Our teams recently celebrated a milestone achievement: Advance is now officially certified as a B Corporation™.
For us, becoming B Corp™ certified reflects a commitment that has shaped Advance for decades: to run a responsible business with care, and to keep improving how we work. We are especially proud to share this achievement in the same year that we celebrate 50 years of business built on responsibility, collaboration, and long-term thinking.
We spoke with Ann-Louise Rosen, Co-CEO, about what the certification means for Advance and what we learned along the way.
What B Corp Certification means
Certified B Corporations™, or B Corps™, are companies verified as meeting standards for social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
“To me, being a B Corp means being committed to running a business that takes care of people, community, and environment in a conscious, considerate way,” says Ann-Louise.
That commitment is not new to Advance. “Running a healthy and sustainable business has always been our focus,” Ann-Louise continues. “Becoming B Corp certified gives us a structured way to organise around our core values and translate them into the way we work.”
“Becoming B Corp certified gives us a structured way to organise around our core values and translate them into the way we work.”
Ann-Louise Rosen, Co-CEO
What we learned
B Corp certification involves a thorough review of a company’s practices. For Advance, the process also gave us a chance to reflect.
“Many of the things we do are simply part of how we work, so we tend to take them for granted,” says Ann-Louise. “The certification process gave us a good reason to step back and examine how we actually do business, from the clients we work with to how we approach people and culture. That was a very good experience.”
It also showed us where we could do things differently, from clearer culture-related policies to more conscious decisions around production planning, reuse, and long-term ways of working.
“It was an eye-opening process,” Ann-Louise reflects. “For a people business like ours, our biggest impact is not primarily environmental. It lies in how we are organised, how we support our teams, clients, and partners, and how we use our role as an agency with care.”
“For a people business like ours, our biggest impact is not primarily environmental. It lies in how we are organised, how we support our teams, clients and partners, and how we use our role as an agency with care.”
Ann-Louise Rosen, Co-CEO
The work continues
Since 1976, Advance has been built around relationships, collaboration, and the belief that good work is created by people who care. In that sense, B Corp Certification is not a departure from who we are, but a recognition of the values that have long shaped the way we work.
Ann-Louise points out that B Corp Certification is not the finish line: “We are committed to keep measuring, learning, and improving, from how we work with clients and partners to how we can make more responsible choices as a business.”
“We are committed to keep measuring, learning, and improving, from how we work with clients and partners to how we can make more responsible choices as a business.”
Ann-Louise Rosen, Co-CEO
Becoming B Corp certified also keeps us connected to communities that share our belief in doing business responsibly, from our new B Community to our agency partnerships through Worldwide Partners. Together with our own teams, these relationships bring new perspectives and help us continue doing business in a way that feels true to Advance.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to this process, and especially to Henrik Hertz, CFO, whose dedication helped guide us through the entire certification journey,” Ann-Louise remarks. “This milestone is both a recognition of how far we have come and a commitment to keep building the kind of business we believe in.”
