Interview: Rosanna Garcia, co-founder of B Academics

When did you feel that there was a spark or a seed for something new?
In 2015, I surreptitiously attended a B Lab Champions Retreat. At the time, the doors were closed to academics, but I was invited by a passionate colleague, Maria Kingery, who envisioned the impact that academics could have on this movement. Following that experience, Jessica Yinka Thomas and I realized that a dedicated academic organization was essential. That was when the seed of something possible emerged. Bolstered by Maria’s confidence that academics could make a difference and Jessica’s enthusiasm of teaching our students on this new business model, the “seed” for B Academics officially took root.

If you could snapshot that moment of clarity, hope or recognition, what would it be?
Taking an entrepreneurial approach, we decided to host an academic retreat separately but at the same time as B Lab was holding their annual Champions Retreat. Jessica and I excitedly joined a campaign in conjunction with other Research Triangle companies to bring the B Lab retreat to Raleigh, North Carolina, treating it with the intensity of an Olympic bid! The excitement was fruitful, and Raleigh was picked as the next location. However, the passage of North Carolina’s “bathroom law” (House Bill 2) in 2016 forced B Lab to withdraw its decision.

Despite this setback, we quickly moved the academic retreat to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Seeing 40 scholars assemble on short notice to discuss B corps and benefit corporations was a powerful moment of recognition. That enthusiasm proved that the movement was larger than any single location. Joel Gehman joined our efforts and B Academics was launched.

What was the purpose of founding B Academics?
In 2010, corporate interest was surging around business models designed to address the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I became focused on the benefit corporation as a formal legal structure that balances profit with a social mission, as well as B Lab’s role in supporting this movement. When I joined North Carolina State University in 2014, I met the inspiring Jessica Yinka Thomas, who shared this passion. We began collaborating on how to integrate the “business as a force for good” philosophy into our curriculum to prepare the next generation of leaders.

How did it start and what challenges were you trying to overcome?
B Academics grew out of a specific gap in the ecosystem: there were no existing vehicles for scholars to teach B Lab’s philosophy or research this emerging business model. At the time, B Lab’s annual Champions Retreats were exclusive to certified companies. Due to resource constraints, academics were not invited, leaving us without a formal community or platform to advance scholarly understanding of the movement.