Our Work with Greyston...

A video explanation of the Greyston story with colleagues Dion Drew and Sunitha Malieckal

When we first started working with Greyston a few years back, its history was rich and its story powerful. Greyston is New York's first registered benefit corporation, a hybrid social enterprise, and a world-class bakery. Pioneers of the Open Hiring™ practice invented in 1982, Greyston had taken this idea from Bernie Glassman, an engineer turned Buddhist Zen master, and developed a close relationship with Ben & Jerry’s. So close that Greyston now bakes 35,000 lbs. of brownies every day to go into iconic ice cream flavors like Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

The idea was radical and simple. Everyone who wants a job should have the opportunity to experience the dignity of work, no questions asked.

I take great pride and pleasure in helping lead the transformation of Greyston from being a fabulous but niche brownie company in Yonkers to a global thought leader in human capital management.  We now describe Open Hiring™ as “investing to bring people in rather than spending to keep people out.”  Around that core brand proposition, we’ve helped design the Center for Open Hiring at Greyston, a collaborative and experiential learning space for early adopters, and recently framed the Greyston 35^th Anniversary Gala as a celebration of “business innovation and social inclusion,” honoring Ben and Jerry.  Mental frameworks are not enough to change the world, but how we think often expands or narrows our sense of what is possible – and contributes enormously to brand value and marketing power.

As captured in “Greyston Social Enterprise--Using Inclusion to Generate Profits and Social Justice,” the case for Open Hiring™ is now more compelling than ever. My year-end podcast with Leading Good, in collaboration with the Social Enterprise Alliance, also captures the essence of Open Hiring and its scalability.

Embedded links and images on this page provide some examples of the external facing work we have done in collaboration with Greyston to help envision, shape, design and set in motion its next 35-years. In addition to myriad presentations on Open Hiring™ and purpose-driven companies, our work also includes:

• Designing strategic partnerships with Conscious Capitalism, Beneficial State Bank, Conscious Company Media, NYU Center for Sustainable Business at The Stern School, CleanCraft, and The Impact Finance Center;
• Securing, planning, conducting and post-production of video interviews with Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, Jostein Solheim, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s and Kat Taylor, Co-CEO of Beneficial State Bank; and
• Crafting a first-person narrative video of baker Dion Drew's story, using existing footage.

For more information please see Greyston’s new website or contact Jonathan J. Halperin either at Greyston (914-376-3900 x-224) or at Designing Our Future (301-951-0229).

Selected Presentations and Events

    
Jonathan J. Halperin keynotes at the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit
Leaders, change agents and entrepreneurs from the business, academic, nonprofit and government sectors gather at the Fourth Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit

Hosted by the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit
and the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University
(Cleveland, Ohio,  June 14-16, 2017)
Selected Media Coverage: Global Forum Wrap-Up by Chris Laszlo (Humanity's Team, July 19, 2017)

 
"Smart on Crime" Innovations Conference at John Jay College
(New York, NY, October 10-11, 2017)

Plenary Presentation: Greyston Bakery and Open Hiring
Jonathan J. Halperin gives Plenary Presentation at PRME Regional Meeting Agenda
College of Business and Economics, University of Guelph
(Guelph, Ontario October 19, 2017)

 
Business Doing Good--Jonathan Halperin "Open Hiring at Greyston Bakery and Beyond"
Conference Call sponsored by Good Cities
(October 19, 2017)

  
The Impact of Diversity, Inclusion & Equity in the Workplace
Jonathan J. Halperin joins a panel to offer insights on what being an inclusive company means, why it matters and what you can do to bring diversity to your organization.
(Washington, DC, May 15, 2017)

Selected Articles and Interviews

In this webinar Transform Finance Investor Network presents the Open Hiring model pioneered by Greyston (famous for supplying brownies to Unilever's Ben & Jerry's) over the last 35 years. We will hear from Jonathan Halperin, Head of External Affairs; and Mike Brady, Greyston CEO. Greyston is now looking to fund a new initiative to make Open Hiring a universal practice and support other companies in its adoption.

Rod Arnold hosts Jonathan Halperin, Head of External Affairs for Greyston. Greyston has been changing lives for 35 years through radical inclusion. A pioneering social enterprise, Greyston practices Open Hiring™ – providing jobs to individuals who face barriers to employment – in its world-class bakery and supports its employees and community members with a range of community programs. (December 23, 2017)

Capitol Pressroom, WCNY, New York, NY
Jonathan J. Halperin
(August, 1, 2017)

Once convicted criminals served their time in prison, another kind of sentence starts when many can’t find work after their sentence. Governor Cuomo’s Work for Success Employer Pledge encourages employers to hire those once considered unhireable. According to the administration, “moving these individuals into the workforce helps keep New Yorkers safe.” If the Greyston bakery in Yonkers is any indication, the program works. Greyston provides all the brownies for the ice cream made by Ben & Jerry’s. They have employed something called “Open Hiring” for the last 30 years. Jonathan J. Halperin, the head of External Affairs at Greyston shared the story.

Greyston Social Enterprise--Using Inclusion to Generate Profits and Social Justice
The Successful and Achievable Open Hiring Model
Today is the day we each need to decide: Do we want a society that is more inclusive or more exclusive?
That is the question asked and answered by this small bakery with a great, big mission.
April 25, 2017, BtheChange
(Mike Brady, Chief Executive Officer & Jonathan J. Halperin, Head of External Affairs)

 
The Sustainability Trajectory
(Jonathan J. Halperin, May 13, 2014)
Transitioning to expanded role as “engine for change” in sustainability, environment, and energy funding,
The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation invites external thought leaders to blog on their website.

Selected Media Coverage

Ben & Jerry's Supplier Greyston Bakery is Earning Brownie Points for Their Open-Hiring Policy
The Yonkers business plans to export its open-hiring practice across the US.
'Open Hiring has bottom line benefits'
Jonathan Halperin in Westchester Magazine, October 2017

How Hiring the Formerly Incarcerated Helps Rebuild Lives--and Communities
The Crime Report, October 11, 2017

This New York Bakery Thrives by Hiring Anyone Who Wants to Work, No Questions Asked.
Jonathan J. Halperin quoted in Entrepreneur (August 18, 2017)

Brownie-Makers Wanted, No Application Needed
Urging leaders to take risks and think big at Weatherhead School
Jonathan J. Halperin quoted in beyond (June 21, 2017)