LOVE YOUR LEGACY | Five secrets of leading businesses that build a better world

‘I learned more from this book than an entire sustainability business strategy course at Harvard Business School. That course at Harvard was awesome. This book is better. Everybody should read this.’ – Matt Deasy, B Corp Leader & Business Sustainability Consultant

What good does your business do? Beyond serving your customers, what value does it create for society? Or our planet? Does it care about justice? Whether you’re part of a ‘mainstream business’, a ‘B Corp’, or a ‘social enterprise’, how effective is your impact strategy? How well is it aligned with your business? Is it financially sustainable? Does it address a root cause or merely paper over the cracks?

In ‘LOVE YOUR LEGACY’, Dr Melanie van de Velde examines the need for businesses to have a beneficial impact on our planet and its inhabitants. The UN sees poverty, climate change and pollution as our key global challenges. 90 percent of global citizens believe that companies should help fix these issues. But research shows that most business leaders lack the knowledge how to best do so. Drawing on her award-winning research, Dr van de Velde unpicks where most impact strategies go wrong. She reveals five key insights into the reasons why some companies like Patagonia achieve far better results with their impact initiatives than others. She provides a practical guide for businesses to create more profitable, robust and effective strategies. For better and longer-lasting results; both globally and locally. To help you build a legacy you can be proud of.

‘There is a growing consensus that business as usual is not an option. This book provides the answers and insights as to how things can and must change.’ – Peter Holbrook CBE, CEO Social Enterprise UK!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR | The 9-year-old Melanie van de Velde was asked what problem she would like to solve when she grew up. Her answer was that she wanted to help people who were living in poverty. At the time, she had yet to see severe deprivation first-hand. But in the years since, she’s travelled extensively. The suffering she’s witnessed has only strengthened the ambition in her childhood. Dr Van de Velde was awarded the Adam Smith Prize for PhD Excellence at the University of Glasgow. Nominated for the prize by Dr Haugh, Research Director at the Centre for Social Innovation at Cambridge University, her thesis was the source of many of the insights found in LOVE YOUR LEGACY. Her other academic achievements include an MBA with Distinction at the Adam Smith Business School, and an MSc in Industrial Engineering. With an unusually diverse CV, Dr Van de Velde has managed Asia Pacific markets at a multi-billion dollar tech company. She’s worked in senior management at IT start-ups. And she’s run an impact business for young women without an education in a Nairobi slum. Big Tree Global Ltd, her consultancy, helps companies to create effective impact strategies. And B Journeys Ltd, of which she’s the founder, is a digital platform directing travel to areas in need of economic development. Raised in a small town in the Netherlands, she now lives with her partner and children in Scotland’s largest city.

• titel: Love your legacy | Five secrets of leading businesses that build a better worldn
• auteur:Melanie van de Velde
• ISBN: 978-1-8383033-4-1
• bestelnummer: 100362-001
• uitvoering: paperback
• omvang: 280 pagina’s

BESTEL | Love you legacy