Ten years after becoming a Certified B Corporation, DOMOTO is reflecting on what it means to build a business where brand leadership, impact and accountability grow together.
This year, DOMOTO marks two significant milestones: 15 years of agency leadership and a decade as a Certified B Corporation. Although it took us five years to officially earn our certification, purpose-driven impact was our blueprint from day one. We knew that meeting B Lab’s rigorous standards would take time—and that the discipline would be worth the wait. Ten years in, we are reflecting on what being a B Corp means to us and how that accountability will shape the decade ahead.
The spark that ignited DOMOTO’s B Corp journey occurred long before becoming a B Corp and even before our company’s founding. In 2008, a fledgling non-profit called B Lab took the stage at the Net Impact North American Conference. Our founder, Drew Domoto, happened to be in the room. What he heard—a vision of a global community dedicated to using business as a force for good—became the catalyst for a new kind of agency. The business plan merged traditional brand development and market leadership with deep sustainability expertise, laying the foundation for what would officially become DOMOTO in 2011.
For us, being a certified B Corp was never a badge to display or a box to check—it was our organizational north star, holding ourselves accountable and showing up for our partners every single day. It shapes the company’s direction.
Celebrating a decade of continuous B Corp certification validates our long-standing commitment as a minority-owned, small business that balances purpose with profit. Simultaneously, it challenges our comfort zone, and motivates us to explore new ways of becoming a better business – even during times where business conditions aren’t ideal. We believe that brands can be catalysts for positive change. B Corporation provides us with both a community and marketplace to pursue this effort surrounded by a community of like-minded organizations.
B Corp certification asks companies to look inward as well as outward. It is not only about what a company believes. It is about how that company governs itself, treats people, serves communities and thinks about long-term impact. It shapes who we work with, the stories we help tell, the standards we hold ourselves to, the systems we use to stay accountable and how we elevate our clients’ impact without sacrificing strategic rigor or creative craft.
In a marketplace increasingly skeptical of vague claims, structure is what gives purpose its power. Over the past decade, the B Corp framework has helped DOMOTO operationalize our mission—turning values into transparent workflows, disciplined client selection and measurable accountability.
“Reaching our 10th anniversary as a Certified B Corp is something we’re proud of, and I hope in some small way we’ve demonstrated that purpose and profit can fuel one another long term. Being a B Corp has helped us hold ourselves accountable as an employer, business partner and change agent, meaning that there is a credible level of transparency, integrity, rigour and human-centric concern our clients can expect from us. Moreover, it’s been amazing to see the growth in the number of B Corps and the extensive reach of the community. We believe the magnitude of growth, matched with the dedication and talents of fellow B Corps will be more important than ever in the years to come.”
— Drew Domoto, Founder & CEO
At DOMOTO, impact isn’t a side project—it is built directly into our engagement model. Sitting at the intersection of brand strategy, technical sustainability reporting and strategic communications, we help organizations navigate complex transformations and communicate with undeniable clarity.
It also means being intentional about the type of work DOMOTO takes on. As outlined in DOMOTO’s mission, we measure progress not only through business growth, but through indicators such as purpose-driven revenue, partnerships with organizations advancing sustainability or inclusive opportunity, and the real-world outcomes its work helps support.
That mindset extends to DOMOTO’s own impact programs as well. Through work such as impact-funded or pro bono support for mission-driven organizations, DOMOTO has continued to invest time, creative resources and strategic thinking into efforts that align with its values. These are not separate from the business—they are part of how we define success.
We measure our progress through real-world outcomes:
The next decade isn’t about shouting louder – but rather something far more difficult: finding common ground to build upon. True impact requires moving beyond communication to foster genuine connection—linking data directly to outcomes, people to action and audiences to the human stories that drive home what is truly at stake. Over the next ten years, our B Corporation mettle will be put to the test. In fact, we foresee that every organization, whether certified or not, will face this exact same trial.
We will all be tasked with answering fundamental questions: Will we take an active, meaningful role in determining our collective future? Are the businesses we build (or will build) designed to truly benefit people, or to succeed at the expense of humanity?
We must reach a universal understanding that climate impacts are financial impacts.The long-term durability and value of every brand will depend on whether we make serious, systemic shifts before hitting points of no return. We believe that B Corporations will have the upper hand, because we’ve always been looking upon a horizon that exists a bit further than all others.
To the clients, collaborators and community partners who have trusted us, challenged us and grown with us over the years—thank you. One decade into our certification and fifteen years into our founding, DOMOTO remains dedicated to proving that purpose and profit are not competing forces. We are still rolling up our sleeves to build brands people love—and building them to last.
