Good Is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business -How Companies Can Drive Growth Through Positive Impact E-Book

Afdhel Aziz

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 307

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

How brands can evolve to win with conscious consumers

In the Good is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business: How Companies Can Drive Growth Through Positive Impact, conscious capitalism experts Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones deliver all of the knowledge and tools needed to discover, design, and deploy sustainable and inclusive growth within any organization.

This book draws on stories, insights, and case studies from leaders at successful purpose-driven corporations around the world, from Fortune 500 giants like Unilever and Procter to tech disruptors like Tesla, Microsoft, and Airbnb, as well as beloved brands like Lego, Adidas, and Patagonia.

In the last decade, corporations were required to meet the digital age's challenges and opportunities. Today, corporations must meet the purpose-based demands of consumers, employees, and investors—or get left behind. In this book, readers will learn about:

• The seven qualities of an inspiring and motivating purpose statement
• Harnessing nine principles of purpose, including “Purpose doesn't have to be political,” “Purpose is about putting your money where your mission is,” and “Purpose is about measuring what you treasure”
• Understanding the rise of impact investors and measuring the ROI of purpose-based corporate initiatives

Thought-provoking, accessible, and inspiring, the Good Is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of all C-suite business leaders seeking a new vision to transform their organizations, and the world, for the better.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

INTRODUCTION

BOBBY'S STORY

AFDHEL'S STORY

PART I: WHY WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF PURPOSE: THE THREE TECTONIC SHIFTS DRIVING CHANGE

CHAPTER 1: THE RISE OF THE CONSCIOUS CONSUMER: PEOPLE WANT TO BUY FROM BRANDS THAT GIVE A DAMN

TRIAL

LOYALTY AND ADVOCACY

PRICE PREMIUM

GROWTH

CHAPTER 2: THE RISE OF THE ACTIVIST EMPLOYEE: EMPLOYEES WANT MEANING AND PURPOSE IN THEIR WORK

EMPLOYEES’ NEW HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

HOW EMPLOYERS CAN MEET THESE NEEDS

THE REWARDS FOR MEETING THESE NEEDS ARE MASSIVE

CUSTOMERS ARE WATCHING

CHAPTER 3: THE RISE OF THE IMPACT INVESTOR: INVESTORS WANT TO MAKE MONEY WHILE POSITIVELY IMPACTING PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

MORE PEOPLE (AND INSTITUTIONS) WANT TO BE CONSCIOUS INVESTORS

CONSCIOUS INVESTORS NOW HAVE MORE RESOURCES AND SUPPORT

THE MARKET IS REWARDING CONSCIOUS INVESTORS

A WARNING

PART II: DEFINING PURPOSE

CHAPTER 4: DEFINITIONS

CHAPTER 5: SEVEN QUALITIES OF A GREAT PURPOSE STATEMENT

CHAPTER 6: DISCOVERING PURPOSE

Engage Inside

Ask Your C-Suite: Engage Your Leadership Team

Engage Your Employees

Engage Outside: Engage Your Customers and Consumers

Engage Your Collaborators

Define Yourself against Competitors and Category

PART III: THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF PURPOSE

1. PURPOSE NEEDS TO START INSIDE OUT

Sam Latif, Procter & Gamble (P&G)

2. PURPOSE IS ABOUT PICKING YOUR SHIELDS—AND SWORD

Saqib Shaikh, Microsoft

3. PURPOSE MUST BE PROFITABLE TO BE SUSTAINABLE

Paul Polman, Unilever/IMAGINE

4. PURPOSE IS ABOUT PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MISSION IS

Loren Shuster, LEGO

5. PURPOSE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE POLITICAL

Tanyaradzwa Sahanga, Adidas

6. PURPOSE SHOULD BE AN OPEN-SOURCE PURSUIT

Wendy Savage, Patagonia

7. PURPOSE SHOULD MEASURE WHAT YOU TREASURE

Sahm Jafari, Tesla

8. PURPOSE IS ABOUT BEING THE HELPER, NOT THE HERO

Jonathan Mildenhall, Airbnb/TwentyFirstCenturyBrand

9. PURPOSE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION

Dianah Diamond, Cotton On Foundation

PART IV: IN CLOSING

APPENDIX A: THE ROI OF PURPOSE

ABOUT GOOD IS THE NEW COOL

ABOUT CONSPIRACY OF LOVE

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY ABOUT US: CLIENT QUOTES

APPENDIX B: MORE INSPIRATION

Bibliography

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Thanks and Acknowledgments

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Appendix A: The Roi of Purpose

Appendix B: More Inspiration

Bibliography

About the Authors

Thanks and Acknowledgments

Index

End User License Agreement

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IN PRAISE OF GOOD IS THE NEW COOL GUIDE TO CONSCIOUS BUSINESS

“Purpose is the growth story of the 21st Century. For any organization wanting to reap the rewards of this new triple bottom line, this book shows them how.”

—Paul Polman, former CEO, Unilever Co-Founder, Chair, IMAGINE

“I find 95% of what is written about Purpose in business to be total and utter bullshit. This is the other 5%.”

—Mark Ritson, Founder, Marketing Week Mini MBA

“Afdhel, Bobby, and Conspiracy of Love are EXACTLY what the world needs right now. They did a brilliant job partnering with us to unleash our Purpose, further maximizing our impact on society.”

—Kim Salem-Jackson, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Akamai

“Aziz and Jones masterfully show that in this new values-driven era we are all creating together, Purpose is driving business success even higher.”

—Kirk Souder, Founder, Leadership for Impact

“The Good Is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business is a must read for every board member who wants to understand the most disruptive force in business today – and unlock the huge strategic advantage that delivers long-term growth for the companies they advise.”

—Rob Perez, Operating Partner, General Atlantic, Founder and Chairman, Life Science Cares

“As Purpose becomes a business imperative, this seminal book is mandatory reading for all agency leaders, who are determined to help their clients create growth, innovation and authentic 21st Century value.”

—Denise Roberson, former Chief Purpose Officer, TBWA

“Not just ‘must read’ but ‘must do’ - this book is a MasterClass on how every modern company should operate with Purpose.”

—Paul Woolmington, CEO, Canvas Worldwide

GOOD IS THE NEW COOL GUIDE TO CONSCIOUS BUSINESS

HOW COMPANIES CAN DRIVE GROWTH THROUGH POSITIVE IMPACT

AFDHEL AZIZ & BOBBY JONES

Copyright © 2025 by Good is the New Cool Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:ISBN 9781394284474 (Cloth)ISBN 9781394282845 (ePub)ISBN 9781394282852 (ePDF)

Cover design: Wiley

For the women in our lives who inspire us,Starting with our wives,Rukshana and Renee

INTRODUCTION

WHY WE WROTE GOOD IS THE NEW COOL GUIDE TO CONSCIOUS BUSINESS

Since the 2016 release of our first book, Good Is the New Cool: Guide to Meaningful Marketing, we have witnessed (and contributed to) an incredible and inspiring rise in Purpose-led companies that are working to transform our world for the better.

In our first book, we explored the rise of Purpose-driven marketing, drawing on our experience building, operating, and advising iconic brands such as Ford, Adidas, Moet Hennessy, Nokia, Heineken, and Absolut. We realized that there was a shift happening. Because of the rise of socially conscious customers, brands that had spent decades positioning themselves as cool had to start understanding that customers wanted them to be good as well (hence the title of the original book).

That book was a call to action for brands to join a Purpose revolution, driven by a new generation of conscious customers, culture creators who want to use their influence for good, and a new wave of nonprofits working to solve problems at unprecedented levels. Businesses accepted the call to join the movement and are now emerging as leaders of the next wave of change. But in 2016, we could not have predicted the scale and speed of what would happen next.

We saw Nike break the Internet with its campaign backing activist Colin Kaepernick and be rewarded by customers with a 31% boost in sales. We saw Patagonia sue the president of the United States in a dispute over federal lands, leading to a massive sales and profitability surge. Tesla became the most valuable car company on the planet and achieved a $700 billion valuation by building a sustainable energy future. And the CEO Roundtable letter delivered a commitment from 181 of the world's top companies to exist for the benefit of all stakeholders—customers, employees, suppliers, and communities, not just shareholders.

We've seen remarkable moments such as Microsoft announcing carbon offsets for all its emissions since inception and courageous decisions by Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods to pull specific guns from their shelves to help save lives from massacres, at a real cost to their profitability. Burger King and the Whopper stood up for LGBTQ rights, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made brands an indispensable part of the solution to save lives and jobs. In real time, we are witnessing the dawn of a new age of capitalism, becoming something that could create enduring prosperity for the many, not the few—and help save our planet in the meantime.

In this book, we explore the three tectonic shifts that are driving this next age of Purpose—customers who are becoming more steadfast in their belief that brands need to optimize life on our planet, employees who want to do work that is meaningful and purposeful, and investors who are earning more money by putting their money where their values are. In the upcoming chapters, we will dive deeper into each of these factors and show why we've never had more opportunities to align our lives and dollars with our beliefs as customers, employees, and investors.

As this movement grows, the data are now irrefutable. Doing good is great for business. On every single measure of success—brand value, equity, revenue, brand loyalty, advocacy, price premium, employee engagement, and impact investment—Purpose-driven companies are leading the way.

Yet we know we are at the very beginning of this journey. We heard from many of you—at Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurial start-ups—who want to build and lead more purposeful companies but don't know how. Our mission with this book is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need to create a Purpose-led organization. This book encapsulates everything we have learned from being on the front lines of this Purpose revolution in business, the hard-won lessons and insights pulled together in an easy-to-follow process to discover, design, and deploy Purpose. We hope that this will help you embrace Purpose as the enormous competitive advantage it is.

This body of work is written for a C-suite-level perspective on how Purpose can manifest itself across every aspect of your business—whether it's supply chain and sustainability, employees and talent, or product innovation and marketing. To you, brave leaders, we propose a paradigm shift in how businesses look at social responsibility. Let's not be satisfied with merely restoring what we have broken; our moon-shot goal should be to make society and our planet healthier than we found it. Let's build it back better.

Over the past four years, Good Is the New Cool has served a growing movement of leaders using business and culture to create a better world. We will introduce you to these world changers, providing you with immersive access to their work and lives. You will go from meeting inspiring creators working in social innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley to traveling into the heart of Uganda to experience the life-altering impact of building schools in the village of Manya. You will meet the incredible people who activate their brands to help tackle hunger, fight modern-day slavery, and end global homelessness. We will introduce you to the teams that are turning disability into an engine for innovation and using the power of design to create better living for billions of people.

These women and men come from all walks of life, backgrounds, ethnicities, nationalities, and abilities. What is the one thing they have in common? They inspire us as ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things through their work.

And their courage is needed as we face a pivotal time in the Purpose movement. Brand Purpose practitioners have faced unprecedented difficulties. Political polarization has thrust some brands (e.g. Bud Light) into the heart of culture wars, complicating the landscape for those advocating for Purpose, ESG (environmental, social, governance), and sustainability. This environment has seen terms such as ESG become contentious, with one practitioner, Mallory Thomas, risk advisory principal at Baker Tilly, observing ESG is becoming a four-letter word. The anti-woke backlash has further complicated efforts, casting a shadow over the broader Purpose-driven initiatives. Yet, the core significance of brand Purpose remains unwavering. Employees, consumers, and younger generations continue to expect brands to embody a clear and meaningful Purpose. Revolt IQ's research found that 58% of US consumers state they “prefer it when brands advocate for issues that matter to me and to them.” Even as Purpose becomes more controversial, the ongoing expectation remains for brands to put Purpose at its core with practical offerings, navigating the evolving landscape with integrity and clarity.

In this book, we shift our gaze from the brand to the corporation, from the chief marketing officer to the chief executive officer as the primary agent of change. This reflects the Business Roundtable declaration on the Purpose of a Corporation, announcing the shift in focus from solely delivering shareholder value to serving all stakeholders: shareholders, customers, employees, community, and the planet (Business Roundtable 2019). Through our work with our Purpose consultancy Conspiracy of Love, a certified B Corp, we've met hundreds of international leaders in the corporate world dedicated to transforming their organizations to deliver growth, helping make the world a better place.

We believe the great CEOs of today should have the brain of a CFO, the heart of a storyteller, and the soul of an activist. That is how they are able to use the power of Purpose to fuel both growth and social impact.

We asked ourselves what was missing in this space for all those leaders who inspire us. The answer was the “how,” how great companies harness the power of Purpose to deliver inspiration that leads to innovation and meaning, which leads to motivation.

We have dived deep into these organizations and interviewed the women (we should point out that the vast majority of our clients at Conspiracy of Love are incredibly dedicated and courageous women leading the charge) and men on the Purpose revolution's front lines. We have distilled all of these stories, insights, and case studies into a useful framework—a set of principles whereby leaders could slowly evolve their companies to become Purpose driven in an era that demands it, in much the same way the expectations of the last decade required them to meet the digital age's challenges and opportunities.

Our friend Max Lenderman, a guru in the Purpose space, once said, “Purpose is the new digital,” and we couldn't agree more. The companies that we cover in the book harness the power of Purpose, like the first companies to harness digital power. By building Purpose into functions as diverse as supply chain, marketing, recruiting, and product innovation, they create a competitive edge that will be hard to beat. As a leader, you have a choice: either find ways to embrace it as the competitive edge it is and build Purpose capability into your organization or see your competition sail past you because they did.

Building on the digital analogy, it is essential to note that if “Purpose is the new digital,” we are still comparatively in the first days of the Internet. Purpose is still scattered, and niche, frequently with no fixed definition that allows for easy interchange, much like the early stages of the World Wide Web were isolated groups of people operating small clusters independently. It was the dawn of HTML, which created a common language among these groups and allowed them to access each other's knowledge.

We believe with Purpose as its source code, we can reboot capitalism, creating a newer, upgraded version that is more just, equitable, and sustainable.

To achieve this, we focus on the corporation as the vehicle of change. We look at how different functions within the company are harnessing the power of Purpose: for instance, how Patagonia and SAP are developing ethical supply chains, how Microsoft and Mattel are fueling Purpose-driven innovation, how IKEA and Adidas are innovating new circular economy models and processes. We should reiterate that none of the companies we profile in the book are perfect, and they all have areas they can improve in. But by diving deep into these companies and focusing on what they are doing right, our goal is to show you seeds of change happening that could ultimately lead to the overhaul of capitalism itself.

It may sound like a naive pipe dream. But it was the very rise of capitalism, with its virtues of self-governance and self-reliance, that moved humanity onward from the depths of feudalism. Five hundred years ago, a system condemned most of humanity to a life of servitude and subservience to their aristocratic overlords.

It's time to reboot the system again.

The reimagining of business as a force for good has begun. You will see examples in the diverse and fascinating stories of everyday people doing extraordinary things inside corporations of every size: from inspiring start-ups such as Now, Chewse, and Promise, to medium-sized companies such as Patagonia and Cotton On, to multibillion-dollar behemoths such as Airbnb, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Tesla. We will connect the dots from these diverse examples and give us all a common language and reference frame to learn from each other.

Now let us be clear: we are painfully aware some may construe all of this as “Purpose-washing.” It is a term coined to describe how companies distract us from all the negative things they do. We will be the first to acknowledge that there are countless things wrong with capitalism today:

The callousness of the shareholder-driven model, which separates reward from responsibility.

CEO compensation at outrageous multiples to their workers, guaranteed to them even when they run their companies into the ground.

The environmental devastation caused by corporations, from oil spills to chemical runoff, that acidifies oceans and plastic truckloads that pollute our seas.

The threat of algorithms and automation to blithely wipe out hundreds of millions of jobs.

The tax dodges which allow companies to stash money in offshore havens without contributing proportionately to the very economies that produce and nurture them and their talent.

The shady accounting practices that lead to accounting fraud, all in service of hitting quarterly returns.

The tens of billions wasted on ad fraud by marketing departments too lazy or uneducated to investigate where their media dollars are going.

The corrupting influence of unregulated corporate money in politics, which reached a flashpoint following the Capitol Insurrection of 2021, with many companies realizing how their contributions had funded some politicians who had fanned the flames of sedition.

For anyone working in social impact, we highly recommend also reading Anand Giridharadas's fantastic book Winners Take All and watching the documentaries The Corporation and The New Corporation, which intelligently and beautifully dissect all the hypocrisies and misdirections in which corporations indulge. As practitioners in this space, we do our best to hold ourselves accountable and not become unwitting agents that support the status quo.

But one of the most promising truths, and what keeps us motivated, is that corporations are made up of people. People like you and us. And we believe that if enough of us lead these corporations with values and models that balance profitability and prosperity, sustainability, and social equity, then we have a fighting chance of reining in their worst impulses and channeling their enormous power to do good.

This revolution is happening right now in companies. And the secret to unlocking it is what we call the Purpose Flywheel.

The Purpose Flywheel is a phenomenon we have noticed in some of the best examples of Purpose-driven companies that we have studied over the past four years: companies such as Tesla, Patagonia, Microsoft, and Zappos.

The Flywheel consists of three parts:

Lead with Purpose

: It begins with having a clear Purpose—an aspirational reason for being that inspires action that benefits shareholders, stakeholders, and local and global societies—which starts at the CEO and leadership level and permeates throughout the organization. This ambition is outlined in a holistic Purpose framework: clearly articulating your Purpose, vision, mission, values, and positioning. This is what we cover in this book, sharing inspiring case studies of companies such as Tesla, Patagonia, Unilever, who have bought Purpose to life.

Work with Purpose:

 You then invite your employees to contribute their gifts and passions in service to the company's higher Purpose, creating a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment in their work. By creating opportunities for employees to align their passions with the company's Purpose, you can build a corporate culture sought after by top talent in your field. This is what we cover in our book

The Good Is the New Cool Guide to Personal Purpose

, about how to design a career of meaning and prosperity.

Market with Purpose:

 The internal energy that is unlocked when companies and brands make Purpose their priority is then outwardly manifested through inspired innovation, authentic storytelling, and impactful marketing that attracts enthusiastic customers, investors, and employees. This is what we cover in our book

Good Is the New Cool: Guide to Meaningful Marketing

.

Tesla serves as a clear example to bring the Flywheel to life. It set the noble Purpose of “accelerating the planet's transition to sustainable energy” as its overarching goal. It attracts talented people (such as designer Sahm Jafari, whom we interview later in the book) who are drawn to this Purpose and dedicate their lives to it. These employees produce an incredible flood of Purpose-driven innovation (the Tesla Model S, X, Y, and E, the Cybertruck), purchased by millions of Purpose-driven customers. This success leads to its shares bought by Purpose-driven investors (who made Tesla the most valuable car company on the planet by market capitalization, at $715 billion). In turn, this massive success has triggered every single car company (GM, Toyota, VW, etc.) on the planet to now either have an electric car in their portfolio or announce the move to full electrification. All this gives governments around the world—such as the state of California, the world's 10th largest car market—the confidence to announce that they seek a ban on fossil-fuel cars in the next 15 years, phasing them out by 2035 (and leading to places like the European Union seeking to do the same).

None of this would have been possible without a clear Purpose, manifested throughout the company, engaging all of its stakeholders: its employees, its customers, its investors, and society at large. And yes, Tesla has issues just like any other company, ranging from its controversial CEO Elon Musk to allegations around worker safety and quality and reliability issues. All of these need to be addressed as the company grows and matures, and there will inevitably be new ones.

But what it has done to the car category to spark its evolution into one that does not contribute to climate change is truly remarkable.

The number of companies who have achieved this Purpose Flywheel so far is small. But the desire for corporate leaders to become both “a force for good and a force for growth” is real. And it is gathering momentum, especially in the wake of COVID-19 and the racial justice reckoning that is sweeping America and the world.

In this book, we attempt to show you how to bring that Flywheel to life in your company, using the principles we have discovered by researching some of the most successful companies on the planet and how they have unlocked and unleashed the power of Purpose. We believe in the idea that the secret of change is not in tearing down the old but building the new. And this book attempts to show you the new model of capitalism being built right now.

While we are skeptics sometimes about what corporations claim to do to make the world a better place, we never descend into cynicism; we have met enough determined men and women—some of whose stories we share in this book—to see that the movement is real.

You may already be part of this quiet revolution, and we understand your intentions are real and your convictions are deeply held. We want to equip you with the tools, models, and processes to take control.

Because whether all of you can take control of the companies you are part of will make the difference between whether they continue to maintain a broken status quo or become the instruments of positive change society badly needs right now.

The difference is you. The difference is us.

We hope this book inspires you to take action and start today.

Bobby Jones and Afdhel Aziz

PS: Before we start the next step of our journey together, we thought it would help you to know a bit about us and what has changed in our lives since the last book.

BOBBY'S STORY

“No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!”

Echoing around the world, those words have been a rallying cry, shouted with passion and pain from people fighting in the face of injustice. I've proclaimed it in chorus many times before in my life, as I marched with others for justice and equality. But on this particular day, it felt different.

Sparked by the outrage of seeing the cold and callous murder of George Floyd at the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Michael Chauvin, millions of citizens from the streets of Brooklyn, New York, to almost every continent on the planet were determined to turn this moment of tragedy into a movement for change. As I looked at the people around me, our desperate desire to be seen and heard was palpable. It was in the vigor of our voices, the pulse of our presence, the cadence of our courage.

Marching hand-in-hand with my nine-year-old son, I thought back to my own experience of being 16 years old in Washington, DC—sitting in my parked car, a used Pontiac 6000, with my friend, as two officers pointed their guns at us, ready to shoot because they mistakenly assumed I had stolen my car. I flashbacked to about a year before George Floyd's killing when my young son, tired and hungry, had a meltdown in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, and someone thought it would be a good idea to call armed police to quiet him down. I remembered as the officer approached us that night, holding my son's trembling hand as I reminded him and myself to stay calm so we could get home safely.

I thought about those who had that same goal but did not have a safe ending: Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Natasha McKenna, Michelle Cusseaux, and too many others needlessly killed at the hands of police.

As we marched farther, I meditated over all the people who had walked generations before us. I know that we are part of a longer, larger lineage of people who have pushed and pulled us toward a more just and equitable world—as the late, great John Lewis would say, the good troublemakers, fighting for all people's liberation and equality. I wanted my son to understand this history and his place in it. I led him through the waves of folks who were moving forward like a current in a sea of change. We reached the sidewalk, and I bent over to look him in the eyes.

I asked him, “Do you know why we are marching?” He said, “I think so.” I told him, “I want you to understand what it means to be a citizen, to be part of a community, and a country. To know that your actions affect others, and theirs affect you. I want you to know your life matters, just as much as anyone else's. You have rights. And, with that, you have responsibilities—to be kind, to be fair, and when you see something wrong, to do something about it. I don't want you ever to feel helpless or hopeless. You have the power to change things, and don't be afraid to use your power to do what's right.”

We walked home, both processing the world we were in the midst of. The events of 2020 shaped us in ways it may take a lifetime to understand fully. As I am writing this today, we are on the eve of the US presidential election. The stakes are high. The question millions of Americans and people around the world are anxiously asking is, Who will the president be? But to ask that seems almost beside the point. We must pose a more critical question to ourselves, and that is, Who will we be?

Moving forward, who will we choose to be as individuals, as workers, as communities, as companies? We must not be content or discouraged from the outcome of tomorrow. This opportunity is much bigger. It is the moment to look at our lives and work and decide whether this is good enough. And we should not be afraid if the answer is no. If we can envision a healthier planet, a more equitable world where everyone has food to eat, a home to sleep in, safe spaces to learn, and the ability to live a life with dignity, safety, and opportunity, we must do the work to achieve it.

We have to unleash our moral imaginations to see new possibilities for our world and be relentless in our resolve to achieve them. Over the past four years, since the release of our first book, I have seen an incredible display of action from citizens all over the world, doing the work to make this world better. I've seen women worldwide once again lead the way, using their passion and power to drive change in government, commerce, and every other aspect of society.

I'm in awe of the tireless work of Stacey Abrams to protect everyone's right to free and fair elections and Glennon Doyle's work supporting women, families, and children in crisis. Michelle Obama is creating a sense of belonging for women around the world. It is also an honor to share the stories of women business leaders whom I admire in this book.

The power of youth is particularly inspiring at this moment, young people rising, taking action, speaking truth to power, and inviting others to join them. Through my work at Peace First, I have seen young changemakers all over the world. Some are taking matters into their own hands—on massive public stages. Others are creating change through small acts of courage and kindness without recognition or fanfare. For example, Mary-Pat Hector is working to end student hunger on college campuses and has developed youth entrepreneurship programming that has helped hundreds of young people kick-start licensed businesses. Social entrepreneur 16-year-old Grace Callwood, a survivor of cancer, founded We Cancerve to bring happiness to homeless, sick, and foster youth. The young entrepreneur Tony Weaver of Weird Enough Productions focuses on combating media misrepresentation through original content production and media literacy education.

I have also seen firsthand how committed employees can reshape companies such as Adidas, Red Bull, Crown Royal, Oreo, and the North Face. We have helped people at Fortune 500 companies such as AB Inbev, Diageo, Mondelez, Microsoft, Mars, MillerCoors, and more to unleash the power of Purpose in ways that help drive social and environmental impact. And Good Is the New Cool has grown into a global movement of people united by a shared belief in the power of business and culture to become forces for good.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were levels of sacrifice and generosity that brought tears to my eyes. It turns out there are things more contagious than this virus, such as compassion. Courage also passes from person to person. Love can quickly spread throughout communities and across borders.

On the days I have been down, and there have been many, I think of you all. You keep me going.

I started this journey when I realized my Purpose was to feed the good in the world. However, I had no idea how many people around the world would feed the good in me. Every day, you show me how wonderful we can be, the impact we can create, the world we can build. No matter how daunting the problems or depressing the news, I believe in us. I believe in our ability to be and do better—our ability to make business and culture forces for good.