4 CEOs explain how to balance purpose with sustainable growth

Economic challenges are looming, and the geopolitical crisis is making it harder for companies to survive, let alone thrive. Yet, consumers are growing increasingly aware of leaders who champion purpose-driven agendas to create better industries and a better society. Can these companies build socially conscious business models for society and ensure a sustainable bottom line?

The World Economic Forum’s New Champions community is a group that nurtures purpose-driven, mid-sized companies which champion new models, lead emerging technologies and achieve sustainable growth.

Let's hear from four CEOs from the community who believe in the cause of profits with purpose:

What happens when a telecommunications infrastructure provider resolves to create infinite learning opportunities through internet connectivity? IHS Towers, one of the largest mobile communications infrastructure providers in the world by tower count, finalized a three-year partnership in 2022 with the Giga Initiative, a collaboration between UNICEF and ITU, to contribute $4.5 million and provide a contribution-in-kind to strengthen Giga’s work to map and connect all schools to the internet.

One crucial benefit of the partnership between Giga and IHS Towers is the ability to use IHS Towers’ data to map towers and identify gaps in connectivity infrastructure relative to a school’s location. This information can then be used to select the best connectivity solutions for schools so that they can be connected to the internet in a sustainable manner.

Initiatives are about intent. Where does IHS Towers get it from? In holistic terms, IHS Towers’ commitment to education is driven by its three co-founders, who credit their success to the early opportunities afforded by education and their intent to amplify learning opportunities.

According to the WHO, 99% of the world's population is exposed to unsafe air. This is all the more rampant with excessive globalization and a race to modernization.

Betta Maggio pioneers U-Earth, a biotech company with an ambition to make pure air a human right. How does she do that? After 15 years of R&D and validation, Pure Air Zone was launched in 2019 to help businesses clean the air through biotechnology in the form of its proprietary, nature-based formulation, which captures and neutralizes air contaminants safely. Businesses with a Pure Air Zone in place can measure air quality in real time and advertise the results to customers and stakeholders.

Every “pure air zone” created contributes, in a measurable way via the Internet of Things and cloud data, to the decontamination of the planet.

If a company commits itself to the mantra of using “tech as a force for good”, we know what’s in store. PALO IT is a global innovation company that has committed itself to expediting the transition of the business into a sustainable and regenerative model.

The OKRs are set for this business. “Our goal is to have 50% of our business from positive impact projects by 2025,” says Stanislas Bouquet, Founder & CEO.

In pursuit of this goal, it has developed a unique, data-driven sustainable platform that blends carbon accounting, financial information and SDG-related data all in one place. In a nutshell, the platform delivers data both to steer quality business investments and guide forward-thinking companies in their journey towards sustainability. This view allows investors to understand the stakes at hand and empowers teams to understand the impact of their organization.

The agri-food system is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Production methods that provide organic food and ultimately reduce greenhouse emissions are critical.

Organic and Beyond Corporate (OABC) primarily produces and operates organic food products. Its production methods not only reduce the input of pesticides and chemical fertilizers on one hand but also lead with data to measure and mitigate emissions along the end-to-end supply chain. In September 2021, OABC achieved net-zero emissions of all OABC food.

It is one thing to produce organic food but a different thing to gain conscious customers. To address this, OABC improves awareness by not only holding roundtables and sharing thought leadership but also by sharing lifecycle carbon emission data on food packaging.

Becoming a sustainable business can pay off, but is not easy. It is largely driven by the intent to grow, but it is a long journey and the path may be untrodden. However, the evidence is mounting for the best companies that the standard is within reach and can be expedited with a community of like-minded peers.

If you’d like to be a part of and learn more about this community, please check out the New Champions website here.