You’ve probably heard the saying, “One person can make a difference.” While that’s true, it’s also true that lasting change takes a community. If you’re looking to create your own community for change, there are many paths, from giving back locally, to becoming a Certified B Corp. We sat down with MAYO Founder and Creative Director Carrie Mayo and came up with three simple ways to start working towards developing your community for change.
Identifying Resources
When we first set out on our journey towards becoming a certified B Corp, we took a look at our mission to identify MAYOs goals. We are always looking for ways to use business as a force for good; for us that means supporting social and environmental organizations. Once you identify your mission and company goals, you have a clearer path to deciding how to spend the resources you have as you work toward those goals.
“1% for the Planet came naturally because it’s an organization of work we were already doing and care about,” says Carrie Mayo, “New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR) was also a great resource for us to get started because we could network and learn from from local like minded individuals and companies.”
Workplace Culture
The first step in building strong connections with your community is to build a strong community within your organization. If you’re not doing the work at the heart of your business–your employees–then you’re going to have a difficult time creating impactful change outside your business. That work begins with a positive workplace environment and culture.
Implementing change in your workplace comes from your business mission and goals; the saying “practice what you preach,” is a good guidepost. Look to the values you’re trying to support out in the community–and the world. These should be solidly at the core of your workplace culture.
“Our workplace culture is built on treating each other as equals, and meeting each other where we’re at,” Carrie Mayo says, speaking on MAYO’s workplace culture. “We model both our personal and professional impacts with no shaming. Each week we share our personal environmental bests, alongside our business environmental successes.”
Giving Back
When you think about giving back, whether through in-kind services or monetary donations, volunteering, or sponsorship, think about your mission and goals. Giving back is one of the easiest ways to develop change and contributes to creating authenticity for your business. Before you begin, ask yourself: Does your giving back opportunity align with your mission? How can you best use your resources to give back? How can your employees get involved?
“Even before we were a certified B Corp, we were volunteering to clean up areas where we work,” Carrie Mayo says, “And when we became a member of 1% for the Planet, our employees participated in choosing the organizations we donated to, based on what they care about.”
Talking About Creating Change
It’s important to dedicate the time needed for generating a solid mission that aligns with your company goals. The hard part can sometimes be sharing them with the world. Strong messaging is a good complement to your mission and gives you a clear voice for inspiring others to do the same. Once you’ve done this, the path to achieving your goals becomes clear.
