How Sustrana is Helping 1,000 Companies Build Sustainability Programs By 2020

Throughout February, Generocity highlighted a series of CSR-focused stories in the region, including a new addition to our portfolio, Sustrana. The women-owned, B Corp-certified company has a mission of helping companies build and manage strategic sustainability programs through its online software tool and platform. It also has a very ambitious, concrete goal.

Its goal is to enable 1,000 organizations to build strategic sustainability programs by the year 2020. Between receiving funding approval from both Ben Franklin and Investor’s Circle, as well as collaborating with the NYC-based Inspiring Capital, Sustrana’s future, and likelihood of achieving this goal, look bright.

“What we see in Sustrana based on its pursuit of such thorough corporate operating principles and practices is a company and an exec who backs up her vision with clear block and tackle action,” said Margaret Berger Bradley, director of investment partnerships at Ben Franklin.

She continued, “To Ben, that is a positive sign. It sets Sustrana up both as a resource to others in the region and as a model for what top-tier environmental practices can look like in a small but growing company.”

Founded in 2010 by Jennifer Anderson and Nancy Cleveland, the company originated with “the intention to really build a consultancy to help businesses identify the value points that sustainability would create for their organizations uniquely.”

However, Anderson and Cleveland began to see CSR becoming more mainstream. They quickly transitioned what they were already doing with consultancy over to the technology front. That transition didn’t really start until 2015, so it’s still new. According to Anderson, the platform is still a work-in-progress.

Thus, the seed funding raised from Ben Franklin and Investors’ Circle will go towards making the platform more user-friendly. As well, it will be allotted to ramping up marketing and sales efforts.

Sustrana enables companies to find out for themselves how best to implement sustainability into their business practices. The company doesn’t just want to hit its goal of 1000 companies by 2020, however. Anderson and Cleveland want companies to understand the true value of CSR… It’s more than just “nice-to-have” aspects of the business.

You can learn more about the company and read the full article at Generocity. 

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