We are happy to share Coro’s November 14, 2024 newsletter Sustainability Trends, Tips and Tools from Strandberg Consulting.
Friends,
As we step into 2025—a year many approach with trepidation given challenges facing democracy and humanity—it feels more important than ever to find moments and symbols of hope. For me, this comes through family. Pictured here from our summer gathering in the Pacific Northwest, my extended family and I share a bond that gives me strength and perspective. It reminds me that amidst uncertainty, there are constants we can return to for resilience, for direction, for hope.
In much the same way, I believe that businesses and organizations, too, can find their footing by identifying a guiding purpose—an organizational North Star that offers clarity and stability. With a clear purpose, businesses can inspire employees, unite stakeholders, and fuel positive change. My own purpose is to drive the economy towards flourishing futures for all—and on that front, I have the privilege of:
- Assisting corporate boards in overseeing the company’s purpose and environmental, social, and stakeholder performance
- Guiding industry and professional associations to support their members in managing ESG risks and driving positive impact
- Coaching companies to define and operationalize their social purpose
- Creating an environment where purpose-driven business can thrive in Canada and beyond
I’m excited to share below some of my latest work and insights focused on advancing the purpose economy, integrating ESG and social purpose in associations, and strengthening governance capacity across sectors. These efforts aim to help businesses and organizations turn purpose into action and drive positive change in the year ahead.
As we navigate the coming year, I invite you to connect—whether for guidance in aligning with your purpose, or simply to touch base. The sustainability community is, after all, an extended family, and together, we can find hope in our shared purpose and vision for a brighter future.
Coro
PS: If you believe in the power of social purpose in business, please add your name to the Call to Purpose — our goal is to double the number of signatories and your support is crucial. Know others who share this vision? Encourage them to endorse and help us amplify this movement!
PPS: As part of National Purpose in Business Week, Nov. 18-22, I’m excited to join in celebrating this growing movement. I invite you to show your support by sharing this #PIBW graphic with your networks and standing with me in advancing a purpose-driven economy.
Mainstreaming the Purpose Economy
I was honoured to be interviewed for a recent Forbes article, which demonstrates the rising interest in social purpose business. This coverage underscores the importance of the purpose economy and highlights the steps we are taking at the Canadian Purpose Economy Project, which I chair, to accelerate this evolution. The project has created a national model that can be replicated globally, as evidenced by over 30 per cent of countries worldwide accessing our resources and insights.
You can read the Forbes article here: The Rise of Canada’s Purpose Economy
Accelerating ESG and Social Purpose in Associations
A key route to accelerating social and environmental progress in Canada is supporting industry associations in engaging their members on best practices. Here are a few initiatives I currently have underway.
- I am supporting the BC Chamber of Commerce in creating a five-part free practical webinar series to help businesses of any size and location develop and implement their social purpose, bringing it to life in everything they do. If this approach to business interests you, I encourage you to check it out and share it with your network to expand the number of purpose-led businesses. All sessions are recorded and available on demand, here.
- For the Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA), I completed an ESG and Social Purpose Toolkit and advised on leveraging the Canadian Standards Association ESG Guidance for Associations, which I co-authored, to develop an ESG and Social Purpose Roadmap for the CCUA. This roadmap and toolkit will empower the association to better support credit unions in becoming a stronger force for good. Having started my impact business career on the board of Vancity Credit Union, I feel immense pride in this project and in helping scale ESG and social purpose across Canada’s credit union sector.
- I’m also facilitating a series of meetings sponsored by the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada with eight industry associations—including the sectors of chemistry, forestry, mining, cement, steel, fertilizer, propane, and fuels—to explore collaborative ESG opportunities using the CSA standard mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Building ESG, Purpose and Stakeholder Governance Capacity
I’m honoured to be recognized with a Governance Professionals of Canada (GPC) award for my contributions over the past five years to advancing ESG, stakeholder, and purpose governance capacity across Canada. I also serve on the board of the BC Lottery Corporation which recently received GPC’s Engagement Award for its best practices in stakeholder governance.
The Canadian Purpose Economy Project launched two purpose governance reports that I authored in collaboration with five Canadian governance education institutions. Notably, these institutions are all now integrating purpose governance into their training for clients, members and alumni—helping shape the future of governance in Canada!
The State of Purpose Governance in Canada – This report highlights how Canadian companies are progressing in embedding social purpose within their governance frameworks, offering benchmarks, best practices and insights for growth in purpose-led governance.
Purpose Governance Guidelines – This resource is designed to guide boards and senior leaders with a structured approach to embedding social purpose into board governance practices.
To learn more about a board’s role in overseeing purpose and stakeholder relationships, join the upcoming course I’m delivering for Governance Professionals of Canada. If you can’t attend live, register to receive the recording. Use promo code ESG415 for 15 per cent off.
Purpose and Stakeholder Governance Oversight: New Frontiers in Governance
November 18, 2024, 1 – 4:30 pm EST (online)
Operationalizing Social Purpose in Business
To help address the purpose say-do gap, I’ve been developing resources and tools to support social purpose businesses. Two recent resources include:
Social Purpose Strategy: Bring Your Corporate Purpose to Life: A step-by-step guide to embedding purpose in corporate strategy, developed in collaboration with Mike Rowlands, CEO of Junxion
Enhancing Risk Management Practices: A How-to Guide for Social Purpose Companies: A practical guide to help companies identify and manage risks related to their purpose
Advancing the Purpose Economy
Boards and investors are increasingly seeking guidance on how businesses can disclose their progress on purpose integration and impact. Recognizing the absence of global standards for purpose disclosures, I advised on Disclosing with Purpose: Guidance for Preparers and Users of Purpose Disclosures, a tool designed to help companies report their purpose performance authentically. The tool was commissioned by the Canadian Purpose Economy Project and written by Sue Todd, CPA, and ESG-reporting pioneer. My last milestone at Vancity Credit Union, as chair, was the release of Vancity’s first third-party verified social report in 1997—the first of its kind in Canada. It’s exciting to be at a moment where organizations are now engaging with new disclosure standards, not just focused on social and environmental performance, but on their broader purpose performance.
Recordings
What is the State of Purpose Governance in Canada?
This free webinar offers an overview of the current state of purpose governance in Canada, presented in partnership with the Canadian Purpose Economy Project and five Canadian governance education organizations. To access the recording please create a free account.
Communicating with Purpose
This free webinar covers global best practices and guidance on purpose disclosures, in collaboration with the Canadian Purpose Economy Project and The Works Design.
ESG and the Role of the Board: The Drivers and Basics of ESG Governance
This paid recording provides an overview of ESG, explaining its significance as a boardroom issue, and offers best practices and practical tips for boards and governance professionals to start or enhance their ESG governance roadmap.
Photo credits:
Compass image – Dhilip Antony, Unsplash
Strandberg family image – Coro Strandberg
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