Cofounder, global B Corporation movement
Jay Coen Gilbert is cofounder of the global B Corporation movement with more than 10,000 companies across 105 countries leading the way to a better way of doing business. B Corps legally redefine corporate purpose to care not only about generating profits for shareholders but also about fostering wellbeing for workers, communities, and the natural world on which all life depends. To extend the reach of the B Corp model, Jay cofounded Imperative 21, a global network building narrative power for a just economy. By catalyzing breakthrough storytelling like the RESET campaign and the podcast season “Capitalism” from Scene on Radio, Imperative 21 opens cultural space for aligned yet hesitant leaders to reimagine and redesign a political economy that is designed for interdependence, invests for justice, and accounts for all stakeholders. Along with his B Lab cofounders, Jay is the recipient of the UMKC Entrepreneur of the Year Award, as well as the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the McNulty Prize at the Aspen Institute, where he is a Henry Crown Fellow. Since 2016, Jay has been called into antiracism work, prioritizing his own learning and UNlearning while co-convening multiracial and white caucus spaces, including White Men for Racial Justice (WMRJ), a BIPOC-accountable peer-led community of practice for White men to develop the skills and commitment to dismantle the culture and systems of power that separate us from each other and harm us all, including White men. Prior to co-founding B Lab, Jay co-founded AND 1, a global basketball footwear, apparel, and entertainment company, and subject of documentaries on Netflix and ESPN. Jay also worked for McKinsey & Co, as well as organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors. Jay grew up in New York City and while he graduated from Stanford University with a degree in East Asian Studies, his most rewarding educational experience was co-teaching a class for a dozen years about the role of business in society at Westtown School, a 200-year-old Quaker institution. Between AND 1 and B Lab, Jay enjoyed a sabbatical in Australia, New Zealand, and Monteverde, Costa Rica with his yogini wife Randi and two children, Dex and Ria, now 26 and 24. Jay and Randi live in Berwyn, PA.
