November 8, 2022

Debra Brown | Good Business Colorado

WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? WHY IS THIS WORK IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Historically, the role of business comes from a place of protecting and maximizing profit at all costs. That certainly is not the way of the future. For all the businesses that are part of Good Business Colorado, it’s not the way now, either. It’s been proven that when you treat people well and when you take care of the environment, these things come full circle. They are part of a triple bottom line, a people-planet-profit approach. Recognizing that there’s a different way of doing business is important to us, now more than ever. It’s not even a matter of it being the right thing to do, it’s essential. Consumers are savvier and expect the places where they’re spending money to stand for something.

I think the other piece is to create pathways for small business owners to make their values real in the world. Doing things together is more fun, productive, and successful than doing it by yourself. Good Business Colorado really is a place where people who want to make change on a systematic level can work together with like-minded individuals. We’re really, really passionate about creating opportunities for business owners to make their values real in the world.

WHAT IMPACT ARE YOU MAKING?

We are having some really interesting conversations that more isn’t always better, sometimes better is better. We measure our success by the number of bills we pass in any given legislative session. We’ve worked on more than 100 bills in the five years we’ve been in existence. We also count how many business owners take action. We’ve literally created hundreds of opportunities for small business owners to make their values real in the world through activities such as testifying at the legislature, having a meeting with their elected representatives, as well as learning more and being able to weigh in on policy. Sometimes people like to be in the background and do that deeper-level policy analysis. That’s such an important part of making good policy, so we’re creating opportunities where business owners can use their gifts, expertise, life experiences, and knowledge to shape policies. All of that is how we measure our success. How many people feel empowered and take action? How many people do something bigger this year than they did the year before? How many people took a really significant, meaningful action that had a real impact?

WHAT (OR WHO) INSPIRES YOU TO DO THIS WORK?

Personally, I was always involved with an in-the-streets type of activism. When I worked on the minimum wage ballot initiative, and we won, it was really inspiring to see that we truly can have that collective impact together. In our organization’s first year, I had just had a baby as we were trying to pass paid Family and Medical Leave with a large coalition of organizations. With my own newborn, the thought of a woman having to go back to work 72 hours after giving birth because she cannot afford to lose their job was unconscionable. We’re only one of two countries in the entire world that doesn’t have something in place for paid Family and Medical Leave. The other country is Papua New Guinea. Here in Colorado, that was an effort for more than a decade before we eventually passed it on the ballot. I’ll never get bored because there’s never a shortage of really messed up things to dig into and try to make better. It can be difficult to always be focusing on what’s wrong and try to make it better, but that’s what drives me.

WHAT’S YOUR VISION, YOUR BIG DREAM FOR THE IMPACT YOU WANT TO MAKE?

My vision is for Good Business Colorado to be well-known, and for people everywhere in the state to know that they have a place with us to make their values real in the world. I want every values-driven small business owner with the alignment of our same values to know that there is a place for them to collectively join forces with other values-driven business owners. 

In the big picture, our vision is a Colorado where businesses, the nonprofit sector, and the government are constantly working together to make a more equitable and sustainable Colorado with shared prosperity for everyone in the state. That’s the big-picture vision we hold. Every legislative session, we work on policies that address one small piece of the puzzle, or in some cases, much bigger pieces of the puzzle. All the little pieces, when put together, can have a tremendous impact on building the Colorado that we believe is possible.

WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?

It sounds strange to say this since we are a policy organization, but I think oftentimes politics gets in the way of policy, whether it’s ego, personality, or something getting in the way of the process. We know that not everyone will be happy with every policy, but it’s important that the people who are directly impacted have a say in it, and even the people who hate it feel heard with their greatest concerns being considered. Making sure that we understand these concerns helps mitigate unintended consequences and negative impacts. 

We’ve had hundreds of years of a system that rewards certain people over others. There’s a great awakening in the injustice that the color of your skin or your zip code, or things beyond anybody’s control, still impact where people end up in life and what opportunities they have. Despite the great awakening around those inequities, it took hundreds of years for us to get this messed up and it’s not going to be undone overnight. It entails people reconciling with the ways in which they’ve profited from the system as it is. That’s a hard thing for people to stomach, especially when there’s an actual solution attached to it that requires giving up privilege or resources.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CAUSE AND/OR THE WORK YOU’RE DOING?

No matter how dire things seem, or how much wrong there is, there are absolutely opportunities for any single person who wants to make the world a better place. Opportunities exist and are waiting to be capitalized on to make systematic level changes. 

There’s also the power of our individual behavior. We do a lot with policy, but we also help good businesses be better. That’s the voluntary business practices that businesses can adopt to be more environmentally friendly or to make their employees more stable and healthy in mind, body, and finances. There’s just so much that can be done. Sometimes the policy is overwhelming, and it’s an uphill battle. But there are always things that we can do as individuals to make the world a better place. I think taking advantage of those opportunities, and really finding community with people who share those values and want to do the same, is one of the most inspiring and best ways to be able to make your values real in the world.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE QUOTE OR WORDS OF INSPIRATION TO SHARE?

This is attributed to an Aboriginal Rights activist from Australia, Lilia Watson. “If you’ve come here to help me, you’re wasting your time, but if you’ve come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” For me, that’s where I’ve landed in grappling with my place in the world. It’s a strong feeling in my belly that I have an obligation to leverage the privilege I inherited. Not that people need to be saved, and not because I have all the answers, but rather because I know I can’t be whole or live my best life until some of these systemic injustices are addressed.

HOW CAN OTHERS SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR CAUSE?

We invite any business owners and sole proprietors with aligning values to join Good Business Colorado. If you are a conscientious consumer, go to our website and look for our membership directory. See if you can spend your money with a business that is not just trying to build its coffers, but really investing its profits back into its employees, the environment, and their communities. Our goal is to build an organization where our membership can provide any product or service in line with our values that anybody in Colorado needs.

At Orapin, we believe those who are working for the greater good should be known, supported, and celebrated. We give purpose-driven organizations that want to do PR the strategy, resources, and support they need to get started so they can increase awareness and maximize their impact. If would like to be featured in INSPIRED IMPACT™, reach out to hello@orapinmarketing.com.