American Sustainable
Business Council
Please sign the Business Leaders’ Letter to support
the Consumer Financial Protection Agency
The American Sustainable Business Council is committed to creating the foundation and framework for a transition to a new, 21st century American economy grounded in principles of sustainability and equity. We are moving beyond the politics and business of the past to create the innovative solutions—enterprises, collaborations, and ideas—necessary for accelerating such a transformation.
We are united in the conviction that the current economic, social and environmental crises are rooted in inequitable and unsustainable practices and structures that must be transformed if there is to be a renewal of hope and prosperity.
We are committed to ensuring that the economic engines of our country—businesses and social enterprises—will be the agents of recovery and revitalization as well, by working cooperatively with government to create an enabling environment in which restorative, equitable and sustainable economic models can thrive.
Who We Are
The American Sustainable Business Council is a collaboration of networks of mission-driven businesses, social enterprises and sustainable businesses working to create a just and sustainable economy. These organizations together represent more than 20,000 businesses, social enterprises, and related entities, plus more than 150,000 individual members, many of whom are entrepreneurs, executives or business professionals. The organizations that have founded the Council or joined it as partners include:
· Association for Enterprise Opportunity
· Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
· B Lab
· California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity (CAMEO)
· Sustainable Business Alliance
New partners are welcome in this important effort. Partnership is open to groups, associations and networks representing businesses, social enterprise and hybrid organizations. For more information and/or to join the Council, contact us at info@asbcouncil.org
Our Principles
The organizations joining together in the American Sustainable Business Council share a perspective about the positive role that business should play in our society, the importance of government in structuring the market, and the way public resources are invested. We believe that sustainable economic development is compatible with shared prosperity, environmental protection and social justice. We hold that it is essential from both a moral and pragmatic standpoint to restructure our economy to achieve this balance.
· Sustainability: We must manage our economy to meet the needs of the current generation without impairing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This means stewardship, judicious use of resources, reinvestment and attention to sustainability through the full lifecycle. We can not take from tomorrow to boost output today.
· Broad prosperity: It is both a moral imperative and a matter of national self-interest to run the economy in a way that offers all Americans, regardless of their economic standing, race, religion, or gender full opportunity to participate and prosper. The economy must tap the capabilities, creativity, and industriousness of all Americans.
· Market competition: A competitive market-based business system must remain the heart of our economy. In most cases, it spurs innovation and efficiency and allocates resources far better than any alternative devised. Market based approaches should be part of the solution wherever possible.
· Public protection: It is the proper role of government to be vigilant in protecting consumers, through stronger consumer protection legislation, and tough penalties for companies who violate consumer, worker, and environmental protection laws without eliminating a strong market incentive to innovate, and to operate efficiently and safely.
· Democratic control: A market is nothing more and nothing less than a set of rules and conventions negotiated by people through a contentious political process. The market should be structured and managed to be fair, transparent, well regulated, and accountable to all participants.
The Management Team
David Brodwin
David brings extensive business experience in the consulting and technology industries, combined with experience in the public sector managing a leading think tank on political communications. Currently, through Brodwin & Associates, he advises non-profits and sustainable businesses on strategy and messaging issues.
Earlier, in the private sector he was a partner in the media and entertainment industry group at Accenture, the leading global technology and management consulting firm; vice president of product and strategic marketing at Radius, a manufacturer of computer peripherals for pre-press and digital video; and director of the west coast high technology industry group at Arthur D. Little, Inc., a global management consulting firm. His experience in the non-profit sector includes serving as president of New Voice of Business, and executive director at Rockridge Institute, a think tank focusing on political language and communications, David holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an A.B. from Harvard.
Richard Eidlin
Richard has worked on business and policy issues for over twenty-five years. He is the President of The Progress Group, which works on clean energy, social entrepreneurship and sustainability issues.
He’s been involved with corporate social responsibility since the mid-1980’s and served as an adjunct faculty with Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship. Richard served as a Board Member with New Hampshire BSR and helped found the Brooklyn based Community Capital Bank. He is a board member of CORE, a Colorado business sustainability association. Richard served as national Business Outreach Director for the Apollo Alliance from 2005 to 2009.
He has worked in the renewable energy industry and consulted to the UN Environment Programme on sustainable development programs. Richard co-directed the Colorado chapter of the Clean Tech for Obama campaign and advised candidate (and now Colorado Governor) Bill Ritter on renewable energy issues. Richard earned a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Wisconsin.
Doug Hammond
Doug brings a 30-year social entrepreneurial career in sustainability, economic justice, corporate social responsibility and community system engineering. His business advocacy leadership history includes New England Business for Social Responsibility, founding business member of the national Business for Social Responsibility and a longtime member of the Social Venture Network. As a co-founding member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) he served for 2001 to 2009 in a number of board leadership roles and most recently as Executive Director. In July 2009 he launched ALIVE Communities, a collaborative which fosters the creation of local living economies, both domestic and international, through the integration of economic anthropology based principles and sustainable business practices.
He has extensive community board experience including sustainable agriculture, education, cooperatives, incubators and business associations including board chair roles for the Connecticut River Valley Network of BSR and Pioneer Valley Local First, a founding BALLE network.
David Levine
David is the Director of Sustainable Economies at the Environmental Health Fund (EHF). EHF works to protect human health and environment from toxic and dangerous chemicals through education, advocacy and policy. His work helps catalyze interest in green chemistry and the development of innovative sustainable materials, products, and businesses. David’s work is framed on the development of whole systems solutions for an equitable and sustainable economy through building strategic partnerships and broad stakeholders initiatives. He is also co-convening the business engagement initiative for the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Campaign.
David is a founding partner of Green Harvest Technologies, working on producing sustainable bio-based consumer products. He is co-coordinator of the American Sustainable Business Council, and sits on the steering committee of the Business NGO Working Group on Sustainable Materials and Safer Chemicals; Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative; Maine Bioplastics Initiative and the NYC Apollo Alliance.
For more information contact info@asbcouncil.org
(12-3-2009)