Auburndale Builders recently received a Just label from the International Living Futures Institute. Just is a nutrition label for socially just and equitable organizations. As a voluntary disclosure tool for organizations rather than a certification program, it is a transparency platform for businesses to disclose their operations, including how they treat their employees and where they make financial and community investments.
Just requires reporting on a range of organization- and employee-related indicators. Each indicator outlines measurable accountabilities in order for the organization to be recognized at four levels of performance, which are summarized on the label.
For Auburndale Builders, the process we went through to receive the Just label required reflection on our company’s goals and revisiting many of our internal policies. When we think about how to evolve our business practices, we’ve learned a lot over the years about reducing carbon emissions in buildings, but Just gave us a framework to evaluate our social justice practices, and create policies that are more equitable and fair for all employees. Like a stretch code for buildings, the Just label helps us identify our strengths as well as areas to stretch to improve.
Through the process we committed to things like paid volunteer time, matching charitable contributions, and professional development/education allowances. The Just process created space to consider which policies our team aspires to incorporate into our company values. It will continue to be an ongoing process of growth to focus our team’s energy on what we want our company culture to look like in practice.