The Family Enterprise Impact (formerly Family Business for Sustainable Development) initiative will create a path to help business families build the knowledge and skills they need to drive impactful social and environmental changes that will allow us to achieve the 2030 UNSDG objectives and protect people and the environment. Central to our sustainability framework is the concept of responsible ownership which is essential to thriving business families and sustained family ownership.
We are committed to inspiring 100 Canadian family-owned companies to sign The Pledge by early 2025, many of which will have started adopting the Sustainability Indicators for Family Business (SIFB). We know it's a long process — that's why you should start today!
In committing to this UN/FBN-I initiative, we intend to benchmark family enterprise performance in the five categories encompassing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs):
An online Sustainability Indicators for Family Business (SIFB) reporting platform is available that will help family businesses report, measure and track their sustainability performance.
We have surveyed Canadian family businesses to provide a current perspective on their level of engagement, interests, abilities and objectives while identifying the challenges they face in making sustainability a business priority. How is your family business delivering a greener, cleaner, fairer society?
We have begun developing case studies (see Kalesnikoff, ABC Recycling, Kemp Construction) that document the journeys of progressive families that have made sustainable development and sustained family engagement across generations a priority. This will allow us and our community to learn from their experiences, highlight their successes and hear their stories on how they overcame their internal and external challenges.
We will translate the UN SDG goals into a Canadian family-owned business context, creating a benchmarking tool that will be the first step in shifting the conversation. Research will also be conducted to help translate other tools available in the broader SDG landscape.
We will assess the progress of business families on their SDG journeys and provide benchmarking against their peers. This will enable them to better see their progress and navigate obstacles.
We will focus awareness on the impact that a family business can have in solving environmental and social challenges while sustaining family relationships and family ownership across generations. Even small pivots can have a positive and sustainable impact.
As a family business, you have the opportunity to create lasting change.
Start today by signing the pledge!
