The B·A·W·B Innovation Bank is an expanding collection of business innovations that create societal good. Each record of the archive is a profile highlighting an innovation, its context, roots and impacts.
In consonance with its name of Triodos or ‘three way’, Triodos Bank has built its business model on the three pillars of people, planet and profits. The belief of the bank is simple and its mission is lucid - it finances companies, institutions and projects that add cultural value and benefit people and environment with the support of depositors and investors who wish to encourage social responsibility and a sustainable society.
Advanced Patient AdvocaCY (APA is an interesting example of an organization ‘doing well by doing good’. It implements an innovative business model that produces positive societal impact through a unique bridge between needs of two parties, in turn generating profits for itself.
Kevin Groner and Matthew Miano created Advanced Patient Advocacy (APA) in 2000 to help un- and under-insured people in the United States secure third party payer coverage for hospital bills. The organization collects information from extensive, one-on-one interviews with patients regarding demographics, diagnoses, income, assets, work history, and disability and with the help of a proprietary web-based application, matches the patient with a matrix of government entitlement programs in order to assist individuals in securing the funding to pay for their hospitalization.
A web-based data management system called “DARWIN” manages all patient data –information, etc. – and is integrated with hospital systems, which helps facilitate better tracking of patient information. By working to secure eligibility for patients, APA in turn helps hospitals reduce their bad debt write-offs and procure greater interim Medicare reimbursement.
Food, Fun and Social Activism - the blinking words flashing across the website of White Dog cafe more than sum up its philosophy- they define the life spirit flowing through the café’s business model. The café does not simply offer its award-winning cuisine but does this with social consciousness through various activities and events organized throughout the year. Through its initiatives to serve the customer, community, earth and each other, the café is a model for small community businesses as levers for social change.
