Today, Mission Partners—a social impact communications firm and Certified B Corporation—released its fourth annual social impact report since becoming a Certified B Corporation™ in 2018.

Nearly 5,000 businesses around the world hold the coveted Certified B Corporation™ designation—and we are proud to be among them. B Corporations are better for employees, the community, customers, and the environment. It’s our collective and ongoing hard work that is driving transformational change across the business sectors we represent.

This is by far our most impressive report yet, which details how we used the power of communication to advance justice, in our business, with our clients, and for the world. And while there is much more we intend to do, we pause today to celebrate what we’ve done together.

In developing this report, our Mission Partners team reflected deeply on 2021, and our role in it: a year that carried many important storylines, from elevated threats to our democracy, mass shootings, the mental health of our youth, and the Great Resignation, all through the continuation of COVID-19. At the intersections of those many storylines, we find strength and optimism in the many ways we turned the challenges of these times into opportunities for impact.

Working in partnership with colleagues, clients, partners, and community members every step of the way, we used the power of communication to advance justice: We led campaigns designed to eliminate misinformation in public health. We launched initiatives designed to shift philanthropic dollars to historically underfunded communities. We amplified issues that resulted in federal policy change in support of local news. And, we helped organizations re-orient their brands to be authentically aligned with their missions. 

Looking back on 2021, it’s clear that we did all we could, with all we had, to change and challenge the inherent power in communications, for good. We worked to make every step an intentional step toward our vision for an anti-racist future.

This year’s report is intended to show you how.

With updates on how we leveraged our small business as a force for good, stories of positive impact in partnership with our clients, and a preview of where we go from here, I hope this year’s report reminds you that small can be big, too. And that together, anything is possible.

Among the featured highlights of the report:

• We moved $617,000 in capital to Black- and women-led organizations through sponsorships, investments, and intentional vendor transitions, along with an additional $130,000 in pro bono services toward our multimillion dollar commitment to invest resources in Black- and women-led firms.

• We created three distinct working groups—focused on our business, our clients, and our world—to hold leadership accountable to the goals of our Race Equity Action plan.

• We made a values-driven shift in our retirement plan vendor, incorporating socially responsible investing options that align with our company and individual values.

• We expanded health care coverage to include part-time employees.

• We publicized salary ranges for all open positions and shared salary tiers and pathways for growth with employees.

 

Because of these intentional shifts and more, Mission Partners has secured a B Corp recertification score of 125.5*, which reflects a 30-point increase in our founding B Corp score of 95.4, and a further signal of our deep commitment to use our small business as a force for good.

With decades of experience in social impact communications, and working at the unique intersection of PR, policy, and philanthropy, Mission Partners works side-by-side with organizations, as trusted partners and colleagues, along their journeys to build more equitable and just systems and communities. We use a full range of strategic communications—messaging, marketing, issues management, and strategy building—to help advance our clients’ visions for the future.

 

Read the report and learn more about our work at impact.mission.partners

 

As a Certified B Corporation™, we pledge to foster a radically inclusive and richly regenerative economy. Our company voluntarily invests in meeting significantly higher standards of sustainability, governance, and giving back to the community in our daily operations. At Mission Partners, we believe business is a force for good and we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect for all employees and partners. We believe the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

*Represents Mission Partners’ B Corp recertification score as of May 3, 2022 (unverified)