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Advancing the Stakeholder Economy with Martin Whittaker

From employer vaccine policies to shareholder activism, JUST Capital continues to rank and report on the companies, leaders, and trends advancing the stakeholder capitalism movement. As the leading voice in ‘just’ business behavior, JUST Capital is a nonprofit organization with a mission to equip the market with the data, tools and insights to deliver on the promise of an economy that works for all Americans.

To talk about the evolution of this movement and continued impacts of the pandemic, we spoke with Martin Whittaker, CEO of JUST Capital. On his fourth Purpose 360 appearance, Martin discussed new initiatives including the Corporate Racial Equity Tracker and how companies can better “walk the talk” to address some of the world’s most intractable social issues.

Listen for Martin’s insights on:

  • How JUST Capital made strategic changes to the JUST 100 annual rankings framework, evolved based on the pandemic
  • Why the organization launched the Corporate Racial Equity Tracker to bring greater transparency and accountability to the corporate world through a DE&I lens
  • How CEOs can make authentic decisions using honest internal assessments

Links & Notes

  • (00:00) – Welcome to Purpose 360
  • (02:45) – Intro to Martin Whittaker
  • (04:09) – Background on JUST Capital
  • (07:39) – The Numbers
  • (11:19) – Polling During Covid & Social Unrest
  • (16:51) – Tracking Growth
  • (18:18) – Getting on the List
  • (22:21) – Toolkit for Companies Not Ranked
  • (24:32) – Impacts of Just Companies
  • (27:23) – ESG Equity Funds Momentum
  • (30:39) – Diversity & Equity Tracker
  • (33:49) – P&G
  • (35:10) – In the Know
  • (39:26) – Social Policy & the C-Suite
  • (43:39) – Big Just Issues
  • (50:34) – Importance of Action Vs. Talk
  • (53:28) – Last Thoughts
  • (55:05) – Wrapping Up

Business is an unlikely hero: a force for good working to solve society’s most pressing challenges, while boosting bottom line. This is social purpose at work. And it’s a dynamic journey.

Purpose 360 is a masterclass in unlocking the potential of social purpose to ignite business and social impact. We illuminate the growing impacts of purpose, from engaging employees and fostering deeper consumer loyalty to inspiring product innovation and increasing market share.

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