B Impact Clinic

The Clinic is a real-world learning opportunity for students to step out of the traditional classroom to work with local companies and gain first-hand experience of what makes a truly sustainable business and successful B Corporation.

As an immersive learning project and an excellent educational platform, the Clinic is centered around “sustainable business”, due to the comprehensive and rigorous assessment that evaluates all aspects of the company’s operations.

Participants will meet weekly to collaborate on their project and participate in lectures and activities discussing how companies can benefit from a triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit.

• Experience working with businesses in a professional environment on a project that will contribute to the company’s overall success
• Experience working with peers from all years and different majors
• Gain invaluable project management skills
• Resume building
• Expand your network to local NH and ME businesses
• Earn credit: This opportunity is available for students to receive two independent study credits (via Dr. Fiona Wilson). This program also satisfies on Business in Practice (BiP) experience requirement for PAUL students.

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• Meet weekly with clients/B Impact Clinic cohort
• Spend approximately 1 hour outside of weekly meetings to prepare and complete follow-up work
• Attend and prepare for the four major events of the semester (which generally run from 5:20-7:00 on Tuesday nights)
  • Student Orientation (first week of classes)
  • Client Kick-off (Second week of classes. Clients present their businesses and goals for the semester and students are able to rank who they would most like to work with)
  • Mid-Semester Check-in (a chance to meet in person with your clients to reflect on, and share with the cohort, what you’ve completed thus far and what your plan of action for the rest of the semester is)
  • Final Presentation Showcase (each team shares the work they completed and the lessons they learned from the Clinic in a 10 minute presentation to clients, UNH faculty and staff, family and friends)

The BIA is administered by the B Lab, a nonprofit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The assessment examines a company's impact on their workers, community, environment, and customers along with the company's governance structure and accountability. To become a certified B Corp a company must score 80 out of 200 available points.

Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

B Corp certification is about a decade old. There are now 2655 companies across 150 industries that are certified including Patagonia, Danone,  Ben & Jerry’s, Cabot, Seventh Generation and Eileen Fisher. New Hampshire is proud to be home to several leading B Corps including Stonyfield, W.S. Badger, Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs, ReVision Energy, Veris Wealth Partners, and Mascoma Bank. There are a number of certified B Corps in the surrounding states as well. 

Benefit corporations and Certified B Corporations are often confused. The B Corp Certification is a third-party certification administered by the non-profit B Lab, based in part on a company's verified performance on the B Impact Assessment. The benefit corporation is a legal structure for a business, like an LLC or a corporation. Benefit corporations are legally empowered to pursue positive stakeholder impact alongside profit. Some companies are both Certified B Corporations and benefit corporations, and the benefit corporation structure fulfills the legal accountability requirement of B Corp Certification. Learn more about the difference.

The standards for B Corp Certification are overseen by B Lab's independent Standards Advisory Council. Members of the Standards Advisory Council bring industry and stakeholder expertise to bear during the three-year update cycle for the B Impact Assessment, complaints made against Certified B Corps, and material disclosures made by companies pursuing B Corp Certification.