ISBA

 

The Iowa Sustainable Business Alliance (ISBA) is a growing family of Iowa businesses, organizations, social enterprises, and individuals advocating for a restorative, equitable, sustainable economy, which promotes the health and happiness of all people, and maintains an abundant planet.

 

​By harnessing the collective force of small and large businesses, ISBA becomes a powerful tool for representation, advocacy and change, on a state and national level. ISBA will inform and engage the public, policy makers, and the media, illuminating the necessity, opportunity, and benefit of building a sustainable economy.​

 

​​The Iowa Sustainable Business Alliance is incorporated in Iowa as a public-benefit nonprofit corporation, and has applied to the IRS for recognition as a 501(c)(6). Donations to ISBA are tax-deductible, including all or part of membership fees and assessments.​

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​Values

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Sustainability​

The term sustainability means much more than environmentalism, defined as "the capacity to endure." ISBA strives to assist in recovering and revitalizing the old economy, ​creating a new model that is equitable, balanced and well-regulated, sustaining the needs of today and future generations. Our guiding principles use the triple bottom line approach: profit, people, and planet as three equal measures of success.

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Our current economic model has destructive and non-restorative environmental tendencies. We believe Iowa can help lead the nation in environmental protection, transforming policy and practice to better-regulate, as well as create incentives for investing our resources with vision and stewardship.

 

Collaboration

We believe in the power of numbers. By uniting as coherent entity of Iowa businesses, organizations, and individuals who share our principles, we strengthen the force for change. Together, we can demand a fair and just electoral and legislative process, creating prosperous and sustainable structure, policy, and practices that represent and support all economic levels and classes, offer the greatest opportunities, and foster the highest quality of life for everyone.

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​​ISBA provides a neutral platform for communicating with like-minded people to form and share passions, innovations, information and tools for a new age of sustainable business.

 

Education

We seek to inform, educate, and engage in two ways. First, we research and report to our members current policy and upcoming opportunities that specifically affect or involve their business or sector. ​Second, we educate policy makers and the media on the benefits and of creating an economy based on social responsibility, balance of wealth and power, and a fair market and how it benefits all levels of society.

 

Prosperity for All People

ISBA stands for an economy fostering and cultivating the prosperity of all Americans, regardless of economic standing, race, gender, political views, or religion. By empower the engines of our economy - businesses and social enterprises - we tap into the creativity, capabilities and innovation of a diverse population, which becomes imperative to successful market competition on a global scale.

 

Public Protection

It is the proper role of government to be vigilant in protecting consumers, through stronger consumer protection legislation and tough penalties for companies that violate consumer, worker, and environmental protection laws, without eliminating a strong market incentive to innovate or operate efficiently and safely.

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Transparency

ISBA as an organization strives to be structured and managed in an honest, transparent, and collaborative fashion. We will accurately and professionally represent our members. 

 

Integrity
We act with trust, sincerity, and openness. We honestly and directly uphold our values. We are accountable for our own actions, as well as educating others when we recognize their approach as harmful to the well being of others and/or the environment. We respect and value diversity.

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