Before COP30, Belém do Pará is preparing for the Encounter+B, the regional meeting of the B Movement, which will host 90 speakers representatives of the Triple Impact from 12 countries. There are already 600 registered people from companies, organizations, communities, and civil society.
Under the motto “The root of the future”, the Encounter+B Amazônia 2025 will take place between September 3 and 5 in the city of Belém do Pará, Brazil.
Among the 90 speakers, the co-founders of B Lab, Jay Coen-Gilbert and Bart Houlahan, stand out, as well as those from B Movement: Pedro Tarak, Maria Emilia Correa, Juan Pablo Larenas, and Gonzalo Muñoz, in addition to other important Triple Impact references in Latin America.
In this regional meeting of the B Movement, the sixth edition of the Encounter+B will feature talks, panels, workshops, and experiences to inspire and generate connections with the purpose of continuing to drive the transition towards a new economic system that places the well-being of people and the planet at the center of its decisions.
Some of the voices that will be present include Ronald Sistek, Executive Director of Organizational Coherence; Angela Pinhati, Chief Sustainability Officer of Natura (B Corporation); Maria Claudia Villabom Pontes, General Manager Brazil and Latin America of Weleda (B Corporation); and Paulo Boneff, Global Leader of Organizational Development, Diversity, and Social Responsibility at Gerdau (B Corporation).
The participation of the B Movement
With the participation of 600 people from 14 countries on the continent – business leaders, communities, allied organizations, and citizens – the event has a systemic approach that goes beyond companies, involving actors from areas such as the public sector, academia, and NGOs. Developed in two languages, Portuguese and Spanish, it will take place at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and tickets can be purchased at encuentrob.sistemab.org.
“We are very excited to see each other again. The Amazon is a key territory for the future of the planet and from Latin America, there are many experiences that provide solutions to global challenges. The Encounter+B will mark a milestone on the road to COP30 and is a great opportunity to send a message to world leaders”, said Francisco Murray, Executive Director of International B Movement.
This year, the Global B Movement is marked by the new standards of B Lab, which propose more demanding and ambitious requirements for B Corporations. Among the main changes, it establishes comprehensive impact management as a prerequisite for certification.
This means having high performance standards in seven Impact Themes: Stakeholder Governance and Purpose; Climate Action; Human Rights; Fair Labor; Circularity and Environmental Management; Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and Governmental Affairs and Collective Action.
In this way, the B Movement for the first day of the Encounter+B will focus on the concept of “Raising the Bar”, with cases of B Corporations that enhance their impact, workshops on the new standards and the seven impact areas, as well as conversations to reflect on leadership and new paradigms.
Among the innovation actors, the Economic Innovation Hub stands out, who promote and make visible the urgency of creating meeting spaces for joint learning oriented to action and foster alliances between education, companies, the public sector, and the social sector.
On the second day, under the motto “Activating the Future”, the focus will be on collective action and collaboration, both among companies and with other sectors. Thus, B Corporations and organizations such as Instituto Oyá, IDRC (International Development Research Centre), PINE (Introduction to New Economies Platform), Ciudades+B, RITA (Regional Impact Trade Alliance), Global Compact, Instituto Juma, among others, will share cases and testimonies.
“We believe that incorporating the commitment to the Latin American environment in major debates allows us to visualize and enhance solutions that are already yielding results in local communities”, says Joaquín Basanta, from the Argentine B Corporation Agro Sustentable.
The third day, “Living the Amazon”, will be an invitation to go out into the territory and experience the Amazon firsthand. Different activities are proposed, such as visits to communities, companies, cooperatives, and farming families, as well as artistic proposals and discussions.
“Natura, the first publicly traded company to obtain the B Corporation certification, has been operating in the Amazon for 25 years in a partnership that benefits more than 10,000 families and helps preserve 2.2 million hectares of forest. Being at the Encounter+B is a reaffirmation of this relationship as proof that socio-bioeconomics is the key to regenerative development of people, nature, and businesses,” states Angela Pinhati, sustainability director of Natura.
B Movement is a regional organization working to build a new inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system. It promotes companies as main agents of change, using the power of the market to contribute to the common good.
To this end, it provides tools and supports the certification of B Corporations, which have high socio-environmental performance standards. Worldwide, there are over 10,000 B Corporations in 102 countries. In Latin America, there are 1,310, of which 270 are of Argentine origin.
Since 2016, the Encounter+B has already been held in cities in Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. In its last edition, in 2023, it brought together more than 850 people from 27 countries in Monterrey, Mexico, including representatives from B Lab Global, B Corporations, impact investors, and social leaders.
Who are the Argentine speakers?
Pedro Tarak, co-founder of B Movement, will participate in the panel “Roots of Care: Leaders Sustaining the Future”, along with Jay Coen-Gilbert, Co-founder of B Lab, and Mam’etu Muagilè, Priestess of Candomblé Angola at IBAMCA. He will also converse with Javier Landazuri, from the Peruvian B Corporation Textil del Valle, from his role as a promoter of RITA (Regional Impact Trade Alliance) in the session “RITA & Textil del Valle: Developing Territories”.
Francisco Murray, Executive Director of International B Movement, will be part of the panel “B Lab Standards: Raising the Bar – Systemic Transformation and New Impact Models”, along with Bart Houlahan, co-founder of B Lab. Victor Mochkofsky, Co-director of PINE, will participate in the panel “Enabling Ecosystems: 10 years of collaboration between IDRC and B Movement”, and Melisa Diaz Acuña, from Nodos Argentina, will be part of the session “Knowledge and Education for the Triple Impact”.
Additionally, leaders of Argentine B Corporations will share their cases and experiences to inspire others. Nicolás Lusardi, Founding Partner of Cook Master, will do so in the main
