Table Stakes

We all want to have a positive impact on our communities and the world we live in. But it's easy to get stuck on where to start and how to achieve our impact goals. In Impact: A Step-by-Step Plan to Create the World You Want to Live In , authors Tammy Tibbetts and Christen Brandt give readers a workbook for anyone who wants to reevaluate the impact they make in the world personally. You set a stra...

January 1, 2021 is right around the corner, and as you think about setting your 2021 resolutions, we're challenging you to make one big commitment related to a sustainability or social issue. In this episode, Marcy takes you through her 5-year journey of setting a sustainability challenge/resolution every year, how to do it, and what you'll learn.

When we think of leaders in sustainability, it's unlikely we might think first of a 200-year old company. But a company's age doesn't always mean "old-school." Today, we're joined by the team from Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. Their work is a gold standard example of a company who has built sustainability into the DNA of its business. With a passion for the environment and ingenuity, Monadnock is tu...

A special crossover episode with our sister podcast, Office Baggage. As companies around the world cope with the ramifications of a global crisis, it's more important than ever to ensure our company's leaders and future leaders feel engaged and supported and have the tools necessary to future-proof your talent and succession strategy. There needs to be a massive shift in how we are training and bu...

For many CSR and sustainability professionals, we are entering the dreaded "reporting season." For many of us, sustainability or CSR reports are one of the most important aspects of our roles. So why do we hate these processes so much? Why are they so frustrating and headache inducing? Today's solocast from host Marcy Twete gives you four actionable pieces of advice that can help make your reporti...

In today's VUCA world (short for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), businesses around the world are asking what skills and traits are necessary for those leaders who will weather the storm well. What does it mean to be resilient during disruption? Today's guest Henna Inam answers those questions and more in her new book "Wired for Disruption." She highlights in our conversation five type...

We've all probably heard about LEED Certified buildings, but mostly related to commercial buildings. Your home can also be LEED Certified. But most of us have some common misconceptions of so-called "green" homes - that they're wildly expensive, that the process takes years of planning, that they're out of reach for most of us. Our guest today, Aaron Stash, and his family, built a LEED Platinum ho...

In 2008, only 358 companies globally were producing a sustainability report in accordance with GRI standards. Today, more than 30,000 companies use the GRI framework globally. As sustainability reporting has grown these last 10 years, another like-minded framework has risen simultaneously – the notion of integrated reporting and more deeply integrated thinking. The founder of the U.S. Integrated R...

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this year spurred a national movement toward racial justice different than any in recent years. Months later, many of us are asking ourselves: "What now?" How can we continue to invest in racial justice, help to spur the much needed change in our society, and ensure those actions are catalytic rather than performative in nature? The YWCA of Metropol...

Google "B Corp" and you'll find: "Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit." But what does that really entail? We're diving deep on B Corp certification with B Corp business owner Emily Lonigro of LimeRed. What is a B Corp? How does it work? And are there flaws in the B Corp system?

For those invested in sustainability, we are often thinking about how our purchasing patterns are connected to our values. We know the importance of reduce, reuse, recycle. We've had all the difficult conversations about "fast fashion." But have we considered how some of the largest purchases of our lives - for instance, our wedding rings - are syncing with our values systems? Joined by gem expert...

Today's episode is a special "crossover" between Table Stakes Podcast and Office Baggage Podcast. In the environment of COVID-19, the issues surrounding employment and change management are affecting everyone whether through layoffs, furloughs, working from home, or training and safety for essential employees. All of us are dealing with both macro and micro economic issues as we consider a return...

Joined by Beth Santos, the CEO of women's travel platform, Wanderful, we are tackling the topic of responsible, sustainable travel. Safety for women, environmental sustainability, social impact, and many other key ESG topics in travel play directly into success for leaders in the travel industry. As all of us expand our horizons and travel the world, we have a duty to ensure our travel leaves the...

Jobs in corporate responsibility, social impact and ESG are notoriously difficult to find, and even more difficult to "get." If you're interested in a role in this field, today you'll learn from host Marcy Twete and guests Margaret Skrmetti (Morton Salt) and Elizabeth Okey (Wintrust) on their paths to roles in this field. We tackle the possible paths to a role, the issues with finding a role, and...

When Barie Carmichael and her co-author the late James Rubin wrote "Reset" just two years ago, corporate trust was at an all time low. Consumers' access to information about the companies they buy from and work for was at an all time high, the expectations of stakeholders growing rapidly. That trend has only been exacerbated with the onset of the #MeToo movement, COVID-19, and the recent protests...

In May, I was delighted to host a Coffee & Connections Event with the Executives Club of Chicago on responsibility and ethics in COVID-19. Today's solocast is a replica of that presentation, highlighting two major trends in ethics and responsibility affecting business during COVID-19 and the dos and don'ts of operating and communicating during a time of uncertainty and crisis.

Some of the most interesting issues in business responsibility are those that rarely involve the corporate responsibility departments - where corporate leaders make high stakes decisions that affect all stakeholders. We're launching the podcast with one of the hardest decisions a leader will ever have to make - declaring bankruptcy. Joined by Bloomberg reporter Katherine Doherty, we're breaking do...

Table Stakes is debuting June 1, 2020! Here's a sneak peek into your host, Marcy Twete, and the "why" of Table Stakes. Share your thoughts and ideas with us at www.tablestakespodcast.com.