Why B Leader training in Europe is on the rise
In recent years, the growth of the B Corp community in Europe has been astounding. It is one of the fastest growing regions for B Corps, and recently hit a major milestone. There are now over 600 certified B Corporations in over 20 countries across Europe.
The trend is one of continued acceleration in this global movement to make business a force for good. Initiatives that 18-24 months ago felt out of reach, are now on the table, are being taken seriously and are happening. From what I can see, things are about to be taken to a completely new level!
My B Leader Journey
B Leaders is a training programme, designed by B Lab UK and my colleague Amy Bourbeau, to empower people who want to lead organisations through B Corp certification and work with businesses to measure what matters.
My very first B Corp event was in 2015 in Berlin, where I met the incredibly welcoming German B Corp community. I knew immediately these were kindred spirits I wanted to work with. After that, I began organising some events for the local B Corp community and started supporting companies on their B Corp journey. I was hooked on helping companies become forces for good!
I fully entered the B Corp universe when I started working at a Berlin based B Corp, Erdbaer, and attended my first B Corp summit in Portugal. Wanting to dig into this movement even deeper, I worked part-time for B Lab Europe helping to support the German B Corp community.
As part of my role with B Lab, I took part in the B Leader training programme in 2018. It was there that I met Amy, who I now have the pleasure of working with at Seismic.
Last year Amy, myself and the rest of our team earned recognition from B Lab Europe with the amazing Movement Builder of the Year Award. This was for our support and collaboration on webinars for pipeline activation; digital events with hundreds of participants on sustainable supply chains; helping to design and deliver the first B Leader training for the German market; helping to make the Benelux B Leaders courses in Brussels and Amsterdam a success; and, as the B Lab team put it, “trailblazing ahead in Luxembourg and connecting the relational dots by building up B Corp momentum in the market”.
How B Leaders are championing the B Corp movement
B Leaders that are supported in their training by our Seismic B Corp experts go on to become super active as in-house champions and ambassadors and external advisors, raising awareness broadly and helping companies on their B Corp journeys.
- In Germany, we have helped train two cohorts of B Leaders, from Munich to Bavaria, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin. They are now exploring how the B Corp framework can be embedded and how the B Impact Assessment can be a useful tool to help companies comply with new supply chain laws and regulations.
- In Belgium, the B Leaders community is accelerating the local movement as it gets organised, reaching out to universities who are teaching the BIA framework and encouraging students to work with companies on this, helped by the partnership between B Lab and The Shift.
The long waitlists for B Leaders training courses is evidence of the growing demand to engage in the B Corp movement and be part of its acceleration. Trained B Leaders become a vital part of the movement infrastructure, taking learnings back to their different communities and playing such proactive roles in making connections and driving positive initiatives with key stakeholders.
Where companies are looking for advice around sustainability generally, and particularly on the B Corp framework and assessment, they are turning to B Leaders and we’re so proud of the amazing things these ambassadors achieve!
If you are interested in B Leader training, check out:
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