Indiana-based school becomes first organization in the state to be both a Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corporation
Press Release – INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 9, 2017) – American College of Education (ACE) is happy to announce they are the first and only Certified B Corporation and Benefit Corporation in the state of Indiana. B Corp is a movement to redefine success in business as companies who aren’t just the best in the world, but the best for the world. The corporate structure aligns the best interest of business with those of society to create businesses that are built to last.
B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Today, there is a growing community of more than 2,000 certified B Corporations across 130 industries in 50 countries working together toward one unifying goal: to redefine success in business.
“We pursued third-party B Corporation certification and reincorporated as a Benefit Corporation because we wanted to make a public commitment to maintain our ideals and our mission,” said Shawntel Landry, Ed.D., provost and interim president of ACE. “We’re dedicated to making smart and innovative decisions with our students’ needs–not our bottom line–in mind. We’ve demonstrated this commitment to our students and alumni since our inception, but we’re making the same commitment to be socially conscious to our employees and local communities as well. It is fundamentally who we are.”
Through its commitment to innovation and fiscal responsibility, ACE is leading the way in making higher education accessible, affordable and highly responsive to the needs of working professionals in a modern world. ACE believes that the more educators learn, the more their students learn.
ACE has already begun the process of demonstrating its commitment to social responsibility through partnerships with non-profit organizations which provide services or materials to educators and schools in their local communities across the country. Through event sponsorships, donation drives, and an office policy allowing employees to wear jeans for a donation, ACE has contributed more than $15,000 in scholarships, donations and sponsorships, a commitment they will more than double in 2017.
Due largely to the college’s emphasis on creating efficiency and cost reduction through technology, more than 13,000 educators have received the graduate education they need to be stronger and more empowered educators for their students, most without additional debt from their graduate program.
To view ACE’s B Impact Assessment and profile, visit this link.
About American College of Education
Founded in the digital age, American College of Education delivers affordable, online graduate degree programs and professional development programs for educators across the U.S. American College of Education is dedicated to the belief that educators should have the opportunity to receive advanced degrees affordably, without having to incur substantial debt. American College of Education offers opportunities for students to earn degrees from a regionally accredited college that expand their knowledge and aid in the acquisition of new skills and methods from a highly credentialed and experienced faculty. Learn more at www.ace.edu.
About Certified B Corporations
Certified B Corporations meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance, legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests, and build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. There are more than 1,996 Certified B Corporations from over 130 industries and nearly 50 countries with one unifying goal – to redefine success in business. B Corporations are leaders of the global movement of People Using Business as a Force for Good.
About B Lab
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for goodTM. Its vision is that one day all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the Best for the World® and as a result society will enjoy a more shared and durable prosperity. B Lab drives this systemic change by: Building a global community of Certified B CorporationsTM who meet the highest standards of verified, overall social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability; Promoting Mission Alignment using innovative corporate structures like the benefit corporation to align the interests of business with those of society and to help high impact businesses be built to last; Helping tens of thousands of businesses, investors, and institutions Measure What Matters, by using the B Impact Assessment and B Analytics to manage their impact—and the impact of the businesses with whom they work—with as much rigor as their profits; Inspiring millions to join the movement through story-telling by B the Change Media. For more information, visit www.bcorporation.net, www.bimpactassessment.net, www.b-analytics.net and www.benefitcorp.net.
