Impactfully No. 34: Socks with purpose
This week, Bombas brings dignity to homeless shelters, PowerSchool brings education into the online era, and Waymo gets you to your destination without a driver.
More companies are putting people and planet on par with profit, but it can be an uneasy tension.
For example, most types of corporations include language in their founding documents that state the primary purpose of the corporation is to increase shareholder value. They are legally bound to value shareholders above social impact. If you've ever felt like a company is prioritizing Wall Street over Main Street, the business structure is at least partially to blame.
Public benefit corporations are a relatively new business structure that restores the balance between social impact and shareholder value. When a company incorporates as a public benefit corporation, it includes its mission in its Articles of Incorporation, ensuring it has legal protection to balance the needs of each of its stakeholders. Many of the Certified B Corporations that we feature are also public benefit corporations – something that B Lab calls a "mission lock" and requires for certification of new companies.
Speaking of Certified B Corporations, our featured company this week needs little introduction. Bombas is an apparel brand famous for its one purchased, one donated model of giving. Their lightbulb moment was discovering that socks were the most requested item at homeless shelters – when someone purchases a pair of socks from their website, they donate a pair to people in need.
This model doesn't work for every business, but what I like about it is how it aligns profit and purpose – more revenue means better outcomes for shareholders and community alike.
We've got more than just socks on offer this week – check out the following social impact job opportunities:
Bombas is one of the most recognizable social impact brands around, specializing in socks and apparel. For every item purchased, they donate another to those in need. In addition to the roles below, they also maintain a list of candidates interested in future roles – you can find general applications on their website if their mission resonates with you but you don't see something that's a fit today.
- Senior Creative Producer – New York, NY
- Senior Engineering Manager – Remote
PowerSchool makes cloud-based software to support schools and improve student outcomes: everything from instruction and assessment to enrollment and finance. They were the first to develop a web-based student information system, and their software became a crucial tool throughout the pandemic to support remote learning. Here's just a sample of the large number of job opportunities they have available:
- Director, Technical Support – Remote
- Project Manager - Deployment Solutions – Remote
- Account Representative, Enterprise Sales – Remote
- Product Operations Analyst, Jira Administration and Development – Remote
- Solution Marketing Specialist – Remote
- Director, Field Marketing – Remote
- Compliance Manager, Employment & Ethics – Remote
- Senior Data Engineer – Remote
- Executive Assistant – Folsom, CA
- Director, Finance – Folsom, CA
- Software Engineer II – Remote
- Product Manager – Remote
Revolution Foods is a Certified B Corporation that makes healthy, affordable meals for schools and community feeding programs. They currently operate in 23 states across the nation, and they recently became a public benefit corporation – PBCs are legally required to balance their missions with shareholder profit, ensuring they never lose sight of driving community impact.
- Customer Service Manager – La Mirada, CA or San Lorenzo, CA
- Distribution Supervisor – San Lorenzo, CA
- Purchasing Coordinator – Commerce, CA
- Warehouse Lead – San Lorenzo, CA
APDS is preparing every justice-impacted individual for a living wage job. They provide educational tools and partner with other organizations to help prepare individuals for careers after incarceration – one notable example is Amazon Web Services, with whom they worked to confer AWS Cloud Computer Certifications. Work remotely on social impact technology? Yes please.
- Associate Product Manager – Remote
- Director of Software Engineering – Remote
Everytown for Gun Safety is a national nonprofit working to end gun violence and save lives. They work on gun violence in multiple ways, including engaging local governments, funding candidates who support gun safety, and conducting research programs. This is a great fit if you want to want to support social impact through politics.
- Community Safety Initiatives (CSI) Intern – New York, NY
- Associate Director of Digital Advocacy – New York, NY
- Social Media Intern – New York, NY or Washington, DC
- Web Content Associate – New York, NY or Washington, DC
- Senior Director of National Partnerships and Constituency Engagement – Washington, DC
- Program Manager or Senior Program Manager, Implementation – Washington, DC
- Associate Regional Director of Local Campaigns – New York, NY
- Political Engagement Manager – New York, NY or Washington, DC
Coursera is the world's largest online learning platform and a Certified B Corp. They partner with educational institutions and industry leaders to offer courses and projects to help people learn new skills or even earn a certificate or degree. They are a remote-first company with employees around the world – if you want to help democratize learning, Coursera is worth a look.
- Sr. Revenue Accountant - B2C Ecommerce – Remote
- Senior Manager, Talent Operations – Remote
- Enterprise Account Executive, Higher Education (Western US) – Remote
Sagent Marketing is a women-owned marketing agency that supports impact-minded companies with marketing and public relations – something they call "socially beneficial marketing." We love the inclusion of a paid volunteer day as part of their benefits, and they clearly value getting the team together on a regular basis to build relationships.
- Senior Account Leader – Sacramento, CA
Waymo is making it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. They're an autonomous driving startup that spun out of Google over 10 years ago, and they've been operating a ride-sharing service out of the Phoenix metro area for the past few years. If you want to work at the forefront of a major revolution in driver safety, you should definitely give Waymo a look.
- Business Finance Project Manager (Supply Chain) – Ann Arbor, MI or Mountain View, CA
- Head of Internal Communications – Mountain View, CA
- Operational Readiness, Program Manager – Remote
- Strategy & Operations Manager, Commercial Operations – Los Angeles, CA, Mesa, AZ, Mountain View, CA, Phoenix, AZ or San Francisco, CA
- Technical Training, Program Manager – Mountain View, CA
- HR Business Partner – Mountain View, CA
- Product Data Scientist – Mountain View, CA or San Francisco, CA
- Software Engineer (Various) – Mountain View, CA
- Full Stack Software Engineer (Various) – Mountain View, CA
- Senior Systems Engineering Manager, Sensing and Perception – Mountain View, CA or San Francisco, CA
Know any public benefit corporations that are hiring? Feel free to send them my way and we could include them in a future jobs roundup!