B Lab names Peter Williams as new CEO

B Lab today appointed international development veteran Peter Williams as its new CEO to lead a revamped structure of the global nonprofit behind the B Corp accreditation.

The B Corp movement was founded two decades ago by Andrew Kassoy, Bart Houlahan and Jay Coen Gilbert with an ambition to “transform capitalism”. There are currently more than 11,000 B Corps across 105 countries, from Latin America to Europe and China.

Williams will start his new role on 2 November. He has nearly two decades of experience leading global non-profit organisations, latterly as CEO of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), an NGO that supports rural communities to overcome poverty operating in 50 countries, which he joined in 2019.

Much of my work has dealt with the consequences of how business and capital behave. B Corps are showing that those consequences can be changed at the source

Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, he went on to study in the US and UK, including at the University of Oxford, Columbia University and Harvard Business School.

An architect by training, in 2007 he founded ARCHIVE Global, an award-winning international NGO with a mission to improve health outcomes through better housing, and was named among the “22 best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world” by Echoing Green. He went on to become managing director of humanitarian organisation Article 25.

At the head of the IIRR, he led work on building partnerships between the private sector, development finance and philanthropy. Williams has also been an advisor to the World Bank, UN agencies and the European Union.

“Much of my work has dealt with the consequences of how business and capital behave,” said Williams. “B Corps are showing that those consequences can be changed at the source. I am honoured to join this organisation and the wider movement, and I will begin by listening to the people who built it.”

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

A more integrated global structure

Williams will be based in New York and will lead B Lab’s work across all regions. He is the first “global CEO” of B Lab, following a transformation of the organisation’s governance over the past two years, as it moves towards a more integrated global structure.

B Lab is now registered as a nonprofit stichting (foundation) in the Netherlands and headquartered in Amsterdam. B Lab’s regional hubs will be brought together under the governance of a single, global board – while maintaining local agency. “Regional hubs and affiliated entities are in the process of aligning their governance with the new board, in line with local laws,” B Lab told Pioneers Post.

Williams is a steady, mission-led leader, and that is what this moment asks for

The change in governance, which was ratified by B Lab’s regional boards across the world in 2024, aims to give the movement a stronger position to respond to global challenges, and optimise the use of common resources to maximise impact. B Lab Global, previously the international arm of the movement, has been integrated into B Lab.

B Lab announced its new global board in March 2026, chaired by Francine Lemos, a former B Lab Global board member and executive director of Sistema B Brasil. Over the past few months B Lab has appointed a global executive team, including Clay Brown as chief standards officer and Marcel Fukayama as chief impact & movement officer.

“Peter has spent his career building organisations that serve communities and guiding them as they evolve and grow,” said Lemos. “He is a steady, mission-led leader, and that is what this moment asks for.”

New structure, new standards

As it grew over the years, the B Corp accreditation drew criticism by some in the movement who argued it was too lax. B Lab has always 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.

In 2025, B Lab launched new, stricter accreditation standards to “raise the bar” for businesses to become a B Corp. The new standards require companies to meet criteria in seven different areas (including climate action, human rights and fair work) to achieve certification, moving away from a cumulative points-based system where strong performance in some areas could make up for a poor record elsewhere.

• Read more: Ricola and Rituals among first B Corps certified under new standards

The new standards are being rolled out progressively as existing B Corps re-certify (which they must do every three years) and new businesses apply for accreditation. The first companies to become B Corps under the new standards were announced last June.

Top image courtesy of B Lab.