NYC’s B Corps: Building Systems That Work

By Rai-mon Nemar Barnes, Founder & CEO, Consciously®, B Local NYC Member

Our movement has hit an inflection point. While I think folks would agree the world is changing, I’m not sure they’d share the thinking that it’s been for the better.

Current events — and our never-ending recency bias — obscure something important: the world now generally accepts climate change (whether or not they agree on the why), accepts inequity (so much so, the majority is claiming it for themselves), and accepts that this is a world of many, many different economies. Community economies. Stakeholder economies.

How do we know that the majority is in acceptance? Watch how they move. What they do. Their actions. We don’t listen to the rhetoric anymore — we know better.

That said, I believe I believe the B Corp movement — our movement — must also evolve and push forward. Instead of making sure we signify in social posts or call out every transgression, asking our audiences to align their hearts with what’s right… we provide resources. We write checks. We make sure we’re in community with those who are pushing forward the values, with action not just intent, and we enable their every move — without asking, needing, or desiring credit for doing so.

It’s my goal to share some of the folks in NYC who have been doing exactly this. New York City is a place that allows you to find your community and support it in the ways that are best for you. B Corps are amazing at this and have been for some time. They build mini-systems for their businesses that also contribute to or inspire macro systems. They provide resources and smooth the way for those who have dedicated their lives to the values we hold dear because, honestly, we can’t all devote every day of our lives to the work we want to see done.

And this is why it’s so important we focus on both small businesses and multinationals and all sizes in between. Systems change can’t happen without the largest companies on the planet, who obviously have more negative externalities, and who’s very small moves have huge impact on the systems we are hoping to change. The culture is driven by the nimble …the impact is scaled by the aligned larger entities. This is something that NYC drives home for everyone, every day.

The Ecosystem That Actually Works

Not so long ago, these were concepts we were just trying to get awareness of.

Now? They’re operational.

In 2015, New York City became the first municipality in the world to partner with B Lab on the “Best for NYC” campaign. NYCEDC didn’t just endorse the B Corp movement — they wove it into their economic development strategy. The goal was to get 500 businesses to use B Lab’s Impact Assessment to measure and improve their practices around diversity, worker compensation, governance, and community impact.

Here’s what made it different: it wasn’t just business and government. It was business, government, nonprofits, academia, and community organizations — all working together. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. CAMBA. Business Solutions Centers across all five boroughs. Borough President Gale Brewer called it “an opportunity for New York City to help businesses measure and strengthen their efforts… we’re helping them to lead and succeed.”

And then the connections started multiplying. NYCEDC launched ConstructNYC to support minority, women-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (M/W/DBEs) with training and contract opportunities in the green economy.

When New York passed the Climate Mobilization Act and buildings needed billions in energy retrofits, who partnered to provide business finance counseling to M/W/DBE construction firms? NYCEDC, BOC Capital Corp, and Columbia University. Business. Nonprofit finance. Academia. Working together.

Pace University’s Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship hosts Impact Hub NYC — a Certified B Corp connecting 15,000 social entrepreneurs and impact investors across 83 locations globally — as its Social Enterprise in Residence. NYU Stern and Columbia Business School offer loan forgiveness for graduates who work for Certified B Corps, recognizing these companies represent a different model worth supporting.

This is what ecosystem building looks like when it’s real.

The Quiet Work That Matters

Take Spring Bank. They’re not the biggest name. They don’t make the most noise. But they’re the first Certified B Corp bank in New York State and the highest-rated B Corp bank in the nation with a score of 165.9. We know… the score framework has been retired in v2.1 of B Labs standards… but let’s recognize the effort that went into that kind of score.

Founded in 2007 in the South Bronx — the only bank to establish headquarters there in over 30 years — they’re a Community Development Financial Institution. They serv neighborhoods where check-cashing storefronts and predatory lending are more common than traditional banks. They just opened a branch in Red Hook, Brooklyn — a banking desert where residents have struggled to access basic financial services.

Spring Bank partners with nonprofits. With the New York State Department of State. With community organizations like Ariva to provide free financial education and capabilities. They offer Employee Opportunity Loans through partnerships with Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners so workers can build credit and avoid debt cycles. They helped a restaurant owner get capital to open in Harlem’s Whole Foods. They’re providing SBA loans and microloans to businesses that look nothing like what larger banks typically fund.

They’re not doing it for applause. They’re doing it because the work itself is the point.

Or look at WOCstar Capital — themselves a certified B Corp — running the Women.NYC Network in partnership with EDCNYC. Over 80,000 women connected to opportunities. More than 1,800 in structured programs building real pathways to capital that’s historically been out of reach. This isn’t awareness-building. This is economic development infrastructure.

Orijin is partnering with correctional facilities and state agencies across multiple states to provide digital learning and workforce development for incarcerated populations. Named a 2025 Jobs for the Future Innovator to Watch as well as a NYC Beam Award winner, they’re building sustainable systems that change recidivism rates — the unsexy, hard work of second chances.

Eileen Fisher’s Renew program has diverted over 2 million garments from landfills through the Tiny Factory in Irvington, transforming take-back clothing into entirely new designs. Faherty became a “B1” company — B Corp and 1% for the Planet — and their Second Wave circularity program kept 29,000 pounds of clothing out of landfills in 2024 alone. When they launched regenerative cotton products, sales jumped 103% year-over-year. Customers aren’t stupid. They can tell when the work is real.

What Makes This Possible

B Local NYC brings together companies like these — along with Uncommon Goods, Lukes Lobster, BBMG, Tony’s Chocolony, Just Salad, Ecodeo, Davines, Amalgamated Bank, Prose, Consciously®, Gotham Greens, — not for photo ops, but for intentional networking, strategic collaboration, resource-sharing and yes….community. The board is run by volunteers from member companies and NYC Social Innovation stakeholders who understand that strengthening the community strengthens everyone.

And now there’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani, sworn in January 1st with a platform built on fare-free buses, universal childcare, a $30 minimum wage by 2030, and a rent freeze. His transition team includes former FTC Chair Lina Khan. This administration is staffed with people who get that business can be a force for public good — not in spite of profit, but because of alignment with community needs.

The B Corps I talk to aren’t waiting to see what happens. They’re asking how they can support what’s already committed to. Progressive policy meeting purpose-driven business. Public sector vision connecting with private sector execution.

The Real Point