Business for Good awarded Honorable Mention for Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas

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The sixth annual Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas awards honor the products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are driving change and tackling issues from climate change to inequality.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Business for Good was among the announced winners of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards, honoring clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises.

BFG was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Impact Investing category, which recognizes pioneering teams that are playing an important role in the betterment of the world through intentional philanthropy. The prestigious recognition from Fast Company aligns with BFG’s purpose of building better businesses, stronger communities, and a more equitable world.

“This award is a testament to the mission of Business for Good,” said co-founder Ed Mitzen. “The even more exciting piece of this is we are just getting started! The origin of BFG is grounded in our approach of giving without expecting anything in return. My wife Lisa and I and the entire BFG team believes this is a stance more companies should have in order to encourage accessibility, equity and sustainability.”

Now in its sixth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 39 winners, 350 finalists, and more than 600 honorable mentions. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,997 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice, and more. The 2022 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Switzerland to Hong Kong to Australia.

“We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges,” says David Lidsky, interim editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”

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About the World Changing Ideas Award

World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.

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About Business for Good™

With values rooted in equity, access, opportunity, and prosperity, Business for Good has advanced the model of traditional venture philanthropy to Do Good and Give Back to communities in the Greater Capital Region of Albany. Formed in 2020, BFG seeks to give back to move forward and is rooted in the core principle of “for good, not gain.” Its efforts were recognized on a national level with a 2022 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Honorable Mention, which recognizes pioneering teams that are playing an important role in the betterment of the world through intentional philanthropy. Comprised of a mission-focused team, Business for Good™ believes no challenge is insurmountable through hard and thoughtful work. With a goal to provide businesses and organizations with sustained support, BFG invests in people for the long term and in every way. Business for Good: building better businesses, stronger communities, and a more equitable world. To learn more, visit www.bfg.org
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Business for Good announces partnership with the Albany Black Chamber

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Business for Good, the new owner of the University Club at 141 Washington Ave., has a new partner and tenant: the newly-formed Albany Black Chamber.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]PRESS RELEASE – It’s a partnership founded on a strong, mutual mission: build, sustain, and promote Black and Latino-owned businesses in Albany and beyond. The new organization unites the UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce, founded by Anthony Gaddy, and the Capital District Black Chamber of Commerce, founded by Corey Ellis – a 501c3 public charity that will become the charitable arm of the new chamber. A $350,000 donation from Business for Good will help the Albany Black Chamber expand its reach and hire staff.

“We purchased the University Club to help elevate Black and Minority-Owned businesses in Downtown Albany,” said Ed Mitzen, co-founder of Business for Good. “The Albany Black Chamber will move in first and have a permanent home there.”

“A chamber of commerce is an integral part of the economic development of a community,” said Jahkeen Hoke, CEO of Business for Good. “Albany needs an institution that caters to its Black, Latino and other underserved entrepreneurs and the business community. The Albany Black Chamber, affiliated with U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., will be a resource for local individuals and companies, as well as firms considering Albany as a place to do business.”

“The city I was born and raised in lacks real economic opportunities for people of color,” added Corey Ellis. “The Albany Black Chamber will connect individuals with the resources they need for their businesses to grow.”

“Black and Latino entrepreneurship has been overlooked in Albany and beyond for too long, imperiling the overall success of our region,” said Anthony Gaddy. “We can change that. The Chamber brings to its members:  advocacy; access to capital; assistance with contracts that will help grow their businesses; training; and leverage, due to our affiliation with the U.S. Black Chambers. There’s a lot of talk about community development in our region, but it is economic development that turns neighborhoods around. I am optimistic and I am passionate because I believe it can happen here.”[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

About the University Club

Founded in 1901 to promote social intercourse among its members by providing reading and assembly rooms, the purpose of the club was to cultivate and maintain university spirit in the city of Albany. Club leadership commissioned the construction of the building at 141 Washington Ave. in 1924 following a fire at the club’s previous location. It opened in May 1925.

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About The Business for Good Foundation™

With values rooted in equity, access, opportunity, and prosperity, BFG has advanced the model of traditional venture philanthropy to Do Good and Give Back to communities in the Greater Capital Region of Albany. The foundation, formed in 2020, seeks to give back to move forward and is rooted in the core principle of “for good, not gain.” Comprised of a mission-focused team, The Business for Good Foundation™ believes no challenge is insurmountable through hard and thoughtful work. With a goal to provide businesses and organizations with sustained support, BFG invests in people for the long term and in every way. Business for Good: building better businesses, stronger communities, and a more equitable world.
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