Thought leaders and professionals from 300+ brands will gather at the corporate purpose event of the year

CALGARY, AB – February  23, 2021 – Benevity, Inc., the leading provider of global corporate purpose software, today announced an all-star lineup of speakers for its Goodness Matters Virtual Conference, taking place March 2-5, 2021. Now in its eighth year, Goodness Matters has consistently grown in importance and attendance to become the premiere event for the latest trends, insights and proven strategies for purpose-driven brands.

The most recent surveys and studies tell us that business is seen as the only institution that is both ethical and competent[i], consumers are four-times more likely to purchase from brands with a strong purpose[ii], and 15 of the 17 S&P 500 that went bankrupt in 2019 scored poorly on ESG five years earlier[iii]. This rise in stakeholder capitalism has led to increased investment in corporate purpose and an evolution of thinking and acting from business leaders and brands who believe that Goodness truly matters.

This year’s conference, themed “Eight,” is attracting thousands of professionals to celebr8 achievements in corporate purpose over the past year, invigor8 attendees with meaningful conversations, ideas and stories, and elev8 purpose to new heights.

Keynote speakers at Goodness Matters 2021 are:

• Ericka Huggins, Human Rights Activist, Poet and Educator with powerful testimony of how to sustain activism from her lived experience as a former Black Panther Party leader.
• Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Author of New York Times best-selling book, I’M JUDGING YOU: The Do-Better Manual, a collection of essays that critiques our fame-obsessed, social media-centric lives, while encouraging us to do better.
• Bryan de Lottinville, Founder and Executive Chairperson of Benevity and Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leader who has helped hundreds of global enterprises reinvent corporate purpose to drive improved social and business outcomes.

Other acclaimed sessions include:

• Albertsons and AFI on Granting in Times of Crisis
• Apple on Managing Ambiguity in a Virtual (Volunteerism) World
• Google on Engaging 100k Employees Globally Through Their Holiday Giving Campaign
• Microsoft on Bringing Customers Into Your CSR Journey and Infusing Purpose Into Your Product
• SAP on How to Pivot Your Employee Engagement Program in the “New” Virtual Normal
• Xylem on People-Driven Purpose

Attendees will also hear from Benevity’s CEO, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Impact Officer, with additional presenters from Atlassian, Ciena, Gibson Energy and TELUS. Further opportunities for peer-to-peer collaboration in Ask Me Anything sessions and Open Space ideation sessions with brands like Adobe, Fiserv, Jacobs, Nintendo and NVIDIA make this year’s Goodness Matters an extraordinary networking and learning opportunity for professionals focused on ESG, Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Impact and Employee and Customer Engagement.

New for 2021, Day One of this trailblazing event will be open to the general public for the first time ever, with the aim to infuse a culture of Goodness into more companies and inspire people everywhere to activate purpose in their workplaces and communities throughout the world. Members of the public can secure their one-day pass using registration code: GMVPurpose. Registration closes Friday, February 26, 2021.

There is a palpable magic about bringing together the most purpose-driven individuals from the most purpose-driven brands at Goodness Matters that inspires and invigorates attendees, bringing them back year after year.

— Sona Khosla, Chief Impact Officer for Benevity

“The deep thinkers, disruptors and self-proclaimed professional troublemakers lined up for this year will help us reconsider how we can use business to successfully address the daunting systemic and global challenges we face as a society,” said Sona Khosla, Chief Impact Officer for Benevity. "And how to harness the passion of the people to help us face it with equal doses of hope and action."

What Past Attendees Have Said About Goodness Matters

Goodness Matters is hands down the best event for CSR professionals to network, learn from each other, and feel empowered to make change happen.

— Christina Pagan, Communications Officer for IMF

“Goodness Matters is an inspiring event that brings together community giving professionals to share and learn from each other and bring more Goodness to our world,” said Renee Glushyk, Senior Advisor, Community Relations & Investment, Nutrien.

“Unlike other industry conferences, Goodness Matters provided me with an opportunity to connect with peers who not only do exactly what I do, but who are also using the same tool, providing takeaways that I can actually implement,” said Stephanie Moe, Community Impact Program Specialist, AAA. “It was a great opportunity to network, brainstorm and share best practices.”

Watch Benevity’s Goodness Matters 2020 Highlights video.

For more information, and to register, visit https://goodnessmatters.benevity.com/. 

About Benevity

Benevity, a certified B Corporation, is the leader in global corporate purpose software, providing the only integrated suite of community investment and employee, customer and nonprofit engagement solutions. A finalist in Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards, many iconic brands rely on Benevity’s cloud solutions to power their purpose in ways that better attract, retain and engage today’s diverse workforce, embed social action into their customer experiences and positively impact their communities. With software that is available in 20 languages, Benevity has processed more than 6 billion dollars in donations and 34 million hours of volunteering time, 275,000 positive actions and awarded one million grants to 300,000 nonprofits worldwide.

Media Contact: Amanda Orr │ Kickstart for Benevity │ 1.323.601.5734 │ press@benevity.com

[i] 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer

[ii] 2020 Zeno Strength of Purpose Study

[iii] BofA Global Research, ESG from A to Z: a global primer. November 8, 2019