About Us.

Who we are.

We are not your typical sustainability consultants. Our customized approach develops unique,
value-driven solutions to solve your challenges and expand what is possible.
And while we take our work seriously, we make sure to bring fun into every project.
Being able to laugh when tackling difficult, complex challenges is part of our DNA.

What We Stand For.

Collaboration
Innovation
Inspiring Action
Having Fun

Our Impact.

The SBC
Community.

At SBC, we believe it’s best to think globally and act locally. We direct our business practices towards improving the communities in which we operate. Our staff is committed to the community and each member of the team has 24 paid hours to volunteer and we all participate in four half-day community events every year.

The Environment.

To truly lead and inspire, SBC is proud to be a carbon negative consultancy. We diligently look to reduce our own footprint and for those emissions we cannot reduce completely, we purchase offsets that have a social, environmental and financial benefit to our local community. We have partnered with Forterra’s Evergreen Carbon Capture program this year to offset our emissions and hit our carbon negative goal!

Our People.

Our team is our #1 asset and at SBC life-work balance is more than a buzzword. We focus on a highly efficient work week to allow our employees time outside the office to pursue their professional goals and enjoy those activities that nurture their lives, through additional benefits such as gym memberships, alternative commuting incentives, profit sharing, donation matching and 5-week paid sabbatical every 3 years. This style of management leads to lower turnover, higher morale and a more productive team.

Purchasing Power.

We believe in the local economic multiplier of supporting local, community-owned business. Recent calculations showed that 90% of our company’s total spend (purchases, suppliers, vendors, salaries, taxes, etc) was within 100 miles of our office.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is central to how we operate and engage with our community and clients.

We strongly believe in and support the Black Lives Matter Movement and recognize the historical and existing marginalization against all members of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, as well as the systemic racism and cultural biases within our society.

As a company focused on sustainability, we acknowledge that more action needs to be taken, and that there is also an undeniable connection between environmental justice and race. Therefore, we have recently reassessed all of our actions and the work we do, and have made new commitments to authentically improving our company-wide efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion in the form of self-education and training, new policies, new partners, how we do our work and how we engage with our community.

We strive to do our part and continue to keep our North Star pointing towards better practices for climate justice, diversity, equity and inclusivity – in our culture, our services, our purchasing and vendor decisions, our recruiting and hiring, our philanthropy and our activism – to advance DEI with an emphasis towards supporting the BIPOC community. We seek to foster inclusion of diverse groups across all levels – race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, pregnancy, religion, ability, age, genetic information, veteran status, ancestry, national or ethnic origin, employment status, immigration status, or socioeconomic status.

Employees: It is the responsibility of every person at SBC to actively be anti-racist. With a staff of 80% women and over 50% people of color, we thrive as a consultancy by having diverse views at the table and we will focus on continuous improvement in this area as we grow. At the same time, we acknowledge that we are not experts in the field.

Communities: We aim to partner with organizations that identify as BIPOC-, woman-, LGBTQ-, minority- and veteran-owned. We have a goal of transitioning one third of our variable spend to businesses owned and led by these communities by 2023 and are actively expanding our network to meet this goal. SBC is committed to giving back to the community through our time, talent and financial donations.

Clients: SBC’s goal is to consistently work to push our clients, partners and suppliers to disclose, report, and embrace and improve upon their DEI efforts in all of their practices and operations. We are proud to have worked with companies that are leading DEI initiatives, recognized as best places to work for equality and inclusion, and intend to take those lessons learned to all our clients to foster a more inclusive economy.

Partners: To expand our impact, we are partnering with leading experts from BIPOC and women-owned businesses to help bring formal DEI services such as facilitations, assessments and implementation solutions to our clients. Additionally, we are proud to partner with community organizations and climate groups that fight for racial and social justice in the environmental movement.

We Believe In Transparency.

At SBC, we embrace an open style of management and share our financial statements on a quarterly basis with all employees. Furthermore, we collectively set our social, environmental and financial goals annually, and give employees the chance to set the CEO’s salary annually.

We Are Committed.

We are committed to following the Sustainable Development Goals and have benchmarked our impact against the goals.
You can see our progress here:

EACH EMPLOYEE IS GIVEN 24 WORK HOURS ANNUALLY TO BE SPENT VOLUNTEERING IN THE COMMUNITY AND WE VOLUNTEER AS A TEAM AT LEAST 4 TIMES ANNUALLY.

OUR EMPLOYEES WERE FINANCIALLY INCENTIVIZED TO LEAD A LIFE OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELLNESS WITH A LIFE/WORK BALANCE. WE ARE A 3-TIME AWARD WINNING PLACE TO WORK FOR THIS REASON.

WE HAVE CREATED THE WORLD'S LEADING ONLINE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS CURRICULUM FOR THE STUDENTS OF TODAY.

OUR POLICIES ENCOMPASS EQUAL PAY, AND WE HAVE A WOMAN TO MAN GENDER RATIO OF 3:1. EXTERNALLY, WE HELP OUR CLIENTS UNCOVER GENDER INEQUALITIES THROUGH OUR SERVICES, AND IN OUR TEACHING.

OUR COMPANY WAS CARBON NEUTRAL FROM 2006-2016 AND HAS BEEN CARBON NEGATIVE SINCE 2017. THROUGH ADVOCACY, OUR COMPANY SUPPORTS THE BUSINESS BENEFIT OF USING RENEWABLE ENERGY.

THROUGH OUR PARTNERS AND CLIENT BASE, WE STRIVE TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH RESPECT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AS WELL AS BUYING AND HIRING LOCALLY.

WE ARE PROUD TO BE INDUSTRY INNOVATORS THROUGH OUR CONSULTING SERVICES AND CUTTING EDGE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT.

REDUCING INEQUALITIES IS INGRAINED IN OUR CULTURE, FROM INTERNAL EQUAL EMPLOYMENT POLICIES TO CLIENT EDUCATION, ADVOCACY AND CURRICULUM ON THIS SUBJECT.

THROUGH OUR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND POLICY ADVOCACY, AS FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE WASHINGTON BUSINESSES FOR CLIMATE ACTION, THE PORT OF SEATTLE'S SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE AND THE BUSINESS LEADERS FOR CLIMATE SOLUTIONS.

INTERNALLY, WE COMPETE FOR WASTE FREE DAYS AND HAVE POLICIES REGARDING LOCAL PURCHASING AND TRAVEL POLICIES. OUR COMPOST AND RECYCLING EFFORTS HAVE DIVERTED OVER 95% OF OUR WASTE.

CLIMATE ACTION IS EMBODIED IN OUR CONSULTING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES, OUR OPERATIONS, OUR BOOK PUBLICATIONS AND ADVOCACY.

OUR CLIENT SERVICES, PURCHASING POLICIES AND VOLUNTEER EFFORTS ALL SUPPORT A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM.

WE PRACTICE COMPLETE TRANSPARENCY WITH CLIENTS AND ENGAGE BOTH EMPLOYEES AND STAKEHOLDERS TO PROMOTE AUTHENTICITY BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY, INCLUDING OPEN BOOK FINANCIALS.

WE SCREEN OUR PARTNERS AND CLIENTS TO ENSURE THAT EACH ONE HELPS US TO ACHIEVE OUR LOCAL AND GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.

Let’s work together.

We start every project with a simple conversation, getting to know you and your business needs. Then we create a customized work plan to bring your sustainability needs and vision to reality.