CENTER FOR BUSINESS
AS AN AGENT OF WORLD BENEFIT

Enhancing the physical health, body image and self-esteem of teenage girls is the spirit behind Shift Inc., a club created solely for teenage girls who strive to achieve a healthier life. The objective of helping the members of Shift take action and actuate a behavioral change is manifested through building strong, surrounding community that provides support and encouragement, valuable information that helps teenage girls make wiser decisions toward their health and tools that bring planning and focus in achievement of these goals.

Coca-Cola is the largest private sector employer in Africa, with more than 60,000 employees. It has operated in Africa for more than 75 years and over the last five years has invested more than $600 million in new plants, updated equipments and employee training. Africa has been a profitable region for the company with continuous increase in revenues as well as unit case volume. But this rate of growth is threatened by the prevalence of AIDS/HIV crisis in the continent. The company has launched several initiatives to educate, protect and curb the crisis for its employees, in turn helping the economic growth of the whole region. Through partnerships and collaborations several innovative programs have been institutionalized. The prevention and education within the company cascade down, contributing to the health and development of the whole community.

‘Sekem’ means vitality from the sun, the ripples of which have touched people, environment and community in multitude of ways. It is an initiative in Egypt with a vision of sustainable development through economic, social and cultural progress. Operating via an umbrella organization called Sekem Holding, products like natural pharmaceuticals, organic food, and organic textiles are manufactured in a hope to heal the earth and spread prosperity in the country.

Starbucks Coffee Company’s C.A.F.E (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices program ensures that Starbucks sources sustainably grown and processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental aspects of coffee growing along the supply chain. In 2005, Starbucks purchased 76.8 million pounds of coffee from the C.A.F.E Practice providers, which represents 24.6% of all coffee purchased by the company. By improving the environment, economy, and the educational and health services within local communities, Starbucks creates stability for its farmers and, in turn, for the company, according to Cindy Hoots, Senior Specialist at Starbucks in the Corporate Responsibility Office.

Newman’s Own Organics is an organic food manufacturer that focuses on providing the kinds of products people loved as kids, but takes them one step further by using the highest quality of available organic ingredients. Nell Newman, daughter of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, along with Peter Meehan founded Newman’s Own Organics in 1993. Newman’s Organics has been an innovator of organic food products since its conception, concentrating on developing products with wide consumer appeal, such as pretzels, cookies and popcorn. According to Nell Newman, “Some people have a narrow definition of organic. They see it as heavy and tasteless, being forced to change your eating habits. No way! This is great food that is ultimately better for the environment long, long term.”

A cleaning company that is committed not only to keeping the client’s house clean but also ensuring that environment is equally pristine by adopting and promulgating natural and safe cleaning practices – ‘Green Clean Inc’ is an example of how high quality customer service, productive work environment and a healthier planet are goals that buttress each other. The organization has successfully achieved this via a strong sense of social consciousness, providing safer alternatives to harmful chemicals in cleaning products and educating customers, public and employees on safer cleaning practices.

“Partnership with a vision brought about the largest “Steel Winds” energy project on the Great Lakes,” says Keith Nagel, director of environmental affairs and real estate for ArcelorMittal USA. This partnership was born when ArcelorMittal USA’s predecessor company, Mittal Steel USA, assumed liabilities of a massive 1,200-acre Brownfield site during the acquisition of a major integrated steel facility in Lackawanna, N.Y. The blazing wind speeds at the site encouraged Keith to install a meteorological tower in order to record wind patterns. A local university was recruited to understand and evaluate the data. The results confirmed the latent potential the site held for windmill energy generation. With a vivid plan to establish beneficial reuse of this massive Brownfield site ArcelorMittal partnered with BQ Energy, UPC Wind Management LLC and Clipper Windpower, Inc. to start in the Fall of 2006, ‘Steel Winds’- one of the nation’s largest urban wind farms. The project had a “slag breaking” ceremony on September 15, 2006. The first of eight 400-foot state-of-the-art wind mills was put into place in December 2006. The wind farm resides on 160 (of the total 1,200) acres along the eastern shore of Lake Erie proudly visible from the major highway that runs along Lake Erie and through the city of Lackawanna, New York.

SunEdison LLC has become North America’s largest provider of solar energy services through an innovative financing model, called a power purchase agreement (PPA) and backed by private equity financing totaling more than $250 million to date. SunEdison sets the industry standard for profitable distribution of solar energy.

Great Lakes Brewing, a brewing company that also runs a bar and restaurant called the ‘brewpub’, has espoused the idea of ‘Triple Bottom Line’ through myriad initiatives that manifest the spirit of a commitment to community and environment. This is done by engaging in economic, social and environmental practices that achieve a sustainable and profitable business. The major thrust areas in this direction are ‘Reducing, reusing and recycling’; Changing natural resource use from "Take, Make, Waste" to "Take, Make, Remake" ;implementing efficient energy practices; investing in the community through non-profit organizations and supporting sustainable urban renewal projects .

In 1999, Restaurant Nora in the Dupont Circle area of Washington D.C. became the first certified organic restaurant in the nation, a distinction currently shared by only two other establishments. Through her commitment to promoting a healthier society, Austrian born Nora Pouillon has become not only a pioneer in the world of organic cuisine, she has demonstrated that organic foods and the upscale dining experience are eminently compatible. In the late 70’s, when healthy eating was associated with vegetarianism and the alternative culture, she set out to show that seasonal, local, and organic cuisine was well suited to the white-tablecloth dining experience. And she has done so decidedly. Since opening its doors in 1979, Nora’s Restaurant has been lauded in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, Gourmet, Vogue, and USA Today, and she has granted a considerable number of interviews, including one for CNN, and with the likes of Madeline Albright, Betty Friedan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Jane Goodall for the preparation of the PBS documentary, If Women Ruled the World.

Organic Valley is an organic, family farmer-owned cooperative on a mission. With farm families and staff all over the nation, they are united by their common goal of reconnecting farmers, the people that produce food with care, and their urban neighbors, the people who depend on quality food for their well being.

KaBOOM! is committed to a world where each child is within walking distance of a great place to play. To assure such places are available, KaBOOM! created an innovative business model which includes partnering with corporations and fosters team building and community development in addition to building playgrounds.

Women's World Banking's vision is to expand low-income women's economic participation by giving them greater access to financial information and markets. In doing so they are enabling women to not only keep their families fed but also engage in the community and develop a political voice that could bring about great change worldwide.

CoxHealth is a large not-for-profit, integrated health care organization providing healthcare in a twenty-one county area in Southwest Missouri. The organization celebrates its 100th year of providing healthcare in 2006. Currently the system is the largest employer in the region with over 9,000 employees among its three hospitals, long-term care, home health, physician clinics, rural health clinics, full service behavioral health, and multiple other healthcare offerings. The mission of the organization is to “Improve the health of the communities we serve through quality health care, education, and research.” The core values guide and shape the way business is done through compassion, respect, and integrity at CoxHealth. CoxHealth has initiated a program titled Business Associated Student Education (BASE). This program offers a unique learning opportunity for appropriate special education students at risk, yet with untapped potential. The most significant opportunity is to create an easy transition to the real world for these students. They can gain basic life skills to be as independent as possible, to negotiate the world and care for themselves, be employed, and create a productive life for themselves. At the present time there are around seventy students divided among seven jobsites participating in this program. Three of the jobsites are at CoxHealth facilities. Cox was the original business to step out and begin this partnership.

According to Natura's website, the search for beauty is a legitimate yearning of all human beings, but based on stereotypes imposed by society. Natura believes we must demystify the ideal of beauty and maintain ourselves by cultivating and conserving our bodies. In an effort to move towards a more sustainable business model, Natura, Brazil’s leading cosmetics company, launched a new product line, Nature Ekos. Natura Ekos line of fragrances, personal care and ambience products draws from the wealth of Brazil's biodiversity and is inspired by traditional uses of plant ingredients. In keeping with the concept of sustainability, Natura Ekos products are biodegradable and use bottles and packaging that contain recycled material. Refills are provided for each product, which both reduces their environmental impact and increases the price competitiveness of the Ekos products.

SELCO INDIA (the Solar Electric Light Company) is a solar energy services company that sells, installs and services solar lighting systems to the underserved in rural India. SELCO is headquartered in Bangalore, India and has 25 solar service centers offices in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. With a staff of more than 150, SELCO has installed more than 45,000 solar lighting systems. SELCO has also partnered with more than 12 local financial institutions. SELCO’s primary mission is to uplift the quality of life among the underserved and also create enabling conditions for income generating activities. Solar lighting has led to better education, smokeless environment and longer working hours; thus uplifting the quality of life of the beneficiaries. SELCO has ensured that its clients can get door-step service and door-step financing: two key components for the successful dissemination of modern energy services in the underserved areas.

Honey Care Africa is an innovative, rapidly expanding Kenyan social enterprise established expressly to increase the income of rural farmers. To date, Honey Care has doubled the income of several thousand small scale farmers through its "Money for Honey" program, which trains them in commercial beekeeping and then buys their honey at a guaranteed price. Honey Care then packages and sells the highest quality African honey. The overall objective of the company is to produce and market high quality honey that will successfully compete on the world market with honey products from elsewhere. To achieve this objective the company has opted to work with the rural community groups in an out-grower model whereby it has introduced modern beekeeping methods using the Langstroth hives. In this approach, the company closely monitors the production process to ensure quality of honey produced by the contracted out- growers.

E7 is an international environmental NPO comprised of the world's leading electric utilities. Major global environmental and social issues that affect the electric utility industry are considered to be the top priorities of the E7.Each E7 member considers the management of environmental issues among its highest corporate priorities, and all support the concept of Sustainable Development. The E7 electricity companies operate on the national territories of the G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States). Membership in the E7 is by invitation. The E7 may also invite other organizations from around the world to become Partners and contribute to the implementation of the E7’s goals. The number of E7 members from any single country is limited to a maximum of two (2) and these. must be the largest, or among the two largest, electricity producing companies, in the country that is under consideration. The E7 has a unique operational knowledge of the electricity sector. In other words, the E7’s diversity of experience and expertise complement each other granting it an all-encompassing scope of the global electricity industry. Sharing this wealth of experience with countries facing new pressures on their electrical industry is the most valuable way the E7 can contribute to sustainable development throughout the world.

Located unobtrusively on the implicit boundary between the District of Columbia’s well-to-do neighborhoods to the west and the less prosperous ones to the east, City First Bank of D.C. has been on a mission since its inception to make a difference in the communities that most need assistance. City First has found, quite intentionally, an ideal integration of its social concerns and the necessity of maintaining a solid bottom line. They are especially skilled in financing the acquisition and renovation of affordable housing, facilities and working capital for nonprofit and faith-based organizations, and small businesses.

Equal Exchange is a successful, growing, for-profit, employee-owned, specialty foods company that has helped to pioneer the “Fair Trade” model that improves the market access, income, and commercial opportunities for small-scale farmers in developing countries. In the traditional coffee supply chain, small-scale farmers sell their crop to a chain of intermediaries who eventually export the coffee. Under this arrangement the individual farmers have almost no control; few economic options; carry out only the very least profitable link in the value chain; and receive just a small amount of the export price – which itself is usually too low to provide more than a poverty-level income. In contrast to conventional importing practices Equal Exchange deals directly with democratically run farmer cooperatives in Africa, Asia and South America, and buys their coffee, and other crops, at a guaranteed above-market price. In addition, Equal Exchange works with socially responsible financial institutions in the U.K. and U.S. to provide affordable loans to cooperatives that might otherwise lack access to credit. These Fair Trade practices increase the incomes of the economically disadvantaged growers; helps them to invest in their operations; and fosters broad-based, stable economic growth in rural communities. Fair Trade also helps to foster equality and democracy in countries where corruption is often a problem.

Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. The company, which employs 131,000 people in 43 countries, serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, and industrial markets. Alcoa’s vision is to be the best company in the world, through the eyes of its customers, shareholders, communities and people. To achieve its vision, Alcoa has taken an innovative approach to the environment and societies in which it operates. By developing technologies and solutions twenty years in advance, Alcoa can operate ahead of the curve. Alcoa has created a commitment to sustainability through its vision for 2020.

Founded in 1979 Yamamoto-Moss is a prominent marketing, communications, and graphic design firm based in Minneapolis, MN. Unlike other marketing and research firms, however, Yamamoto-Moss supports the important work of local nonprofit organizations through their Community Building Program. The eight year old program is an exceptional example of how business can generate sustainable impact beyond merely funding worthy organizations. By investing their time, talent and expertise, Yamamoto-Moss fosters sustainable efforts by non-profit organizations and develops community relationships that will have on-going positive impacts that provide substantial benefit to their business.

The international law firm of Sidley Austin LLP (hereafter “Sidley”) has gone beyond the typical pro bono requirement in the legal profession. By partnering with inMotion, a non-profit dedicated to representing underserved women in family matters, Sidley has taken their community service work to the next level. The collaboration between the two organizations benefits women who might not have adequate legal representation as well as giving practical and personally rewarding experiences to relatively young attorneys.

Goodyear airship, also known as “the blimp”, travels more than 100,000 miles across the United States per year, serving as a powerful marketing tool. Going beyond its business purpose, the blimp also acts as a way to bring benefit to the society at large – thus adding value through marketing while simultaneously creating goodwill through its commitment to service. Reaching more than 60 million Americans each year, the blimps brings great business impact while delivering public awareness messages and providing crucial information during disaster relief efforts.

In 1999 Alec McClennan founded the only organic lawn care company located in Northeast Ohio, Good Nature Organic Lawn Care. Good Nature provides an innovative alternative to chemical lawn treatment applications by using organic materials such as sugar beets, clove, garlic, alfalfa, and canola oil. The majority of Good Nature Organic Lawn Care customers start using the organic lawn care treatment because they are concerned about the potential health risk to their children and pets which can be caused by hazardous lawn care chemicals. What they soon learn is that in addition to peace of mind from avoiding potential health hazards, they are also creating healthier soil, grass and environment.

Tetra Pak, a packaging company in a highly polluting and environmentally damaging industry, is working hard to create sustainable activities and become environmentally responsible. In partnerhips with three other companies, Tetra Pak is using plasma technology to create recyclable material. Additionally, the company has committed to following a carbon equalization policy in Canada which helps meet it's commitments to the Kyoto agreement.

Bank ABN AMRO has made sustainability a cornerstone of its business. The bank strives to include a concern for social and environmental issues in the decision-making of every strategic business unit. These activities have gained such prominence that a special unit, the Sustainable Development Group was organized to coordinate sustainability work across the organization. The innovativeness of this sustainability mindset has led to numerous activities that are creating a shift in the impact of ABN AMRO on environment and society.

Cascade Engineering is a leader in engineered plastic systems for the automotive, solid waste and industrial markets. Cascade certainly is driven by the “Triple Bottom Line” philosophy. The company’s objectives are to create a higher level of organizational accountability and transparency; foster a balanced approach to continuous improvement; and provide a learning tool and framework for other medium sized companies. Cascade’s innovations include developing and issuing an annual report titled the Triple Bottom Line Report. This report includes a “sustainability scorecard which illustrates Cascade’s strong commitment to transforming what many people view as a ‘good idea’ into long term strategic advantage,” said Fred Keller, Cascade Engineering Chairman and CEO. “ In measuring our many areas of progress, and some remaining performance gaps, Cascade is inviting its many stakeholders and industry peers to take a close look at our multi-year effort to realize the potential of three vital and interrelated ‘bottom lines’. We believe that social and environmental initiatives can contribute to positive business results, and that sustainability will continue to gain momentum through the open exchange of ideas and best practices”.

Nearly 1.6 billion people living in the developing world need reading glasses, but less than 5% have access to affordable options. Scojo Foundation is broadening global access to reading glasses, creating and training local entrepreneurs, and improving overall quality of life for many. Scojo develops markets for reading glasses at the base of the economic pyramid. They select, train, equip and fund local entrepreneurs to establish new businesses that sell reading glasses. They then provide high-quality affordable reading glasses for these distributors, bringing reading glasses and referral services directly to the customer at the village level. So many people in India, El Salvador, and Guatemala have told Scojo how much their lives have changed because of Scojo Foundation's reading glasses. Who would imagine that a simple pair of reading glasses could have such an effect? Scojo did because it researched, studied, and tested its programs inside and out. Scojo Foundation believes its responsibility is to provide a product and service that is truly superior. For too long, the global economy has failed to recognize the power and influence that people living on less than $1 a day can have. Scojo Foundation is working to change this perception through simple pairs of reading glasses and determined entrepreneurs.

Blue Sky Hauling is an Oakland, California-based hauling company that is redefining the hauling industry and globally helping underserved populations at the same time. Unlike traditional hauling or recycling companies, Blue Sky Hauling removes unwanted items and materials from homes and businesses and then partners with local, national, and international organizations to deliver useable items and materials to places that have immediate need. By taking recycling one step further, Blue Sky Hauling is successfully partnering with non-profit organizations both locally and around the world to benefit the disadvantaged and those in crises.

The Lusty Wrench is an award winning "eco-conscious" auto repair shop that weaves environmental responsibility throughout its day-to-day operations. For over 25 years the repair shop has not only provided a needed service to the local community but has also restored the environment through innovative, responsible business practices. From recycling waste products, to purchasing auto parts from socially-responsible countries, to educating customers on auto-related sustainability issues, the Lusty Wrench demonstrates how a small local business can effect environmentally-desirable change using big concepts, while still making a comfortable profit.

King’s Medical Group is a US for-profit, faith-based company that is guided by the fundamental philosophy that everyone should have access to state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging services. Health care needs of small communities throughout the country are often overlooked by large hospitals and other imaging corporations due to the high costs and risks associated with the investment. Through financially flexible solutions, KMG has developed a unique business model that makes small community imaging centers a successful business venture. The company’s efforts brought about eight imaging centers to the underserved regions of five states, and executed many consulting projects for health care facilities throughout the US.

The story of Hubbard Foods Ltd. of New Zealand represents an innovative approach to Sustainability Reporting (SR). Traditionally, SR is seen as an adjunct, or secondary, reporting process for a company, often performed for external stakeholders and marketed for general public as a means of PR. Hubbard Foods Ltd decided to use their SR process as a means for sustainability implementation – in other words, as a part of their overall change management process. As a result, a new set of Key Performance Area Drivers and Indicators have been devised and integrated into core operations of the company.

OneWorld Health is the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the United States. It advances global health by developing effective and affordable new medicines for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect people in the developing world. At the core of the company’s operations is an innovative business model. OneWorld Health receives donations from for-profit pharmaceutical companies in a form of drug leads that have little commercialization potential in the West, develops leads into safe and effective medicines, and then partners with scientists and manufacturers of the developing world to bring the medicine to the consumers at the affordable price. A win-win for all involved and a cure for the neglected diseases that affect millions worldwide.

Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) provides vital, fair income to Third World artists and crafts people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. It is a nonprofit, self-supporting alternative trading organization (ATO) - a non-governmental organization designed to benefit artisans, not to maximize profits. They market products from handicraft and agricultural organizations based in low-income countries. They provide consumers around the world with products that have been fairly purchased from sustainable sources. ATOs put fair trade into practice and campaigns for more equitable terms of trade for artisans from low-income countries TTV is a nonprofit fair trade program of Mennonite Central Committee, a relief, service and peace agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. To TTV, each village in the world represents a unique, distinctive people... offering extraordinary products born of their rich cultures and traditions.

The Beach Solar Laundromat uses eight solar thermal panels to heat water for the Laundromat, potable water for the second floor apartment and for space heating in radiators. The building was built in 1939, and the mechanical retrofit took place in 2002 and 2003. Natural Gas consumption has been reduced by approximately 30% as a result of the energy initiatives undertaken. Revenues have grown 160% over eighteen months as customers actively choose the Beach Solar Laundromat because of its environmentally friendly energy initiatives.

For corporate law departments and the law firms that serve them, the DuPont Legal Model offers instructive principles and processes that can improve the practice of corporate law. Since 1992, the DuPont Legal Model has given the company a framework for meeting new challenges and guided them through a period of tremendous change. By applying “business discipline” to the practice of law, the Legal Model has focused Dupont’s resources and made strategic partnering, information technology, metrics, diversity and other initiatives the cornerstones of their approach. Through this Legal Model, Du Pont Legal has embraced a diversity agenda. This model makes it a requirement that DuPont’s various law firms meet specified diversity requirements. This strategy has prompted a shift in the legal community to embrace greater diversity.

PeaceWorks is a not-only-for-profit specialty food company that manages to combine production of condiments with peace building. Fostering coexistence through business, they unite people traditionally on the opposite sides of conflict via a shared goal. Together with people who are striving to co-exist, Peaceworks creates and delivers unique and exciting specialty foods. PeaceWorks currently does business with Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, South Africans, Turks, Indonesians and Sri Lankans.

Freeplay Energy Group of London has found a way to address global needs while making a profit for itself. Combining collaborative research and development with the desire to bring good to those at the bottom of the pyramid, the company grows its revenues while bringing tangible results to people in most remote locations. Freeplay has helped pioneer the windup radio. In 1996, Freeplay designed its first radio charged by cranking a handle so that Africans could listen to public-service broadcasts of health and agriculture information and school lessons. Freeplay has sold 3 million radios. In the West, where they sell for up to $100, they are popular among campers. But they're sold at a discount to aid agencies and governments in poor nations.

GrameenPhone has a dual purpose: to receive an economic return on its investments and to contribute to the economic development of Bangladesh where telecommunications can play a vital role. This is why GrameenPhone, in collaboration with Grameen Bank, is aiming to place one phone in each village to contribute significantly to the economic uplift of those villages. Grameen Phone’s basic strategy is coverage of both urban and rural areas. In contrast to the “island” strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, GrameenPhone builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout GrameenPhone’s network.

Interface, a highly regarded eco-conscious company, and one of the largest manufacturers of commercial flooring in the world, has created the industry's first post-consumer recycled polyester commercial fabric. Terratex® is made from 100% recyclable or renewable material, manufactured using increasingly sustainable processes, made to meet or exceed industry standards for quality and performance, and recyclable or compostable at the end of it's useful life. Interface believes Terratex makes an impact, not an imprint, on the environment.

PartsSource is the leader in managing the inventory of high quality medical equipment and parts consigned by charitable organizations and healthcare providers. It accepts medical equipment on consignment, or purchases it, and then donates the equipment to a charity, allowing for a fair market tax deduction. Once equipment is received by PartsSource it is carefully reviewed and, if applicable, separated to the parts assembly level. These parts are then made available at a substantial savings to end users who are currently utilizing the exact same piece of equipment. A portion of the revenue generated by the equipment transfer is returned to the consigning organization or a charity. This creates a profit from the (originally) discarded equipment. PartsSource delivers tangible benefits to those in need while improving cash-flow for an organization. By donating through PartsSource the medical equipment provider can rest assured that the necessary medical equipment will end up in the hands of a legitimate charity that supports worldwide healthcare. This indirectly allows them the opportunity to provide relief to those in need.

The Benetech Initiative is a non-profit venture that provides social benefits by harnessing the power of technology. It delivers these benefits using a new model of social entrepreneurship which combines market forces with philanthropic capital and entrepreneurial drive. Benetech focuses the efforts of technology and technologists to solve important problems facing society. A quick sampling of projects currently underway illustrates the power and promise of Benetech. Bookshare.org is a legal book-sharing community of people with disabilities, meeting the stringent copyright law exemption for providing accessible books. The Martus Project provides critical tools for the reporting and dissemination of human rights information, improving the effectiveness of the human rights sector worldwide. The Landmine Detector Project will transfer exciting new technologies developed by U.S. Department of Defense to applications to meet the needs of humanitarian landmine removal efforts around the world.

The Social Enterprise El Pan de Cada Día (Our Daily Bread) was born in 2003 as the first of its kind in Peru and the only enterprise of its kind to exclusively employ disabled persons (Persona