Social Innovation

On Friday I spent the day in NYC with the NJ Social Innovation Institute visiting and learning from some great examples of social entrepreneurial businesses with double and triple bottom lines (profit, people, environment). It was very inspiring, and amazing to see and hear how these companies went from nothing to shining examples of social businesses.

First up was Greyston Bakery.

 They began as a bakery with a social mission - help former inmates, and people down on their luck, get jobs.   Eventually they started a foundation to further support their employees - housing, childcare, education support, and more. By law a business can not own a nonprofit, so the newly created foundation became the owner of the bakery. Now profits are rolled back into the business and into the foundation. The coolest part? Greyston Bakery provides the brownies that are in Ben and Jerry's ice creams!

Second up was IceStone.

IceStone is located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard (which was fascinating in its own right). They use recycled glass (mixed with concrete, colors, and special secrets) to create environmentally friendly counter-tops, tiles, and table tops. Although they don't have a foundation like Greyston, they do provide for their employees by offering a living wage (pretty high for NYC!) and by making sure that all employees are engaged and involved.

All in all, both businesses were impressive, and will hopefully inspire further innovation in the field of social entrepreneurship!