Community Interest
Authentic: Craig Dalen
Lancaster has proven itself a place that is mindful of how our choices affect our community and how our community impacts the world around us.
EVERY DAY WE BECOME INCREASINGLY aware of the power each of us has to create impact and change in the world through our choices. Lancaster has proven itself a place that is mindful of how our choices affect our community and how our community impacts the world around us.
As the landscape of business evolves, more corporations are expanding their focus beyond the traditional measures of profit, return on investment, and shareholder value. They are grappling with how to reflect and honor the deeper values of the business, their customers, and communities. Enter Craig Dalen, Director of Impact Business Strategy at ASSETS.
ASSETS is a nonprofit that works with start-up and existing businesses to form a more ethical economy. Through his role there, Craig is cultivating a community of businesses that are leading a global culture shift that redefines success in business, recognizing profit and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact on their employees, communities, and the environment.
Craig consults with businesses, guiding them towards achieving the highest ethical business standard—the B Corp Certification. Certified B Corporations are businesses that balance purpose and profit. They translate their stated values into concrete actions, and through certification, they are held accountable and empowered to achieve their desired impact. Before joining ASSETS, Craig was a Senior Fellow at B Lab, the nonprofit behind the B Corp movement. He also built his impact expertise as the Director of Sustainability at Messiah College.
Lancaster is currently home to 17 B Corps, over 25% of all the B Corps in Pennsylvania! More than 200 additional Lancaster County businesses are working with Craig to measure and improve their impact.
Craig is excited to see the B Corp movement inspire more businesses in Lancaster to live their mission and utilize B Corp Certification as a roadmap to improve their impact. As more and more entrepreneurs and companies embrace this framework, Lancaster is poised to lead the nation in this movement.
