American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) is a lobbying organization for sustainable businesses and organizations across the country. ASBC educates and advocates, acting as the voice of sustainable businesses and social entrepreneurs in influencing public policy. ASBC campaigns engage partners and members in the policy-making process and bring their voice to a wider public audience through media exposure and access to legislators.

This section of ASBC’s mission statement describes the belief system held by ASBC:

American Sustainable Business Council believes that sustainable economic development is compatible with shared prosperity, environmental protection, and social justice. Moreover, it is essential from both a moral and pragmatic standpoint to restructure our economy to achieve this balance. We believe business must play a critical and positive role in our society. At the same time, government must play a role in ensuring that markets are well-structured and that public resources are invested with vision and stewardship.

Singlebrook shares these beliefs, and we have joined ASBC to add to the collective voice of sustainable business that is growing stronger every year.

Already in 2012, a major legislative victory in New York was won. ASBC, along with B Lab and legislative sponsors, Senator Daniel Squadron and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, pushed legislation to create a new law that allows for a new type of corporate legal structure, the Benefit Corporation. Benefit Corporations are accountable not only to their shareholder’s financial bottom line, but also to other stakeholders (employees, the community and the environment). A Benefit Corporation’s high social and environmental standards must be certifiable by a third-party, such as B Lab, and transparent to the public. ASBC has also successfully supported several other states in passing Benefit Corporation legislation including California, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont.

ASBC also played a large part in a success on the national level--the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Obama signed into law in July, 2010. ASBC joined Business for Shared Prosperity and Americans for Financial Reform to advocate for this law, while the banks and U.S. Chamber of Commerce fought hard against it. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a response to the economic crisis that began in 2008, brought the most significant financial regulation changes into effect since the Great Depression.

ASBC has a number of different membership options, including individual, business, association of businesses, and foundations. Singlebrook would like to encourage other businesses and entrepreneurs engaged in corporate responsibility to get involved with ASBC!