About Us

Overview

About

About

American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) is a movement builder in partnership with the business and investor community. ASBN develops and advocates solutions for policymakers, business leaders, and investors that support an equitable, regenerative, and just economy that benefits all⁠—people and planet. As a multi-issue, membership organization advocating on behalf of every business sector, size, and geography, ASBN and its association members collectively represent over 250,000 businesses across our networks.

ASBN was founded through the merger of the American Sustainable Business Council and Social Venture Circle. Learn more about the history of ASBC and SVC here.

Mission

Our mission is to inform, connect, and mobilize business leaders and investors to transform the public and private sectors toward a just and sustainable economy. 

Vision

Our vision is a sustainable economy that is stakeholder-driven, regenerative, just, and prosperous.

Values Statement

ASBN believes that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion must be at the foundation for how we conduct ourselves, our public policy advocacy, and our businesses and investment activity, as we cultivate and grow our community and programs. With clear intent and earnest effort, we will engage our community, and seek leaders in the field to ensure that our impact matches our vision.

ASBN members must conduct themselves in a professional and collaborative manner when engaging with or representing ASBN. Members must treat each other with mutual respect and justice both on an individual and an organizational level. This extends to invited speakers, event attendees, funders, supporters, staff, event and venue staff, and guests. Members agree to uphold our community agreements: 1) INTEGRITY: We act with integrity and honor our commitments.; 2) VALUES: We integrate our values into our daily work.; 3) RESPECT: We treat everyone with respect.; 4) INCLUSION – We work together to create an inclusive, welcoming community.

Principles

  1. JEDI lens: We acknowledge the historic and systemic barriers to capital and opportunity for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian communities, women, and gender nonconforming as a significant barrier to our collective mission. Our work requires that we place an urgent and immediate focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI).
  2. Inclusive, accessible and just economy: We believe in a fully participatory economy, that all people must be able to access the goods, services and resources supplied by the economy by way of just labor, consumer, financial and producer markets. A just and inclusive economy must be supported by strong public policy regulatory guidance and guardrails, and a strong democracy.
  3. Regenerative approach: We recognize that environmental and social stewardship is not enough and that in order to have equitable and just access to the resources we all depend on, that our solutions must prioritize regeneration for all people and the planet
  4. Just economic and social prosperity:  We advocate for regenerative, restorative and reparative solutions throughout the business and investor movement that ASBN leads. We believe that a thriving and vibrant business landscape and economic system is only durable and long-term if it prioritizes justice-informed access to resources, capital, opportunity and community for all. 
  5. Stakeholder Participation in Decision Making: All of the solutions we advocate for, from investment terms to governance to risk assessment and beyond, are best served when co-created by all stakeholder groups having full and participatory access to decision making.
  6. Transparency and accountability: We prioritize implementing and supporting transparency and accountability, both as an internal standard, and as a democratic public policy and economic imperative for policy makers, businesses and investors.
  7. Systemic Change:  We believe that our economy and society are highly complex, dynamic and distributed systems, requiring both bold leadership and long term planning in order to achieve the systemic change we need to see.