Profit with Purpose: Why Resonant Became a B-Corp

What is a B Corp?

Resonant is proud to be a Certified B Corp. B Corps, or Benefit Corporations, are for-profit businesses that prioritize both profit-making and positive social and environmental impacts. They undergo a rigorous certification process conducted by B Lab, a non-profit organization. B Lab assesses a company's performance in areas such as governance, employee treatment, community engagement, and environmental practices. B Corps aim to generate financial returns while considering the well-being of employees, communities, and the planet, making them impactful players in the business world.

To certify, Resonant shared company financials and submitted an extensive survey for each of the four B Corp performance areas (governance, employee treatment, community engagement, and environmental practices). Resonant also made explicit commitments to prioritize our mission. We have enshrined our commitment to prioritize people and planet alongside financial goals in our operating agreement/company bylaws.

Why is Resonant a B Corp?

Since our founding in 2016, social justice has been at the center of our work broadening access to solar energy and becoming B Corp-certified felt like a natural extension of that mission. Additionally, at its inception Resonant Energy chose to incorporate as a for-profit social enterprise rather than a 501c3 nonprofit so we could message that our work would seek to be self-sustaining rather than reliant on grants and contributions; having opportunities to demonstrate the ways in which the company is different from most other for-profit companies and committed to staying that way long term was another key factor driving the company’s choice to get certified.

We also learned that some master's degree programs like the Yale MBA offer a financial break on student loan payments to help incentivize its graduates to work for nonprofits, the public sector or B Corp-certified organizations. We hope this trend catches on more broadly!

Solar energy will not become more equitable without careful and intentional decision-making. Equity-focused projects are not always going to be the most profitable or the easiest projects to build; many nonprofit projects face hurdles like older building stock, challenges with financing, or insufficient technical assistance. We believe it is important to prioritize social and environmental impact just as much as profit to ensure that these types of projects are built. As a B corp, we are required to remain transparent about our business practices and regularly check in on our performance which helps keep us accountable to our mission.

What’s the value to the client?

Nearly all of our clients are mission-driven organizations and we consider our clients' missions an extension of our own. We want to help nonprofits reduce operating costs so they can devote more of their energy and resources to serving their communities. You don’t have to trust that we value environmental and social benefit as highly as profit – it’s all laid out in our B Corp Report Card.