Auteur : Emmanuelle Aoustin
Seedlings, a mission-driven organization
Seedlings is a “Mission-Native” organization. From the very beginning of the creation of Seedlings, we imagined a modeling and learning organization, a lab of what we support and wish to see happen to our clients.
Can businesses still think about their legitimacy independently of their contribution to the world? With the French status of “mission company” attached to Seedlings, our goal is to put at the heart of our project the resolution of the social and environmental challenges of the 21st century, and actively contribute to the common good. The mission-driven business model encourages us to take a fresh and radical look at the very foundations and structuring of the business: our governance, the definition of our offering, the Seedlings business model, and our stakeholders engagement.
Concretely, the status of “mission company” as defined by French law is a voluntary approach and requires:
- the disclosure of the Raison d’Être which specifies the long-term collective project, as well as objectives that translate it into commitments
- a Mission Committee to drive the mission
- a third-party verification of our company-specific project (not a label or certification)
- adding the status into the articles of incorporation, to perpetuate the mission over time
Our mission
The systemic crisis we are facing - at the same time a climatic, ecological and societal one, calls for a radical change of direction. Businesses have the power to meet the challenge of transitioning to a regenerative economy. To succeed in this complex transformation, a new inspiring, courageous and unifying leadership needs to emerge. Organizations are rethinking their purpose and their value creation, reinventing their business models and cultures, and transforming the impact on their ecosystems.
The purpose of Seedlings is to support the profound transformation of leaders, their teams and their organizations to fully engage in the transition to a regenerative economy.
The 5 social and environmental objectives that we set ourselves to pursue as part of our activity are:
- To encourage a radical and urgent change of direction of organizations towards regenerative models,
- To promote a systemic approach inspired by living systems, which places humans at the center,
- To put organizations in motion through concrete actions,
- To collaborate with stakeholders in our ecosystem to amplify and accelerate the movement towards a regenerative economy,
- To cultivate sobriety, minimize the socio-ecological impact of our actions and adopt best-practice governance and ways of doing.
Our Mission Committee
It is with great pride and gratitude that the Seedlings Mission Committee met for the first time in November 2023. Warm welcome to our 6 members who have accepted this role alongside us.
The Mission Committee is responsible for monitoring the execution of our mission. It inspires and challenges us on our “mission journey” and makes sure the voices of our stakeholders are heard.
On the agenda for the coming months:
- Get to know each other and team up
- Learn how Seedlings works and what the offer is
- Get up to speed with the “mission company” model and the roles and functioning of the Mission Committee
- Challenge the operational objectives
- Prepare the 1st mission report
- Select the independent third-party organization to verify the mission
Our systemic commitment
We have joined the French “Community of mission-driven companies”(Communauté des Entreprises à Mission) which brings together managers, researchers, experts, shareholders, and employees, to share experiences and know-how, to collectively enrich the model, and to mobilize, convince, and support its deployment in France and its influence in Europe.
We are also Ambassadors of the “Community of Mission-driven Companies” for the Nouvelle Aquitaine region in France. Our role: to connect Mission-driven companies at local level, to create inspiring regional events and encourage the exchange of good practices.