Leaving behind the (unusually) sweltering temperatures of London, I hopped on a plane to spend a couple of days in Cascais, Portugal for the second B Corp Summer Summit. Kin&Co proudly certified as a B Corp in January of this year and with a growing number of B Corp clients, it was wonderful to take some time to reconnect, learn and take stock in beautiful surroundings.
The theme of this year’s summit was Interdependence as a Force for Good – and with such close proximity to the anniversary of the Brexit vote, it couldn’t have been more apt. In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever for organisations to work interdependently. From the perspective of an organisation that proudly campaigned to remain in the EU last year and has a handful of clients across the mainland, it’s vital for us to strengthen our relationships and show solidarity with our neighbours.
The Summit brought together B Corporations of all sizes, across sectors – there were products to try; Dopper reusable water bottles, paper made from rocks courtesy of On the Rocks and even organic cotton tampons from Yoni, who urged everyone with a vagina to be more mindful about what’s between their legs – as well as services, Streetwize offer purpose-driven training and put all profits into educating street kids around the world.
Patagonia’s Mihela Hladin discussed the delicate balance that consumer brands need to strike in order to remain profitable but also to do no harm and stressed the importance of the ‘Activist Company’ – something we’re hugely passionate about at Kin&Co.
CEO of DanoneWave (a Kin&Co client), Lorna Davies reminded us of the three ‘S’s of creating a movement – simplicity, symbolism and sex appeal – colouring her speech with anecdotes about her dog Stirfry and the Co-Operative in Brooklyn where Maggie Gyllenhaal can occasionally be spotted working the checkouts.
Coming back to (an albeit slightly greyer London) it’s imperative to keep the momentum of sunny Portugal going, to always look for the positives, the areas of potential to drive change – and most importantly to seek out and commit to working with other organisations to make the biggest impact.
