Resources

The Economy of Communion is a way of doing business in which the person, not the profit, comes first. It’s a new way to look at business, where it is no longer a culture of getting but a culture of giving. Companies that practise it compete and earn like any other business, but they treat every relationship, with employees, customers, suppliers, competitors and the surrounding community, as the point of the enterprise rather than a means to it, and they share their profits freely, dividing them between growing the company, helping people in need, and forming a culture of giving. It shows up in how you hire, how competently you do the work, and how you treat someone you have to let go. It is a practice rather than a program.

Anyone. The principles are universal, because they are about how you engage with other people, and they do not depend on your job title, your industry or your beliefs. It belongs to everybody and can start anywhere in an organisation. Whether you are an entry level employee, a manager or the CEO.

No. You don’t have to be a business owner, you can live it as an employee, even at ground level, because it’s a way to relate to others. It works by reciprocity rather than by authority, it can begin from anywhere and does not have to come from the owner at all.

There is no application, no fee and no certification. You begin by practising it, and you connect with others who are doing the same. The informality is deliberate, however there is a growing movement to share stories, experiences, and commitments to live and work in this way. You can learn more here: EoC Common Pact

It began in São Paulo, Brazil, in May 1991. Chiara Lubich, who had founded the Focolare movement in Trent during the bombing of the Second World War, visited the Focolare community in São Paulo and saw members of her own movement living in the favelas that ring the city, what she described as a crown of thorns around the skyscrapers. She asked what was being done for them and was told there was simply not enough to give: charity could not keep pace with the need. Out of that came the proposal that members who were able would start businesses, employ people who had no work, and divide the profits three ways, between the growth of the company, the relief of those in need, and the formation of a culture of giving.

There is real overlap and they are not incompatible: an Economy of Communion company might well find B Corp certification useful, since it carries a public cachet the Economy of Communion does not. But a B Corp is formal and metric-driven, with a fee, a checklist and third-party verification, where the Economy of Communion has no certification at all. The deeper difference is where the good shows up. A B-Corp’s commitment tends to appear at the end of the line, at the product line, or in the profits, while the Economy of Communion shows up from the very beginning, and it shows up through the process.

• Watch and share clips.
• Apply EoC values to your contexts and circumstances.
• Connect with others on Skool.com, where there are clear practical steps and a community of people to help support you.