Shaping the World by the Way of Good Work: Becoming a B Corporation

In the early days of Artemis Ward, we latched onto a phrase that captured the spirit of the agency we wanted to build: Good work, good people. Good work meant building stories, campaigns, and platforms that are smart and strategic, inventive and inspired — that help our clients show up in the world with class and conviction. Good people meant solving problems and crafting solutions alongside colleagues we respected and enjoyed collaborating with — and doing it all for partners whose businesses we admired, whose missions we believed in, and whose relationships we genuinely valued. So, back in 2014, when the agency was just a few months old, we adopted those words as a sort of mantra, which still acts as a compass for us today.

It should come as no surprise, then, that we found kindred spirits in the B Corp™ movement, which, since 2006, has been harnessing the power of businesses across the globe to drive social and environmental good. This is more than a proclamation; it’s a way of moving through the world, day in and day out. In other words, becoming a B Corp meant demonstrating not only how our values have defined our past, but how they’ll shape our path through the future.

So we started rounding up the evidence that shows how the practices we’ve championed since day one facilitate what we believe in:

• We provide our team members with regular training, talks, and mentorship that elevate their skills and encourage them to grow into empathetic, action-oriented leaders.
• We take a story-driven approach to our work that centers our clients’ deep challenges, enabling us to join forces and develop impactful solutions for their end-customers.
• We ensure that a measurable percentage of our work is done pro-bono for non-profit partners who deliver equity, access, opportunity, and creativity to the communities we live in.

We also renewed our commitments to reach for greater heights as our agency grows:

• We’ll deepen our social, cultural, and community work.
• We’ll continue to build and formalize our equitable, diverse, and supportive company culture.
• We’ll identify more cutting-edge techniques, technologies, and processes that allow us to make a positive impact on the environment.

Last month, we received word that our business meets the standard. Artemis Ward is now a Certified B Corporation™ — a member of a worldwide network working to create an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. We’re honored and eager to join the movement. B Corp Certification represents third-party verification of the values we’ve aimed to demonstrate since the start. It signifies our continued responsibility to find new ways to contribute to our communities and to collaborating with other B Corps to amplify our impact. And it puts us in the company of other organizations committed to doing business better for reasons that matter.

Reaching above and beyond has always been the norm at AW. Eight years after adopting the phrase that defines our work — Good work, good people — we’ve mastered a few tried-and-true ways to get there. However, the beauty of a job well done is that there’s plenty more to do, and so much more to learn. Now, as a B Corporation, we look forward to shaping a better world with good work, together.