Walking Our Talk
Our Policies and Procedures for Ethics and Responsibility
Veerless helps clients build sustainable, responsible business value. As we deliver our services, we know it is imperative we “walk our talk” as a values-driven firm. To that end, in 2021, we were proud to become a Certified B Corp and also receive certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise. We are committed to bringing our values to the table in every interaction we have.
Our B Corp certification score and details are fully transparent and available here. We were proud to receive a score of 100.5. Our certifications are based on our mission, values, and code of ethics, as well as a steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and community involvement we strive to achieve every day in our work. Read on to learn more about how we “walk the talk” on ethics and responsibility at Veerless.
Read Our 2023 Impact Report
At Veerless, we don’t just live our values, we report on them transparently. Because we’ll never ask our clients to do something we don’t do ourselves. Read our first annual Impact Report where we detail our work across the 5 areas of the B Impact Assessment and our forward-thinking path for the future.
OUR CODE OF ETHICS
The field of corporate responsibility and sustainability uses a lot of interchangeable terms – responsibility, citizenship, social impact, doing well by doing good. We believe all of these terms ladder up to ethics and integrity. Our company’s focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) consulting means our focus on ethics is not just evident with the clients we serve but in the way we serve their interests. We are committed to maintaining the strongest ethical standards in all we do.
As a professional services firm, we will uphold our code of ethics and make it our business to familiarize ourselves with and adhere to our clients’ ethical codes of conduct as well. We are committed to client confidentiality, technological excellence in dealing with sensitive information or intellectual property, and best practices in client communication to deliver the strongest value for our clients.
For us, those standards level up to four ethical pillars:
CURIOSITY
We will ask difficult questions of ourselves, our clients, and our suppliers. We will foster a culture of curiosity and questioning that digs deep and gets to the bottom of an issue, an impact or a problem. We will never do what is easy at the expense of doing what is right, or ignore the red flags of an issue to drive our bottom line.
INNOVATION
We owe it to our clients to keep our finger on the pulse of what is new and innovative in our industry, and simultaneously the ever-changing expectations of us, our business, and our clients’ businesses. We are committed to continuous learning, benchmarking, and bringing new ideas to the table to continuously improve our performance and our services.
COLLABORATION
We foster a culture of fairness, and we deeply respect our clients, competitors, and collaborators. We will be open with our clients about our value and the ways we price our services. We put the needs of our clients and their impact on society first, honoring that we may need to bring collaborators to the table to ensure we can deliver the best product possible.
AWARENESS
We treat all people with respect, honoring the opportunity to learn and grow in our awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion every day. We acknowledge inherent societal biases and will work diligently to be an anti-racist organization that creates an inclusive environment for all stakeholders.
OUR MISSION
Our work lives at the intersection of financial value creation and non-financial value drivers. No person or organization should have to choose one over the other. We believe understanding the link between ESG (environment, social, governance) factors and business value will make or break a company’s reputation and long-term sustainability. We act as a partner for corporations and investors ready to drive long-term value and build lasting social and environmental impact with best-in-class governance practices.
OUR COMMITMENT
We believe business exists to move society forward. We are dedicated to being a partner for businesses and their leaders to align in driving financial value and societal value.
OTHER POLICIES
Supplier Diversity
We actively work to purchase products and services from businesses whose values match our own, and a part of that commitment is working diligently to purchase from diverse-owned businesses. Though we are a small company with a small supply chain, responsible purchasing still matters. We will utilize local, small, and diverse partners whenever possible, supporting economic development for those who share our values of inclusion, respect, and social good. In 2020, more than 25% of our purchases were made with diverse-owned businesses and more than 41% of our purchases were made with companies who have diverse representation on their Boards of Directors.
We also believe in transparency and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion when we choose partners and subcontractors in our work. When Veerless utilizes subcontractors in our work, we are transparent with our clients on their roles and responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring contractors receive compensation that is commensurate with their experience and benchmarked against hourly and project-based fees in the United States for a high-skilled labor force. When costs related to contractors are passed along to our clients, we include full pricing transparency with both our clients and contractors to ensure all parties are paid fairly and understand our role and theirs in each partnership or transaction. Contractors and consultants with Veerless are always contracted and paid as consultants, and never as a replacement for or savings from full-time exempt employees.
Supplier Code of Conduct and screening
We screen all suppliers based on their ability to showcase their alignment with and shared commitment to our values of ethics, environmental excellence, diversity, inclusion, safety, strong systems and processes.
Our Commitment to Social Impact and Investment
Though we believe strongly that corporations can deeply affect social good, we also know nonprofit organizations and social enterprises are the lifeblood of strong social change around the world. We are committed to donating at least 3% of our profits each year to organizations advancing ESG issues in the social sector.
Our Belief in Ethical Sales & Marketing
Worldwide, many companies invest in ESG and sustainability strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of their businesses as well as people, communities, and the planet. Many companies also recognize ESG and sustainability issues are also consumer attractors and can have a positive effect on any company’s bottom line. Whether in our own marketing and sales process, or processes we develop and assist our clients in developing, we are committed to ensuring social and environmental marketing messages are transparent, honest, and backed by a true commitment from the company. We will never green-wash, pink-wash, or rainbow-wash products or services that do not truly have a social or environmental impact.
We are also committed to marketing ethics as it relates to joint venture partners and subcontractors in our business. We will never market another company’s work or deliverables as our own, and will always ensure credit is given to our partners and contractors with our clients and the public.