What Our Member Committees Do & How To Join One
At Business For Good, we are all about building relationships.
Whether it’s fostering meaningful connections between our members, or helping to drive progressive public policy in San Diego, we know that forging open, honest partnerships is what makes our organization thrive.
And the best way to ensure that continues to happen is for every Business For Good member (that’s you!) to join a member committee of their choice.
Our five member committees are fundamental to Business For Good’s successful relationship building—with one another, our community leaders, and our policy makers.
Each committee is efficient, informative, and only requires a couple hours of your time per month. Not to mention, joining a committee is also a fantastic opportunity to have fun and connect on a deeper level with other values-aligned local business owners.
Read on to learn about what each of our committees do, and how you can get on one today.
Business Resources Committee
The Business Resources Committee mission: We make sure our local “businesses for good” have the resources they need to operate effectively and without taking on additional debt.
Wins so far and what we’re focusing on going forward: “So far, we’ve looked at various government programs to see the ways we could better involve our small businesses in resource allocation,” said Austin Evans, BFG Board Member and Business Resource Committee member. “And our BFG Socially Responsible Investing Toolkit was also quite helpful for this, and for our members in general.”
Austin was also recently appointed to the City of San Diego’s Small Business Advisory Board in 2021. “There are new members on that board that are really pushing for action to help local businesses more than large corporations,” he said. “I’m really encouraged because it dovetails so nicely with our committee work here at BFG.”
The Business Resource Committee’s goals in 2021 are:
- Finding ways to capitalize on our new progressive local leadership by letting them know what local businesses actually need to survive, especially given the COVID-19 crisis
- Looking at many different ways local businesses don’t have to take on more liability (debt) to be profitable and efficient
- Continuing important partnership and coalition work with the other BFG committees, as business resources are central to all of them
Expected time commitment: 1-2 hours per month. This includes attending committee meetings (as needed), making public comments, and/or attending (virtual or in-person) events that come up a few times a year.
Monthly committee meeting: No regular committee meetings are scheduled at this time. However, our Slack channel is very active with upcoming policy action, agendas, and resources.
How to join the Business Resources Committee: The easiest way is to simply join the #business_resources channel on the Business For Good Slack account and let us know you’re down to join the committee. You can also email us at info@businessforgood.com to request an invitation to our Slack channel if you’re not already on it.
Environmental Health Committee
The Environmental Health Committee mission: We advocate for policies that fight climate change and ensure the long-term health of our San Diego communities.
Wins so far and what we’re focusing on going forward: Environmental Health is BFG’s most active committee. Our collective voices have helped influence myriad progressive local policies on many environmental health fronts.
“Our committee’s goal is two-fold,” said Diolinda Monteiro, BFG Board Member and Environmental Health Committee member. “We work to educate business owners about what steps they can take to minimize waste, and we also let our elected officials know that we believe a healthy environment is crucial to local business success.”
So far, we’ve successfully held our local government officials accountable on a number of fronts, warding off bad policy that is not in the interest of San Diegans’ health, livelihood, or prosperity. This includes our active involvement with the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance, City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan, Community Choice Energy, San Diego Green Building Council, San Diego 350, Climate Action Campaign, and many others.
The Environmental Health Committee’s goals in 2021 are:
- Stay extremely responsive to speaking on behalf of environmental health policies as they arise on the San Diego city and county levels
- Create a comprehensive, strategic BFG Office Sustainability Toolkit that’s easy for all businesses understand and simple to put into practice
- Continue to promote best-in-class environmental health community initiatives, events, workshops, and educational opportunities that help local businesses succeed
Expected time commitment: 1-2 hours per month. This includes attending the bi-monthly committee meetings, making public comments, and/or attending (virtual or in-person) events that come up on a regular basis.
Monthly committee meeting: Starting January 2021, bi-monthly meetings happen on the first Tuesday of the month from 8:30-9:45 am. Register for the meetings here.
How to join the Environmental Health Committee: The easiest way is to simply join the #environmental_health channel on the Business For Good Slack account and let us know you’re down to join the committee. You can also email us at info@businessforgood.com to request an invitation to our Slack channel if you’re not already on it.
Homelessness Committee
The Homelessness Committee mission: We make sure San Diego County commits to an action plan that will solve our housing and homelessness crises.
Wins so far and what we’re focusing on going forward: “I wish I could say Measure A was a win for us, as we worked harder on that than any other policy, and it was the biggest chance we had to make an impact in this region,” said Sam Mazzeo, BFG Homelessness Committee member.
“But short of that, I think a major win for us has been our coalition building and being recognized locally as an organization that can move the needle,” he said. “The BFG Homelessness Toolkit was an incredible accomplishment, too.”
The Homelessness Committee’s goals in 2021 are:
- Hold San Diego County government officials accountable to properly use the $100M in COVID-19 stimulus funding to supply rent relief and eviction-protection efforts
- During the pandemic, the Convention Center was quite successful in housing people and keeping the COVID-19 rate lower there than the general populous. Post-pandemic, we must find a new location to shelter folks and give them access to services long-term.
- Work with the new San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless, which in 2020 was separated into two groups—an advisory board that will guide policy matters, and a nonprofit board that will focus on finances. We’re optimistic that this structural change will allow for a more efficient, action-oriented approach to addressing the homelessness crisis in San Diego County.
Expected time commitment: 1-2 hours per month. This includes attending the monthly meeting, and/or making public comments when needed, attending (virtual or in-person) events that come up a few times a year.
Monthly committee meeting: Second Tuesday of every month from 4:00-4:45pm. Each month, we invite a different regional Homelessness/Housing policy expert to join us. Register for the meetings here.
How to join the Homelessness Committee: The easiest way is to simply join the #housing-homelessness channel on the Business For Good Slack account and let us know you’re down to join the committee. You can also email us at info@businessforgood.com to request an invitation to our Slack channel if you’re not already on it.
Immigration Committee
The Immigration Committee mission: We build relationships with key decision-makers to shape policy that supports our local immigrant and business communities.
Wins so far and what we’re focusing on going forward: “Since immigration legislation is mostly determined at the federal level, we can’t really change a lot in terms of policy at a local level,” said Mikey Knab, BFG Board of Directors Chair. “But what we can do is treat immigrants as dignified humans who belong in, and add significant value to, our bi-national region.” San Diego’s biggest win in 2020 on that front was launching the Welcoming San Diego initiative and establishing our city’s new Office of Immigrant Affairs.
The Immigration Committee’s goals in 2021 are:
- Expanding our meetings with other adjacent organizations to lean into important immigration and inclusion work in our region
- Identifying opportunities to be on the ground helping with immigrants and refugees who are food insecure
- Partnering with and supporting the Welcoming San Diego initiative to help advance the civic, social, and economic integration of immigrants and refugees in our region
Expected committee member time commitment: 1-2 hours per month. This includes committee meetings (as needed), making public comments, and/or attending (virtual or in-person) events that come up a few times a year.
Monthly committee meeting: No regular committee meetings are scheduled at this time.
How to join the Immigration Committee: The easiest way is to simply join the #immigration channel on the Business For Good Slack account and let us know you’re down to join the committee. You can also email us at info@businessforgood.com to request an invitation to our Slack channel if you’re not already on it.
Member Communications Committee
The Member Communications Committee mission: We create consistent, on-brand, high-quality content and digital marketing efforts that grow Business For Good as an organization and expand its reach and impact throughout San Diego County.
Wins so far and what we’re focusing on going forward: “Our Member Communications Committee was just formed in 2020, and we’ve already accomplished so much,” said Sarah Beauchemin, BFG Member Communications Committee member. “We’re extremely proud of everything we’ve done in this short amount of time, especially given the chaos of the pandemic.”
Before the Member Comms Committee existed, Business For Good had virtually no web or social media presence. “While this isn’t uncommon for an all-volunteer organization,” Sarah said, “we were really committed to pulling together to change that. Business For Good has so much to offer local business owners and our communities at large. It deserves a robust web presence that reflects that.”
Our committee’s wins so far include launching our brand new website; posting bi-weekly engaging website articles; sending bi-weekly email newsletters; establishing a social media campaign; and streamlining the process for new member onboarding and general member outreach.
The Member Communications Committee’s goals in 2021 are:
- Continue to generate interesting, relevant content that informs and assists our Business For Good members in growing sustainable, profitable local businesses
- Coordinate a membership drive to grow Business For Good’s member base with even more awesome values-aligned San Diego businesses
- Support the Board of Directors in communicating the organizational goals and objectives to our members in a clear, concise, and efficient manner
Expected committee member time commitment: Varies, depending on how involved you want to be! Generally 2-3 hours per month. This includes attending our monthly meeting, plus any content, marketing, design, or outreach updates/projects you volunteer for.
Monthly committee meeting: First Thursday of every month from 3:00-3:50pm. Email us at info@businessforgood.com for more information.
How to join the Member Communications Committee: Shoot us an email at info@businessforgood.com to let us know you’re down to join the committee and/or request an invitation to our Slack channel if you’re not already on it.
Remember, when you join one of our Business For Good member committees, your level of involvement is totally up to you.
“Joining a BFG committee doesn’t mean you need to be an ‘activist,’ if that’s not really your thing,” Diolinda said. “It simply means that you’re interested in a particular policy area and how it affects San Diego businesses and our communities. Joining a committee is the perfect way to either learn more, or to share your own topical knowledge and experience so that our organization can continue to drive real impact in San Diego.”
