“Build Back Better” has been a rallying cry in the disaster recovery community for 15 years. What began as an exhortation to construct stronger buildings and roads following hurricanes and earthquakes has grown into a broader mandate: to make commu-nities more resilient by revitalizing local economies while preserv-ing natural resources. President Joe Biden has adopted the phrase, first as a campaign slogan and later as a name for his sweeping eco-nomic and infrastructure agenda.
But building back “better” feels like a vague and woefully inadequate directive. Communities are still confronting the COVID-19 health crisis while also wrestling with an uneven economic resurgence, racial and gender inequities, and the alarming rate of global warming that has led to one weather-related disaster after another. So we asked the Fast Company Impact Council—an invitation-only group of forward-thinking corporate and nonprofit leaders, CEOs, innovators, and founders—to help provide a clearer road map for recovery In a series of conversations, they highlighted achievable changes that could enable institutions and society to emerge from the pandemic as more sustainable, more adaptable, and more inclusive. (Excerpts and additional insights can be found on fastcompany.com.)
Corporations and fast-growth companies are well positioned to lead the charge. They’ve moved from pledging to address racism and sexism in their own ranks—which they’ll admit is still a work in progress-to using corporate power and scale to close opportu-nity gaps that only widened during the pandemic. “Building, fos-tering, and advancing a pipeline of diverse talent and teams is key
