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Monday’s 2024 Impact Report

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Last year brought some huge changes to Monday. In January 2024, I said farewell to my much-loved business partner of seven years, who went on to pursue a new exciting chapter. And while we were updating our legal documents, I reincorporated Monday Creative as a Benefit Corporation. I wanted to formalize our long-standing commitment to being a better employer, with a focus on equitable practices, social good, and the planet—AKA “our number one client”. Building it into our charter documents seemed like the reasonable starting point. 

A requirement of being a Benefit Corporation is documenting and sharing the initiatives and projects that move us closer to our goal each year. It’s something we often do internally as a team—reflect back on what we’re proud of from the year that’s passed. But documenting it here brings a whole new level of accountability.

We use B Lab’s B Impact Assessment as our criteria for progress—it evaluates companies across five key areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. From there, we look at the areas we know we can have an impact—like education, community engagement, better-than-average , which forms the framework below. 

Seeing it all together, I’m proud of the year we’ve had, but I also see dozens of opportunities to grow our impact. Email me if you have any questions or feedback as you read through this year’s report. I’d love to know what you think.

—Amanda Lee Smith, CEO 

GOVERNANCE

  • New Mission: Not only did we revisit our charter documents, we also revised our purpose statement and key messages. Our previous purpose was “to seduce people into the outdoors,” and today it is “Meaningful performance”—the belief that you don’t have to compromise your values or scruples to do world-class creative and produce big, tangible business results. We have shifted our focus to regenerative capitalism, prioritizing projects that are circular, generous and sustainable. 

EMPLOYEES

  • Fair Compensation: We recalibrated our pay bands to reflect current wages and inflation, ensuring equitable compensation and providing raises where we found gaps.
  • Diversity and Inclusion: Five years ago, we designed and implemented new practices to diversify our hiring talent pool. Today, 50% of our team identifies as people of colour, and 75% are women. As always, we remain a women-founded and led organization.
  • Enhanced Wellness Fund: We increased our annual wellness fund to $200 per team member, which they are free to spend on personal health and well-being not covered by our existing health benefits.
  • Bonus Rest Days: To encourage rest and connection with nature, we give the team three additional long weekends throughout the year.
  • Parental Leave Top-up: Since day one, we have offered a top-up for new parents on leave, helping them make the most of their first year with a new child. 
  • Learning and Development: Our team continued to benefit from an annual $1,500 learning and development credit. Additionally, team members celebrating their three-year Monday anniversary were invited to attend SXSW, fostering inspiration and industry connections.

COMMUNITY 

  • Volunteerism: On top of the paid hour of volunteer time available to each employee every month, our team participated in three volunteer shifts at the Union Gospel Mission lunch program this year and did two half-day shifts at UGM’s Christmas hamper store, helping community members select gifts for their families.
  • Event Sponsorship: We proudly sponsored the Eastside 10k Race for the third consecutive year, reinforcing our commitment to sport and community building in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
  • Knowledge Sharing: We expanded our thought leadership through 17 articles on the free Monday Magazine and introduced our new podcast, “My Best Campaign,” sharing insights and experiences with a broader audience.
  • Sustainability Conferences: I attended Trellis’s annual Circularity conference in Chicago, engaging with leaders in product sustainability. In the fall, I joined the Creativity with a Conscience conference in Orange County, collaborating on improved social and environmental business practices. I also attended the FDRA’s Shoe Sustainability and Innovation Summit in Portland, focusing on sustainable advancements in the footwear industry.
  • Donation Matching: We offered donation matches to Gaza relief efforts, amplifying our team’s support for those who have been devastated by the war.
  • Increased Donations: Our annual donations reached 10% of our net profit, supporting organizations far overseas, here in East Vancouver and (literally) our next door neighbours: Doctors Without Borders, the Canadian Red Cross, Big Sisters of BC, Union Gospel Mission, and the Vancouver Writers’ Exchange.
  • Mentorship: For the second year, I served as a volunteer mentor with the Futurist Project, guiding emerging leaders in the outdoor industry through biweekly mentorship calls and capstone project advising.

ENVIRONMENT

  • Flexible Work Arrangements: We reduced our required number of in-office days, decreasing daily commutes and lowering our carbon footprint.
  • Shared Office Space: By partnering with another agency to share our office space (alternating days), we’ve maximized the use of our resources and minimized environmental impact.
  • Sustainable Fashion Advocacy: For the second consecutive year, I had the honour of speaking at the Sustainable Fashion Forum, discussing how marketers can influence consumer behaviour towards sustainable choices. I took the learnings from that session and turned them into a blog post titled “What Will Make Consumers Buy Better?“—outlining five practices for brands aiming to enhance their resale and circular product programs.

CUSTOMERS

  • Debrand Rebranding: We partnered with Debrand, a circular solutions company dedicated to diverting apparel and footwear waste from landfills, to revitalize their brand and amplify their mission.
  • Beni Web Support: We worked with resale aggregator Beni to improve their brand design system and user flow, supporting their mission to drive more shoppers towards second-hand options. 

As we look forward to initiatives in 2025, we’re focusing even more on relationships with sustainable brands and businesses that drive circularity—a large focus of our business development strategy. We’ll be growing our health and wellness fund and formalizing our process for cost-of-living wage increases. I’m currently scheduled to moderate a panel at Circularity 2025, and we’re pursuing more opportunities to educate and promote sustainable practices in our clients’ industries. We’re continuing to volunteer and donate in our East Vancouver community and expanding our financial donations to environmental non-profits. 

We’re so excited to report back on our progress this time next year.