Michael Swack describes himself as “the son of an activist mom who grew up in Northeast Ohio.” He traces his own activist roots to his undergraduate years at the University of Wisconsin, where, as a resident of cooperative housing when his building was put up for sale, Swack devised a scheme to buy the building, only to be told by his attorney that he was likely committing securities fraud. 

Educated as an engineer and trained as philosopher, Betty Woodman spent many years in the corporate sector where she rose to the level of senior leadership and witnessed firsthand how a company’s long-term success could hinge on the way people treated one another. 

“People tend to restrict business ethics to issues of compliance and legal fair dealing,” said Woodman. “I’ve chosen to take a systems approach in which ethics serves the health and wellbeing of the whole. Harm one part, and the whole suffers, hurting the other parts as well.” 

The consistent rattle of the spray paint can in her hands mimicked the ticking of her mind as Haley Burns ‘20 assessed the canvas in front of her. After hours of class, work, and event planning, she had rushed home to shrug off her suit jacket and wrap a bandana around her face. Now, squatting on the front porch of her apartment in Durham, the frustrations of the day dissipated alongside the hiss of paint clouding the air. 

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. Every semester, UNH students have the opportunity to help firms such as Timberland, Lonza, Orvis, and Jack’s Pizza work toward B-Corp Certification, recertification, or simply to assess and improve their effect on the world through the Changemaker Collaborativ

Often, those seeking broad changes in the way corporations behave toward their employees, society, and the environment, have done so as protestors. Such protests are valuable in raising attention to important issues, but what happens next to create change?

Did you know you would be majoring in business or economics? Had you planned on weaving in a focus on social innovation or sustainability? 

When you came to UNH had you planned on weaving in a focus on social innovation or sustainability into your major and why? 

I knew since my junior year of high school that I would want to major in business come college, though it wasn’t until recently that I found a true passion for social innovation. My entire life, I’ve always been interested in helping people, and business in my eyes was always the most impactful way to reach large groups of people. I was never sure prior to college how I wanted to pursue this, but I knew I would make it happen somehow. 

When you came to UNH had you planned on weaving in a focus on social innovation or sustainability into your major? 

Tell us a little bit about your career path. Where has life taken you? 

In 1992, I graduated from UNH with a degree in Hotel Administration. After a brief time in the hospitality industry I transitioned my client service skills to the John Hancock mutual fund call center in Portsmouth. The mid-90’s was a boom for mutual funds. It was a great time to enter the financial industry and a tremendous opportunity to advance my career from customer service associate to management.   

Late last summer the Business Round Table – the preeminent association of nearly 200 CEOs of America’s leading companies – issued a paradigm shifting statement on the purpose of the corporation.