History

In June 2003, many of the top environmental and environmental health markets campaigners from the U.S., Europe, and Canada came together for the first time at the Markets Synergies Conference in Bolinas, California. The participants included Greenpeace International, Rainforest Action Network, ForestEthics, Union of Concerned Scientists, Organic Consumers Association, US PIRGs, Health Care without Harm, Clean Production Network, and several others. They agreed to create the Business Ethics Network (BEN), with the mission of improving the effectiveness of corporate campaigns worldwide in order to make business practices more ethical in terms of the environment, health, social justice, and labor.

        Participants identified a full-range of needs, projects, and opportunities and committed both time and money to launch this effort. The organization was officially launched in October 2003 when it hired its first executive director, Michael Marx (formerly the executive director of ForestEthics). Since then, campaigners from over 150 organizations have joined the network. For a complete list member organizations and organizations to which our individual members belong, please see our Member listing.

        In the months following its inception, the network launched a website that included case studies of some of the most prominent corporate campaigns in recent years as well as tools to educate new corporate campaigners. Its staff provided instruction or campaign consultation to several groups including the Genetic Engineering Action Network, Center for New American Dream, EarthWorks, Rainforest Action Network, ForestEthics, GreenCorp, Friends of the Earth-Japan, and the US PIRGs. At the request of the membership, the BEN staff began research on the feasibility of a cross-sector campaign targeting Wal-Mart.

        In November 2004, Michael Marx released a white paper calling for a unified international campaign targeting Wal-Mart. He argued that “either we change Wal-Mart or Wal-Mart will change us-and not for the better.” That paper not only led to organizing efforts across issue sectors, but to high level discussions with Wal-Mart senior executives that helped to launch Wal-Mart’s environmental initiative. Today many of BEN’s member organizations, not just environmental groups, are involved in efforts to reform big box industries. They are engaged either on the inside as advisors or on the outside as pressure groups, and they have support available to their efforts through the Big Box Campaign.

        BEN held its first annual conference in October 2005 in San Francisco. It attracted over 135 participants from around the country. Joe Trippi, former Howard Dean Campaign Director, and George Lakoff, author of “Don’t Think of an Elephant…” keynoted. The first annual BENNY Awards were given to the top six corporate campaigns. In June 2006, BEN hired a new coordinator, Anne Pernick, formerly with the League of Conservation Voters in Portland, OR. She coordinated the second annual conference with keynoters Ray Anderson, CEO Interface Corporation, and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the Farm Workers’ Union with Caesar Chavez. Anne Pernick is now a Director and continues to coordinate all BEN activities.

        BEN is now aggressively recruiting new Members, and creating additional resources for its Members and other corporate campaigners. New projects include “Corporate Campaign U” which provides workshops and intensive instruction for corporate campaigners, and a Corporate Campaign Primer which helps to educate the foundation community about the importance of this particular strategy for achieving significant social and environmental change.