Looking Back on Our Journey to Becoming a B Corp
Our founders learned about the B Corp movement in 2021 from our dear friends at West Arete, a software development company focused on custom software for higher education. They are a longtime B Corp and 1% for the Planet member and have been an invaluable source of advice as we’ve grown RipRap Security and explored ways to make an impact greater than our core business of providing cyber security expertise.
At the end of 2022, we set our sights on achieving B Corp certification. The B Corp certification is awarded to companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency, as assessed by the non-profit B Lab. The certification evaluates factors like a company's impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment. It provides value by distinguishing companies as leaders in sustainable business practices, attracting customers, investors, and employees who prioritize ethical and responsible conduct.
Our team worked with certified B Consultant Kristin Joys, Ph.D., to prepare for and go through the certification process. Kristin was an incredible resource throughout the months we spent working together. She provided extensive subject matter expertise that helped us establish new and formalize existing mechanisms for making RipRap Security a business for good. Her work enabled us to establish the policies, processes, and workflows that will enable our company to grow in a sustainable way and ensure our impact extends beyond the day-to-day cyber security work we do.
In 2023, we were officially awarded B Corp certification. Not only that, but we were proud to achieve an Impact Score of 108.1, which is higher than the B Corp required score of 80 and much better than the average score of 50.9 that ordinary businesses have.
Here are some of our key achievements that led to the certification:
Established a code of ethics, guidelines for company transparency, and a requirement for yearly impact reporting
Amended our corporate governing documents to officially adopt social and environmental performance is part of the company’s decision making over time, regardless of company ownership
Self-selected into the “Designed To Give” impact business model that formally commits us to provide 5% or more of our time each year to pro bono services
Self-selected into the “Support For Underserved/Purpose Driven Enterprises” impact business model that formalizes our dedication to primarily supporting underserved and purpose-driven organizations with cyber security
Tracking our energy, water, and waste usage so that we can measure carbon emissions and offset those emissions each year
Starting to transition to new service providers who are themselves B Corps where possible
We are looking forward to learning about the new standards for recertification so that we can maintain our status as a B Corp indefinitely.
