Our commitment to social and environmental responsibility
Young Folks is a marketing agency on a mission to make a difference for people and planet. We put purpose first and use creativity, marketing, and communications to champion change. Responsibility is baked into our business model from the ground up and the impact of our decisions, work and operations is considered at every stage – from carefully vetting the clients we partner with to taking a stance against greenwashing, and creating transparent and ethical marketing communications. We invite you to learn more about how we’re taking responsibility for our social and environmental impact.
We're a certified B Corp
B Corp certification measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact. And achieving B Corp certification confirms that Young Folks is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. We're talking receipts to back up social and environmental responsibility claims.
We're Climate Active
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing Australia today. But it's also an incredible opportunity to finally make progress. Climate Active certification is awarded to businesses and organisations that have credibly reached a state of achieving net zero emissions, otherwise known as carbon neutrality. While we've been carbon neutral since 2019, we decided to undertake the Climate Active certification process as it sends a clear signal that Young Folks is serious about addressing climate change and is committed to sustainability, innovation, and industry leadership.
Protecting and preserving the natural environment
How does a marketing company help the planet? Well, we donate our time, skills and percentage of revenues to initiatives that protect and preserve the natural environment and its inhabitants. We know that wherever our team works, we leave an environmental footprint. So we have put in place an environmental stewardship policy to ensure we limit negative environmental impacts wherever and however we are working. This means our offices are paperless and have robust recycling and composting solutions in place, our website hosting and files servers are carbon neutral. We undertake carbon assessments via Pangolin Associates and purchase verified carbon credits to offset the carbon associated with our operations and delivery of our services.
– Carbon neutral since 1 July 2019
– 1% of revenue donated to 1 Percent For The Planet
– Partnering with environmentally responsible clients
– Office recycling programs
– Paper-free operations
– Carbon neutral web hosting and servers
– Limited travel (virtual meetings where possible)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
As part of our duty to protect and preserve the environment and support the community, we only partner with brands who, like us, put people and planet ahead of profit. All of our new clients are required to share with us how they’re accountable for their social and environmental responsibility by signing a responsibility agreement. By doing this, we use our marketing skills to amplify the impact of brands who are working in alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
We seek to partner with clients with offerings that contribute to the following Sustainble Development Goals:
– Food security and sustainable agriculture
– Responsible production and consumption
– Sustainable cities and settlements
Giving back to community
Giving back has been built into our operations and business model from the start – where our founder Erin donated her time to support community – to the present where we donate our time, skills, and a percentage of revenues to initiatives that give back to the community. We currently commit 5 per cent of our time to supporting charities and not-for-profit organisations pro-bono. We donate 1 per cent of revenue to 1 Percent For The Planet which is passed on to verified charities that are doing work to protect and preserve the natural environment and support local communities.
– 5% of time donated pro-bono
– 1% of revenue donated to 1 Percent For The Planet
– Paid volunteer days for employees
Supporting, nurturing and celebrating our people
We firmly believe that creating physical and psychological safety in the workplace is the bare minimum. And that a workplace where each individual is welcomed, celebrated, and supported creates an environment for both individuals to flourish and achieve excellence for our clients. We value diversity in all its forms and support and celebrate people from all walks of life within Young Folks. We plan our studio schedule around a maximum of six client work hours each day so that our team has time to connect, collaborate and create and aren’t overloaded or burned out. And we utilise an authentic and strengths-based approach to leadership which is supported by monthly one-to-one meetings and clearly defined professional development plans for each team member.
– All team members are locally based
– Member of ACON’s Welcome Here Project
– Investment professional development
– Diversity and inclusion is celebrated
– Flexible hours and hybrid work
– Healthy workstation
Reconciliation
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of all the lands on which we work and pay our respects to the elders past present and emerging. Young Folks operates on Woiworung, Boonwurrung, Wadawurrung and Eora lands – with business conducted across multiple other lands throughout the nation. We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Constitution and to achieve justice, recognition and respect for First Nations people. We see reconciliation as a fundamental responsibility for Young Folks and we are committed to advancing reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
– Support Uluru Statement from the Heart
– Completed Business for Country training
– Commenced our Reconciliation Action Plan
Marketing, but make it responsible
Marketing is powerful. Effective marketing gets information to the masses and can influence attitudes, encourage behavioural change and create positive outcomes. We firmly believe that it is the responsibility of brands and marketers to create marketing campaigns and collateral that look past preconceived notions of gender, age, race, income, sexuality, language, ability and ideology (among other things) and acknowledges and broadly represents the diversity of our communities. We’re actively taking a stance against greenwashing and committed to creating responsible and thoughtful marketing strategies, campaigns, and collateral.
– Commitment to taking a stance against greenwashing
– Conduct training on transparency
– Advocate for inclusivity and diversity in marketing
– Advocate for transparency in marketing
– Advocate for sustainable business practices
Responsibility initiatives in progress
When it comes to social and environmental responsibility, we believe that the work is never done. We are far from perfect. We are a work in progress. So as we grow and learn, we strive to make improvements and implement changes that continually increase our positive impact and decrease negative impacts. We aim to ensure Young Folks is the best it can be for our team, community and planet.
Here are the initiatives we currently have in the works:
– Reconciliation Action Plan
– Impact assessment of suppliers and products
– Seeking a premise with renewable energy
– Improved employee leave policies
Making it happen
As a certified B Corp, we have amended our company constitution to include clauses that make us legally responsible social and environmental responsibility. Young Folks Directors are responsible and accountable for making it happen.