The Benefits of B Corps for Building Sustainable Social Enterprises in Archaeology

Summary

Within the slender margins of academic archaeology, our funding options are extremely limited. The accepted pathways to sustainability have been institutional support (the academy) or starting a nonprofit. In both cases we all must battle over an ever shrinking grant and philanthropic pool. The alternative is to go for-profit, which has historically meant to become a CRM firm. In the past few years, Benefit corporations (B Corps) have become an international movement for individuals and organizations to build social enterprises who wish to use "business as a force for good." Certified B Corps are held to a higher standard than either non-profits or academic projects in that they should expressly seek change in the world, conduct business as if people and place mattered, aspire to do no harm and benefit all, and work interdependently and be responsible to each other and future generations: "‘B Corp is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or USDA Organic certification is to milk." We explore how one startup, Codifi, Inc., made the decision to become a B Corp and if the benefits and limitations of this new pathway for social enterprises is worth the effort (hint: it totally is).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• The Future of Funding for Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14597