Beyond Certification: Our B Corp Re-Certification Journey

Episode 1: Preparing for the New B Lab Standards

At Make The Change, becoming a Certified B Corporation was never simply about achieving a certification.

It was about committing to continuously build a business that creates meaningful impact for people, communities, and the environment.

This year marks an important milestone for us as we begin preparing for our B Corp re-certification under B Lab’s new standards framework.

And honestly, this process already feels very different.

The updated standards move beyond a traditional points-based system and place stronger expectations on how organizations demonstrate accountability, governance, worker well-being, environmental responsibility, and long-term impact practices.

For many businesses, including small social enterprises like ours, this represents a major shift. But it also feels like the right direction.

Why We’re Starting This Series

As we started reviewing the new standards internally, we realized there are probably many organizations asking the same questions:

• What actually changed?

• How difficult is the new process?

• What should small businesses start preparing now?

• How do you balance operational realities with impact goals?

• What does meaningful accountability really look like?

That inspired us to launch this new blog series to document our recertification journey openly and honestly.

Through these episodes, we hope to share:

• Behind-the-scenes reflections from our team

• Lessons and challenges we encounter

• Practical tools and resources

• Insights into the evolving B Corp movement

• What we are learning as a mission-driven organization navigating these new expectations

We believe transparency matters.

And we also believe more organizations can benefit when businesses openly share not just their successes, but also the process behind the work.

First Reflections on the New Standards

One of our biggest early reflections is that the new standards encourage organizations to think more holistically about impact.

Instead of focusing mainly on scoring points, the process now pushes businesses to ask deeper questions:

• Are our policies truly aligned with our values?

• Are we embedding impact into everyday operations?

• How do we measure meaningful change?

• Are we building systems that can sustain impact over the long term?

These are not always easy conversations. But they are important ones.

For us, this re-certification journey is becoming less about maintaining a label and more about strengthening the foundations of the organization we want to become.

What’s Next

In the upcoming episodes, we plan to explore:

• Breaking down the new B Corp standards

• The realities of impact measurement for small teams

• Climate and sustainability expectations

• Governance and accountability practices

• Worker well-being and inclusive workplace policies

• Lessons learned while gathering evidence and documentation

• How the standards may reshape the future of purpose-driven businesses

We are still at the beginning of this journey, but we are excited to learn, reflect, and share along the way.

If your organization is also exploring B Corp certification or recertification, we hope this series will be a useful and honest resource for the community.

Because building a better business is never a finished process. It is something we continuously work toward together.

Inspired by the importance of sharing meaningful insights, reflections, and expertise that create value for others.