Best for the World: Community

Measure Meant has been recognized by B Lab as Best for the World: Community for 2022. We have been a Certified B Corp for four of our five years — a company must be operational for at least one year before they can certify — and this is the first time we have been recognized as Best for the World.

“This is exciting recognition for our company”, said Kara Odegard, Measure Meant’s Founder and Owner. “When I started the business, I was excited just to become a Certified B Corp and join a community of companies using business as a force for good. And now five years later, we are Best for the World: Community and I couldn’t be happier. This is a testament to our hard work and commitment to investing in our community, to demonstrating that the purpose driven model can do good and be profitable.

We are 1% for the Planet member and have made a commitment to donate at least 5% of our revenue each year. In 2021, we donated over 7% to local community- and environmentally-focused nonprofits in Spokane. This is part of our culture and is fundamental to the way we think about doing business.

One aspect of our giving is the relationship we have with The Carl Maxey Center. In August 2021, when many businesses were posting black squares on Instagram, Kara wondered “How can Measure Meant do something real to support racial justice?” She reached out to Sandy Williams, Executive Director of The Carl Maxey Center, a Black-focused community center in Spokane. Rather than offering to donate, Kara asked Sandy about her biggest challenges. After Sandy said capacity was an ongoing issue, Kara suggested that Measure Meant fund a part-time position for the Carl Maxey Center (CMC). Measure Meant would take care of the administrative aspects of hiring and payroll so that the Carl Maxey Center could focus on using the added capacity to increase impact. Measure Meant supported one part-time resource through all of 2021 and has supported two part-time resources through July of 2022.

The combination of these commitments and relationships, and our other company practices, contributed to our recognition as Best for the World: Community. B Lab describes the Best for the World program and selection criteria on their website: “Every year, B Lab recognizes the top-performing B Corps creating great impact through their businesses. These B Corps are named Best for the World™ as their verified scores in the five impact areas evaluated on the B Impact Assessment community, customers, environment, governance, and workers-are amongst the global top 5% in their corresponding size group. These businesses are proving that competing not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world, is a winning strategy, and they can lead the way as more businesses continue to join the movement that is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.”

We are proud to be a part of this group of companies working as a force for good, both as a Certified B Corp and now Best for the World.