to joining the B Corp movement.
- How Sistema B was formed, and how it works in harmony with B Lab.
- How Juan Pablo contextualized a US-based system for his audience in Latin America.
- How the idea of B Corp was initially received by Latin American partners.
- Why B Corp is focused on community, and what makes the B Corp community unique.
- The importance of inviting other players (not necessarily just business leaders) into B Corp.
- Why it was important to define B Corp as a systems change movement instead of a mere certification.
- From local to global – expanding impact, and making certification more scalable and efficient.
- Unpacking founder transitions and changes of leadership when scaling to a global market.
- Why it has felt like the B Corp movement has lost steam over the past few years, and how to regain the magic.
- How to make B Corp certification more attractive and fashionable for today’s key players.
- What Juan Pablo would do to improve B Corp certification and the movement as a whole.
- His personal goals for the future, and what he hopes to achieve with Sistema B.
Quotations:
“When we [first] heard about B Corps in 2011 it immediately blew our minds — What blew our minds is the idea; this notion of being a part of a community of businesses that are walking the talk.” — @JPLarenas [0:14:11]
“Our vision is not only to change the business’ DNA but to change the DNA of the economic system.” — @JPLarenas [0:17:31]
“Through collective action, you can really generate impact on society. That means businesses getting together and committing to be net zero or to be more inclusive or to changing the food systems or to have more renewable energy, or to imbed justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion practices, and so on.” — @JPLarenas [0:25:11]
“[B Corp] is a movement that people fell in love with the idea; and people join because of the ideas, but they stay because of the people who are around.” — @JPLarenas [0:40:20]
“It’s not about the [B Corp] certification but it’s about the impact. So, how can the certification help companies generate more positive and environmental impact, and how can we walk the talk? That’s why I think the power of community and collective action is so important.” — @JPLarenas [0:49:13]
“We’re facing challenges in terms of growth, or facing challenges in terms of, how do we impact beyond certification; how do we move the needle in terms of legislation; policy; impact investment?” — @JPLarenas [0:53:35]
“We should build a governance system that really adapts to all the disruptions we’re having in the world. The world is changing so fast that we should build a network of organizations that can adapt as fast as the world changes, because – we evolve much slower than the world evolves.” — @JPLarenas [0:55:51]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
- Juan Pablo Larenas on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juanpablolarenas
- Juan Pablo Larenas on X: x.com/jplarenas
- Juan Pablo Larenas on Instagram: instagram.com/juanpablolarenas/
- Sistema B: sistemab.org/en/welcome/
- B Lab: bcorporation.net/en-us/
- Maria Emilia Correa on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mariaemiliacorrea
- Gonzalo Muñoz Abogabir on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gonzalomunozabogabir/
- Pedro Tarak on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pedro-tarak-3788032b2
- CORE Foundation: corefoundation.org/
- School Infrastructure Programs (SIP): ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-birth-grade-12/school-infrastructure-programs
- The Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL): gailnet.org/
- AND1: and1.com/
- Banca Ética Latinoamericana: bancaeticalat.com/
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