Donorschoose.org, Patagonia, Salesforce, and Brandless take NewCo Honors
We’ve just announced award winners for NewCo Honors from the stage at our NewCo Shift Forum conference at The St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. It was an exciting moment for all the winners! Nominees from three categories (all listed here) represent the “company acting like a citizen” spirit central to our hypothesis: business must lead in this era of unprecedented change in our society. NewCo Honors winners took the ethos of doing well by doing good up a significant notch in the past year.
And the winners of the 2018 NewCo Honors are…
The Best Non-ProfitCo of the Year
Donorschoose.org, for giving over $100M to teachers to support their creative learning programs in our nation’s public schools. Non-profits have “doing good” built into their existence, but this year’s winner is a standout. Donorschoose.org, based in New York City, is a philanthropic marketplace for teachers founded in 2000. The organization is focused on schools which serve underprivileged populations. The platform has never been more important, given that teachers from impoverished school districts personally spend an average of $672 per year on supplies for students and can only deduct $250 per year on their tax returns. We’re honored to have Donorschoose.org founder, Charles Best, onstage at Forum this evening to accept this year’s NewCo Honor for Non-ProfitCo of the Year. Congratulations, Charles and team!
The Best NewCo of the Year
Brandless, for reinventing retail and giving away 250,000 meals to needy individuals since its launch last summer. Co-founded by Tina Sharkey and based in Minneapolis and San Francisco, Brandless is the youngest of all this year’s nominated NewCos, but its impact is already being felt throughout the retail world. Our panel of Honors judges was enamored with Brandless’ commitment to no-frills, high-quality, less-expensive consumer products alongside its clear mission to provide direct positive impact in the form of tackling the hunger problem in our country. Tonight, Tina Sharkey accepted the award at our Forum conference. We look forward to the Brandless team’s growth and wave-making in the world of online retail.
The Best BigCo of the Year
Folks, we had a tie in this category. Our Honors panel was not able to pick one winner, so we are giving this award to two companies this year! Read below and you will understand why.
Salesforce, for its groundbreaking 1–1–1 philanthropic policy and for Mark Benioff’s example that a CEO can be a force for social good. We’ve long admired Salesforce. Alongside building software many companies can’t do without, it has integrated giving deep into the DNA of the company. You can’t do that without a leader who has a vision beyond the revolutionary vision of great product. Mark Benioff has proven that the CEO’s job is bigger that increasing market share. Salesforce walks the talk of gender pay equality. Philanthropy is part of the company with 1 percent of employee time, 1 percent of resources, and 1 percent of product given away to worthy causes. The company has also put its considerable economic weight behind equality and human rights issues, driving regulatory changes in Indiana and other regions. Jody Kohner, SVP of Employee Engagement, accepted the award on behalf of Salesforce this evening at NewCo Shift Forum. High fives to Jody and the entire Salesforce organization for your great work!
Patagonia is our second BigCo winner, for being “the original NewCo,” back when doing well by doing good was not yet a thing, and for its meaningful stance against the White House’s position on public lands. We deeply admire this company. Patagonia has been walking the NewCo walk since its inception in 1973. On the product side of the business, Patagonia’s policies move against the tide of traditional apparel sourcing, quality, and social welfare. But it’s Patagonia’s political bravery in the last year that got to us. Folks, business must lead and Patagonia is the poster-child for the kind of leadership we need. Tonight, Retail Manager Colin Pile accepted the Best BigCo of the Year award onstage at Forum. We hope to see more of this kind of leadership from Patagonia and other companies in the years to come.