Junto 2013: Local Business Leaders Gather to Discuss How to Impact the Community
October 2, 2013 Category: Purpose, UncategorizedBeth Filla, owner of Yogawood in Collingswood, N.J., addresses the participants at the Junto.
The 2013 Junto came to a close last Friday after two days of activities and discussions, featuring business leaders such as Martin Brown, co-owner of Little Baby’s Ice Cream, and Rachel Zimmerman, executive director of the arts nonprofit InLiquid.
The Junto took place at the Friends Meeting House in Old City from Thursday, Sept. 26 to Wedensday, Sept. 27.
Following the example of Benjamin Franklin’s own 18th century version of the “junto,” the event focused on how businesses can improve themselves while also contributing to Philadelphia as a whole.
Geoff DiMasi, principal at the web design firm P’unk Ave., organized the event and led a number of the activities.
Zach Seward reported on the Junto and DiMasi’s intentions for it in a post for Newsworks:
Junto attendees spanned a range of industries — from urban planning to web design to ice cream-making. They heard talks and participated in exercises that probed identity and goal setting, among other things. It ranged from the touchy-feely to the practical.
The common bond for those gathered, DiMasi said, was an affinity for “ideas like ‘for profit, for good’ or ‘not-just-for-profit’ business models.”
It comes as momentum is building around Philadelphia as a hub for social entrepreneurship. But DiMasi wants to broaden that conversation to businesses not explicitly built around fixing societal ills. “Businesses can operate every day in a way that actually makes the community a better place,” he said.
Read the full story here.
(Photo via Newsworks/Kevin Monko)