[RE]Connections: Benefit Corporations

Living in a space somewhere between nonprofits and traditional business models, “B-Corps” are created so that business leaders are encouraged to look at the social impact of their decisions. Benefit corporations are still set up to make money, but profit does not have to be the exclusive goal. In fact they are legally required to show how they create a public benefit in order to stay in compliance.

B-Corps experts Dirk Sampselle, Deborah Sweeney and Shannon Kelly will share their experiences, knowledge, insight and advice on this new type of business.

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Sampselle is founder of B Revolution, Inc., a family of enterprises dedicated to growing the B Corporation movement. A nationally recognized expert in the benefit corporation legal entity and business strategy for B Corporations, he is a drafting author of B Lab’s Benefit Corporation White Paper, the legislative memorandum used to educate legislators on the benefit corporation legal form and facilitate adoption by the states. His article “The Benefit Corporation: An Economic Analysis with Recommendations to Courts, Boards, and Legislatures” appears in 62 Emory Law Journal (2013), a top publication for legal scholarship. He regularly counsels startup and growth companies on how to achieve high performance on the B Corporation certification, and he develops business and legal strategy for B Corporations through executive workshops and by serving as an independent board member and adviser to growth companies.

Sweeney is the CEO and owner of MyCorporation.com, a business document preparation and filing company serving business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the U.S. and Canada. She holds a joint JD/MBA from Pepperdine University and serves on the Board of Regents at Cal Lutheran. She enjoys working with students, entrepreneurs and small business owners as they set out on new business ventures. She also loves the framework of business ownership, which allows her to spend time with her husband and two sons.

Kelly's entrepreneurial endeavors include co-founding an online personal growth coaching business focused on helping entrepreneurs and individuals find success in their careers. She joined MyCorporation to pursue her passion for entrepreneurship and small business, and to uncover opportunities to expand the Benefit Corporation movement. She is experienced in startups turned successes and continues to work with the in-house legal team at a popular beverage company. She earned a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law, where she was a Dean’s Scholar and Fellow at the prestigious Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law.