Upswing delivers high-impact strategies with actionable plans for companies that want to grow sustainable, inclusive and resilient businesses. Recently, Bend Beauty completed a 5-part training session with the Upswing Team, focused on creating a sustainability strategy with impact. We chatted with their team in celebration of Earth Day to highlight this important work and learn more about their purpose.
Can you tell us more about the work you recently completed with Bend Beauty?
We just wrapped up a five-part sustainability training series with the amazing team at Bend. Our goal was to build the team’s internal capacity to create a long-term sustainability strategy with actionable near-term goals. We worked with Bend to map their value chain, understand their stakeholders, assess their impact and align their strategy with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It’s exciting when we have the opportunity to work with clients like Bend who really understand their values and are ready to take a strategic approach to environmental and social impact.
What are some examples of ways your clients have been able to thrive from a sustainability perspective after working with Upswing?
When we see our clients start to talk about their sustainable business strategy and targets, apply a circular process in their value chain, or produce their first sustainability report we can’t help but feel a sense of pride. But one of the most exciting ways we witness our clients thrive is in the evolution of their thinking. Sustainability is complex and it can be challenging to know the best course of action, with environmental, social and economic trade-offs shaping every business decision. When our clients begin to understand and consider these trade-offs, we know that we have left them with the tools to build future resilience.
What are Upswing’s goals for the future?
Our goal is to become a trusted advisor and thought leader for sustainable business in Atlantic Canada and around the world. We provide strategies and support to businesses who are building sustainability, inclusivity and resilience. Being Halifax-based, we see an immense amount of talent, innovation and passion in the business and non-profit community. We want to ensure that organizations understand how they can thrive in the clean economy. To do that, we meet businesses where they are today and offer tailor-made solutions to help them learn, grow, lead or transform for the future.
What does Earth Day mean to Upswing as an organization?
At Upswing, Earth Day is a time to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past few decades and look ahead at the many challenges that are ahead of us if we are going to avoid runaway climate change. There is so much to do, but we believe in the power of partnership, collaboration and ingenuity to find our path forward together.
