Founders and Stewardship - What Is It?

In this episode we talk to 3 change-makers about how they are reinventing company ownership for the good of the planet and company legacy. 

One of the stickiest problems social impact companies face is how to scale without selling out. In our current capitalist system, we have been taught to aim for continual growth and shareholder value maximization. But that inevitably leads to employee attrition, inequality, and resource degradation. In this short termist mindset, organizations thrive by neglecting their wider social obligations – but leaders and consumers are looking to change that to protect their company values, control and surrounding communities. 

Some business leaders are reimagining how companies can exist in this system. How can we put purpose first? How can our profits directly serve our purpose? This is where alternative ownership comes into play. 

In this episode, find out why we need alternative ownership models, what steward ownership is and how companies are implementing these new structures. 

This is part 1 of 2. Stay tuned for part 2 next week where we dive deeper into the benefits and challenges of steward ownership and where companies should start when considering alternative models. 

We chat with:

• Sarah Joannides - Sarah is the Managing Director of Alternative Ownership Advisors and leads the team as they support founders and owners of private companies in designing and implementing ownership, governance and financing solutions to protect purpose and independence. Prior to joining Alternative Ownership Advisors, Sarah spent 12 years at New Seasons Market, most recently as Vice President of Social Responsibility. She was their steward of social cause and mission-related practices, including community engagement, operational sustainability, B Corp certification and public policy.
  
• Patrick Boadu - Patrick is one of soulbottles' steward owners and CEO, the social enterprise from Berlin that produces the world’s cleanest drinking bottles and is on a mission to give people all over the world access to clean drinking water and sanitation. After experiencing the obstacles toward new ownership models himself, Patrick actively works with Purpose Foundation to create easy access to steward ownership for everyone. 
  
• Antti Virolainen - Antti is the co-founder of Sharetribe and has been building tools for a fairer sharing economy for over a decade. After co-founding Sharetribe his role has varied from technical planning and coding to finances, people operations, and company culture. In recent years he has felt most passionate about hacking capitalism with modern ownership models and improving well-being through meditation and other spiritual practices.

We have teamed up with our friends at Heart Mind Design to bring you an interactive event to turn the lights on purpose-driven business and start setting impactful to-dos.On December 6-7, we are hosting PurposeNOW, an international 2-day virtual gathering to discover, claim, and put purpose into practice with speakers like Afdhel Aziz and Chip Walker (StrawberryFrog) and companies like B Lab Europe, Doughnut Economics, Greyston Bakery and many more. It is FREE to attend! https://www.purposenow2021.com/

Join 1400+ purpose-driven professionals from around the world and sign up to our Business of Purpose community here. We are a fun group of change makers working together to change the future of business! 

Browse Business of Purpose’s exciting events here & come hang out with us! 

Have thoughts or feedback about the show? Don’t be a stranger! Email me at izzy@businessofpurpose.com 

Tools and resources:

• https://purpose-economy.org/en/who-we-are/
• https://bthechange.com/democratizing-capital-how-alternative-business-ownership-models-could-reshape-the-world-5ee09db1f31a
• https://www.alternativeownershipadvisors.com/blog/illustrated

Stats, stories and insights mentioned:

• https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2017/11/30/etsy-gives-b-corp-status-maintain-corporate-structure/
• https://medium.com/bettersharing/steward-ownership-is-capitalism-2-0-76a1c50a6d88
• https://medium.com/bettersharing/how-to-build-companies-that-are-a-force-for-good-in-society-33163843033e

The episode is the brainchild of TrendWatching and Business of Purpose. It was produced, written and hosted by Izzy Ahrbeck and edited by the brilliant Terence Moore. The music is by The Other Steve. Podcast artwork by Zuzanna Loch and Nikki Ritmeijer.