Thought Leaders

May 25, 2021

B Lab Welcomes Jessica Yinka Thomas to Standards Advisory Council

BSC Director Jessica Yinka Thomas has been nominated to the B Lab Standards Advisory Council (SAC), an independent governing body tasked with developing and overseeing the application of B Corp standards. The SAC plays a critical role in the B Corp community and the broader efforts to define performance expectations for businesses on social and environmental issues. 

Mar 31, 2021

Global, Here and Now Podcast: Professor Jessica Yinka Thomas

As the Director of the Business Sustainability Collaborative, Professor Jessica Yinka Thomas brings together students, faculty, and the business community in order to cultivate sustainable business practices. Influential in her journey to becoming a scholar and leader in business were her experiences studying abroad during her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and her MBA at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. Listen to the podcast below to hear more about how her experiences abroad were important both personally and professionally. 

Mar 16, 2021

Tim Kraft on the Consumer Benefits to Supply Chain Transparency

Tim Kraft, assistant professor of operations and supply chain management, is seeing an emerging trend of increased supply chain transparency not only for risk management but for consumer benefits. 

Feb 23, 2021

Poole College of Management Honors Black Women Making History

Celebrate Black History Month and take a deep dive into the challenges and successes of the Black female community at Poole College - including BSC Associates: Rachel Haynes & Olivia Watkins! 

Feb 1, 2021

Helping Consumers Change the World When They Shop

Researchers at North Carolina State University are launching an initiative aimed at improving working conditions in clothing factories on a global scale. The project hopes to help workers by developing and marketing a tool that lets apparel shoppers know how items of clothing were made. 

Jan 5, 2021

The Gift of a Lifetime: Poole College of Management reflects on 10 years since the Poole Family Endowment

On a cold morning in December 2010, Nelson Auditorium was filled with students, faculty, staff, community members, college supporters and local reporters as an historic gift was announced. Lonnie C. Poole, Jr., founder of Waste Industries, and his wife, Carol Johnson Poole, shared their intent to donate $40 million to the university –– $37 million of which was designated to fund an endowment to support the College of Management, now named the Lonnie C. Poole Jr. College of Management. The endowment was the largest gift given to NC State in school history, and, in an interview with the Triangle Business Journal, Chancellor Randy Woodson shared it would “elevate our ability to have one of the most competitive business colleges in the country.” 

Dec 14, 2020

Embracing Open-Book Management to Fuel Employee Engagement and Corporate Sustainability

A white paper that examines open-book management and the benefits of applying its principles to improve employee satisfaction, engagement, retention, motivation, innovation, and corporate sustainability. 

Nov 30, 2020

Better Business Teaching Note

This guide is to be used by the thousands of academics incorporating elements of the B Corp movement into their curriculum. Many people view B Corporations as just another certification, but this book details how the foundations of the movement can be used in every business model. 

Oct 27, 2020

How Investors Can Better Support Women and People of Color-owned Businesses

A study funded by the Ford Foundation and conducted by a team including Jessica Thomas, director of the Business Sustainability Collaborative, and Jeffrey Pollack, associate professor of entrepreneurship, explains the importance of investors supporting women and persons of color-owned startups. 

Aug 25, 2020

B Academics Network Hosts the 2020 Global B Academics Paper Development Workshop

The B Academics network recently held its 2020 Global B Academics Paper Development Workshop. B Academics is 501c3 that brings together over 1900 academics and supporters from 612 institutions and 52 countries. It is a growing movement with a vision to “advance the state of academic study into business as a force for good,” and is led by their president, Jessica Yinka Thomas who is the Director of the Business Sustainability Collaborative and a faculty member in the Poole College of Management at NC State. The topic of the Workshop was Nuts and Bolts of Research on B Corps: Empirical Methods and Research Design.