The Business for World Benefit Clinic program is designed to connect students to aspiring B Corporations. B Corp Certification is a certification that measures a company's entire social and environmental performance. Certification doesn't just prove where companies excel now—it also commits companies to their mission for the long term.
During the semester-long program, companies will be matched with a team of students to go through the assessment process and identify strategies they can take to improve their B Impact Assessment (BIA) scores. Students will gain hands-on consulting experience and the chance to learn about social and environmental impact assessment and sustainable business models.
Schedule for the spring 2024 Business for World Benefit Clinic:
- Info session: Wednesday, Jan. 24, 5 p.m., PBL 03
- Student applications due: Monday, Jan. 29, 5 p.m.
- Teams announced: Thursday, Feb. 1
- Student orientation (virtual): Friday, Feb. 2, noon-1 p.m.
- Interim project presentations (virtual): Friday, March 1, noon-1 p.m.
- Guest Speaker Presentation (virtual): Friday, March 22, noon-1 p.m.
- Student closing presentations (in-person): Friday, April 26, 3-5 p.m.
- Final project report due to company reps by Friday, May 3
Spring 2024 Coaches
Our Business for World Benefit coaches are leaders of Certified B Corporations that have generously donated their time to help our students teams and participating companies succeed.
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.
Spring 2024 Companies
Companies for the Spring 2024 Business for World Benefit Clinic projects are: