Les Szabo is Chief Strategy & Impact Officer at Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling natural brand of soap in North America. He joined Dr. Bronner’s in 2013. In his current role, Les guides company-wide strategic planning and leads initiatives that strengthen organizational capabilities and drive sustainable growth. He oversees four core functions: Organizational Planning & Project Management, Philanthropy, International Markets, and E-Commerce. Les also serves on Dr. Bronner’s Board of Directors.
Previously, Les served as Director and later Vice President of Constructive Capital and oversaw Dr. Bronner’s charitable giving, impact investments, and strategic support for mission-aligned nonprofits and social enterprises.
Les is also the Board Chair of the Purpose Pledge, a global initiative focused on driving measurable impact by aligning stakeholders, capital, and purpose-driven companies. The Purpose Pledge establishes clear, rigorous criteria for what it means to lead with purpose—moving beyond single-issue approaches to offer a holistic, accountable framework that enables companies to operationalize purpose as a core strategic driver of long-term value.
His work is informed by over twenty years of experience working in the natural products and apparel industries. Les was a co-founder of the brands Living Harvest, Dunderdon, and Infinity Sport. Les lives in Portland, Oregon.
What inspired the creation of the Purpose Pledge, and how did your work at Dr. Bronner’s influence its development? What made you lead this industry initiative?
The Purpose Pledge emerged from a shared recognition that many companies articulate purpose, but too few embed it into the decisions that shape real outcomes. Nowhere is this gap more visible—or more consequential—than in food, agriculture, and ocean-based supply chains. These industries sit at the center of overlapping crises: climate instability, supply chain fragility, systemic inequity, and declining consumer trust. Incremental change is no longer sufficient.
The initiative was incubated within Dr. Bronner’s in 2023, drawing on decades of experience embedding mission into governance, supply chains, and ownership structures. Decades of experience at Dr. Bronner’s demonstrated both what is possible when purpose is embedded into governance, resource allocation, and sourcing—and the limits of acting alone.
In 2024, leaders from Dr. Bronner’s, LIFT Economy, and One Step Closer came together with the conviction that purpose must move from aspiration to action, and from isolated company efforts to scaled impact and collective accountability. The framework was then refined through collaborative design and a 2025 pilot year with participating companies and allied support organizations. The Purpose Pledge is designed to remove obstacles, accelerate solutions, and enable companies to do this work together in this decisive decade.
How do you define “purpose-led business” in the context of the Purpose Pledge, and how does that differ from ESG or traditional CSR approaches?
A purpose-led business is one that puts purpose at the center of its governance, strategy, and operations, holding itself accountable to all stakeholders—not just shareholders. Purpose is not a statement of values or a reporting exercise—it carries authority at the board level and shapes how a company sets strategy, invests, and makes decisions at the highest and most foundational levels.
This approach differs fundamentally from ESG or CSR. ESG frameworks often focus on disclosure and risk mitigation, while CSR initiatives tend to sit at the margins of operations. The Purpose Pledge embeds purpose directly into governance, operations, and supply webs through its 10 Commitments. Companies are accountable for being in right relationship with all stakeholders—customers, coworkers, suppliers, communities, capital providers, and the Earth—and for demonstrating progress publicly and over time.
The Purpose Pledge is distinct in three core ways:
- Rigor, depth and integration across ten commitments: The Pledge spans ten ecological and social impact areas, intentionally designed to reinforce one another. Progress in one commitment often advances another—for example, investments in regenerative agriculture directly contribute to climate action targets.
- Radical accountability and transparency: Companies do not simply list certifications or policies. They publish board-approved, multi-year Commitment Plans and report progress publicly, enabling stakeholders to track action over time.
- An ecosystem of support and shared learning: The Purpose Pledge brings together Companies, Commitment Catalysts, Capital Providers, and Policy Partners in a shared learning and action-oriented community. This ecosystem accelerates implementation, supports continuous improvement, and enables pre-competitive collaboration at a systems level.
Can you walk us through how the 10 Purpose Pledge commitments were chosen, and why these specific areas (e.g., fair pay, climate action, circularity) are foundational?
The 10 Commitments were developed through a collaborative process initiated in fall 2023 and refined through working groups of companies, allied support organizations, and stakeholder interviews. They were finalized ahead of the 2025 pilot launch, informed by real operational experience and practical constraints. The commitments were collaboratively updated again based on shared learning during the pilot year.
Conceptually, the Commitments define what it means to operate a purpose-led business in practice. They focus on the areas where companies have the greatest ability—and responsibility—to shape outcomes for people and the planet: governance, product integrity, supply web standards, compensation, livelihoods, inclusion, community engagement, climate action, circularity, and capability building. Together, they form an integrated framework. Weakness in any one area inevitably creates extraction elsewhere in the system.
The Purpose Pledge positions itself as a “community of practice.” What role does peer accountability and collaboration play in ensuring progress among member companies? How are you building an ecosystem for regenerative business?
Peer accountability is central to the Purpose Pledge. We are not a certifying body; we are a collaborative learning community. Companies commit publicly to the same 10 Commitments and hold themselves—and one another—accountable for progress.
Each company develops and publishes a 3-year Commitment Plan, reports annually, and participates in shared problem-solving with peers and Commitment Catalysts. This transparency builds trust, while the community structure accelerates learning and collective impact, and reduces duplication of effort.
Progress is driven not by passing an assessment, but by sustained participation in a living ecosystem of shared standards, shared learning, and shared responsibility.
What are some early lessons or challenges that pilot companies have shared about aligning operations with the Purpose Pledge commitments?
Early pilot experience has shown that aligning operations with purpose often exposes gaps in governance, measurement systems, and supply web visibility. Establishing credible baselines—particularly for wages, climate impact, and certified sourcing—requires investment, coordination, and patience.
One of the clearest lessons has been the importance of board-level engagement. Requiring majority board approval of both the Purpose Pledge and each Commitment Plan ensures that purpose carries real authority.
Pilot companies have also emphasized the value of the ecosystem itself: shared learning, technical support from Commitment Catalysts, and peer exchange have been essential in navigating complexity and maintaining momentum.
So how many companies have joined?
We have 16 companies, and additional companies are working on their commitment plans and will be joining soon – some may join before Expo and others soon after. The list of companies is on the purpose pledge website.
Some critics say certifications like B Corp can be inconsistent. How does the Purpose Pledge address or complement existing standards to build trust with consumers and stakeholders?
The Purpose Pledge is not a certification program and does not operate like B Corp or other standards. It is a learning community where companies embed purpose at the board level, integrate it into strategy, operations, and decision-making, and transparently measure progress through actionable commitments.
Eligibility requires meaningful third-party certifications, many of which are managed by organizations active within the Purpose Pledge ecosystem, but the focus is not on holding credentials. Instead, companies develop detailed action plans, share progress publicly, and learn from peers and Commitment Catalysts about how to drive real impact across all 10 Commitments. Trust is built through transparency, shared learning, and visible, measurable outcomes over time.
What tools or accountability mechanisms are in place to track and publicly report progress on these commitments over time?
Accountability is built into the structure of the Purpose Pledge. Each company develops a publicly available 3-year Commitment Plan outlining measurable actions across all 10 Commitments. Companies operate on a 9-year achievement horizon, completing three, 3-year cycles of planning, reporting, and renewal.
Plans must be approved by both the company’s board and the Purpose Pledge board. Companies report annually, submit relevant data and verifications, and work with Purpose Pledge and Commitment Catalysts to validate progress. All plans and progress updates are shared transparently via the Purpose Pledge website, allowing stakeholders and peers to track outcomes over time.
While the initial community is rooted in natural products, do you see the Purpose Pledge model expanding into other industries? If so, how?
The Purpose Pledge is currently focused on land-and ocean-supplied companies because these industries sit at the center of today’s most urgent ecological and social challenges—and because we believe this is where solutions can be most impactful and replicable. This includes food, personal care, supplements, and apparel companies.
Over time, we expect the model to evolve through deeper collaboration, pre-competitive initiatives, supply chain development, and aligned policy advocacy. While the framework remains grounded in food and agricultural supply chains, the underlying principles—right relationship, stakeholder accountability, and embedded governance—are broadly applicable.
How do you envision the Purpose Pledge influencing the broader transition toward a more equitable economic systems?
The Purpose Pledge advances stakeholder economics by making it concrete and measurable. Rather than abstract commitments to balance or serve stakeholders, Purpose Pledge defines what fair and balanced stakeholder relationships look like in practice.
By aligning governance, operations, capital, and policy around long-term stakeholder well-being, the Pledge helps normalize a different economic logic—one grounded in ecological limits, mutual benefit, and shared prosperity across stakeholders and communities. Over time, this approach can influence market expectations, capital flows, and policy frameworks, supporting a broader transition toward more equitable and regenerative economic systems.
How and when can a company join the Purpose Pledge?
Companies interested in joining Purpose Pledge can do so on a rolling basis. Interested companies should go to our website, purposepledge.org.
What are the next steps – what else are you working on?
Near-term priorities focus on a strong launch – translating pilot-year learning into durable systems for shared learning, mutual accountability, and collective action. This includes supporting companies as they develop, publish and implement their first Commitment Plans.
Looking ahead, the Purpose Pledge will evolve through expanded participation, pre-competitive initiatives, supply chain investment, development of the Purpose Fund, and coordinated policy advocacy. As the community grows, the Purpose Pledge itself will continue to evolve—guided by shared learning and a collective commitment to restoring right relationship between business, people, and the Earth.
Thanks for your time, and thank you for the work you’re doing!
INTERVIEW by Christian Sarkar