B Corp movement celebrates 20 years ‘challenging the world to redefine the role of business’

Twenty years ago, three college friends set out on an ambitious mission: to transform capitalism. Andrew Kassoy, Bart Houlahan and Jay Coen Gilbert founded B Lab in 2006, convinced that business could become a force for good – an idea that was far from mainstream at the time. 

The first year of certification saw 81 businesses in the US become the first companies to certify – the founding B Corps. It took seven years for the community to reach 1,000 organisations, as the movement grew global and regional B Labs were established. Big names like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s achieved certification, giving it more visibility. 

Then the movement accelerated in the early 2020s – a challenging time for B Lab which had to deal with a high volume of applications it wasn’t yet ready for. There are now more than 10,000 B Corps in the world across more than 100 countries.

• Read more: Impact 101: What is a B Corp

This week, the movement marked two decades since it was founded with an anniversary special impact report looking at its history and impact to date.

“For 20 years, the B Corp movement has challenged the world to redefine the role of business in society,” said Ana Costa (pictured), vice president of sustainability, legal, and corporate reputation at Natura, the first publicly-listed B Corp.

The growth of the community has also been accompanied by changes at government level, with several countries across the world introducing a legal status of “benefit corporation” for mission-driven companies following B Lab advocacy.

What once felt countercultural is now increasingly expected

“What once felt countercultural is now increasingly expected, and I hope in 20 years the question isn’t whether businesses prioritise people and planet, but how well they do it – with collaboration, accountability, and evidence built into how business operates,” said Suzanne McDowell (pictured), vice president of social and environmental impact at baking brand King Arthur Baking Company. 

Supporters and critics

Over time, the movement has had both prominent backers – Al Gore is one of them – and critics, including from its own ranks. After some multinationals like Nespresso, and ‘fast fashion’ brand Princess Polly, achieved B Corp status, some expressed doubts that the certification was truly meaningful, and several businesses, including soap brand Dr Bronner’s, abandoned certification in protest. 

But B Lab has been clear that the B Corp movement is a broad church, including impact-first social businesses at one end, and profit-first – yet impact-conscious – companies at the other, in order to change the whole economy rather than creating a niche.

“Real change requires engaging with the businesses that shape our economy, even when their transformation is most difficult to achieve,” Sarah Schwimmer, co-lead executive and head of external affairs at B Lab, wrote in the Times newspaper last year. “No firms can be off-limits in our push for change.”

And this remains in line with the co-founders’ initial approach. “When we were starting, we thought a lot about whether we were trying to create a new sector of the economy, or whether we were trying to change the whole economy,” the late Andrew Kassoy, co-founder of B Lab, told Pioneers Post in 2022. “Our conclusion was that we didn't want to create a side thing, so that everybody could give us a pat on the head and say, ‘that's very cute’, while the rest of the economy continued to operate as it is – and ultimately, the little thing on the side wouldn't matter.”

• Read more: B Corp launches new standards as ‘complete reimagining’ of certification of businesses for good

B Lab also introduced new, stricter standards last year, where companies must meet requirements in seven different areas, including stakeholder governance, climate action and human rights. This moves on from the previous points-based system, where businesses could offset poor performance in some areas with outstanding results in another. The certification is also verified by a third party, in line with EU regulation.

But 10,000 businesses alone won’t be enough to change the system, Schwimmer told Pioneers Post last year. While the growth of the B Corp community was a demonstration that businesses could be both profitable and positively impactful, changing the system would require all B Corps to become active advocates of the movement. 

“Without that behaviour, the certification is insufficient for the vision that we all have,” Schwimmer said.

We looked back at our extensive coverage of B Corps as we researched this article – here are some of the movement’s pioneers who have really captured the interest of the Pioneers Post audience over the years…

Danone

An early supporter of the B Corp movement – its long-time CEO Emmanuel Faber was a close acquaintance of the founders – Danone achieved global B Corp certification with its 200 eligible subsidiaries (which operate independently), as well as holding company Danone SA, having certified as B Corps by December 2025. It took 10 years for the food multinational to become fully certified. In 2021, following Faber’s sacking in what was described as a hit for ‘stakeholder capitalism’, we explored how the pioneering boss had future-proofed the company’s mission by convincing shareholders to amend its legal status.

Patagonia 

The “reluctant billionaire” founder of outdoor clothing maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, hit the headlines in 2022 when he announced that he would make planet Earth its “only shareholder”. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children transferred their ownership, with a value at the time of around $3bn to a trust and a non-profit organisation. “Instead of ‘going public’, you could say we’re ‘going purpose’,” Chouinard said. “Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to protect the source of all wealth.” Patagonia was an early adopter of the B Corp movement, certifying in 2011.

Ecosia

Founded in 2009, the largest European search engine dedicates 100% of its profits to environmental action and has planted 240m trees to date. The Berlin-based company became Germany’s first B Corp, and in 2015 we reported on its first successes and early ambitions.Six years later we heard from CEO Christian Kroll how the company had adopted steward ownership – giving stewardship of the company to a foundation to ensure no profits could leave the company – as a way to ensure the company’s mission can never be undermined. 

Tony’s Chocolonely

Tony’s is an example of a B Corp that has ambitions to change the system well beyond its own operations. The company, which produces chocolate bars that are 100% traceable in ‘slave free’ supply chains, has a mission to end forced labour in the chocolate industry. A certified B Corp since 2013, the Dutch company was successful in convincing major supermarkets to follow its principles of ethical chocolate sourcing, and sells its bars around the world. In 2020, we explored how Tony’s managed to drive change nationwide in the Netherlands, and in 2023 we quizzed the company on its new “mission lock” structure, which it claimed could be a model for impact businesses around the world. 

Elvis & Kresse

Find an unusual, supposedly unrecyclable material and make it the centerpiece of high-end fashion accessories: this is exactly what Elvis & Kresse does, using decommissioned fire hoses – yes, the ones used by firefighters – alongside parachute silk and leather off-cuts to make bags. The social enterprise, which donates 50% of profits to charity, was a founding member of the UK arm of the B Corp movement in 2015, alongside 60 other businesses. In 2022, we profiled the company with an interview with co-founder Kresse Wesling.

Fairphone

Your antidote to fast-tech that makes smartphones out of date after a couple of years, Fairphone makes smartphones that are reparable, made with sustainably-sourced minerals while ensuring fair work throughout its supply chain. Read our 2023 interview with the social enterprise’s then-CFO Noud Tillemans to learn why governance is crucial to entrenching a business’s mission and how sales volumes and brand awareness remain crucial. 

Charity Bank

Established in 2002, Charity Bank provides loans to charities and social enterprises in the UK. In 2014 it made history by becoming the first bank in Europe – and sixth UK business – to achieve B Corp certification. A decade later it is still going strong: the bank won the SE100 social investment pioneer award in 2025 for its Brighter Futures Fund.

Top image: Clockwise from top left: Ben & Jerry's founder Jerry Greenfield, Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard, Grameen Danone Foods supports children in Bangladesh, Elvis & Kresse co-founder James (Elvis) Henrit, Fairphone staff in 2011, the three B Lab co-founders, a Ghanaian farmer with Tony's Chocolonely bars. Montage by Pioneers Post.