Mightybytes 2020 Impact Report

A global pandemic, an economic meltdown, increased racial tension, the rapid spread of misinformation, growing complications due to global warming—2020 made running an impact-driven small business challenging while also reminding us that our work has never been more important. Here’s how Mightybytes maintained our commitment to purpose alongside profit during a demanding year.

Stakeholder Governance

B Corporations legally expand their fiduciary duty-of-care to include care for people, care for communities, and care for the natural world on which all life depends. That is what makes B Corps more trusted and more attractive to people who want to work for, buy from, and invest in companies that reflect their values.

— Jay Coen-Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab

Stakeholder governance—a cornerstone of the B Impact Assessment—influences every facet of our business. Here are some examples from 2020:

• We continued to find new ways to create shared value among stakeholders.
• We partnered with mission-aligned organizations, like those in our portfolio, to create collective impact.
• We shared content about redesigning how we work to help other organizations include stakeholders in decision-making as we look to a post-pandemic world.
• We also started the process of re-certifying as a B Corp for the fifth time. 2021 marks our ten year anniversary of becoming a Certified B Corp.
• We researched how Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) positively impacts business practices and how we might advance Economic Digital Responsibility.
• Based on our CDR research, we created a digital-friendly Code of Ethics with which to guide our company’s decision-making.

Climate Justice & the Environment

You are directly supporting our efforts to solve complex environmental challenges throughout the Midwest. Delta Institute’s work is wide-ranging, and impacts communities of all sizes…Thank you for helping us make our home healthier and more sustainable.

— Delta Institute

Here’s how Mightybytes supported climate justice and environmental advocacy in 2020:

• We declared a climate emergency and made significant progress on our Net Zero 2030 commitment to reduce the company’s emissions, including those generated by websites we host for clients.
• As part of our 1% for the Planet commitment, we donated to a number of environmental charities, including longtime partners the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Delta Institute, and Climate Ride.
• We collaborated with our friends at Wholegrain Digital in London to create an educational resource on Sustainable Web Design. We also retooled our own sustainable web design content.
• We shared content on Environmental Digital Responsibility to help organizations make more environmentally-responsible digital decisions.

Social Impact

Your support allowed us not only to continue our essential programming for our Greater Englewood community during the pandemic—but adapt and expand as well.

— Growing Home

In 2020, here’s how we created positive social impact through our business:

• In early 2020, we became a Certified LGBT Business Enterprise through the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
• Through our 1% for the Planet membership, we also supported Growing Home, an organization that creates economic opportunities, job training, and access to healthy food in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.
• We continued our commitment to social digital responsibility through accessibility-focused projects with Access Living, Ford Foundation, and others.
• We increased awareness of the B Corp movement through leadership and volunteer efforts with B Local Illinois, which now has a larger board of directors to support the growing number of Certified B Corps in our state.

Making a Difference for our Stakeholders

With ten years of operating as a Certified B Corp and eight as an Illinois Public Benefit Corporation, we take our role in building a more regenerative, equitable, and inclusive economy very seriously. If you have any questions about how we balance purpose and profit or if you would like to explore doing the same at your organization, please feel free to contact us. We would love to chat with you. 

It is my opinion that Mightybytes has acted in accordance with its general public benefit purpose under the Illinois Benefit Corporation Act and that the directors and officers of Mightybytes have complied with their duties under Sections 4.01(a) and 4.10(a) of the Act, respectively. I have received no compensation for Benefit Director tasks. The board’s powers or discretion have not been restricted or dispensed with in any way.

Jeff Yurkanin, Benefits Director & Officer
Mightybytes, 4001 N. Ravenswood, Suite 404, Chicago, IL 60613