The Power of a Shower

I was lucky enough to take a vacation in California last week. My last stop was San Francisco, which is a place I love. The steep streets, the trams, the ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge; it's a beautiful city! However, there's another side to it, which people don't often think about; the 6,500 homeless people living on the streets. As I explored Downtown San Francisco, I have to admit that I was shocked by the number of homeless people I saw and the stark reality of the conditions that many of these people are forced to endure.

Upon returning to Boston, you can imagine my interest when my colleague emailed me today with this video made by a new organization in San Francisco called Lava Mae.

Lava Mae (the name comes from the Spanish for 'wash me', 'lavame'') is a nonprofit organization, which aims to provide showers for the homeless community in San Francisco. Most of us take our daily showers for granted, but the basic act of washing and keeping clean is a real issue for the homeless. For example, in San Francisco, there are only 8 facilities with 1 or 2 stalls each, where people living on the streets can go to take a shower. That's a total of only 16 showers! And you thought you had a long wait for the bathroom in the morning...

I'll never take you for granted again!

Lava Mae is working to tackle the problem by providing mobile shower units, which can travel round the city and reach the homeless where they are. They are working in collaboration with a number of other organizations already supporting and providing services for the homeless population in the city, leveraging existing knowledge and expertise to make the initiative a success.

You'd be forgiven for questioning whether homeless people really need showers? Of course, ultimately, they need shelter, regular meals, employment, access to education, medical help, counselling, the list is long. However, the reality is there is no quick fix and the act of providing regular showers does so much more than simply enabling them to keep clean. It restores a sense of dignity, confidence and self worth, all of which are a vital for anyone trying to survive and escape life on the streets.

Because there’s no... urm plan B

So Branson is back! Last week Richard Branson launched his B Team, a group of global business leaders
who have joined forces “to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit”. In typical Branson style, the project was launched with a big media splash and, rather infuriatingly for people who work in this sector, he talks as though he invented sustainability. However, I digress…

Superhero?

For those of you in the UK, the irony of the name, considering M&S’s Plan A (“…because there is no plan B”), won’t be lost on you. The name has caused a stir in the US for different reasons given the recent moves by the Government, and associated media attention, to prevent teens from obtaining the morning after pill, Plan B, without a prescription.

What the B Team is actually going to do is still somewhat vague. The group is committed to tackling three initial challenges “to help focus business away from short-term gain and to balance the long-term benefits for people and planet”:

• The future bottom line: to include people and planet in business’ bottom line.
• The future of incentives: to catalyze incentives that benefit people and planet alongside profit.
• The future of leadership: to ignite a movement of leaders committed equally to people, planet and profit.

The details of how these challenges are tackled is still to be fully disclosed – and perhaps worked out – but,  crucially, the B Team will play a convening role, bringing together influential figures and decision makers from Governments, non-profits and the corporate sector.

Although Branson’s style is a little difficult to swallow, it’s early days for the B Team so we should give it the benefit of the doubt. However, for me, there are two key questions:

• Are we just preaching to the converted? As Toby Webb pointed out in his recent blog, our sector is becoming more like a ‘cocktail party’; people circulating and telling each other what they want to hear. Richard Branson has bought together ‘believers’; it’s a great line-up of sustainability greats, such as former Chairman and CEO of PUMA, Jochen Zeitz and Unilever’s CEO, Paul Polman. The question is, are these people going to be able to influence the non-believers? Or will they just be the same voices, preaching the same messages? They've been ignored in the past so what are they going to do differently to engage the skeptics going forward?
• What is Team B’s special sauce; what is it that will enable them to succeed where others have struggled? It’s not so long since everyone was talking about the revolution of Shared Value, and now it’s gone rather quiet. That’s not to say that Porter and Co. are not making progress but it’s not changing the world over night. Is the same thing going to be true of the B Team?

Just in case, is there a Plan C?

Beer for Good: Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream

At the risk of making beer a bit too much of a recurring theme, I wanted to write about an interesting initiative that has been developed by the Boston Beer Company, the makers of Sam Adams beer. In the current tough economic climate, what is needed more than ever, is support for entrepreneurs trying to turn their ideas into successful business ventures. The Boston Beer Company is doing just that. Jim Koch, who founded the Boston Beer Company by brewing beer in his kitchen, never forgot the obstacles he faced when he was trying to launch his company and that inspired him to set up an initiative, Brewing the American Dream, to help the next generation of passionate entrepreneurs. Sam Adams works in partnership with Accion, a non-profit microfinance organization, to provide loans to small business owners from the food, beverage and hospitality industry. As well as finance, participating entrepreneurs are also provided with coaching, mentoring and resources, all of which are invaluable support mechanisms. I was particularly taken by their pioneering ‘speed coaching’ events, designed by Sam Adams employees to give entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet Boston Beer employees, ask them questions and get valuable business advice.

What I like about this program is that it both draws on and enhances the ‘personality’ of the brand. Whilst the Sam Adams brand is now much more widely known, it came from small beginnings and it was its founder’s entrepreneurial zeal, commitment and perseverance that made it all happen. I also like the fact that it has inspired and involved Boston Beer Company employees, giving them something to support and feel proud of – aside from taking pride in the beer of course! Jim Koch is a charismatic ambassador for the initiative – here’s a video of him at the Clinton Global Initiative Cause Marketing Forum where he takes to the stage with a mug of beer.