A SPECIAL CELEBRATION IN THE MIDST OF SUCH A CHAORDIC PERIOD
Even with everything going on at the same time: Elections, World Cup, COP27 and the end of the year, we did not fail to celebrate such a special achievement in Decah’s entrepreneurial trajectory.
We have been a certified B corporation since 2015, with the first recertification in 2018 and the second in 2022. We started with 82 points in the B Impact Assessment (BIA) still as Carioteca (name of the 1st phase of our company), then we increased it to 93 and finally to 126 (out of 160).
In 2018, we were awarded in the Changemakers Category of Best For The World, a B Lab initiative that recognizes 5% of recertified B Companies that have improved in all areas of Impact Assessment: Community, Customers, Environment, Governance and/or Employees.
The B certification journey is concurrent with that of Decah itself, since we were one of the first companies to receive certification in the State of Rio de Janeiro and in Brazil and carried one of the highest numbers of recertifications in the country.
Where do we come from and why is (re)certification important?
In 2015, in the first certification, we co-created a radical collaboration experiment at Goma, a networked entrepreneurship association focused on innovation, social impact, creative economy and sustainable design in the port area of Rio de Janeiro that, for a few years , was the physical space with the most B Corps in Latin America (MateriaBrasil today AMBEDU, Zebu, Carioteca today Decah, Iönica, Raízes Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Dopper, Gitec, Asap and Agência Caos). Right from the beginning of the trajectory of Sistema B in Brazil, Goma’s companies recognized in BIA and SBB synergies with the practices, values and customs that we already practiced in Goma.
We understand that the B certification is a commitment to compliance with our purpose and practices in the market. Certification implies the adoption of a culture that generates corporate socio-environmental responsibility and ESG strategies and, therefore, is a parameter for the walk the talk narrative.
Between 2015 and 2018, that is, in our first recertification cycle, Decah applied Goma’s network entrepreneurship learning in a national and international prospecting strategy focused on the development of new businesses, partnerships and impact Collabs. This journey developed (and is still developing), especially because Decah uses the BIA as a guide for good practices and where to evolve and promote different fronts of action and collaboration within Ecosystem B. We are proud to be representatives of small companies in this universe and of being specialists in this process: in recent years, 35% of Decah’s turnover is the result of projects with B companies or service to Sistema B itself.
For us, recertification is a commitment that we will remain with development and innovation goals in the coming years, especially since Decah wants to continue to strengthen a portfolio that further anchors an ecosystem of companies and strategies for mobilizing multiple stakeholders that are in fact transforming the market and society.
Why do we increase our score?
Impact to make an impact
In the last BIA, our highlights were concentrated on Improving Customer Impact. As much as Decah has internal practices for reducing negative and building positive impacts, our focus is on the essence of the core business, that is, on supporting collaborative behavior to catalyze the culture of corporate socio-environmental innovation.
The experiences we design to serve our customers aim to promote:
1) The integration of different stakeholders with the same objective;
2) The sharing of open source methodologies, which empower these agents to continue using the method;
3) The alignment of visions and strategic objectives aimed at developing solutions related to the proposed challenge.
At the end of each project, we create a protocol that goes beyond the traditional feedback meeting: we ask for a Letter of Recommendation from the client, which shares what can be highlighted regarding the generation of impact, whether in the organizational culture, in the internal journeys or even in the impact of the tip: a letter that tells especially how Decah supported the company in this movement. Of the 25 projects we’ve done in the last 2 years, we’ve received 19 Letters of Recommendation.
It is possible to access some of these documents in articles published here, such as those by André Mota, Marketing Manager at Budweiser, on the Strategic Planning BUD Cup 2022. And by Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, the first woman to hold the position of director of UNESCO in Brazil, from our project with CRIESP.
“Decah facilitated the definition of strategic fronts on which Globo and its partners must act to reposition the Criança Esperança Program and, likewise, reiterate its importance for thousands of Brazilians who find in the projects of the OSCs supported by it the only alternative to build a future of inclusion and equal opportunities, without leaving anyone behind”
Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, Director of UNESCO
Also from the then Executive Director of Sistema B Brasil, Francine Lemos:
“I write to recommend the services provided by Decah. Consultancy has supported Sistema B Brasil in strategic projects for Movimento B in Brazil over the last few years, with great consistency, persistence, professionalism and total adherence to the values of the movement. (…) The process itself demonstrated one of Decah’s main skills: a unique ability to work in a network, generating innovative solutions in which the process itself ends up becoming a beautiful way of engaging participants. As a result, not only did we have clarity on the fundamental pillars of value for our community, but also a concrete action plan defined with the community itself.”
Francine Lemos, former Executive Director of Sistema B Brasil
Our expertise delivers greater activation of the stakeholders collective intelligence who are present in the projects. Through our experience and technical knowledge about steps, practices and values necessary for the conception and strengthening of healthy and sustainable networks, we work on the co-creation of ecosystems by thematic affinity or purpose, with the objective of amplifying their initiatives results and impact strategies.
The stronger the institution’s network culture, the greater the systemic impact generated. In addition to the methodological deliveries, we have a special pricing policy for B companies, NGOs and Institutions that have this vocation of serving vulnerable end users and/or those below the poverty line.
The impact on the process
The need to adapt to a hybrid approach based on the pandemic context promoted the reduction of the carbon footprint, especially with regard to travel: 80 domestic and 8 international flights were avoided during the years 2020 and 2021.
As a consulting company, the volume of waste is already insignificant, with the exception of post-its, a tool widely used in face-to-face and immersive meetings and a major environmental liability. The new hybrid format also directly impacted the consumption (and disposal) of this material. Since 2020, Decah has joined the “digital stationery”, saving more than 1 million sticky notes. And, even though we are already meeting customers in person, we continue with this decision, transforming this temporary impact into a permanent one. The hybrid format is also in line with our commitment to being carbon neutral.
It is important to share that, from the possibility of 200 points for certification B, Decah would only have the chance to earn 160, since 40 points from the Workers pillar are not counted, due to Decah’s networking profile and not exclusive contract.
We’ve been celebrating the score development journey since 2015 and would like to share some internal practices:
In the years 2020 and 2021 were:
- 6 projects focused on increasing the positive impact for vulnerable audiences (indirectly impacted)
- 8 Pro Bono Projects
Projects with Ecosystem B
- 2020 | 6 Projects with B companies / Sistema B Contracted /
- 8 Pro Bono Collaborations
- 2021 | 3 Projects with B companies / Sistema B Contractors /
Representativeness
2020
- 6 out of 19 projects with gender diverse staff (with the same number or more women) — 31% of projects with gender representative teams
2021
- 6 out of 12 projects with gender diverse staff (with the same or more women) — 50% of projects with gender representative teams
- 5 out of 12 of the projects with at least 33% race representation on the teams
One of the ‘Community’ highlights in the Decah score is Diversity and Inclusion. However, the 15 points out of 21 are nothing more than our obligation as an impact organization that practices self-responsibility inside and out. Also for this reason, we want to make a commitment here to reach 45% representativeness in the projects by the next recertification.
JOIAS tools as consolidation of learning and celebration
After the first recertification and the Best For The World award, the world joined the lockdown, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And always committed to honoring SDG 17, very dear to Decah’s proposal for the existence of Partnerships and Means of Implementation, we openly share the ToolKit on Digital Facilitation Methodologies.
We were one of the first B Corps to respond to the call to add content to the Interdependence20 platform that could be useful to the Brazilian impact ecosystem, such as good support practices for building a survival strategy and recovery after the first wave of the pandemic.
From the solutions studied to serve our customers, we built a thesis. It helped us to make available deep and existential reflections on how to apply our experience in facilitation and co-creation in a digital way, through innovative, efficient and humanized approaches. We assume and practice the “sharing is caring” mantra. That is, the best value generated is the one that is shared. What could be seen as a trade secret or a competitive advantage was shared from the four winds, precisely at the time when people, partners and customers probably needed it most. We talk more about that process here.
With the second recertification, we will continue to devote ourselves to collective intelligence and the democratization of information, sharing the JOIAS (Social and Environmental Impact and Improvement Journeys), an authorial methodology applied in the recertification processes during the Formative Journey of B Multipliers. classified as useful and positive by 99% of participants in the 2021 Multipliers Journey.
We consider it important to disseminate tools so that other stakeholders and change agents can be at the service of their impact projects, even for those who do not have an audit profile or who do not master the BIA. For 2 years we have trained more than 200 impact strategists with this methodology, who have undertaken more than 30 socio-environmental businesses.
We also work supporting other companies to recertify and adopt the impact journey proposed by Sistema B:
“Decah supported us on the B Recertification Journey and on encouraging the ESG agenda at Clearsale (…). Here are my thanks and acknowledgments for a transformative journey. That enabled remarkable insights and actively contributed to the development of strategies and actions. Today we have Decah as a partner and not just as impact suppliers.”
Bianca de Oliveira, ESG Analyst — Culture & Communication at ClearSale
Thanks and final remarks
We are grateful to be part of the B ecosystem and undertake an abundance of networked business and learning and for the trust that Sistema B has in Decah.
Both in the possibility of conducting the Participatory Diagnosis of Sistema B at the beginning of Fran’s management, which consolidated our reputation and ability to converge various stakeholders and their proper engagement strategies to generate systemic impact.
Through the partnership in the Formative Journey of Multipliers B, we can test, disseminate and improve our methodology nationally and also help dozens of Brazilian businesses and socio-environmental entrepreneurs.
To our expert partners I would like to say that without you Decah would not be possible: thank you very much for the authenticity, commitment and provocation that makes our deliveries the most coherent and provocative possible.
And especially to our customers, who accept the possibility of experimenting with new ways of activating collective intelligence in favor of impact and corporate socio-environmental innovation: the country and society increasingly need this type of commitment and new leadership to build regenerative futures.
Thank you so much for making this journey even more epic.
Let’s keep straight ahead
