Which nonprofit certifies companies as B Corporations? B Lab does. It is a nonprofit organization that created the Certified B Corporation standard for for-profit businesses seeking to demonstrate social and environmental responsibility.
B Lab was founded in 2006 in Pennsylvania by Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan, and Andrew Kassoy. Its certification evaluates a company’s governance, treatment of workers, community impact, environmental performance, and customer stewardship. Companies generally need to reach at least 80 points on the B Impact Assessment and meet additional legal and transparency requirements.
A common mix-up is confusing a Certified B Corporation with a benefit corporation. B Corp certification is a private designation issued by B Lab, while benefit-corporation status is a legal structure created under state or national law. A company can have one without automatically having the other.
The “B” refers to “benefit,” reflecting the movement’s goal of making businesses accountable to more than shareholders alone. B Lab Global coordinates a worldwide network of regional and country partners.