Since the time that she was a small child, Riddl CEO Jeanelle Sobey says she always found it odd that there are still people without housing and yet technology like waterproof smartphones can exist. She wondered: how could this be?
“It isn’t a lack of money and it isn’t a lack of effort and smart people working to address social and environmental challenges,” she says. “Therefore, why do we keep investing in solutions that aren’t solving the root problems?”
She boiled it down to a data problem. “We can’t see what’s working and what’s not working. If we knew what worked, we’d replicate that and provide it with more resources.”
Jenelle founded Riddl in 2019, along with Jess Peters, to help address this problem. Since then, we have expanded to include a team of individuals passionate about social good and a growing number of customers who use the platform to measure and report on their social impact.
We hit a new milestone in March 2022, by becoming a certified B Corp, which is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. Simply put, B Corporations represent a global movement of people using business as a force for good.
There are several reasons why we decided to become a B Corp:
- First and foremost, at the core of Riddl is the belief that we can do better. We believe that with data rich in quantity and quality we will know what ESG and impact initiatives are working — or not working — at solving our most critical riddls (social and environmental problems). B Corporations collect data against a framework and criteria that helps companies make a greater impact. We couldn’t be a bigger champion of this, as we are also working to improve impact and assist other companies deliver on impact goals.
- Second, becoming a B Corp helps us align our values with the company operations.
- Third, this designation sends a very clear signal of the value alignment of Riddl with the customers we serve and the customers we want to attract.
- Fourth, it’s another form of improving operational excellence within the business. Operational excellence doesn’t end at good bookkeeping and well-run quarterly board meetings. It extends to whether a team is being paid better than a living wage, supplier sourcing, diversity balance across the company, and keeping the customer voice at the centre of the software and services we have designed and built specifically for them.
- Finally, it’s an intentional and conscious way of committing to and adhering to best operational standards and to holding ourselves, team, and company accountable to delivering upon the best work environment, way of operating, and product we can.
We encourage other businesses to consider becoming B Corps for all the reasons we became one, but also because, as we mentioned above, B Corp is a growing movement. Through it, with enough businesses committing and following through with doing business differently, we will change people’s lives, our communities and how businesses operate globally — with people, planet and profit at the center. We believe it’s a true competitive advantage.
