Empowering businesses and communities to thrive
We are a women-owned and operated team of sustainability professionals supporting entrepreneurs and businesses that want to put their workers, their community, and the environment at the forefront without sacrificing their economic success. We do this by offering tailored business consulting, delivering city-sponsored training programs and workshops to the public, and engaging in ecosystem development efforts.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower Arizona’s aspiring entrepreneurs and established businesses to adopt sustainable models and practices, for a more environmentally resilient, socially flourishing, and economically thriving business ecosystem.
Our Vision
We envision an Arizona that is a national leader in sustainable economic development, fostering public benefit and prosperity for all while caring for the environment.
Our Goals
To empower groups and individuals who are often excluded from entrepreneurship and business opportunities
To instill in entrepreneurs and businesses a culture of cooperation that strengthens the local economy
To create fulfilling livelihood opportunities as an alternative to exploitative and precarious work situations that many face
To accelerate the uptake of sustainable business models and practices by start-ups and established businesses
To create a collaborative support network for sustainable business development
Our Commitment to Public Benefit
As a Benefit Corporation, we value transparency and are committed to creating a positive impact on our local community, environment, and economy.
As such, we engage in annual benefit reporting. Our benefit reports are evaluated against the B-Lab Impact Assessment Tool, a comprehensive and rigorous tool available for companies looking to measure their social, environmental and economic impacts. The assessment requires a thorough analysis of the business across five categories: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. We use this third-party assessment tool internally to hold ourselves accountable for creating general public good, and encourage other organizations to do so as well in our consultations.
We invite you to peruse through our Annual Benefit Reports to learn more.
Past Projects
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Sustainable Cooperative Business Training Pilot Program
The team offered an 8-week incubation program for entrepreneurs aspiring to create a sustainable employee-owned beverage (Kombucha) business in spring 2020. The program was offered in a hybrid format, partly in person and partly online (during COVID-19). Overall, eight women entrepreneurs participated in the program. The program included sessions on operational, legal, financial, and marketing content; virtual site visits, role play for cooperative business training, and tailored coaching. At the program’s half-way point, the team transitioned ownership of the sessions to the entrepreneurs, reducing input and offering more assistance and coaching. Overall, the participating entrepreneurs developed beverage products, a start-up budget, operational budget, business plan, and a business pitch. Upon completion of pilot program, an in-depth evaluation was preformed and an evaluative report was completed.
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Sustainable Cooperative Business Training Programs
Following the pilot program, the Thrive team redesigned and expanded the training program based on the evaluation report and on the emerging needs of the community. As a result, the program was expanded to 10-weeks to include more active learning sessions, guest expert lectures, and team building activities. More so, the program was adjusted to allow the entrepreneurial participants the chance to chose the type of food business they wanted to develop in the program. Participants are now introduced to the five primary sectors of the food economy (Production, Processing, Transportation, Outlets, and Waste/ Recycling) and given the freedom to choose which sector they want to focus on. More so, the program has been updated to train up to 25 participants per cohort, which allows for multiple food businesses to be developed in each program.
The program was officially launched in partnership with the City of Phoenix’s Community Economic Development Office in fall of 2021, specifically for Phoenix Veterans.
Thrive is now offering the program in partnership with the City of Phoenix’s Office of Environmental Programs. This partnership launched in January of 2022, with the first cohort running from February to April, and the second from June to August. The program is now offered to all City of Phoenix residents.
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Sustainable Cooperative Business Trainings
The team participated in developing and delivering several, full-day training workshops on sustainable cooperative businesses for aspiring entrepreneurs and support organizations in Phoenix, AZ. In 2018 and 2019, more than 100 local entrepreneurs and representatives from support organizations participated in two trainings on cooperative business structure and operations.
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B-Corp Certification Support
The team is involved in several B-Corp certification processes with local businesses in Arizona. B-Corp certification is the most rigorous assessment scheme for sustainable businesses, including employee-ownership and a full range of sustainable practices.