The ONE Division will sponsor a Professional Development Workshop (PDW) titled “Impact by Design: How B Corp Certification renovation, Emerging Regulations, and Global Standards Are Reshaping the Future of Sustainability Measurement” at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA.

Participants will have the chance to receive developmental feedback from scholars with expertise in the field of purpose-driven organizations, specifically B Corps and hybrid organizations.

**Please note: In order to attend this event you must also register separately for the AOM 2026 conference.

Date: To be announced
Time: To be announced
Location: To be announced

Organizers:
Leonardo Boni, Polytechnic of Milan, leonardo.boni@polimi.it
Joel Gehman, George Washington University School of Business, gehman@email.gwu.edu
Emily Landry, Washington and Lee University, elandry@wlu.edu
Alyssa Menz, Yale University School of the Environment, alyssa.menz@yale.edu
Martina Pasquini, IE Business School, martina.pasquini@ie.edu
Natalia Vidal, University of New Mexico, nvidal@unm.edu

Panelists:
Natalia Vidal, University of New Mexico
Francesco Rullani, Università Ca’​ Foscari Venezia
Chris Marquis, University of Cambridge
Suntae Kim, Johns Hopkins University

Discussant:
Emily Landry, Washington and Lee University

The PDW is structured in two sections: the first section will be dedicated to a panel discussion, in which panelists will cover different purpose-driven organizational forms – those committed to making positive impacts on society – and how they relate to the B Corp movement. Panelists and the Discussant will converse about current research gaps and emerging themes involving purpose-driven companies such as governance and legitimacy, integrative frameworks, and sustainable development. Specifically, scholars will explore how B Corps compare with other purpose-driven organizational forms, social enterprises, or other hybrid organizations; the critical governance challenges facing B Corps, including certification-related controversies and stakeholder skepticism; and how insights from B Corps can inform broader debates on the governance of purpose-driven businesses and vice-versa. The final part of this section will be dedicated to Q&A with the audience.

The second section of the PDW is dedicated to participants who have submitted short papers. The admitted participants will receive feedback from the Round Table Facilitators and other participants. The Round Table Facilitators represent different backgrounds and methodological expertise, but all share interests, experience and ongoing research activities about purpose-driven organizations. The organizers will develop themes for each round table so that participants sharing similar interests will be grouped together.

Registration:

Registration is required for Part 2 of the workshop. To register, participants must submit:

• a short (maximum 4,000 words) paper, extended abstract, or project related to purpose-driven organizations (B Corps, benefit corporations, hybrid organizations) structured as follows:
  • title page
  • abstract
  • introduction
  • literature and theoretical framework
  • data
  • results or expected results
  • potential contributions
• please indicate the stage of the project and the type of feedback that would be most helpful to you

Submission deadline: July 1st, 2026

Questions? Please contact the organizers: Leonardo Boni, Polytechnic of Milan, leonardo.boni@polimi.it; Joel Gehman, George Washington University School of Business, gehman@email.gwu.edu; Emily Landry, Washington and Lee University, elandry@wlu.edu; Alyssa Menz, Yale University School of the Environment, alyssa.menz@yale.edu; Martina Pasquini, IE Business School, martina.pasquini@ie.edu; Natalia Vidal, University of New Mexico nvidal@unm.edu