Green.org sat down with Allison Alt, esquire. CEO of Business For Good, and how they are creating a future of smarter, more meaningful work that makes our lives and the world better while furthering the triple bottom line of businesses around the world.
What does triple bottom line mean?
The triple bottom line is a sustainability framework that measures a business’s success in three key areas: profit, people, and the planet.
Allison, thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I am the founder and CEO of Business for Good; I am an attorney with more than a decade of experience working to use business to solve social issues and create measurable results financially and socially. I previously ran the largest mentorship organization in the country for young people building businesses to solve social issues, and I managed thousands of alums at top companies globally.
I previously served on one of the most successful startup teams in history at Year Up in the National Capital Region, a for-profit, non-profit hybrid, where I was the second most successful fundraiser and partnership officer in the nation. I have also served with teams at Google-backed startups, such as Ready, and Environmental Defense Fund, merging business and social interests for impact. I have been creating organizations to solve social issues since the age of 16. I was called “the next generation of business leaders” by Atlantic Magazine and is a Forbes Fellow.
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
We are already seeing the impacts of extreme weather on our lives and economy from climate change; the environment we live in impacts every area of our lives and how our businesses operate globally. We are currently wasteful, and waste in our operations equals unnecessary spending and costs that could be spent in far better ways that impact our lives for the better. We not only have an imperative to do the right thing, but we also have to do the right thing to live and operate more sustainably; our supply chains, health, and safety require it. We do not have an option. We have to prepare and adjust by acting more sustainably. It is one of the most important issues of our time; the question isn’t whether it’s important, it’s how we are going to address it, and can we do it in a way that is win-win for everyone, and I believe we can. That’s why we built Business for Good, LLC.
What would you do with $1 Billion dollars?
I would use that to transition the business sector to triple-bottom-line, so that businesses operate on a model that is responsible for people and the planet, and I would use the remainder to eradicate extreme poverty and homelessness.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
Business for Good, LLC was created to transition the business sector to triple-bottom-line, so we envision all businesses operating in a win-win scenario for people, planet, and the bottom line. We envision a world where business can be used to solve important human and social problems that create incredible value financially and for society. We aim to create a true industry for creating financial and social value from using business for good.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
They can take Business for Good courses to learn how to make smarter decisions in their work and in their lives to be more sustainable and save and make money as well. It’s a win-win.
