It won't come as news to most people reading this blog that our business philosophy is firmly grounded in the belief that capitalism can be a powerful force for positive social change. You just don't often get to see these types of values expressed every day, let alone as a documentary film with you in it.
As some background, Institute B is a Vancouver-based social impact business think tank/incubation/education and venture capital firm. Suzanne and I have participated in their highly regarded Changemakers series, and are proud and excited about the work they're doing and community they're building. They are massive champions of the Benefit Corporation (B Corp) movement, a group of almost 1,000 companies worldwide who participate in a rigorous evaluation process of their impact, then go a step further to amend their legal articles of incorporation to enshrine a commitment that pursuit of profit will never come at the expense of social or environmental considerations.
Not Business As Usual Documentary from institute B on Vimeo.
When we were approached to be interviewed for the video, naturally we agreed to share our story. What we didn't know was that the "video" was actually destined to become an hour-long documentary about the evolution and future of capitalism. Several of our favourite friend/colleagues/B Corporations (hello Fairware, Junxion Strategy, Save On Meats, Potluck Cafe, Renewal Partners) were also interviewed, and the result is pure inspiration. We were also delighted to see our sister company AFRIpads featured too!
Following the screening, Suzanne was invited to join a panel of fellow entrepreneurs for a discussion, moderated by Kevin Lee Royes, a serial "soulcial-preneur" who successfully closed a deal on Dragons Den (the Canadian version of reality TV entrepreneurial pitching) and parlayed that into a guest hosting gig on future shows. His first question to the panel was "Is it too late to save the world?" In response Suzanne retold the story of the Little Hummingbird & the Forest Fire and said that "we (ie: Lunapads & AFRIpads) are simply doing what we can." And so thanks to all our customers and supporters: you are helping make that happen!
The "Pirates and "Disruption" in the title of this post are references to a couple of particularly cheeky lines of my and Suzanne's. There's not much more to say other than thank you to the IB team for this incredible opportunity to be part of such a powerful and innovative movement. We're not stopping anytime soon ;-)
Enjoy!
