CORPORATE PURPOSE
THE NEW FRONTIER FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Leading The Way Since 2014
The Issue
SOCIETAL ISSUES have now become Boardroom & SME Supply Chain issues! Society and government moving in unison urging firms to remedy matters of climate, inequity and inequality - while concurrently delivering shareholder value and social value. TRUST is becoming the new currency.
The Opportunity
"ESG & Corporate Purpose" – now the strategic duo as a BUSINESS ESSENTIAL, the new Frontier for Sustainability
“Defining and owning your social purpose is the most critical competitive advantage of our time. Bring your leadership to the most important challenges that business and society face. Make the leap forward.”
What We Do
ADVISORY & CONSULTING (SMES & ENTREPRENEURS)
ESG and Social Purpose Expertise: Consulting & Verification Services
SMEs: Supply Chain Competitiveness: Sustainability Preparedness
Government Relations (managing complex multi-Stakeholder Forums)
Indigenous Community Partner Expertise
BOARD & C-SUITE ADVISORY
ESG and Social Purpose Expertise: Consulting & Verification Services
SMEs: Supply Chain Competitiveness: Sustainability Preparedness
Government Relations (managing complex multi-Stakeholder Forums)
Indigenous Community Partner Expertise
Deep expertise in Energy Intensive Trade-Exposed Sectors: Oil & Gas, Metals & Mining
BRAND ADVISORY SERVICES
Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Litigation Risk
Strategy, Reputation Risk and Brand Promise
Stakeholder Engagement
VERIFICATION, REPORTING, DISCLOSURE AND COMPLIANCE SERVICES
ESG performance measurement
Stakeholder Disclosure and Communication Strategies
Assurance
ESG for SMEs
Introducing Canada’s first demystified curriculum for SMEs linked to business reality.
Unlocking Competitive Advantage.
Trusted Consultant and ESG Curriculum Service Provider
for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's SME Institute
Canadian Outreach on ESG for SMEs
Unlocking Competitive Advantage.
SMEs account for over 95% of firms and 60-70% employment in OECD economies.1
SMEs are Integral to Supply Chain Sustainability
We deliver ESG and Corporate Purpose training, consulting and leadership services to firms of all sizes and sectors.
UNLOCK COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Unveiling SME Sustainability Across The Developed & Developing World
ESG for SMEs
English & French
Inaugural Leadership Series
Unlocking value for SME’s – ESG curriculum, action planning & access to Sustainable Financing
ESG for SMEs Spotlight
Pakistan & India
ESG Course Curriculum
Launching Pilots in Q4- 2023
ESG for SMEs LATAM
Spanish & Portuguese
ESG Course Curriculum
Launching Pilots in Q4- 2023
OUR
CORPORATE
PURPOSE
MODEL
ECOSYSTEM THINKING:
Pressing societal & climate issues remain the challenge of our time. Society and governments urging firms to deliver both shareholder & societal value – the tide has turned.
Our mandate anchors on supporting the ‘mainstreaming, democratizing & adoption’ of sustainability across all of civil society. We help to demystify the agenda, encourage action – for all sizes of firms in the developed & developing world.
We tackle the challenges through an ‘eco-systems’ approach – acknowledging that momentum on global sustainability is likely impeded unless corporations, entrepreneurs, Not-For-Profits, governments, cities and citizens collaborate in a different way.
We urge our clients to consider a wider lens: Unlocking Sustainable Value & competitive advantage through the adoption of Corporate Purpose – by answering WHY your brand exists beyond a ‘profit only’ model.
Our Thinking
Goodman Sustainability Group has pioneered a proven framework that empowers organizations to consider a Social Purpose agenda – one that is fit for purpose, transparent and quantifiable.
Our Ethos
Being Clear About Corporate Social Purpose
Old model “Corporate Social Responsibility” and the new world of Social Purpose is like buying a ticket to a play versus acting in it.
Social purpose companies take actionable overt steps to be part of the long-term solution/fix – by partnering and applying business insights to complex societal issues. As corporations consider Social Purpose, tackling the root cause of a problem rather than simply funding its symptoms – brings optimal societal benefit (and shareholder value creation).
The simple Hallmarks of a defensible Corporate Purpose
- Linking the ‘why’ of your organization to a societal challenge (as defined by the UN SDG).
- Strong and ever-improving ESG performance as a necessary condition of being in business.
- Corporate Purpose as a cohesive strategy along with ESG performance.
- Strategic Public Private Partnerships should be the back-bone of Corporate Purpose implementation.
- ESG & Corporate Purpose embedded into the entire culture, supply chain and stakeholder framework of the brand.
- Willingness to be held publicly accountable utilizing the measures of business: systems thinking – root cause models, efficiency and effectiveness of capital and resources, transparent and clear outcomes, momentum towards solutions.
- New model of Courageous Leadership with Boards and the C-Suite out in front of the issues.
OUR MISSION
To help organizations consider ‘acting’ in a Social Purpose role – with a view to making meaningful and transparent progress on a societal ill. Goodman Sustainability will be the global thought leader for Social Purpose: what is it and how to measure it.
OUR VISION
By 2030, all major global brands declare their Social Purpose commitments – cohesive with shareholder value creation.
OUR THINKING
To inspire and URGE organizations to adopt a “Corporate Purpose” that enables long-term competitiveness and tangibly contributes to at least one of the 17 UN SDGs.
Guiding Principles
Corporate sustainability
We enable organizational and board governance discussions regarding the management of societal risk.
Merging investor and societal lenses
Practical templates for understanding how your organization can think about risk and the imperative for this dual agenda consideration.
Considering a foundational guiding principle
Court a willingness to collaborate with authenticity without undermining an organizational value creation agenda — setting the tone from the top down.
Embedding the model
Encouraging organizations to embed societal purpose into their entire corporate structure and board governance model.
Stakeholder Clarity
Understanding Stakeholder complexities early on – allows for more optimal outcomes.
SINGLE STAKEHOLDER CATEGORY CHALLENGE
One issue, one line of site to advocate with government (relatively easy to resolve).
MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDER CHALLENGE
Multiple stakeholders who don’t agree. High need to manage a consensus approach along with cohesive new metrics (complex to resolve but possible).
EXTREME STAKEHOLDER CHALLENGE
One complex issue with a non-consensus future state, non-consensus solution, metric, or agreement about who the legitimate stakeholders are (no clear resolution example, although meaningful progress is possible).
Underpinning transparency
We help organizations ensure their mission, vision, and governance model all have a clear line of site to both the shareholder and societal pre-eminence lens.
Expertise
Our expertise in developing and leading diverse, multi-faceted alliances that enable consensus on key policy matters has shown success. Our governance and government policy work experience extends to advocacy and negotiations in multiple jurisdictions and with Indigenous communities. More specifically, Faith Goodman’s past work experience includes discussions in the EU, the U.S., the Canadian federal government and most Canadian provinces. In addition, Faith has travelled to over 75 countries and understands the cultural diversity elements of Social Purpose.
GOVERNMENT Relations and STAKEHOLDER Alliances
We facilitate government relations and stakeholder alliances.
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Faith Goodman has a history of building authentic and collaborative formal alliances with First Nations and Metis communities in Manitoba, Canada. As Founder of Until The Last Child, her innovation work is profiled at untilthelastchild.com
CLIMATE POLICY
Canada is a world-leading climate policy jurisdiction. Each Canadian province has taken a “boutique policy approach” for energy and climate policy matters – in addition to that of the federal government. This jurisdictional complexity remains a challenge for organizations. Our well positioned expertise to navigate discussions on low carbon fuels and LFE emissions remains current.
SOCIAL IMPACT BONDS
Social Impact Bonds – an emerging field globally. This innovation allows for public/private partnerships to tackle costly and complex social policy issues by leveraging new sources of funding. Faith Goodman has been a pioneer in partnering with stakeholders on Canada’s first Social Impact Bond for child welfare.
INDUSTRY BENCHMARKING
We have over a decade of experience with Solomon and Associates’ Complexity-Weighted Barrel benchmark model, currently used throughout Europe, California, Alberta, Ontario and the Canadian Federal Government. This model allows energy-intensive trade-exposed entities to credibly understand and measure progress against a global facility population of similar type.
Thought Leadership Engagements
We speak to groups and present at conferences.
- Canada North SME Series, Jun 20, Sep 13 & Nov 23, 2023
- Daring To Leap, Global Annual Corporate Purpose Forum, Dec 7, 2023
- Daring To Leap, Energy Transition – Mining & Metals, Sep 28, 2023
- Daring To Leap, Corporate Purpose Symposium, May 31, 2023
- Rotman School of Management, Sustainability Forum, Dec 14, 2022
- Daring To Leap, Global Annual Forum, Dec 1, 2022
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce Executive Summit Series: ESG, Oct 26, 2022
- Daring To Leap, Metals & Mining, Sep 29, 2022
- Daring To Leap, Corporate Purpose Miami, May 6, 2022
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce ESG &
Corporate Purpose Series, Nov 18, 2021 Jan 27 & Feb 24, 2022 - The Walrus & VeriStell Institute Present: Daring to Leap, Global Conversations on ESG & Corporate Purpose, Dec 2, 2021
- Canadian Green Building Council Innovation Series, Nov 17, Nov 24, Dec 1, 2021
- Daring To Leap: C-Suite Disruption, Jun 29, 2021
- Toronto Region Board of Trade Social Purpose Workshop, Mar 31, 2021
- The Walrus & VeriStell Institute Present: Daring to Leap, Global Conversation on ESG & Corporate Purpose, Dec 3, 2020
- Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM & Convention Expo, Oct 26-27, 2020
- CAGBC Building Lasting Change 2020,
Sept 22, 2020
- Institute for Corporate Directors – Social Purpose, Nov 6, 2018
- EcoFiscal Commission, 2016
- Ontario Chamber of Commerce, 2016
- Canada Economic Business Council, 2016
- Hart Energy Washington DC, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, San Diego, 2008, 2010, 2012
- Toronto Board of Trade Social Purpose Event Booth, Mar 5, 2019
- Institute for Corporate Directors – Social Purpose, Nov 6, 2018
- EcoFiscal Commission, 2016
- Ontario Chamber of Commerce, 2016
- Canada Economic Business Council, 2016
- Hart Energy Washington DC, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, San Diego, 2008, 2010, 2012
- Toronto Board of Trade Social Purpose Event Booth, Mar 5, 2019
Daring to Leap Events: Global Conversations on ESG & Corporate Purpose
We are delighted to launch our online global series called DARING TO LEAP. It is a set of conversations regarding the strategic duo of “ESG and Corporate Purpose” – as the new business essentials. We are speaking to thought leaders and corporations around the world about the emerging corporate imperative to consider both the interests of shareholders and society. Societal issues are now Boardroom issues and failure to act is a brand risk. Defining and owning your Corporate Purpose is the most critical competitive advantage of our time.
Visit veristellinstitute.com
AFFILIATED WITH GOODMAN SUSTAINABILITY GROUP
Dedicated to mainstreaming Corporate Social Purpose in the developed and developing world.
VeriStell Institute is dedicated to promoting the rapid global adoption of ESG and CORPORATE PURPOSE as the new frontier for corporate Sustainability. The organization is a global Think Tank (Not-For-Profit) – helping organizations positively impact society and remain highly competitive. The VeriStell Institute is an affiliated entity of the Goodman Sustainability Group.
Learn more at VeriStellInstitute.com
Memberships and Affiliations
Canada Green Building Council
SME Institute
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Public Policy Forum
Toronto Region Board of Trade
Institute of Corporate Directors
Who We Are
Faith Goodman BSc, BEd, MBA, ICD.D is CEO of Goodman Sustainability Group, Senior Editor of The Social Purpose Exchange, Founder & Board Director of the VeriStell Institute and Founder of award-winning Canadian national charity Until The Last Child (UTLC).
Illuminating the new frontier for Corporate Purpose Sustainability (ESG & Purpose), Faith Goodman has interviewed/convened with over 200 global thought leaders & CEO’s in the past 2 years.
Rotman Net Impact: Sustainability Conference
Faith Goodman delivers keynote speech
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
March 8, 2023
Rotman Net Impact: Sustainability Conference
Faith Goodman delivers keynote speech
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
March 8, 2023
Faith Goodman , BSc, BEd, MBA, ICD.D
CEO, Goodman Sustainability Group
Founder & Director, VeriStell Institute
A global shift is redefining the contract between businesses and their communities from simply “being responsible” to creating real social value. Consumers, investors and employees increasingly expect firms to leverage their corporate DNA – and address complex societal issues through the adoption of Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) & Corporate Purpose frameworks. Governments and society are urging firms to consider a wider lens – believing that firms can and must create both shareholder & societal value.
Goodman Sustainability Group is a for-profit affiliated with the VeriStell Institute.
Expert Thought Leaders
Goodman Sustainability Group has proven expertise in tailoring the client organizational need with specific and relevant consulting support.
Shari Austin
Strategic Advisor, Goodman Sustainability Group
Former VP Corp Citizenship & Executive Director, RBC Foundation
Jim Whitestone
Chief Sustainability Officer
Former Assistant Deputy Minister – Climate Change and Environmental Policy, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Julia Wendling
Dave Tiffin
Vice President, Business Development
Former Senior Manager – Cap and Trade Program for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Matthew Cox
Consultant, Corporate Purpose and Sustainable Financing
Rotman School of Management, MBA Candidate
Sunny Ren
Sean Mallen
Strategic Communications, Host of ‘The Social Purpose Exchange”
Former Global News Anchor London (UK) News Bureau Chief (Crisis Communication Expert)
Geoffrey Rowan
Former Managing Director of Ketchum Public Relations (Crisis Communication Expert)
Rachel Dobbs
Operations & Marketing Manager at Goodman Sustainability Group
Michael Davidson
Videographer, The Social Purpsoe Exchange
Advisory Committee
Goodman Sustainability Group has proven expertise in tailoring the client organizational need with specific and relevant consulting support.
Derek Purchase
Chief Development Officer – Former EY Partner (Risk Management & Sustainability Audit)
Glen Hodgson
Economist and Financial Consultant, Low Carbon Economy
Former Chief Economist, Conference Board of Canada
Collaboration Partners
Contact us
2 St. Clair Avenue West, 18th Floor
Toronto, ON, Canada
M4V 1L5
647-255-8108
To our Stakeholders from the United States:
We have a high interest in continuing to engage with you, to share insights & emerging best practices. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Please provide your contact information and submit the form below. We will be pleased to respond.
