General Blog
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BetterWorld Celebrates Earth Day Building Green Houses with Habitat for Humanity in Oakland
As part of Habitat for Humanity’s 2011 Earth Day Build-a-Thon, some of BetterWorld’s team was on hand for executive build day. We were joined by executives from many of the Bay area’s leading companies including Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Coldwell Banker, Chevron and Cisco. Habitat for Humanity is an extraordinary non-profit organization building simple, decent, affordable housing and organizing myriad events and opportunities for volunteers to have a hand in the process alongside Habitat families.... -
WorldBlu: Most Democratic Workplace!
What if companies were evaluated not just by their profits, but by the way they treated their employees and the democracy of their workplaces? WorldBlu does exactly that by providing in-depth surveys for organizations and their employees to anonymously rate their workplaces on transparency. Working to create happy, engaged workplaces – their rating system creates standards for what would otherwise be largely intangible.... -
TEDx Presidio
What does business 3.0 look like? How are successful companies reshaping the landscape and the workplace? With a packed schedule of speakers, TEDx Presidio was a heavy hitting dose of trailblazers from the Bay Area and beyond. Hosts Deb Nelson of Social Venture Network and Darian Rodriguez Heyman of Code Green Agency, started off the day with the question: What’s the difference between a dreamer and a visionary?... -
TechSoup Global Contributors Summit
BetterWorld was honored to be a part of a convening of funders, corporate donors, social media experts, capacity-building organizations and the fulcrum of all of these amazing networks, TechSoup Global. The summit has focused on how BetterWorld and other participants can create greater impact through the extraordinary network of partners that comprise TechSoup’s global contributors.... -
B Corps Gain Momentum in 2011
Some great news out of the gates for B Corps in 2011: BetterWorld helped launch B Corps for Non Profits in January, a group of companies that dedicated much or all of their time and energy towards helping to enable and strengthen non-profits around the country and world – here’s a great article on Guidestar about the group – http://trust.... -
BetterWorld Telecom 2010 Signpost
As is our annual BetterBlog tradition, we mark the passing of each January 1st with some reflection and highlights of the previous year. As we make the turn into 2011, the BetterWorld team is excited as 2010, on almost every front, was our best to date – from new partnerships, to customers, expanding our mission and furthering our efforts to provide a concrete example and direction for how the telecoms industry can be a social and environmental leader, our pathway has never been more clear.... -
Net Neutrality Gains Strength from FCC Decision
“There is no escaping the reality that we have evolved into a society in which electronic information represents the substrate of much of daily life…If we do not take this moment to secure our sovereignty over the choices that our information age has allowed us to enjoy, we cannot reasonably blame its loss on those who are free to enrich themselves by taking it from us in a manner history has foretold.... -
California Teleconnect Fund – Great Opportunity for Non-Profits
BetterWorld Telecom is fortunate to now be an approved carrier for the California Teleconnect Fund. This amazing program offers qualifying non-profits essentially a 50% discount on many commercial telecommunications service such as DSL, T1s, PRIs, VoIP, Unified Communications, IP Trunking and many more. The California Teleconnect Fund (CTF) Program was established by Decision 96-10-066 on October 25, 1996.... -
Our Visit with Relief International
Saving Lives, Sustaining Livelihoods is the mantra and vision of Relief International (RI). We were fortunate this week to visit with the leadership of RI in Los Angeles and learn more about their progress and efforts towards helping those who typically have not or are not receiving due attention in crises around the world, focusing on long term developmental needs, goals and programs.... -
Our Visit with the World Wildlife Fund
Late last week, we had the fortune to meet with Emily Malatesta Kelton (Director, Corporate Relations) and Sheri Willoughby (Senior Program Officer Business and Industry) at World Wildlife Fund headquarters in Washington, D.C. As one learns more about WWF, you can’t help be struck by the size and scope of their impact, which is truly felt in just about every corner of the world today.... -
Our Visit with Recovery Cafe
Last Friday I had the honor of meeting with David Coffey, Executive Director of Recovery Cafe — an inspirational person who runs an amazing organization serving men and women who are homeless, addicted, and/or suffering from mental illness. Recovery Cafe is a Seattle-based non-profit recovery support center that utilizes an alternative therapeutic community model.... -
Our Visit with Care2
Last week we had the pleasure of catching up with Randy Paynter, CEO an founder of Care2, a long -time BetterWorld customer and fellow B Corp company. Care2 and Randy require little introduction but in case you have been trapped under a rock for the last 10 years, Care2 has over 12.... -
Sustainable Industries Economic Forum – San Francisco
The BetterWorld team was out in force at the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in San Francisco. JP, Jim, and Jacob represented at the BetterWorld sponsored table, alongside our guest representatives from Care2, Sun Light & Power, RSF Social Finance, Mother Jones Magazine, Social Venture Network, Give Something Back, and Hanson Bridgett.... -
Kiva turns 4!
The incredibly inspiring micro-loan organization Kiva celebrated 4 years and $100 million in donations this past week and BetterWorld was there to help celebrate their extraordinary accomplishments. Kiva “connects people through lending to help alleviate poverty” and has blazed a trail of widespread success for similar organizations with the micro-lending model.... -
Innovation, Leadership, Service, and Pure Heart
What a great week of meetings in Sacramento. I’ve really been enjoying getting to know the riches of this region. Innovation: I took a tour of Ternion Bio Industries (www.ternionbio.com) space and learned about their Photo Bioreactors that provide a controlled, scalable environment in which harmful emissions, notably carbon dioxide, are used to “feed” any strain of algae, producing high-quality raw material for beneficial algae-based products.... -
The First B Corporation Annual Report
Just taking a moment to observe a great signpost in the road: B Labs released its First Annual B Corporation Report in the past week and we congratulate them on their amazing progress in helping to define a new class of corporation. In less than five years years, B Corp (B = “For Benefit) has moved from idea, to concept, off the drawing board and now to the first annual report is a great testament to the progress that has been made.... -
West Coast Green 2009 Wrapup
West Coast Green was the place to be last Thursday through Saturday, and Matt and I were sure to be there. We connect with many current and met many new friends, partners, and customers at the largest conference on green innovation for the built environment. Held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, 14,000 thought leaders and forward thinkers convened to engage in dynamic, big-picture, systems-thinking to reinvent business, laugh, make connections, affect policy, and create meaningful and lasting positive change.... -
Advancing Sustainability in The Bay Area
Late last week, Matt and I had a couple great meetings of note in the Bay Area, with a couple organizations doing amazing work in their own right to advance sustainability. Sun Light & Power First off we met with Sun Light & Power, headquartered in Berkeley, thanks to Mark Mumm for the tour and great discussion around how our BetterWork framework could advance Sun Light & Power’s mission.... -
Our Visit with the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind
In a word, wow – we are so fortunate to visit every day with organizations that are affecting positive change in the world, but every once in awhile, our perception of what can be is shifted for sure. Our visit with the the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind last week was a lesson in what is possible if a community and some really committed people come together to help others in need.... -
Our Visit with the Stone Brewing Company
We were fortunate this week to visit the amazing HQ/Brewery/Restaurant in Escondido, CA of the Stone Brewing Company. Stone brews arguably some of the best beers in the U.S. (favorite of many on the BetterWorld team, alongside some New Belgium brews), but the story just starts there. Stone maintains a huge commitment to local agriculture as the largest purchaser of local ag in San Diego county, something near and dear to the BetterWorld team through our local and national support of BALLE.... -
BetterWork in DC w FCC � The Wilderness Society
Yesterday we had great meetings with both the Federal Communications Commission and The Wilderness Society, discussing BetterWork concepts and benefits for both the greater good and for individual organizations. We have been invited to participate in the FCC’s ongoing Workshop Series , which is bringing forward information and specific areas of focus, culminating in the National Broadband Plan.... -
Easter Seals, Giving and Giving for over 90 Years
When you walk in the Easter Seals’ Chicago headquarters, you are greeted with an amazing quote from Easter Seals’ founder Edgar Allen – “ Your life and mine shall be valued not by what we take…but by what we give.” With roots back to the early 1900s, Easter Seals has been giving and giving, helping individuals with disabilities and special needs, and their families, live better lives.... -
Telecom Should be Green Leaders
President Matt Bauer at Light Reading BetterWorld President Matt Bauer gives key note presentation at Light Reading event: Green Telecom East- Transition to a Conference, reinforcing the opportunity and responsibility of Telecom to pave the way towards greater sustainability. Touching on the various industries that will be affected by a true shift towards sustainabililty and effective implementation of telecom technologies, Matt reinforces this necessity for a shift by everyone, with the Telecom industry leading the way.... -
Our Visit to Bastyr University
This week I visited esteemed Bastyr University with our Seattle Affiliate, Gina Diamond. We were hosted by Bastyr Development Relations Coordinator, Kathy Coffey pictured with Gina below and with great directional help from fellow Hoosier, Greg Goode, who is Chief of Staff to the President. Bastyr is a leading institution in the world, focused on natural health and applied behavioral sciences and the main campus just north of Seattle, is truly beautiful, set in a state park & within an old monastery....
