Today I speak with Jen Stark and Jarrid Green, Co-Directors, of the Center for Business and Social Justice. We candidly discuss how DEI and other topics became flashpoints and ideological hostages rather than sustained corporate efforts, and how companies can break this cycle.  We explore the questions executives and boards are asking, how companies can respond to activist shareholders and continue to promote fairness and equity while also fulfilling their responsibility to ensure strong financial performance - and why we're “beyond the business case” so we can adapt our narrative. Jen and Jarrid offer valuable advice on how everyone from the C-suite to DEIB and CSR professionals in the trenches can stay motivated and respond. 

To access the episode transcript, please search for the episode title at www.TheEmpathyEdge.com

Key Takeaways:

• You cannot be neutral anymore. Consumers want to know what their money will support and want to be value aligned.
• Be authentic with yourself - you need to understand why you are doing what you are doing.
• Lean into your smaller, individual communities. Mass media and social media information sharing is not enough.

"We’ve left the era of case-making. There are enough data points, surveys, and white papers that if it is was just rational thought governing business decisions, you’d be in a different place." —  Jen Stark

Episode References: 

• Kerner Report: pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bombshell-political-report
• The Center's Social Justice Guidebook: bsr.org/en/focus/equity-inclusion-and-justice
• How to Survive a Plague by David France: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/209900/how-to-survive-a-plague-by-david-france
• Suffs: The Musical: suffsmusical.com

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About Jen Stark and Jarrid Green, Co-Directors, Center or Business and Social Justice

Jen Stark is a strategy development and implementation expert at complex health and humanitarian organizations with 20+ years of experience. She launched BSR’s Center for Business and Social Justice in 2022 alongside Jarrid Green to illuminate a path for companies to shift from performative to transformational actions with a focus on public policy engagement and influence. She is frequently cited in business press on flashpoint topics and is an advisor to Gauge.ai and GoFundMe’s Compassion Leadership Network. 

Jarrid Green co-designs and implements programmatic efforts alongside Jen Stark for the Center for Business and Social Justice, an initiative of BSR that seeks to mobilize companies to take systemic and intersectional approaches to their social impact efforts. Jarrid’s role includes developing research, thought leadership, frameworks, and capacity-building opportunities related to corporate social impact strategies.  He also provides collaborative oversight and direction for the Center’s organizational and administrative functions, and acilitates the execution of the Center’s ongoing corporate, civil society stakeholder, and donor activities.

Connect with Jen and Jarrid:

Business for Social Responsibility: bsr.org/en/collaboration/groups/center-for-business-and-social-justice

Jen Stark LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenstark

Jarrid Green LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jarridgreenmba

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