Season 2 Episode 4: Radical Communication with Christop… — Transcript

Chris Miller of Ben & Jerry’s discusses radical communication and global activism advancing social justice through corporate advocacy.

Key Takeaways

Corporate activism can be integrated into business operations to advance social justice.
Leadership commitment is crucial for sustaining advocacy within a company.
Radical communication may provoke controversy but is necessary for meaningful change.
Partnerships with grassroots movements enhance the impact of corporate campaigns.
Ben & Jerry’s model shows how a brand can maintain profitability while championing progressive causes.

Summary

Chris Miller is Head of Global Activism at Ben & Jerry’s, leading campaigns rooted in progressive values across nine countries.
The role was created about nine years ago to centralize and advance the company’s activism and advocacy work.
Ben & Jerry’s was founded with a strong social mission, pioneering corporate social responsibility from its inception.
Miller’s background includes policy and advocacy work with Bernie Sanders and Greenpeace before joining Ben & Jerry’s.
A key moment was Ben Cohen’s 2015 speech supporting Black Lives Matter and condemning police brutality, sparking internal and external controversy.
The company uses its platform, media budgets, and cultural influence to amplify social justice movements and partner with activists.
Radical communication sometimes causes discomfort but is essential to challenging the status quo and advancing equity.
Ben & Jerry’s activism includes campaigns on GMO labeling, marriage equality, voting rights, systemic racism, and international human rights.
The company balances risks and business success while maintaining a strong commitment to its social mission.
Miller emphasizes ongoing learning, collaboration, and courage in corporate activism.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

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foreign [Music] I am Sable Lomax pronouns are she and her and I'm so so very excited for today's episode what is it it is episode four radical radical communication with Chris Miller from Ben and Jerry just so you all know back when Hannah and I so

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Hannah is our CEO Hannah Naima McCloskey when we were discussing season two and we realized we wanted to have you know we wanted to speak with folks in this space and who do this work at different companies and organizations and we had

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like there's the folks in your network and there's the folks that you know you admire but you don't necessarily know and just so you know Chris Ben and Jerry's was on the admire list for different reasons that we'll get into as

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the episode continues but I want you to know on a personal level I am so excited to have a chance to talk with you today Fearless Futures is as a whole but like I stable the personal human being am

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excited for the opportunity to chat with you so it is Midway through the day Chris before I read your bio how has your day gone thus far you know it's getting better by the minute I'm I'm excited to spend the next little bit of

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time talking about the work we try and do here at Ben Jerry's thank you for those kind words and thanks for for having me awesome so okay let me jump in I would love to say that I have an impeccable

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memory but I do not so for everyone listening and who will be listening later I am indeed going to read Chris's bio so Chris Miller is head of global activism at Ben and Jerry's a unique position within the corporate world

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focused on advancing social justice through the day-to-day operations of an ice cream company he leads a global team across nine countries responsible for development and execution of the company's issue advocacy campaigns that are rooted in its Progressive values Ben

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and Jerry's has a long history of running campaigns on issues as diverse as support for mandatory GMO labeling marriage equality voting rights and the need to address systemic racism and white supremacy so again looking forward to this conversation before I jump in

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head of global activism is just not a title that you hear how did this role come to be you know I stepped into that I was I was the first person to take this job about nine years ago and you

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know as as you know Ben and Jerry's was founded about in 1978 says 44 years ago by these two counter-culture hippies right Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield and you know Ben had dropped out of college and Jerry didn't get accepted at Medical

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School they were great friends and they decided to go into business together and they kind of knew that they liked to hang out together and they like to eat and so they sort of landed on ice cream but you know they they sort of created

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this business model they sort of rode the first wave of what we now would call sort of corporate social responsibility or a triple bottom line approach to business right but but when Ben left to the company nobody owned the the sort of advocacy

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and activism work at the company anymore and you know it sort of resided a bit in the marketing team and a bit with with some of the other members of the social mission team it didn't have a home so

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about nine years ago the then CEO Jose and solheim and the head of the social mission team Rob maholic sort of came up with the idea of hey let's bring someone in who's got some campaign experience to sort of take this work forward and so

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you know my background was in policy and advocacy I had you know started my career working for Bernie Sanders I spent half a dozen years at Greenpeace leading the the climate change campaign in the U.S so my background was in

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policy and advocacy so it is a unique job right there aren't a lot of companies that have people like me you know that that used to work at Greenpeace and hung banners off of coal plants coming into a big you know

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for-profit Global multinational company to kind of do this work so you know it is a unique role and we've now built a whole team of people that that sort of have the similar kind of experience that I have doing this work in as you

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suggested nine countries around the world I mean to hear that not just the discovery of we don't have someone to hold this like this important role that was birthed with Ben and Jerry's no longer has a home that it has

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grown because oftentimes in organizations you know it's a large task and then it's like one or two people who are charged with carrying this task through and it's automatically it's like we need a little bit more human resource

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um than that too to really be able to navigate these issues okay thinking about your background and this could be pre Ben and Jerry so this could be Greenpeace I mean this could be when you were in college Chris but what was kind

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of your like Equity mic drop moment if you will where it kind of like introduced you to this world if you will love there's some language here to inclusion and equity and there's inequities in the world and so forth and

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so forth like if you had to go back what would have been maybe not the first mic drop moment but just one of them potentially stating the obvious uh Sable I am a white man who grew up in the second

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white estate in the in the country right this here in Vermont you know this is an ongoing Journey for me and for my colleagues many of my colleagues at Ben and Jerry's who look a lot like me I am fortunate to have a mother who was

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both Progressive and politically active you know I I have memories of of being eight nine years old and and being a part of Elections and supporting Progressive candidates here in Vermont so I I had a very young and early

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interest in politics I guess you know if I if I were gonna point to a mic drop moment more recently and think about my current role every year at Ben and Jerry's we have a gathering of our franchisees so we have

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I think about 600 scoop shops around the world about 300 in the U.S and every year at least prior to covid we would gather as as of Ben and Jerry's family and at every one of those meetings our

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co-founders Ben and Jerry have an opportunity to address the group and the meeting in January of 2015.

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um had been in the wake of Ferguson Trayvon Martin and this the sort of string of high-profile captured on body cams and social media feeds right killing of black men by police officers and Ben came to that meeting in January and he

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stepped onto the stage when he and Jerry addressed the group in a shirt that said hands up don't shoot and he went on to talk about the values of Ben and Jerry's and and and and and the values of Ben and

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Jerry's rooted in the concept of Justice economic social and racial Justice and that and that if Ben and Jerry's was truly the company that it said that it was and that held these values that it was incumbent upon the company to take a

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stand uh in support of black lives and against police brutality and and the over-militarized policing of America and it was a pretty I'll be honest you know say well at that time you know January 2015 standing in front of a room of mostly

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white people it it didn't it was not without some controversy there were some members of the franchise community that actually got up and walked out of that meeting because they perceived Ben as being anti-cop or but for me and for those of us

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who are charged with doing this work at the company we walked out of that Ballroom that that afternoon and said Ben's absolutely right like if we are This truly this company that fancies itself as furthering the pursuit of Justice

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engaged in these issues and so that started what has been you know now uh seven year kind of Journey on this work and it started with pulling a bunch of people together thought leaders on these issues and and starting what became a

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Learning Journey but but ultimately doing what we do which is using our platform and our privilege and our place within culture and our power and our media budgets to advance the strategies of people who are on the ground and impacted by

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systems and structures that perpetuate racism and so as a long answer to your mic drop moment question no but honestly it was the perfect answer because one of the things that we have admired from afar is how vocal and upfront and

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radical and honest that Ben and Jerry's has been on issues without trying to skirt around the issue um or the topic you know at hand and you know we don't like to put people on pedestals we don't want to put like

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those of us who do this work us at Fearless Futures and other organizations and firms who do this word you never want to put yourself on a pedestal but there is something to be said especially in the corporate space

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to take such a stand in a vocal stand and a loud stance the way that Ben and Grace does and I have this written down because I didn't want to miss quote but you know when I think about the press

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release so this is a couple of years back with silence is not an option where you stayed amongst many things what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is the fruit born of toxic seeds planted on the shores of our

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country in Jamestown in 1619 when the first enslaved men and women arrived on this continent CNN called it extraordinary and I'm sure other news outputs and media companies set the same and when I think about the story you

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just told with the mic drop moment of Ben you know standing in front of all these people having this shirt on and saying what he said and then thinking of the up I mean you've all said numerous statements you know over the years how

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do these statements come to be because there's so much happening in the world on any given day in any given country you know how do you all decide okay we're going to say something about this and then this is what we're going to say

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like what is that process at Ben and Jerry it's interesting right because most companies don't have people like me sitting around talking about you know talking to folks working on these issues and and thinking about how how do we use

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this platform right and I think in that instance we were certainly not alone right we saw what happened with with that officer's knee on on George Floyd the world saw it right and everybody wanted to say something right everybody felt it every

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you know every almost every corporation tried to do something right some turned their you know Facebook icons black or dark right like I think one of the things that we can do at Ben Jerry's is speak truth to power

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we have a platform we we talk to people and Reach people that other advocacy organizations may not necessarily speak to right so we have this place in in popular culture and in the world as you know people for better

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for worse and it's often For Worse corporations have a lot of power and they do and and so when we're at our best we're we're bold we're we're we're using language that is that is real that's authentic and that

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is Unapologetic right I think what you saw in the wake of George Floyd's murder around all these corporations that wanted to say something it wasn't the corporations actually that remained silent that were criticized it was the corporations that tried to say

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something in a way that didn't offend anybody right like the NFL and their statement that didn't even use the word racism right and so I think for us words versus being bold and daring and direct and I think that's what we want to do

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and we may not always get it right but in to your point as a process there's a relatively small team of us at Ben Jerry's that manage this work there's myself and and my you know a colleague of mine who who manages I have this

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Global role my colleague looks after who does handles the kind of U.S advocacy and activism and then we have a core team of people on the marketing team who you know they really own the keys to the communications channels that we use and

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it is this partnership between the marketing team that is the sort of execution piece and the the the folks on my team that sort of manage the the sort of content and and I think you know on a

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piece like that we sit down and start writing it's as you know and you know the thing that we do do is we work with our outside partners and allies to ensure that we are echoing their frames and their messages

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and their policy Solutions so you will you will note that in addition to to you know the statement we call I think in that piece for four specific yeah pieces of policy are one three pieces of policy and one telling stop to uh stopping you

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know Trump stop Fanning the Flames of racism right but I think being very clear about what that was and being clear about the kinds of steps that we could take to address the root causes are important in those Communications

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and then we write it out we share it with our friends to make sure we're not getting something wrong so you know we work closely with the advancement project with color change with the team at NAACP we stay you know Dream

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Defenders we stay connected to a broad network of activists and allies who do this work and and and then we have the trust of the leadership at Ben Jerry's that supports the work and gives us the latitude to do it because the truth is I

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mean let's be honest many people who sit on the leadership team at Ben Jerry's aren't necessarily the issue experts on this they have enough trust in in the team and the partners and the Allies that we work with that you know

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we'll get it right and so you know something like that moves through a pretty quick approval process and we get it up and out and yeah in that instance that was one of the most widely engaged read shared pieces of content

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that the company's ever had which is remarkable and I think says a lot about this time and moment and the role of corporations that it says about anything we wrote but it is fascinating it was something that you said

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um in there about different organizations and companies putting out something but I'll just say delicately walking around that issue and this I mean we're talking about the black lives the re-energizing of the black lives matter movement if you will but there's

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loads of other topics and issues where you know The Silence of companies is heard loudly or the ways in which they go about their messaging what would you say if you had a chance to I'm thinking like you're been in this

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instance only you're Chris where you get to be you get to be you and there's a room full of individuals who obviously don't have your exact role because like we said it is a very unique role but our

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you know they are responsible for Dei and their company and whatever that context might be maybe they're not the global Chief but the messaging what do we respond to the press releases you know content creation things of that

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sort if you had an opportunity to share with them the importance of language and accuracy and precision and boldness when talking about these issues whatever the topic may be what would you say to them to encourage them to if you're going to

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say something let's not go this route we should actually go this route and here's why you know I think the first thing is you can't start from a place of not wanting to offend some people you know these issues are hard right they

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they are deeply rooted and ingrained in our culture in our society in in our government right and and and so we collectively if we are going to make progress on these issues if if we are ultimately going to be successful in

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deconstruct deconstructing these structures that perpetuate systemic racism in society we all have to deal with issues that are uncomfortable we have to be comfortable in this space of uncomfortableness right and so if if we're setting about on this work

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thinking it's not going to be hard or it's it's it's not going to be uncomfortable we're doomed to fail I would I would urge people to embrace this space of uncomfortableness because that's where that's where the progress happens and and I think it's not easy

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and it's not hard and nobody likes their Facebook wall to blow up with people who disagree with you what what we have found and what we know to be true is that when you are real and authentic and you communicate the things that you

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believe that will resonate with people it doesn't mean everyone agrees with you but I will tell you that you know I mean a lot of people look at Ben Jerry's and they say well you guys can do that

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because you're Ben and Jerry's right but if you step back for a second and think about it we're a company that sells ice cream right based in Burlington Vermont you know founded by two hippie dudes it's sort of like

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if we can do it why can't anyone do it I mean at the end of the day there's no magic to why we can do it and others can't the reason we do it is because we set about to do it and so I

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think yeah I think you can't start from a place of not wanting to be inoffensive if you're inoffensive you're likely irrelevant right that's one two you have to build I believe you are most effective if you build relationships with those who are

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impacted by the things that you are talking about and engaging on right so so how do you Center historically marginalized communities and the people that are impacted by these issues in your Communications and in the work that you're doing because

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when when people push back at you the worst place to be is to get it from both sides right which is exactly what happened to the NFL right the people who are actually advocates for racial Justice say that statement is pathetic

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and it doesn't even use the word racism and then on the other hand you have people telling the NFL to shut up and focus on football right so we're fine with the idea that people disagree with us we want to stand with people who are

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Advocates of racial Justice and so if we're bold if we're clear if we are standing in solidarity and and we are aligning ourselves with their messaging and their frames they ultimately will stand with us right and and that's so I think build a

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network of folks outside the four walls of your company who can help keep you honest and focused uh uh and and and then the third bit is just to have a little bit of Courage it's it's it's counterintuitive yeah it's

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counterintuitive to think that if you if you say something that people don't agree with that it'll be all right I mean this company this little ice cream company started in a dilapidated gas station three quarters of a mile from where I'm

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sitting now is now a billion dollar company operating in almost 40 countries right like we've proven that you can be bold and you can be true to the things you believe and still be wildly successful our our biggest customers Walmart we

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sell more ice cream to in Walmart than anywhere else yeah I mean in so many ways we're so mainstream but on the other hand you know we've we've kind of built this Approach at Ben Jerry's I think we because you said and I

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started and you brought it up again in the middle as you were responding this idea of you cannot go into this work or try to respond to something related to this word with the goal that everyone's going to be happy and that's a refrain

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that we hear often because you know at Fearless we do training education it's like but we need something for everyone and we need everyone to be okay we don't want to upset anyone and this idea of being uncomfortable makes the even the

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idea of being uncomfortable makes people extremely uncomfortable and for us as Educators and Consultants it's like well that's where the learning sits when you are uncomfortable and you have to sit within that and really investigate why am I feeling uncomfortable what am I

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navigating here is it power is it my privilege is it my position within you know this particular system and this idea of not wanting to alienate those that we work with but there was something that you brought up into terms

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of like being multinational and Walmart being one of your largest you know clients if you will this idea of not wanting to alienate people and within been injuries but also not wanting to alienate customers that's something that we also hear

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would you say that the response is almost the same in terms of a product-based business saying we don't want to alienate our customer base by speaking up on you know women's rights or lgbtqia plus rights etc etc would you

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say it be the same or slightly nuanced and different I think it's a mistake let me flip it I think as a way to answer your question Ben had this Insight many many years ago and we we still it's a quote we we often

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uh talk about and and Ben's Insight was the strongest bonds that you can create with customers with your consumers is around a shared set of values right and so those are relationships that are much deeper than just a product or service

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right yeah and so yes there may be people who don't like our position on any of the issues that we take but the flip side of that is there are people who deeply love us for it right and that

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those and it goes without saying this is not why we do it this is not why I do the work that I do but I will tell you that that that people who know that we do this work and who support it are much

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more loyal as consumers they don't buy Haagen-Dazs when it's on sale because they support the work that we're doing at Ben and Jerry's right and so so if you are unwilling to take a position because you feel it may offend some

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consumers you're also missing the flip side of that which is creating these incredibly lasting bonds so if you think about other companies that are kind of known for this kind of stuff companies like Patagonia right companies like Lush

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right companies like you know to some degree Nike right and and some of the stuff they've done or even if you want to flip it to the other side of the uh you know the political Spectrum Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby right like

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those are all companies that have built strong successful businesses by telling you what they believe in the world right and so I think it's an Antiquated model and it's old school to suggest that you have to be inoffensive to everybody I I

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think I think that's an old way of thinking and I think citizens and consumers expectations are changing right so you think about what happened last year in Georgia right in the wake of the the 2020 election and the voter suppression laws passed in

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Georgia right and and you saw Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines get pulled right smack dab into the middle of that fight right so these are companies that have committed to Dei inside their company right and you know they're they're doing

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whatever they're doing to promote an advance Equity within their companies and when there is an attack fundamentally on on the rights of people of color in in their home States at first they didn't want to take a position but they ultimately got dragged

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into it right so so for so many companies whether you want to or not there is increasingly going to be pull from outside your company by consumers and campaigners and inside your company by employees to have a point of view on

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the things you say you care about and so I think it's increasingly going to be hard for companies to stay on the sideline on these listening to you say that just now you know I know that it's no shock to you

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and you've probably have heard it before maybe not at Ben and Jerry specifically but you know colleagues former colleagues co-workers just friends in different places this idea of I might really want to take a stance against Injustice so we could be talking

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about um rights for disabled folks for Trans folks like you know whatever it might be there's so much happening right now particularly with trans children in the U.S and then in the last three weeks it seems It's been significant uptick with

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bills in past in Texas or on the floor for voting in Texas and in Jordan not Georgia Florida um so there's always something this idea that okay we want to take a stand and challenge this Injustice we record first

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we recognize that it's Injustice it's not right XYZ but the idea that there's a risk to take I can see and I've heard companies and I will not the actual company but you know folks within it really discussing

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what is this risk and how big like let's assess this you know the damage potentially and what do you say to that and the reason why I'm connecting all these dots because I think about the decision that was made from you all to

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in back in oh my God it's almost been a year July of 2021 to no longer sell your ice cream within you know occupied Palace they're like that's a risk considering the history with Israel and Palestine how do you all weigh that risk does it

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even feel like anything has to be weighed um based on just the values that you all were birthed with and you clearly still uphold it's a complicated question I mean the quick answer is my job is not to think about

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you know selling more ice cream I genuinely believe that when we act in a way that is authentic that's real that's true to our values and that is working with the progressive allies and activists that we work with I think

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everything else sorts itself out when we came I mean we're probably one of the first national corporations to publicly come out in support of the black lives matter movement back in 2016. I will tell you the phone literally rang off

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the hook at our corporate headquarters for three weeks screaming at us saying we're terrorists where you know we hate cops we're cop kill you know right so like as long as you're lined up internally around this is what we do this is not

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necessarily the easiest way to sell ice cream but it's the most impactful way to sell ice cream I think everyone understands that that that's part of of doing this you know so I think now there is an approval process for

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everything we do that runs through the organization right that runs through the chief marketing officer and the CEO and the board for things that are particularly potentially controversial right and it is the CEO's job to to make sure that we

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remain profitable and that we you know you know because at the end of the day if we don't continue to grow the business we don't have the platform that we have right so but but I think you know on the issue that you mentioned I

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think we felt like we had to take that decision in order to align our operations with the things that we believed in the world and that we understood that not everyone would agree and we took the decision and the

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chips fall where they fall and you know I will tell you again you know last year was the biggest year in the company's history we you know we did really well the the brand is strong um we're selling a lot of ice cream and

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you know hopefully you know using our platform to add some value to the world and so I think added to that there's lots of ice cream in the freezer right now thank you you know it's it also is true

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that unfortunately um people stuck at home for long periods of time are stuck at home and ice cream is an affordable Indulgence in a time of you know yes um but but I think you know to your point like if if you let that

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overtake you you will never be authentic and you will never be impactful because you're worried about the Fallout and I think this only works when you can be real and authentic and bold and true to the things you believe and and I think

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if you do that you'll be fine and when I think about the last question this idea of like being almost getting comfortable being uncomfortable not seeking to do this work to appease everyone and to make everyone happy and

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there's this Common Thread that I just keep hearing from you with once you're deeply and firmly rooted in your values you're able to withstand the risks if you will because you know you mentioned with the press release in 2016 that

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phone is off the hook because they're saying you're an anti-cop cop killer I mean all the common phrasing that we hear in framing that we hear when you go for racial Justice or racial equity and then I can imagine and I I know I saw

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this myself with the decision last summer in 2021 being accused of being anti-semite I can imagine when pieces have come out in support of women's rights it's you know just preparing yourself no matter what the stance is and the issue is there is going to be

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some Fallout or fall back um let the chips fall where they fall as you said but if you're rooted in if your roots are firm and strong just like these systems that we're trying to disrupt I mean and unroot if you will

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then you can you can handle that and not that it makes the space more the easy to navigate it's just being prepared for this is not a new bouquet of roses every day my gosh when you're working on these

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pieces these these pieces internally so you and your colleagues I know you said you have one team member who works on U.S stuff I can imagine you have you know based on your team being globally there might be some that you go to for

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like you know a pack or Latin America and so forth what's this collaboration like do you all just start free-flowing in a Google Document is it like I write my draft you send me you're like just what's this process like someone

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typically takes a stab at a first draft on these things uh because of my role it's often me that takes the first draft but it's exactly right we we work through Google Docs I think you know the key is not to have too many cooks in the

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kitchen right like you want to have some some some different perspectives but yeah but you also you can't write by committee right like you you'll never happen and so you know what happens I think at so many companies and Brands is

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first it doesn't start with somebody like me it starts with often somebody either on a marketing team or at a marketing agency right so it starts in a marketing lens which is always a watch out in my mind

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um you know and then it goes through 64 layers of approval that often includes a legal review and and that's not true for us there's a core team typically of I would say three to four people that work

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on a piece like you referenced earlier and that goes up to a couple of members of the leadership team and the CEO for a review more often than not there is very little sort of editing or wordsmithing at that

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level and we're done and you know I mean there's a bit of an info if something's likely to generate some controversy or we think it has the potential to we'll notify the the consumer care line because most of the time they're taking

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calls from people who didn't get enough cookie dough in their ice cream or got too much cookie dough in their ice cream so we give them a heads up we we prepare them for that so there's a little bit of

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internal inform but but keeping that team tight is the key to getting this right tight team connected to Advocates outside the company that can validate we're we're headed in the right direction there was something in there because I

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can definitely see how starting something from marketing um whether it's internal marketing or external marketing um service providers that then Finds Its way into legal the daringness the boldness is usually Stripped Away just by nature of how that

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runs totally the edges the more levels of like approval and and engagement that something like that goes through the more the edges get sort of worn right just because everybody's got a point of view on something and I think

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you know that by starting with somebody who has some you know when I don't pretend to be by any stretch of the imagination an expert on these issues I know people who are but and I I don't mean this in any way disrespectfully of

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my colleagues in marketing I couldn't do this work without them absolutely but they're even further removed from these issues right their their job is to be smart people who sell ice cream and and and so the magic is we use the same

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tools that we use to convince people to buy chocolate fudge brownie we use those same tools and techniques to sell the idea that you know racism is a function of systems and structures not just individuals right and that climate

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change is an existential threat to humanity so that's the idea but but you gotta kind of you want someone who has some issue expertise and is connected to those who really have the expertise to to really be the owner of the of of

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the content and I think you know look there there are they're very strong forces that have an interest in perpetuating the status quo right and so going back to this idea of being in offensive or not wanting to be

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uncomfortable if if you're going to truly be a part of this work it requires upending the status quo and that's going to make some folks uncomfortable angry and uncomfortable that's right yeah but I mean that's the work right I mean we're not we're and so

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I think we have the ability to do an advantage areas and and I don't and it is also hard right I mean it it there are people in the company that like our consumer Caroline or even people who work in our scoop shops who

Speaker A

are sometimes the target of people who disagree with us and that's you know it isn't easy but I think people understand that it's important yeah I and I that thread it just keeps like pulling through this and it's not

Speaker A

even an ID it's I think it's safe to call it a fact or reality that dismantling islamophobia is not an easy fun going process that's full of you know lovely Beach walks and whatever your favorite food might be to eat like

Speaker A

it does require sometimes for you to put on a shield and recognize like what are you fighting for here you're fighting for human rights you're fighting for Humanity that fight might not be literally physical folks just to be

Speaker A

clear here but you know those who wish to uphold that status quo they they are equally standing firm you know and there's something to be said about being prepared for what does it look like to stand up for you know Jewish folks for

Speaker A

Muslim folks disabled folks Muslim disabled folks and so forth and so forth political positions you take them it's something that Ben and Jerry's does and as we have heard from Chris does it boldly and and I'll I'll throw

Speaker A

in there with with pride um honestly Chris it has been a pleasure talking with you I can hear your your passion your dedication but you know all throughout it's like these are clearly not just Ben and Jerry's values the you

Speaker A

can hear that these are yours as well and it shows up in the work that you do foreign [Music]

Topics:Ben & Jerry'sChris Millercorporate activismsocial justiceradical communicationprogressive valuesBlack Lives Matterequityadvocacy campaignsFearless Futures

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of Head of Global Activism at Ben & Jerry’s?

The Head of Global Activism leads a global team to develop and execute advocacy campaigns rooted in Ben & Jerry’s progressive values, focusing on social justice issues across multiple countries.

How did Ben & Jerry’s become involved in social justice activism?

Founded by socially conscious entrepreneurs, Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of corporate social responsibility, which evolved into formal activism roles to ensure the company actively advances causes like racial justice and environmental issues.

What was significant about the 2015 speech by Ben Cohen at the franchise meeting?

Ben Cohen publicly supported Black Lives Matter and condemned police brutality, which was controversial among some franchisees but marked a pivotal moment in affirming the company’s commitment to racial and social justice.

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