iilo Benefit Report, Year 1

Our efforts to make a difference

We’re proud to be reporting on the positive impacts our company, team, and clients made in iilo’s first year!

We’re registered as a Benefit Company

iilo Creative Alliance inc. is registered as a benefit company in BC, which means our values are woven into the foundation of our business. We’re committed to amplifying the impacts of progressive organizations and businesses whose missions focus on environmental and social sustainability. As a women-owned and led business, we see our business as a tool for us to provide well-paying work to other women and underrepresented people in the creative services industry.

We’re a Pending B Corp

Our company structure was set up following B Corp standards from the beginning, since our goal was to meet the requirements for us to apply to become a B Corp after our first year in business.

We have met that goal and applied earlier this year, and we’re now a Pending B Corp. That means we’ve submitted our B Corp application and we’re in the growing queue of businesses that believe in being a force for good in the world. With a preliminary self-assessed score of 112, we look forward to joining the B Corp community and learning more about how we can continue to commit to building a better business and amplifying our impacts.

We love the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Our impact efforts align with the United Nations’ global Sustainable Development Goals (goals 5, 8 and 10 are closest to our hearts).

Our impacts & actions

Governance

• To show our commitment to being a force for good, we incorporated as a Benefit Company in BC, which means our success metrics, or key performance indicators (KPIs), are tied to our mission. We think the world would be a better place if all businesses made this commitment.
• Our ownership is 100% female and self-funded (no outside investors), which means we remain nimble and flexible, with full autonomy to do what’s best for our company, team, and clients.

Community

• With 100% of our team located across BC and Alberta, we met our goal of providing quality work opportunities for underrepresented creatives in Canada.
• After our first year in business, our team reported in our annual team survey that working with us allows for them to have a healthy life/work balance, which feels like a success, since we work hard to create a realistic, reliable, and sustainable workflow at iilo.
• We held monthly social “Picnics” to support and nurture our collaborative team and build relationships.
• Because we believe in supporting local business, we choose to bank with local credit unions.

Environment

• With the rest of the world embracing virtual working environments, we reduced the need to travel to and from client offices, which meant we avoided increasing our carbon footprint
• As a virtual-forever company, the direct environmental footprint of our business operations is minimal.
• Because we design for sustainability, we follow sustainable design principles and fold them into our workflow templates.

Customers

• Our clients’ impact areas were split closely down the middle in our first year, with 47% of clients addressing environmental causes and 41% addressing social causes.
• We measured how much revenue was generated from mission-aligned clients, and 90% of our clients led with their mission to make the world a better place.
• We continued our partnership with 1% for the planet, and we exceeded our goal with 4% donated revenue.

We thread our values into all we do

iilo Creative Alliance is committed to addressing social & environmental sustainability and supporting the many dedicated changemakers working locally and across Canada.

Vision

We imagine a world where all creative agencies align their work with meaningful values and provide healthy employment opportunities for underrepresented creatives.

Mission

We help progressive impact businesses and organizations to simplify and amplify so they can rock their world-changing social and environmental initiatives with curiosity and empathy.

Values

• Collaborative & inclusive: We believe we lift ourselves up when we support others.
• Mission-driven: We work with people committed to making the world a better place.
• Community-minded: We contribute to our communities & care deeply about the places where we work & live.
• Trustworthy: We set realistic expectations, take accountability & always deliver our best work.
• Impact-focused: We check our egos at the door & aim for the best solution, regardless of how we get there.
• Curious: We seek to understand and connect to your mission & respect your deep expertise.

We’re just getting started

Being intentional about the impact we want to make in the world through iilo is at the core of who we are. As we enter iilo year 2, we’re expanding our commitments and identifying new key performance indicators that we can report on in the coming years.

Our goals for year 2

• We aim to become a certified B Corp
• Build on supportive events for our team of collaborators by hosting learning opportunities and extending our commitment to ongoing learning
• Maintain our KPI of 100% our team reporting that we helped them maintain their life/work balance
• Aim for all of our clients to report that we helped them amplify their missions with our work together
• Continue our commitment to donating 1% of our profits
• Report that 100% of our clients lead with a mission to make the world a better place

We know more opportunities exist to keep making a difference. Wanna join us in our efforts? Let’s connect! Fill out our form to explore the positive impacts we can make together.