Vera Thompson, Customer Service Team Lead
My hometown…
Brooklyn, NY
I’m inspired by…
Hard work and dedication.
Something that always makes me laugh…
The Ikea commercial “Start the Car.”
When I was little, I dreamed of…
Becoming a teacher.
The most challenging thing I’ve ever done is…
Complete the NYT crossword puzzle entirely in pen
I’m stubborn about…
Going to the doctor.
My favorite place to go in New York City is…
The movies.
An uncommon fact about me…
I can only swim underwater.
James Maher, User Experience Designer
My hometown…
Summit, NJ.
I’m inspired by…
Great Design, 80s / 90s animation, Individuals overcoming internal adversity, Elon Musk.
Julia Shaffie, Uncommon Goods HR Specialist
My hometown…
West Bank Demerara, Guyana, South America. A nature-lover’s paradise.
I’m inspired by…
Someone who exhibits unconditional love and never-ending mercy.
When I was a kid my favorite television program was…
Do not ask me to choose: National Geographic Explorer, Power Rangers, Highlander, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess.
Throughout the month, we are celebrating our 10th “B” Day! (Not to be confused with the birth of our company that happened waaay back in 1999.) Our “B” Day commemorates our official initiation into the B Corp community, a community of businesses that have successfully passed a B Corp Assessment. The assessment scores companies on how they’re building better businesses by taking care of their workers, their customers, the community, and the environment. In 2007, we stood with 42 other companies and signed a declaration of interdependence proclaiming our mission to use our company as a force for good. Over the next few weeks we’ll be celebrating this in ways that relate to all of the key areas that are measured by B Lab (the non-profit that is in charge of the B Corp Assessment and the certification process). In honor of this exciting anniversary, we’re taking a look back on what’s happened through the years with our B Corp score, the B Corp movement, and to throw in a little extra fun, the world at large over this decade-long stretch.
B Corp: And so it begins! Our first Impact score: 97
UG: In searching for an assessment process to internally audit our practices to show that we are practicing what we preach in terms of our societal and environmental commitments, our founder and CEO, Dave Bolotsky, committed UncommonGoods to be a founding B Corp. We’re one of 43 companies to be recognized with this distinction.
And also this: The seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series is released.
B Corp: The first B Corp Champions Retreat is hosted in California.
UG: We say so long to Manhattan and complete our move to the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
And also this: Barack Obama is elected, becoming the first person of color to serve as president of the United States.
B Corp: The number of certified B Corps grew to 205 in 54 industries in 28 states.
UG: We make it Facebook official.
And also this: Water is discovered on the moon.
The B Corporation community often compares the value that B Corp certification is for business to “what Fair Trade certification is to coffee, or USDA Organic certification is to milk.” When we became a founding B Corporation in 2007, we committed to meeting rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. While we are proud to exceed the standards required by our certification, there is more work to do in using our business as a force for good. We know that we wouldn’t be true to our values if we didn’t take a stand for causes we believe in. What could happen if the value that business brings to workers’ rights has the potential to be what the Civil Rights Movement was to human rights, or what the Women’s Suffrage Movement was to voting rights?
On International Women’s Day, we took an important step in our corporate advocacy efforts by announcing the launch of our interactive Paid Family Leave Map, a resource to learn the status of your state’s paid leave campaign and take action.
Most Americans don’t get paid time off to care for a new child or seriously ill loved one. Click the map to help make paid family leave happen where you live.
During the launch, Jay Curley, the Senior Global Marketing Manager for fellow B Corp Ben & Jerry’s, visited our team to speak to us about how businesses can be activists and help change the world. We couldn’t have been in better company that day. Ben & Jerry’s has a long, successful, and delicious history of advocating for important causes through creative campaigns. Ever enjoyed a carton of “I Dough, I Dough”? That flavor was created for their campaign to support marriage equality. What about a scoop of “Save our Swirled”? That flavor was created to send out a SOS for our planet. Ben & Jerry’s is not only an inspiring example for B Corporations, but also an example of how a business can incorporate advocacy initiatives to reflect its core company values.
David Bolotsky, Founder and CEO of UncommonGoods, and Jay Curley, Senior Global Marketing Manager of Ben & Jerry’s
At UncommonGoods we strive to use our business as a force for good. One of the ways we do so is by giving to non-profit organizations that we care about through our Better to Give Program–which lets you chose a non-profit partner to receive a $1 donation (at no cost to you) each time you shop.
As the leader of our Sustainability Steering Committee, I am proud that our relationships with our Better to Give partners go beyond the monetary donations we make, by having elements that include volunteer outings, speaker sessions, and attending off-site special events hosted by our selected non-profits. While all of these areas are partially what makes it an absolute blast to work for UncommonGoods, what is most inspiring is hearing about when our team members take it upon themselves to support our Better to Give partners outside of our organization.
Tanya Castin, UncommonGoods Merchant Assistant and RAINN volunteer
Since October, our Merchant Assistant, Tanya Castin, has been devoting her nights and weekends to becoming a volunteer working with one of our Better to Give partners, RAINN. Last month, Tanya completed her training and is officially an online hotline staffer for RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline.
A speaker session with RAINN’s Development Director Chelsea Bowers that we hosted back in August prompted Tanya to get involved. “Just hearing stories about our team members’ experiences with sexual assault and being aware of the statistics [related to sexual abuse] pushed me into taking action,” she explained. “Being an online hotline staffer was something that I didn’t know was an option, but when I found out about it through our guest speaker, I looked it up online and found that they had one slot open in a New York City-based training over a weekend, so I signed up.” Signing up was the first step toward a large undertaking. To be a hotline staff, RAINN’s requirements included an in person weekend training session (16 hours split between a Saturday and Sunday), followed by a robust online training program.
The Ultimate Cocktail Bar Tool
I love a good cocktail, but I hate having a drawer filled with utensils that I use once every-so-often. With The Ultimate Cocktail Bar Tool, I will be able to de-clutter my utensil drawer, while not limiting my ability to make a solid realm of drinks.
Being a B Corp is something that we are proud of and have written about here, here, and here. To remain a B Corp, organizations need to successfully pass the B Corp Impact Assessment every other year. The last time we completed our B Corp Reassessment was way back in 2014; Barack Obama was President, LeBron James was arguably the greatest active basketball player, and I had an obsession with Sour Patch Kid Cherries rivaled by none. Well, not everything is different from 2014; we continued to evaluate how we could improve on using our business as a force for good. With each decision, we strived to make the good choice, which compiled over two years led to an improvement in our score and a greater societal impact. By focusing on how we could better impact our community, the environment, our customers, and our team, it was easy to have fun on the way to elevating our scores and raising our standards. I’m proud to announce that this year we scored 120, our highest score yet. Today, we’ll review how we beat our score, are building a better business, and shared the score with our team over beers.
Getting ready to unveil our 2016 score.