The CO vision is simple - a marketplace in which businesses that have the most impact for good, gain more views, customers, and commercial success.  Watch this 2 minute video, sharing our progress towards that vision. After over 2 decades of work to further sustainability in the fashion sector, I have been shortlisted for a Globant Award, and the next stage depends on your vote - vote here. The deadline for voting is the 27th May 2024.

Vote for Tamsin and the CO Vision

Shifting the dial

For those of us who have been working to impact ESG change in the fashion industry for 1-2 decades or more, the pace of progress is frustrating. When it comes to environmental indicators, including greenhouse gas and biodiversity loss, all the graphs are going the wrong way, with "no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place" (UNEP, 2022). 

Social considerations -  fashion’s impact and potential for people and communities - have seen less focus as climate change mitigation leads the agenda, and the pace of change on social issues from living wage to workers rights is painfully slow.

It is clear that if we want to shift the dial, we need to do things differently.

It is clear that if we want to shift the dial, we need to do things differently. We need to be more strategic as an industry, putting our energy and resources where they matter most, harnessing the power of collaboration and the role of the United Nations, the ultimate global body designed to catalyse change. 

We need to embrace the opportunity that technology presents to drive engagement, incentivise best practice and true collaboration. 

Read how we are shifting the dial with CO in our annual report. 

Find out more about how we are working with the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate responsibility initiative, and join sector leaders in our Fashion Accelerator and peer group circle here.

Video Script:

There are over 10 million social enterprises globally, proving that business done well can transform lives. More than half are led by women, which compares to 1 in 5 for conventional businesses. Yet, less than 2% of VC capital goes to women led start ups. What’s that about??

I’m Tamsin Lejeune. I’m the CEO and founder of Common Objective,  a tech platform that rewards purpose led businesses with higher search rankings and more customers. 

Businesses that have the most impact for good - like Purnaa, working with marginalised women in Nepal,  and Animana,  changing lives for artisans in the Andes,  gain up to 5000% more views and are the most successful on our platform. Isn’t that the way things should be, in business? 

Imagine a world in which commercial success - and VC investment - are linked with best practice, for all businesses,  everywhere. Well, that’s what we’re building next.  We’re working with the UN, harnessing tech and AI to develop a platform on which sustainability becomes a global licence to operate.  This will be transformative for thousands of communities and the environments in which they live.

Winning this award could be a game changer for our vision - and a launch pad for impact on a much larger scale.

Vote for Tamsin and the CO Vision