Over the past 30 years, BSR has worked with its network of more than 300 of the world’s largest and most influential companies, as well as leaders from civil society, philanthropy, and government, to advance bold, meaningful action on a range of issues, from climate change to human rights to equity and justice.
Together, we work to set the agenda for sustainable business and build powerful multi-stakeholder collaborations which help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our grant-funded multi-stakeholder initiatives create meaningful transformation—within individual business, across sectors, and at the systemic level for the benefit of people and communities across the world.
In Partnership with Funders, We:
Bring a multi-sector coalition of companies, foundations, civil society partners, and others together to tackle issues at the systemic level
Ensure the needs and aspirations of affected groups are reflected in company strategies and activities
Explore trends which then inform our work in consulting and collaborations, and enable us to publish research, tools and other open-source resources
Pilot test innovations and take promising solutions to scale
Combine philanthropic funds with company resources to invest in more ambitious initiatives
Examples of our
Grant-Funded Work
Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals Through Collaboration
Drawing on BSR’s expertise in incubating, designing, and facilitating collaborative initiatives, this report explores how business-led multi-stakeholder collaboration can help to advance the SDGs and contribute to five key dimensions of poverty, including poverty reduction, human rights, gender equality, climate and environment, and peace and conflict. The report leverages concrete examples of collaborative initiatives incubated through the CoLab SDGs program, a strategic partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) that aims to increase the private sector’s contribution to achieving the 2030 agenda and illustrate how these impacts play out in practical terms.
Center for Business and Social Justice
Launched in 2022 with seed funding from the Tara Health Foundation, the Center for Business and Social Justice seeks to strengthen business actions to address social inequalities, leveraging collaborations, insights, and direction from civil society stakeholders, including those from philanthropic, academic, and social movement institutions. With support from an advisory group consisting of BSR members and civil society partners, the Center curates and stewards research and thought leadership, frameworks, capacity and development opportunities, and strategic action opportunities for effective private sector engagement on topics such as gender and racial equity, civic engagement, and worker well-being. Among other highlights since its launch, the Center has secured support of pharmaceutical and biotech companies in amicus briefs filed by industry on medication abortion, advised the development of corporate racial and economic equity standards, confirmed business participation in piloting and testing the standards in advance of their release, and advised University of Michigan’s Erb Institute Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce in outreach to corporate targets.
RISE: Reimagining Industry to Support Equality
Ongoing support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, The Walt Disney Company, and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, among others, enabled the successful launch of RISE, or Reimagining Industry to Support Equality. RISE is the coming together of the four largest women’s empowerment programs in the apparel industry—BSR’s HERproject, Gap Inc.’s PACE, Care International, and Better Work—to support collaborative industry action at scale towards gender equality in global garment, footwear and home textiles supply chains. Together, these organizations have already reached over five million women workers globally.
Keeping Workers in the Loop (KWIL)
With support from the Laudes Foundation, Sida, H&M Group, and Target, Keeping Workers in the Loop (KWIL) assessed the changing dynamics of circular fashion and the need to address the challenges in the context of the just transition. By convening over forty-five major fashion industry actors, including major global brands and retailers, supplier groups, and apparel industry associations, KWIL has resulted in increased awareness among companies and policymakers of the importance of social impacts of circular fashion, and an understanding of how job opportunities and quality can be fostered through circularity. KWIL’s findings and recommendations have been featured in discussions in Vogue Business and Business of Fashion, and they informed International Labour Organization policy briefs, United Nations Environment Programme and Global Fashion Agenda frameworks, and more.
Swedish Development Agency (SIDA)
In partnership with the Swedish Development Agency (Sida), BSR is testing, incubating, and scaling multi-stakeholder collaborations designed to increase and deepen the contribution of the private sector to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, with a specific focus on reducing poverty globally. The program has leveraged more than US$1.8 million between 2021 and 2023 to launch new initiatives, with the participation of 81 members and 35 partners. To date, the partnership has fostered several collaborations, including new initiatives such as the Sustainable Coconut Partnership, Energy for a Just Transition, and the Fair Circularity Initiative, supported existing initiatives such as the Watch & Jewellery Initiative 2030 and the Resilience Fund of Women, and enabled the merger of existing initiatives into new umbrella groups such as RISE and the Sustainable Freight Buyers Alliance.
Our Government and
Foundation Partners
Our Experts
Depth of Experience and Knowledge
Let’s talk about how partnering with BSR can support your efforts to achieve a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.