Pioneers in Responsible Business Movement, ebbf, Launch - Mindful People, Meaningful Work - a Community Platform to Inspire and Empower People Everywhere, Whatever Their Work

NIJMEGEN, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ebbf (www.ebbf.org) the European Bahá’í Business Forum, a spiritually inspired, international NGO representing people across more than 60 countries, launches mindful people, meaningful work a community platform to inspire and empower people everywhere – whatever their work may be.

“You don’t have to be the CEO to create positive change at work. We all have the potential, regardless of our role, to apply moral leadership”

ebbf members from all over the world gathered for the Annual Conference in The Netherlands. While they paused to celebrate the pioneering insights into business ethics George Starcher and the other fifteen founding members had in Chamonix, France back in the spring of 1990, they wasted no time in rolling out the next big idea.

“In 1990 the terms 'responsible business' and 'sustainability' were very new. During these past two decades, ebbf along with other NGOs around the globe have focused their efforts on encouraging business leaders to develop the skills and tools with which to lead their organisations in more responsible and sustainable directions," said co-founder and President of the ebbf, George Starcher. “Today, ebbf is celebrating its 20th anniversary convinced that global awareness about the critical importance of responsible business is now much greater.”

At the heart of mindful people, meaningful work lies the fact that almost all of us perform work in some capacity each day and by promoting and applying ethical values, personal virtues and moral leadership, we can contribute to a prosperous, sustainable and just civilisation.

“You don’t have to be the CEO to create positive change at work. We all have the potential, regardless of our role, to apply moral leadership,” explained ebbf Director General, Daniel Truran. “For some of us, this may mean setting up a new business or NGO which goes beyond just making money, and for others it may mean simple daily gestures positively affecting the environment in our workplaces.”

Along with a four day program of inspiring keynotes, informative workshops, interactive break-out sessions, and the ebbf AGM, a new brand identity and community platform was launched to encourage, and indeed create a special place for conversation, dialogue and capacity and community building. The mindful people, meaningful work campaign, featuring people who are taking mindful steps toward meaningful work, was also premiered at the annual conference.

“We are living in times where each of us can contribute to advancing civilisation and make an impact just by doing something small at work each day, something that becomes second nature without any additional effort required,” expressed the ebbf Communications Tribe. “ebbf’s mindful people, meaningful work brand repositioning was a natural response to the paradigm shift taking place in workplaces large and small and along value and supply chains around the globe.”

The ebbf Communications team, or "Tribe," as they have self-branded, have worked together over the past two years on the current strategy and are a good example of the type of community building which takes place within the global ebbf network. Comprised of communication professionals and entrepreneurs from several countries, and with diverse spiritual beliefs, they have backgrounds in brand strategy, identity, advertising, art direction, design, digital development, corporate communication, marketing, public relations, copywriting, CSR and social media.

To experience the mindful people, meaningful work platform. Enjoy a glimpse of the ebbf Annual Conference www.makingitmeaningful.org

ABOUT ebbf

The European Bahá’í Business Forum is a spiritually inspired, non-profit organisation of individuals across more than 60 countries contributing to a prosperous, sustainable and just civilisation by promoting and applying ethical values, personal virtues and moral leadership in their workplaces. The ebbf community endeavors to inspire and empower people whatever their work may be with its mindful people, meaningful work community platform which offers capacity building, practical tools and a global community of like-minded individuals.

ABOUT GEORGE STARCHER

Co-founder and President of the ebbf, George Starcher is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School. He was a Director and Senior Partner at McKinsey and Co. international management consultants in Paris and Milan and subsequently created his own consulting enterprise. George is a frequent public speaker and author of a number of publications on such topics as CSR, business ethics, entrepreneurship, socially responsible enterprises and a new paradigm of work. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the European Centre for Continuing Education (CEDEP) since 1972.

ABOUT DANIEL TRURAN

Daniel is passionate about connecting individuals to their integrity, creativity and ethics. He believes in inspiring them into action by linking them to other like-minded doers and to their ideas. He demonstrates through innovative enterprises how ethical behaviour in business is directly linked to success. And he promotes the evolution towards a world that will be organised, act and behave as one country where the creativity and diversity of its citizens will enhance the wellbeing and prosperity of humankind. Following a career as Logistics and Marketing Director at Exel plc. working in London, Sydney, Johannesburg and Milan. Daniel Truran is currently Director General of the European Baha’i Business Forum (ebbf), Visiting Professor and Tutor on Social Entrepreneurship at Instituto Empresa Business School, and at the EOI Business school, and a founding member of the Hub Madrid.

ABOUT THE ebbf COMMUNICATIONS TRIBE

With diverse spiritual beliefs and professional backgrounds across the entire communication mix, the ebbf ‘Comms Tribe’ is currently composed of Paul Hughes, Strategic Director, Lava Graphic Design, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Lava team developed the new ebbf brand identity and was recently named European Design Agency of the Year – 2010. Sjoerd Luteyn, Oscar Mendez Rosa and Pieter van Osch founders and partners of Refresh Interactive, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, working with Enrico Giraudi, Director of Business Development for JWT in Milan, Italy, Judy Hines, founder of Judy Hines, London, UK and Tammara Anderton, co-founder Anderton&Boyd, Zurich, Switzerland developed the mindful people, meaningful work brand campaign and new digital community platform. Mika Korhonen, member of the ebbf board and a product development professional within the mobile sector, served as the ebbf Tribe Scrum Master.