The Fowler Center’s Business for World Benefit Clinic trains and supports teams of students to serve as researchers, project managers, and consultants for companies that aim to assess and improve their social and environmental impact.
The program aims to meaningfully and materially advance sustainability within the business community. The Clinic engages with clients from small entrepreneurial companies to large corporations due to the rising demand and need of business leaders to assess their organization’s environmental sustainability and social impact.
Student teams can work with organizations to benchmark and improve their social and environmental impact including helping with specific requirements such as calculating carbon emissions, materiality assessments, drafting documentation including a Code of Ethics Policy, an Employee Handbook, Workers Training Modules, or Waste Management Policies, as well as support companies on their journey toward B Corp Certification by helping them to increase their B Impact Assessment (BIA) score.
This program runs in each of the Fall and Spring semesters.
Purpose
The Business for World Benefit Clinic program is designed with dual objectives:
- To develop the capacity of students as sustainability leaders and let them explore the growing phenomenon of stakeholder capitalism, a more socially and environmentally conscious version of capitalism, in a robust and tangible way, and in partnership with real corporations. Students get a chance to learn how the forms and methods of for-profit businesses and the market can be deliberately harnessed as a platform for social and environmental change, while also building their networks with businesses and organizations who are committed to these ideals.
- To meaningfully and materially advance sustainability within the business community. Organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial companies to large corporations have seen the rising demand and need of business leaders to assess their environmental sustainability and social impact. By providing motivated and passionate students in interdisciplinary teams from a variety of majors, mentored and supported by experienced professionals, this program is helping to close the gap.
How does the program work?
The Business for World Benefit Clinic trains and supports teams of students to serve as researchers, project managers and consultants for companies that aim to assess and improve their social and environmental impact.
The student teams work on various projects like:
B Corp Certification: Students help companies with the B Impact Assessment (BIA), a free, open-access assessment tool, to gain B Corp certification or recertification.
Companies are certified by the global nonprofit, B Lab, to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Companies are certified based on a lengthy and rigorous assessment process, and their commitment to a binding legal agreement to consider the impact of their decisions on all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
Benchmark and improve the social and environmental impact: Students help companies with their specific requirements including calculating carbon emissions, materiality assessments, or drafting documentation such as a Code of Ethics Policy, Employee Handbook, Workers Training Module, Waste Management Policy and others.
Additionally, we also provide training, workshops and guest speaker sessions as a part of this program to train, impart knowledge, and troubleshoot any challenges that our student teams face during the course of their project.
Get involved as a Student
The Business for World Benefit Clinic is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students across Case Western Reserve University to help companies strengthen their social and environmental impact.
- Gain experience working with real businesses in a professional environment on a project that will contribute to the company’s overall success.
- Work with students from different majors, helping build an understanding of the need for collaboration across disciplines and sectors to advance sustainability.
- Learn and utilize valuable project management and professional client communication skills.
- Build your resume with concrete sustainable business skills
- Expand your professional network to regional sustainably minded businesses and partners as potential future employers.
Get involved as a Company
The Business for World Benefit Clinic is an opportunity to get support from a team of creative, interdisciplinary Case Western Reserve University students.
- Begin or continue your journey in measuring and understanding relevant data related to your ESG and sustainability goals.
- Use the B Impact Assessment to strengthen your social and environmental impact and work towards your goals of becoming a certified B Corporation.
As part of the Business for World Benefit Clinic, companies should:
- Assign a project leader who will commit to meeting with the student team as well as responding and providing data in a reasonable timeframe
- Give a weekly commitment from the project leader of approximately 2 hours to meet with students, respond to inquiries, and gather and provide data
- If interested in B Corp Certification, take a first pass at the B Impact Assessment in order to set a baseline score
Projects run for about 10 weeks each semester and include interim presentations and final presentations with the student groups. Project oversight is provided by the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit staff.
Companies we have worked with include:
● Rustbelt Reclamation
● Got Produce
● Cafilia
● Redhouse Architecture
● Everarbor
● Holmes Mouthwatering Applesauce
● Spice Headquarters
Get involved as a Coach
The Business for World Benefit Clinic coaches are leaders of sustainability consulting and certified B Corporations that have generously donated their time to help our students teams and participating companies succeed. This provides an additional level of expertise throughout the process for each organization and student team.
We are constantly looking to connect with individuals who are passionate about how businesses can contribute towards a positive future for all. If you have assisted your organization with their B Corp Certification or work in the sustainability domain and are interested in supporting our Business for World Benefit Clinic and students, please reach out to the Fowler Center fowlercenter@case.edu for more information.
Coaches we have worked with
Lorraine Schuchart, APR is the founder and CEO of the impact relations agency Prosper for Purpose. The company helps change makers impact the world and the bottom line by accelerating growth through brand strategy, public relations and marketing. Prosper for Purpose was founded in 2013 and became a Certified B Corporation in 2016. B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Lorraine is also a founding member of WetheChange, women CEOs of Certified B Corps, and the Ohio Ambassador for the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization.
Laura Steinbrink is the managing member of Emerald Built Environments. Laura has been leading project teams to discover and implement sustainability goals since 2008. She led Emerald’s growth to an internationally sought after partner to owners and their architects and project teams. Laura excels at facilitating eco-charrettes and strategy sessions that align the owner’s business and financial objectives with their renovation, new construction, or ongoing operations projects. Guided by the firm’s core values of "constantly raising the bar" and "cultivating the team", clients look to her to help establish clear goals and strategies for project delivery. Her experience spans heavy industry, retail, housing, commercial, education, medical facilities, and roads and bridges. Most recently, she led the firm’s development of its Sustainability Playbook and carbon neutrality services for companies looking to enhance their performance and reporting.
Katrina Keeley is a Boston native who has called Cleveland home for the last six years. She has a Bachelor of Art's degree in Sociology from Roanoke College in Virginia. Upon moving to Cleveland, Katrina was lucky enough to merge her passion for wellness, community, and social impact through her position as director of operations at Harness Cycle. Over the course of one year, she helped lead the company’s B Corp Certification process, creating policy and operational changes to both expand the company’s positive social impact and reduce its environmental footprint, becoming a Certified B Corp in 2020. Katrina completed Harness Cycle’s recertification in 2023 and hopes to focus future work on impactful strategy for other companies.
Cole Mellino is a sustainability professional with 10 years of demonstrated experience in the field. He is a problem-solver, who takes initiative. Skilled in research and writing, customer service, organization, communication, marketing and social media. Cole completed a joint MBA in Global Impact Management and MA in International Environmental Policy with a focus on social enterprise, impact investing, and food sustainability at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
Coby C. Williams is founder and principal of New Reach Community Consulting. He is a strategist and practitioner with over 15 years of professional experience in community engagement, group facilitation, issue advocacy strategy and digital outreach planning. His thought leadership is regularly tapped for national topics related to community engagement. He has partnered with organizations throughout the United States to help move local, state and national initiatives forward. New Reach is a Black-owned and purpose-driven small business based in Columbus, Ohio. New Reach is a Certified B Corp and provides public affairs services for government, nonprofit and philanthropic initiatives. Its mission is to help organizations engage with communities to improve the quality of life for the people they serve.