Some entrepreneurs take on markets and issues that few others dare touch. Too unwieldy, too risky, too undefined, or too unknown. Social innovators and entrepreneurs often take this a step even further. Not only do they take on challenging markets and issues, they aim to reimagine, redesign, and repair them. They choose to prioritize purpose over profit.
The late entrepreneur and investor Andrew Kassoy was one such example. He left a successful corporate career to tackle some of the consequences of capitalism alongside two of his best friends. And when Andrew passed away at age 55 this past June, he left the world — and Echoing Green, where he served on the board of directors for 20 years — a better place for the choices he made.
Social innovators often trace the issues in their communities back to broken economic systems, and, indeed, many social entrepreneurs describe their work as “hacking” these systems, helping reengineer them for good. Andrew, however — alongside his B Lab Global co-founders, Jay Coen Gilbert and Bart Houlahan — identified a stumbling block in the way of systemic change. They saw how the required legal and governance structures of business were — as expressed by Andrew in his last lecture — “built on the idea of carelessness. . .” Andrew disagreed with those roots of capitalism. Instead, he chose to subvert them and imagine something better, an alternative rooted in a more balanced philosophy of purpose and humanity:
“You’re here to care, to care for your workers, your community, the planet, the other people that you do business with. . .” Andrew said.
In 2006, B Lab Global created the “B Corporation certification” for businesses, which stipulates additional requirements for purpose, accountability, and transparency. Traditional corporate law requires that businesses maximize shareholder value; any other stakeholder an entrepreneur wants to prioritize is secondary (also referred to as “shareholder primacy”). Entrepreneurs desiring a more people- or environment-first approach to their businesses had limited options. With their creation of the certification, Andrew, Bart, and Jay jumpstarted a movement of business leaders, policymakers, and anyone else wanting to balance economic growth with social and environmental responsibility.
Today, the number of B Corp-certified companies exceeds 10,000. They employ more than one million people, across more than 100 countries. Thousands of policymakers and government officials designed, advocated, and voted to more expansively define how business can work. Inclusive of B Corp customers — who patronize companies like Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Danone — the movement now includes hundreds of millions of people. And they are all engaging with social entrepreneurship and innovation.
When Andrew was first introduced to Echoing Green — and consequently, to the world of social innovation — by investor and longtime board member Peter Campbell, B Lab was at the idea stage. Andrew later credited joining the board as having helped ignite the spark to leave his day job and pursue B Lab full time. He described his approach in our 2010 Annual Report:
“What connects these two parts of my life is how we infuse capital with purpose. The purpose of my capital is to help build a marketplace of ideas and talent that improves the conditions for every human being and the earth we collectively inhabit,” he said.
When Echoing Green sets out to select social innovators for our annual Fellowship, we look for leaders at the same stage that Andrew was back in 2004, when we were fortunate to first meet him. We are looking for leaders who are choosing to tackle a social or environmental issue that is deeply personal to them. People who have a novel solution and a vision for what it might look like to apply it. People who deeply understand the complexity of the issue and the systems that perpetuate it. People who have the capacity to exponentially expand and grow their leadership to build movements to sustain and expand change.
Echoing Green Fellow Alejandro Gibes de Gac ‘12 reflected on his impact. “Andrew Kassoy exemplified what it means to be a true social innovator — he combined bold vision with a deep commitment to systemic change. Like many of us who step into this work, Andrew’s journey was personal, driven by values that go beyond business as usual,” Alejandro said. “He not only imagined new possibilities but had the courage and leadership to build movements that sustain them. He inspired many to embrace complexity, lead with heart, and scale solutions that create real, lasting impact.”
For 20 years, Andrew served on Echoing Green’s board, helping shape our strategies, communicate our vision and impact, and mentor our leadership. At the same time, he was impressively growing a global movement, raising a family, and investing deeply in his community, many members of which have contributed to numerous moving tributes to his life.
For all of his accomplishments and accolades, Andrew is best remembered, still, for his values and commitment. Esther Benjamin, who co-chairs Echoing Green’s board and who joined the organization at the same time as him, named those values at his memorial service. “First, love. Andrew loved his family more than anything. He beamed when he spoke about them or when they walked into the room. They were his foundation, his stability, his purpose, his hope, and his joy. His love also extended to all of us, who were fortunate to call him a friend. Second, care. In his now famous last lecture, Andrew spoke so profoundly about care and inclusion, as it relates to economic systems. The way he related to all those around him reflected his genuine respect and appreciation for the humanity of every individual. He was the kindest soul. Third, optimism. No matter the news cycle, hope was his North Star. Andrew (and [his wife] Margot) stayed firm, stood strong, and moved forward to keep on building a better world, to stand for justice and equity.”
The field of social innovation faces a challenge: innovation is hard to define, explain, and understand. And yet, when it comes to a brilliant and disruptive leader like Andrew, you know innovation when you see it. Launching a powerful movement such as B Corp — expanding the public imagination of what doing things differently, for the benefit of us all, can look like — helped chip away at that challenge.
We will be forever grateful to Andrew, who — like so many of our Fellows — had the spark, drive, and resilience to transform something broken in his own community and share it with so many others, with all of our best interest at heart.
