At AidKit, doing the right thing is embedded in the way we operate. From day one, we’ve placed people and purpose at the center of everything we do. That’s why we’re excited to announce that AidKit is now a Certified B Corporation and joins a growing global community of companies using business as a force for good. The B Corp badge may be new, but the values it represents have been foundational to us since the beginning.
A Mission-Driven Company From the Start
When we first launched AidKit, our leadership team had long, intentional conversations about whether we should be a nonprofit or a for-profit. Our mission was clear: deliver aid with dignity and ensure public benefits reach those who need them most. But scaling that impact required more than good intentions.
While nonprofits play a vital role in driving social impact, they often face structural challenges like a limited ability to protect intellectual property, compensation constraints that can make talent recruitment more difficult, and governance models that may slow decision-making. For AidKit, these factors made the nonprofit structure feel less aligned with our goals and needs. We chose a for-profit model to overcome these constraints because it allows us to retain control of our technology, raise growth capital, and build a mission-driven team that’s empowered to move fast, innovate boldly, and expand our impact without compromising our values.
That choice helped us grow, but as we scaled, we began to see a gap between how we operated and how we were perceived. Partners often assumed we were a nonprofit. And as we expanded to 50 employees and brought on outside investors, it became more important to codify our commitment to our mission by embedding it into our legal and operational structure. We believed it was essential to ensure that our values would remain protected and consistent as we scaled. That’s when we turned to B Corp certification as a way to formalize what had always been true of our work.
What It Took to Become a B Corp
AidKit’s journey to B Corp certification began with a legal conversion to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), a requirement for any B Corp company, which meant working with our board, updating our bylaws, and securing investor support for a structure that legally prioritizes positive impact alongside profit.
Then came the rigorous B Impact Assessment, an extensive evaluation of AidKit’s practices across governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. Unlike many companies that have to overhaul internal policies to meet B Corp standards, we found that AidKit was already aligned with many of them. That validation was both affirming and energizing. We earned a B Impact score of 103, double the median score for businesses that take the assessment, and found new opportunities to improve along the way.
A Framework for Ongoing Impact
Most importantly, becoming a B Corp isn’t a one-time achievement. It’s a commitment to continuous improvement and a launching point for deeper introspection and future growth. The certification process provided us with a holistic framework to evaluate and improve how we work across every department. We’ve already begun setting annual goals tied to our assessment findings, such as:
- Strengthening environmental practices: As a remote-first tech company, we’re building practices and a culture that recognizes that tech has a footprint, and that we have a role to play in limiting our CO2 emissions. We have created company guidelines to support lower-impact travel and sustainable home office set-ups, and are actively tracking our CO2 emissions from cloud infrastructure and AI usage.
- Enhancing employee voice: We’re introducing more formal feedback channels that give staff safe, anonymous ways to share concerns or suggestions outside of their direct manager.
- Increasing transparency about our impact: We’re expanding our data storytelling and impact reporting on our website to better show the outcomes of our work, from the number of people served to the dollars disbursed. This will help us stay accountable and inspire others to join us in this work.
Why It Matters To Us and the People We Serve
Internally, the impact has already been felt. Announcing our certification during a company offsite was a high point of the year. Employees were genuinely excited and proud. Externally, we believe this recognition will help us stand out in a crowded tech marketplace and further build trust with government partners and nonprofits who care deeply about impact.
Advice for Other Companies
If you’re a mission-driven company looking to align every part of your business with your values, B Corp certification is worth the investment. Although it requires time, maturity, and a willingness to be challenged, the payoff is lasting. It helps you stay accountable and uncover blind spots while joining a global community of peers committed to doing business differently.
At AidKit, this certification is a milestone, not the finish line. It’s a step in a much longer journey. We’re honored to join the B Corp movement, and we’re just getting started.
.jpeg)
