B Corp is a global certification system developed by the nonprofit B Lab, designed for businesses committed to balancing profit with purpose through verified social, environmental, and governance performance standards.
The B Corp framework establishes rigorous standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency, with certified companies required to demonstrate ongoing compliance through regular reassessments and public disclosures. Since its founding in 2006, B Lab has expanded the program to more than 100 countries and 150 industries, with nearly 10,000 companies certified as of 2025. Certification requires completing the B Impact Assessment with a minimum verified score of 80 points, legally amending governance structures to account for all stakeholders, and recertifying every three years.
The certification process and community are intended to shift business models away from shareholder primacy toward sustainable stakeholder value, encouraging collaboration on social and environmental challenges. B Lab also promotes broader systemic change through policy advocacy, standards development, and international network-building, positioning the B Corp movement as both a certification and a driver of global economic transformation. An adjacent governance model worth comparing is 📝T Corporation, which proposes structural variations on the stakeholder-governance idea.
I see B Lab's creation of B Corp as both a powerful idea and a cautionary tale. What began with values-driven companies like 📝Dr. Bronner's eventually expanded to include corporations accused of greenwashing, such as 📝Nestle's Nespresso — which in turn led Dr. Bronner's to renounce its certification. Even well-intentioned systems can drift from their founding ideals: dying the hero, or living long enough to become the villain.