Video: Bart Houlahan
HTML 5 accessible player with share button. This is the player we use on AIGA.org.
Filmed on: October 25, 2008
About this video
With so many companies talking about being green,
sustainable and charitable, how can the public tell the difference
between a good company and just good marketing? Bart Houlahan describes B
Labs’ certification of B Corporations—where B stands for the benefit
created for all stakeholders—and how these companies address social and
environmental issues with the power of capitalism. Encouraging designers
to be “the change we all seek,” Houlahan challenges the audience to
think about how they can bring sustainability to their own businesses.
Speaker bio
Bart Houlahan
is the co-founder of B Lab, helping to create a better world through
business by setting a new corporate standard for social and
environmental performance. B Corporations are purpose-driven and create
benefits for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Previously, he was
CFO, COO and president of AND 1, a basketball footwear, apparel and
entertainment company. As the principal operator of the business,
Houlahan joined AND 1 in its second year, when revenues totaled just
$4M. Over the course of the next 11 years, he helped to finance, operate
and scale the business to $250M in brand revenues with distribution in
85 countries worldwide. AND 1 undertook a leveraged recapitalization in
1999 with TA Associates, and eventually was sold in May 2005, to
American Sporting Goods. Before AND 1, Houlahan was an investment banker
with Stonebridge Associates, BNY Associates and Prudential-Bache
Securities, specifically focused on providing corporate finance and
merger and acquisition services to small-cap businesses ranging in size
from $20M to $500M. Houlahan grew up in Chicago, is a graduate of
Stanford University, and now resides in Devon, Pennsylvania, with his
wife and two daughters.