2022
BLD New England ​
​Agenda

8:00 - 9:00 am
​REGISTRATION
9:00 - 9:30 am
​WELCOME: Introductions and Opening Remarks
Location: Auditorium
​9:30 - 9:45 am
​EXIT TO MORNING BREAKOUTS
9:45 - 10:45 am
​MORNING BREAKOUTS
Workshop A: Room #125
  • ​​Speaker: Nupur Amin from Habitus
  • Topic: Governance: Collaborative Decision Making
  • Description: Building systems of decision making within your organization can be challenging for a multitude of reasons- expertise, impact, hierarchy, etc. Habitus recommends a collaborative, interest-based approach to tackling these challenges. In our session, we will cover various techniques that help to build a decision making process that works for your team, is equitable, and incorporates the most voices and ideas possible. Participants should come expecting a high participation session!
Workshop B: Room #G85
  • ​Speaker: Claire Lafave from Native
  • ​​Topic: Environment: Climate Action 101
  • Description: This workshop on B Corp Climate Action 101 will walk through how to estimate your emissions footprint, develop an emissions reduction strategy, and manage your residual emissions. Have questions about how to take meaningful action now, how climate actions fit into the B Impact Assessment, or what carbon offsets are and how they might fit into your strategy? We've got you covered. 
Workshop C: Room #115
  • ​Speakers: Fortunat Mueller, Tess Jaquez from Revision Energy
  • ​​Topic: Workers: Sustainable Employee-Ownership for B Corps
  • Description: Many of the same core values that inspire companies to become certified B Corps are often also present in Employee Owned companies. These include a multi stakeholder approach to business, trust in workers, valuable employee benefits, and an equitable vision for the future. ReVision Energy first became a certified B Corp in 2015, and subsequently converted to become a 100% employee-owned company in late 2017. In this session ReVision President and Co-founder Fortunat Mueller will be in conversation with co-owner, ESOP Communications Committee member, and Commercial Estimator and Designer, Tess Jacquez, to share their experience with the company’s transition to an ESOP and what it means for ReVision co-owners, community and other stakeholders. The session will briefly explain a number of employee ownership options, and explore the benefits (and challenges) of employee ownership from the perspective of both founder and ESOP co-owner. There will also be time for Q+A and for audience members to share their own experiences.
Workshop D: Room #165
  • ​​Speaker: Shawn Jones from Bluewave
  • ​​Topic: Community: Breaking Down Hurdles for BIPOC Workers
  • Description:  Some variation of the phrase “if you cannot see it, you will not be it” gets repeated for good reasons to young adults as they consider job and career paths. They seek out options that are familiar. So, as they look around now, do they see people who look like themselves in the financial, technical or entrepreneurial tracks of the climate tech economy? Do my industry peers seek to hire people with different backgrounds and stories? Or do they just recruit at their alma maters every spring? For many years, I didn’t -- and, often still don’t -- see anyone of my age, race and family cultural background in the clean tech conference audience, at the consulting tables or networking events. We will be touching upon ways those barriers can be broken down. 
10:45 - 11:00 am
EXIT TO KEYNOTE
Virtual attendees may click this link to view the Keynote
11:00 - 11:45 am
KEYNOTE: REGENERATION FOR COMPANIES LARGE AND SMALL
​Location: Auditorium
  • Speakers: Michelle Waring, Tom's of Maine and Dr. Tariana V. Little, EmVision Productions with an introduction from Jorge Fontanez from B Lab​
  • Description: How does regeneration weave its way through B Corps large and small? This year’s keynote is a fireside chat facilitated by B Corp CEO Jorge Fontanez between Boston-based Dr. Tariana V. Little, cofounder of the social justice media agency for visionary organizations, EmVision Productions, and Michelle Waring, Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good at Tom’s of Maine. Together they will discuss what brought them into impact work, how they have navigate a changing landscape, and what is giving them hope for the future.
​11:45 - 12:00
​BREAKOUT TO LUNCH
​12:00 - 1:00 pm
​LUNCH & RAFFLE DRAWN
COMMITTEE SHOUT OUTS & THANK YOUS
1:00 - 1:15 pm
​EXIT TO AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS
1:15 - 2:45 pm
​AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS
Workshop A: Room #115
  • ​Speakers: UNH Sustainability Institute Student Facilitated Panel
  • Topic: What Purpose Driven Businesses Need to Know About the Next Generation of Conscious Leaders
  • ​Description: ​Two recent UNH graduates, with degrees in both business and sustainability, will moderate a discussion amongst current UNH students and alumni about how the B Corps movement and the UNH B Impact Clinic has impacted the trajectory of their career paths, as well as their own decisions and practices as informed consumers. Our younger generations of consumers, upon graduating from higher education institutions, will hold a stronger influence in the market due to higher purchasing power. Given that by 2024 GenZ will occupy 30% of the workforce, CEOs need to prepare to shift their practices to align with the expectations of GenZ’s emerging professionals if they wish to remain attractive to employees.  
Workshop B: Room #165
  • Speakers: Erin Fagnant from KSV, Jackie Herskovitz Russell from Teak Media, Anne Richardson from Richardson Media Group
  • Facilitator: Brittany Angelo from Revision Energy
  • ​​Topic: Customers: Responsible Communications: Power, Challenges, and How To's
  • Description: As marketers and B Corps, we play an important role in delivering ethical messaging to our audiences, and in today’s rapidly changing society, this can often be challenging. In this session our three panelists will discuss the power wielded by marketing teams, opportunities we have to communicate effectively, and potential challenges we face. Participants in this session will leave with 10 actionable tips for marketing sustainable companies responsibly and effectively.   
Workshop C: Room #175
  • Speakers: Scott Babka, One Mighty Mill, John Lively, Preserve, ​Kerem Durdag, GWI
  • Topic: Customers/Environment: A Conversation Exploring Supply Chains
  • Description: Join us for a conversation between three certified B Corps, GWI, One Mighty Mill, and Preserve. Together they will discuss their insights into supply chain stewardship and engage with you about your supply chain journey.
Workshop D:  Room #G85
  • Speakers: Grace Mausser, B Lab, Michelle Veasey, NH Businesses for Social Responsibility, Toby Aronson at VT Businesses for Social Responsibility and ​Robert Fernandez, Breckinridge Capital Advisors
  • Topic: Climate Advocacy in Action
  • Description: The climate change conversation can feel overwhelming. So where do you start when you feel like your individual actions don’t make enough of an impact? This panel will dive into the importance of climate advocacy, highlight one company’s efforts to use their voice to advocate for change, and provide some insight into climate advocacy at the state level.
2:45 - 3:00 pm
​EXIT TO CLOSING with B Lab
​Location: Auditorium
3:00 - 4:00 pm
​CLOSING: STATE OF THE B 
​Speaker: Jorge Fontanez, B Lab
​Description: Join us for this highly interactive hybrid event, hosted in partnership with the B Corp Leadership Development (BLD) New England conference. This session will be hosted with our partners, Lynn Johnson and Julie Fahenstock and their CoLab partners. You’ll hear from Jorge Fontanez, CEO of B Lab U.S. & Canada, about the state of our B Corp movement and community. We’ll share more on our strategy centered on collective action, as well as our plans to ensure an equitable and quality B Corp experience; mobilize collectively around our three core impact areas; and amplify our community’s effort to use business as a force for good. There will also be a fun, interactive activity — we invite you to show up prepared to interact and connect as humans with others in our community.
4:00 - 5:30 pm
NETWORKING RECEPTION

Check out these additional activities throughout the day: 

ACTION CENTER: 
Join your fellow B Corp community in increasing voter turnout this fall in Maine and Georgia. This non-partisan activity is writing letters to voters who need a little extra nudge to get to the polls. We are dedicated to supporting voters and turning out the vote because we know the importance of participation in our democracy and the inherent thread the work B Corps are doing in service of people and planet. To learn more about the power and impact of these letters, you can learn more from Vote Forward.

GALLERY WALK
Grab a marker, and walk through the gallery of flip chart paper posted on the walls with prompts for you to reflect on. Respond directly to the prompt or to comments and other responses, you can write, sketch, or draw the thoughts and feelings that come up for you. This is a great opportunity to engage with the community and unleash your creative side.
Vision: Regeneration

As members of the B Corp movement, we promise to have a net positive impact on the planet,
build deep roots within our community, change old habits, and continue our growth together.
We will gather to share best practices within the movement and support efforts by other member organizations in the greater community, always promoting B Corp mission-driven values. ​We commit to a continued sharing of knowledge among the B Corp Community ​and beyond which will help us achieve this mission.
BLD New England is a conference dedicated to the development of the B Economy in our region. By strengthening individual B Corps and the connections between them and stakeholders in our community, we build a stronger movement. The event is co-hosted by B Local Boston and organized by a volunteer committee of Certified B Corporations and others dedicated to the B Economy. Learn more about BLD here.

Special thanks to KSV  for creating this fantastic video from the 2018 BDLNE!
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The B Corp Handbook, by Ryan Honeyman and Dr. Tiffany Jana, is the authoritative guide to the what, why and how of B Corp Certification. Now in its second edition, the Handbook has been expanded and updated to include a much stronger focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). 
COVID-19 GUIDANCE
BLD New England encourages attendees who are concerned about the spread of COVID-19 to bring and wear a mask on the day of the conference. While masks are not mandatory, NH Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) continues to recommend that everybody (except for people with contraindications per CDC guidance) wear face masks when in any public location. 

BLD NEW ENGLAND 2022

BLD New England Code of Conduct
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