Meet the 29 Women of Level: Women of Color Entrepreneurs Building Businesses for Impact

Level Program Business Leaders Add New and Needed Voices to B Corp Community

Small business owners encounter plenty of hurdles as they look to launch and grow their companies. If they also are women who are Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color, barriers to business financing and operating are higher and more frequent. 

Now entering its fourth year, the Level program from B Lab U.S. & Canada partners with business leaders who are Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color and identify as women as they build companies that benefit people and the planet. The Level leaders and colleagues also bring new perspectives and ideas to the Certified B Corporation community. 

Alesha Hartley, B Lab U.S. & Canada Senior Manager of Equitable Programs, coordinates the Level program and supports the B Corp community’s efforts to reimagine business practices and policies while removing barriers to opportunity. “It is true that businesses owned by People of Color and women are underfunded and under-resourced. It is also true that the Certified B Corporation community isn’t as diverse as it needs to be,” Hartley says. “B Corps and partners must include everyone’s needs and perspectives in a collaborative movement to achieve a more equitable and inclusive economy.”

As the Level program moves into its fourth year, B Lab U.S. & Canada is releasing a new downloadable resource to celebrate the women leaders in the program’s first three years. The resource offers a look at the 29 impact-minded Level leaders and companies, links to business websites, and information on applying for the program’s fourth year. 

Level Leaders Are Building More Inclusive Businesses and Communities

The guide highlights how Level leaders run businesses that help create more inclusive communities and build momentum for an economy that works for everyone. August Ball, Founder and CEO of Cream City Conservation, is one of five participants from the initial Level cohort. Since its start in 2016, Cream City Conservation has embraced and deepened its mission to help environmental and community organizations attract diverse candidate pools while cultivating the next generation of environmentalists. 

Ball says this year Cream City Conservation will introduce a digital, self-paced version of its justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) cohort program and a new service for companies interested in having around-the-clock access to resources and education for their teams. Ball says that many organizations seem to have lost their vigor for equity work, but the current turbulent political climate and global challenges reinforce the need for continued effort.

“Many of my colleagues in this industry are bracing themselves for what may occur after the elections,” Ball says. “With so many attacks on access to information and bodily autonomy, it’s going to be an interesting year for organizations whose work is to promote equity and justice.” 

Since Cream City Conservation gained B Corp Certification, Ball has joined the B Local Wisconsin board and assisted other B Corps as they adopt language around equitable workplace culture. “It’s an amazing group of folks who are not only passionate about ensuring their businesses are functioning for a greater good, they are passionate about inviting more businesses to consider operating in this manner,” she says.

As one of 10 participants in the second year of the Level program, Annie Korver of Rise Consulting partnered with B Corp Decade on its B Corp Certification journey. It’s an experience that Korver says reinforced her Canadian company’s focus on helping clients as much as they are committed to building social and environmental impact with and for Indigenous communities. 

“I had a better understanding of impact and the opportunity to lean into our values and to really advance our work at Rise inside our own organization and with the clients that we serve,” she says. “It was really an aha moment as I was learning about the reality of our ‘be’ and our ‘do.’ … Our values, our ‘be’ statements — they show up as ‘do’ statements. You have the opportunity to identify how your values intersect with your actions.”

Third-year Level participants included Courtney Stewart of the Good Kiind, which offers durable, plastic-free lunch kits. Before joining Level, Stewart knew about B Corps because she was a consumer who took badges and certifications seriously. “You can’t always research everything. But I felt confident that when I saw a B Corp Certification on a package, that the company was vetted from a 360-degree lens,” she says.

Stewart says she did not pursue the Level program or B Corp Certification to gain accolades for The Good Kiind. Both have helped her reflect on how leaders should run a business. “We made B Corp Certification a goal because we have a high-price-point product and wanted to tell the story behind why our prices are what they are,” Stewart said. “We felt that going for B Corp [Certification] would support that. This is how business should be done.”