Young Business Leaders Driving the Future of Impact

By embedding impact in their everyday work, Gen Z is helping to build the B Corp movement and pushing to make transparency, accountability, and purpose the norm. To celebrate B Corp Month and recognize changemakers creating a better future today, B The Change highlights some young B Corp business leaders and a program that gives university students hands-on experience with B Corp Certification. 

In founding Ecolytics, Hazel Horvath created a service that incorporates her education and work experience in the sustainability field with her personal desire to use business as a force for good. Through its platform, the Certified B Corporation helps companies track and set goals for their environmental and social impact. 

As a member of Gen Z, Horvath is among the growing number of young leaders in the B Corp community who are launching and working at companies that prioritize profit as well as people and the planet — and helping to make that the norm. “Many young entrepreneurs are building companies with impact at their core, rather than treating sustainability as an afterthought,” Horvath said. “There’s a growing movement of young leaders who see business as a force for good, and that momentum is only getting stronger.”

Hazel Horvath, founder of B Corp Ecolytics

B Lab data shows that awareness of B Corps in the U.S. and Canada is highest among 18- to 24-year-olds, who as part of Gen Z are raising expectations for business accountability and impact. Now making up more than 25% of the workforce, Gen Z is also pushing employers to prioritize social and environmental impact. As Horvath said: “Gen Z is pushing businesses to be more transparent, accountable, and purpose-driven. We don’t just expect companies to claim sustainability; we need to see the data and progress behind any claims.”

Members of Gen Z like Horvath contribute new ideas and energy and find inspiration as part of a movement that now includes more than 9,500 companies worldwide. For many young people, B Corp Certification is simply the way business should be done — with a commitment to continuous improvement and long-term resilience. 

Horvath saw the framework as a natural fit for Ecolytics, a Washington, D.C.-based company with a mission to help businesses improve their sustainability and to do the same itself. “Going through B Corp certification reinforced how critical it is to have clear, measurable impact goals,” she said. “The process also highlighted areas where we can improve — especially as we grow — such as expanding our governance policies and further embedding sustainability into every aspect of our operations.”

Horvath said that B Corp Certification’s combined focus on impact and improvement helps companies create growth strategies that also have positive social and environmental impact. “I’m excited to see more companies embrace this model and help set a new standard for responsible business,” she said. 

Students Dive Into B Corp Certification with B Impact Team Program

Other up-and-coming business leaders are gaining familiarity with the B Corp community through the Summer B Impact Team program organized by B Academics, a global network advancing the study of business as a force for good. Through the program, university students gain real-world experience by consulting with companies and using the B Impact Assessment for B Corp Certification to drive positive social and environmental impact.

In 2024, the participating students included: 

• Quinton Macdonald, who is pursuing a master of business administration degree in sustainability at Bard College.
• Mercy Masaeli, a research student in the final year of the doctorate in management program at the University of Sussex with a specialization in business model innovation for sustainability.
• Amy Kostelansky-Rafinski, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a master’s degree in sustainable management.
• Amelia Knopp, a sophomore at the University of Kansas pursuing degrees in accounting and sociology. 

Students in the 2024 Summer B Impact Teams program included, from left, Quinton Macdonald, Mercy Masaeli, Amy Kostelansky-Rafinski, and Amelia Knopp.

For Macdonald, the program helped him realize the deeper potential for B Corp Certification to build companies’ impact and resilience. “It helped me see where B Corp Certification can add value to a brand, not just the certification itself, but how the assessment can be used to strengthen and improve a company from the inside out,” Macdonald said. 

He said the B Impact Assessment can serve as a valuable tool for all purpose-minded companies, even those not seeking B Corp Certification. “In a world where human and environmental sustainability are becoming more and more important — despite what current political winds are saying — the B Corp assessment is a great tool to start your evaluation process and identify areas of improvement,” he said. 

The B Impact Assessment also is an accessible resource for smaller companies that want to take a deeper dive into their impact, as Masaeli learned during her B Impact Team experience. “The business that we worked with was a micro-enterprise with a handful of employees and a CEO who wore many hats,” she said. “We were able to get really acquainted with the B Impact Assessment and, more importantly, how the assessment applied to our client’s context.”

Large organizations had been Masaeli’s previous research focus, so the B Impact Team work provided a new perspective on challenges related to impact and operations. “The highlight of my personal experience was having the opportunity to understand how the items in B Impact Assessment could be broken down into actions and deliverables that were clearly linked to sustainable outcomes,” she said. 

Kostelansky-Rafinski, a non-traditional student with nearly two decades of experience in the apparel industry, said the B Impact Team program and her coursework prompted her to rethink her career pathway and personal buying habits. “One of my last classes during graduate school was focused on responsible business. That concept, combined with my learnings around social entrepreneurship during the 2024 Summer B Impact Team, helped to formulate a better understanding of the work I want to support and be a part of for the rest of my career,” she said. “This work has made me more mindful of my purchasing habits, often leading me to seek out B Corp products and services.”

Creating B Corp Certification recommendations and resources for B Corp Briyah Institute gave Kostelansky-Rafinski an appreciation for the depth of the requirements and process. “During this time, I had access to resources and support that helped me dive deeper into the mission of the certification and the incredible impact of the network of certified companies,” she said. 

Through the B Impact Teams program, Knopp explored how businesses are able to create financial value and positive social and environmental impact. “My most important takeaway is that I am motivated to pursue a life and career of purpose,” she said. “I now believe that I can bring my awareness and passion for integrating social and environmental causes into my work.”

Knopp carried those lessons back to her university, where she aims to build awareness of the B Corp community and mission among students. “I am currently working with a team of six peers to implement a Sustainability Seminar Series in the KU Business School, and we have discovered a strong base of students and faculty who are passionate about using business for good,” she said. 

B Academics is launching applications for the Summer 2025 B Impact Teams program this month.

Centering Values in Communication to Drive Meaningful Change

Gen Z members and other young people may be more aware of B Corps with products on the shelves — think Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, Athleta, and others. For Katy O’Neill, that was the case before she joined Beehive Strategic Communication in 2019 as a post-graduate intern. Now an account director at Beehive, O’Neill has learned through the years what B Corp Certification means for her agency and other businesses of all types — from B2B organizations and sole proprietorships to small and medium-sized organizations. 

Katy O’Neill of B Corp Beehive Strategic Communication

“Being part of a purpose-driven B Corp Certified agency has reinforced my belief that business can and should be a force for good — and that strategic communication plays a critical role in driving meaningful change both inside and outside of an organization,” O’Neill said. “The certification holds us accountable for continuous improvement, ensuring our values align with our actions.” 

That flows through O’Neill’s role in her work with clients, as she helps them articulate their values and bring them to life through their brand, culture, and relationships. “This could mean guiding organizations in their corporate social responsibility efforts, helping them articulate and activate their mission and vision, or working with leaders to communicate transparently during times of change.”

As Gen Z prompts more businesses to rethink their purpose and impact, O’Neill and her colleagues at Beehive challenge themselves and their clients to align their actions with their values. “Whether it’s advocating for ethical business practices, embedding DEI into communications strategies, or helping brands communicate sustainability commitments with transparency, we’re proving that purpose and profit aren’t mutually exclusive,” she said. “Beyond work, Gen Z is driving change through everyday decisions — supporting B Corps and other mission-driven companies, voting with our dollars, and using our voices to demand accountability. We’re not waiting for change to happen; we’re making it happen.”