Since 2018 I’ve been doing a wrap up of my impact with small, local, diverse companies at the end of the year. I do it for several reasons. 1) I like taking a deep dive into whether or not I vote my values with my dollars each year. 2) What gets measured gets counted and what gets counted is what counts. 3) Keeping track of my impact is an important part of maintaining my B Corp certification and showcasing my impact overall. So here we go with 2024.
The highlights
I did end up offsetting the carbon emissions from my flights this year with a company called Offset Alliance. It was easy – I calculated how many hours I spent flying, then paid that amount to invest in their projects that will reduce carbon emissions. One of my goals for the future is to look at my total carbon emissions and see about offsetting more.
Partnerships
I started two new partnerships with purpose driven firms – The Fehlig Group and CEI Media Group. The Fehlig Group offers sustainability consulting services to small, medium and large businesses. I’ll be working with them to guide companies through their sustainability journey and helping them to showcase their impact along the way.
With CEI Media group we are creating a platform –CEI Media Presents 12.5 Minutes – to highlight diverse, impact driven companies that are making a difference in our networks and their communities.
Giving Back
Finally, I logged in 93 volunteer hours. I had set out to do 100 mentorship hours but fell short of that with about half going to volunteer efforts that weren’t strictly mentorship.
Amplifying Impact
I joined the leadership council of We The Change and logged in a lot of volunteer hours that compressed my time for mentorship, including a trip to Denver for Colorado Impact Days. The explanation here is that through the work with that organization, time I would have spent on one-on-one mentoring will actually be amplified through the innovative platform for connections and capital we are building there.
I am also still involved with FutureLink and although it’s not exactly mentorship, I encourage all business owners in Montgomery County to check it out. I get the benefit of an intern paid for by the county and my interns get work experience for a small business. Total win-win.
In addition, a lot of my volunteer time was spent on getting out the vote for this year’s election and we know how that turned out.
Areas for improvement
There’s no way around it this year – my direct spend with diverse, local businesses went down from 45% to 35%. Part of this is that a project ended with one company which would have brought the spend to 41%. Another reason is that while my spend overall stayed fairly consistent, I spent more on travel this year both on the Denver trip I mentioned above, and the trip to NMSDC with 12.5 Minutes.
Both of those trips were in service to showcasing purpose driven businesses, I would have just loved to spend more directly with those businesses.
Energy usage was also a big fail. Our solar panels were offline from March through August and we maybe could have handled that sooner. So our energy bills went up. I look forward to a reduction next year – as long as the squirrels don’t get them!
New this year
One company that I’ve loved for a long time and increased my spend with because they FINALLY got certified is Sugarwish. Not only do they provide beautifully packaged treats for all occasions, from somber to celebratory, but you don’t need a personal address to send them! Your recipient gets and email and chooses what they want. Everything I’ve sent has been a huge hit and now that they are WBENC certified WBEs, they are getting more of my money!
Impact Organizations
In years past I’ve counted my “Act Intentionally” spend with corporations that recognize diverse business certifications and have programs that amplify diverse businesses.
Since my travel was about 19% of my spend this year, most of it fell into those categories – Marriott, Hilton, Southwest Airlines.
But with companies rolling back their DEI programs, I don’t feel comfortable highlighting a company that has a program today but might get rid of it tomorrow. Instead, I’m highlighting what I’ve spent with Impact Business Organizations, including We The Change, WBENC and affiliates, NGLCC, and B Corp companies.
These organizations accounted for 10% of my spend and I feel good about that. I also got the chance to speak at the WBEC DMV Gala in November where we celebrated 25 years of the organization’s success and wished Executive Director Sandra Eberhard well on her next adventure. We celebrated the past while looking forward to the future and it was a nice way to kick off the holiday season.
What’s Next
All together the categories I mentioned – Direct Spend, Travel, Impact Organizations amounts to 64% of my spend. The rest is office supplies and software and miscellaneous.
I’ll revisit my spending and energy usage for next year and also look to offset more of my carbon footprint.
Looking at what lies ahead for us though, I’m most proud of and want to focus on what I’m doing for people here in my community. Yes, I’ll still be traveling because my work insists on it (and that’s how I meet all these fantastic business owners). But I do want to be more intentional about the time I spend making a difference in my community – home, school and business.
Think Locally
I was on a panel for the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce in September and it was one of the most gratifying things that I did. I spoke about my history with women’s business organizations in the DMV and it reminded me of where the roots of all this work are.
I’m reminded of a friend and fellow We The Change Member Liz Rubin shared this picture of a tree and it’s network of roots that creates a foundation for it to grow and expand.
Next year, I’ll be more like that tree. For now, enjoy your holidays and see you in January.