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Over the past year, we’ve seen the importance of strong stakeholder capitalism initiatives. As our nation continues to navigate the pandemic’s health and economic ramifications as well as reinvigorated national conversations around racial justice, there’s been a desire for businesses to support more than just their shareholders and bring purpose and profit into alignment.
While this movement takes many forms, we’ve seen more companies than ever make fundamental changes to how they support their employees, communities and customers and the metrics used to measure progress. We’ve pulled together a few stories that caught our eye this week to give you a sense of the kind of changes we are watching.
If you’re interested in a deeper dive into how businesses can play an active, positive role in the changing economic and social landscape, register for an engaging conversation with Jean Case and Judy Samuelson, executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. They will be discussing Judy’s new book, The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World.
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Forbes’ Next 1000 list celebrates aspirational and resilient entrepreneurs during this critical time for small businesses and startups. Read about these superstar companies and the judges celebrating them (including Jean Case!). |
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ESG Funds Continue to Prove Popular |
ESG funds accounted for about a fourth of the money that flowed into all US stock and bond mutual funds last year. That’s a record and a massive increase from the 1% share around 2014, according to Jon Hale, director of sustainable investing research at Morningstar. |
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INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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The Ten to Watch: Young Climate Entrepreneurs |
Hundreds of young entrepreneurs around the world making big bets on enormously different approaches to address some of the most significant issues of energy and climate change. Meet ten standouts who are sparking new ideas into bold action. |
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Meet the Women of the Next 1000 |
Don’t miss these five top-notch women-led startups from Forbes’ Next 1000 list of small-scale entrepreneurs defying the odds, bootstrapping and scaling their businesses. These entrepreneurs are part of a stellar group. Female-identifying entrepreneurs constituted 56% of all applicants and of the 250 names released this week, 62% identify as female. |
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Podcast: How This Coal Country Native Is Helping Consumers Fight Climate Change |
Kiran Bhatraju founded Arcadia to help consumers manage their largest carbon footprint—their home energy bill. On Inc.'s Founders Project With Alexa Von Tobel podcast, Bhatraju shares why he believes climate work is currently the biggest wealth creation opportunity and why he invested in robust technology and data early on. |
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