Generation Hope, Inc. (HOPE), the pioneering social enterprise and makers of the bottled water brand Hope in a Bottle, and the first Certified B Corp in the Philippines, was recently honored as a Best for the World™ B Corp. This recognition is administered by B Lab, the global nonprofit organization that certifies and mobilizes Certified B Corps, and awarded to organizations in the top 5% of B Corps in its size group worldwide for their sustainable business practices.
Certified B Corps are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. HOPE became the first Filipino company to be recognized as a Certified B Corp in 2017 and continues to put social impact in the forefront. 100% of profits generated from selling HOPE's products go to building public school classrooms, mostly in geographically isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict-affected areas in the Philippines. The company also provides agriculture interventions and creates carbon sequestration projects for smallholder farmers in Mindanao.
Since 2018, HOPE has committed to making all its bottled water and boxed water products 100% Plastic Neutral through a plastic offset program with Plastic Credit Exchange. Being a Certified Plastic Neutral Brand means that HOPE has succeeded in collecting and removing from the environment plastic waste equivalent to the plastic found in all its products. In 2020, HOPE was also awarded the Best in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Zenith's Global Water Drinks Awards for its product HOPE in a Box.
"The past year has truly been like no other. While our country continues to fight against the global pandemic, our efforts to help in nation-building have not lessened. As HOPE scales, we also aspire to engage with like-minded organizations who, like us, are in the business of doing good," said Founder and Chairwoman Nanette Medved-Po.
"This year's Best for the World™ companies are operating at the very top of their class, excelling in creating positive impact for their stakeholders, including their workers, communities, customers, and the environment. We're proud of the community of stakeholder-driven businesses we've cultivated over the last 15 years; together we're marching toward our collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet," said Juan Pablo Larenas, Executive Director of B Lab Global.
HOPE was previously recognized as Best for the World™ for Community in 2018 and 2019. The recognition this year marks its third consecutive year after B-Lab paused the program in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Best for the World™: Community recognition honors companies that work every day to build a shared, sustainable prosperity for all.
To date, HOPE has built 116 classrooms through the sale of HOPE products, impacting over 15,000 students. Its agriculture program has distributed over 100,000 coconut seedlings to over 10,000 farmers, providing opportunities for increased income to their communities. HOPE encourages all businesses to embed social impact in their operations, take on the challenge of balancing profit and purpose, and become a Business for Good.
About HOPE
HOPE is the first Philippine company to donate 100% of its profits to building public school classrooms. Through its flagship product, the bottled water Hope in a Bottle, and through collaborations with like-minded partners—retail outlets, brands, celebrity ambassadors, and millions of individuals purchasing its products—HOPE empowers every Filipino to directly participate in advancing social good.
HOPE believes that a consumer’s purchase represents a vote for the kind of world they want. As the first Filipino company to become a Certified B Corporation, it joins a global community of businesses that meet the highest social and environmental performance standards, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. HOPE continuously aims to demonstrate the power of Business For Good to make material and sustainable social impact.
To learn more, visit HOPE’s B-Corp impact page at https://bcorporation.net/directory/generationhope-inc or its website at www.generationhope.ph
About B Lab
B Lab is the nonprofit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. Our international network of organizations leads economic systems change to support our collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. We began in 2006 with the idea that a different kind of economy was not only possible, it was necessary –and that business could lead the way towards a new, stakeholder-driven model. We became known for certifying B Corporations, which are companies that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. But we do much more than that. We’re building the B Corp movement to change our economic system –and to do so, we must change the rules of the game. B Lab creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structure of capitalism. We mobilize the B Corp community towards collective action to address society’s most critical challenges. By harnessing the power of business, B Lab positively impacts 150 industries in 74 countries, helping them balance profit with purpose. Together, we are shifting our economic system from profiting only the few to benefiting all, from concentrating wealth and power to ensuring equity, from extraction to regeneration, and from prioritizing individualism to embracing interdependence.
For more information, visit https://bcorporation.net/.