By: Brian Leslie (CEO) and Joseph Zhang (Director of Equity & Belonging)

At Camber, we believe that equity is not just a principle—it’s a practice. One that must be actively cultivated, measured, and continually renewed.

Since launching our first equity initiative in 2018, we’ve come to understand that doing equity work inside a mission-driven firm means challenging norms at every level: who leads, how we work, who we serve, and how we hold ourselves accountable. Moreover, we’ve never been content with doing only what’s required or following in another organization’s footsteps. As a social impact consulting and field-building firm, we believe that integrity means aligning our internal systems with the equity-centered future we aim to build in the world.

This year, we’re proud to share two important milestones in that journey:

1. Our application for B Corp re-certification, and
2. Completion of Camber’s first full-scale internal equity assessment.

Each of these markers speaks to our values—but more importantly, to our commitments. In tandem, they represent a shift: from intention to accountability, from compliance to transformation.

Our B Corp Re-certification as a Marker of Integrity

This year marks our reapplication for B Corp certification. We became a Certified B Corporation in 2021 because we believed then—as we do now—that business must be a force for good. B Corp provided us with a rigorous, values-aligned framework to assess our impact on governance, workers, clients, communities, and the environment. We were proud to join this community of organizations.

This year, as we submitted our re-certification assessment, we found ourselves asking: what else should we be doing to pursue our vision and values?

For us, this is more than a checkbox or a branding milestone. It is a public reaffirmation of the kind of company we aspire to be—one that aligns its internal values with its external commitments. We see it as a floor, not a ceiling. A shared foundation, not the full blueprint. We know that B Corp is launching its new standards soon, which will include additional measures on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and yet we wanted to go a step further faster.

We work every day with partners striving for systems change. That means we must be willing to examine our own systems with the same level of scrutiny. To ask not just: Are we compliant, but are we equitable? Are we inclusive? Are we building the world we say we believe in—starting with ourselves?

It’s in that spirit that we chose to go further.

What We’re Learning from Our First Internal Equity Assessment

To deepen our accountability, we developed and led Camber’s first comprehensive internal equity assessment. This was not required by B Lab or any external entity. We did it because we believe integrity begins at home—and because we want our values to live not just in our proposals and public statements, but in our internal practices, norms, and everyday experiences.

Our assessment aimed to answer a simple but powerful question: How does equity actually show up at Camber?

This was not a simple survey or compliance exercise. It was a rigorous, intentional process led by our Equity Action Group, guided by a clear purpose: to continue our equity journey and meaningfully examine where we’re making progress and where we’re falling short. We drew on a range of best-in-class frameworks—like the B Lab DEI metrics, Urban Institute’s Advancing Equitable Government 2.0, the PEG Equity Continuum, and Bridgespan’s equity-informed MEL design. Our approach combined:

• A firmwide equity survey with a near-total response rate, and
• A policy and practice “checklist” analysis of our systems across five core organizational dimensions: Leadership, Ways of Working, Culture & Belonging, Learning, and Impact & Influence.

Taken together, the assessment provides a dual lens: one into what’s written and formalized, and another into how those policies are actually felt and experienced.

A Snapshot of the Findings

We were encouraged to see strong scores in Culture & Belonging, where our affinity groups, communities of practice, mentorship structures, and hybrid working model have helped foster a sense of belonging across a geographically dispersed and diverse team. In the words of one Camberian:

“It feels like we have space to be human here—and space to build something better together.”

In addition, Camberians appreciated the transparency built within many of Camber’s policies and practices that affect our people and partners, including our transparent compensation model, professional development system (including promotion processes), and quarterly financial performance results.

At the same time, the assessment surfaced honest and important feedback that calls us to do better. For example:

• Making sure that we consistently bridge the gap between having a policy or practice and how Camberians experience it. It’s a reminder that equity is not just about what we write down—it’s about how people experience the organization and whether our day-to-day culture lives up to our values.
• Continuing our push and development of Equitable Project Design, where we equip all Camberians to pursue our equity commitments not just within our firm, but externally with our clients and partners as we try to build a more restorative and regenerative world.

We’ve already begun acting on these findings and many others, including (1) establishing clearer communication systems for equity work-in-progress, (2) creating a rotational leadership model for staff at the firm, and (3) deepening our investment in equity learning, mentorship, and manager accountability. And in the year ahead, we are committing to:

• More public sharing of our equity journey—successes, challenges, and learnings alike
• Building clearer pathways for underrepresented Camberians to lead
• Connecting our internal equity data more directly to how we define and deliver impact with clients
• Continuing to reflect, iterate, and hold space for complexity

As we grow and evolve, this assessment will serve as a living document—a tool to revisit, refine, and build upon. Equity isn’t static. It must adapt to new contexts, new voices, and new realities. We know that equity isn’t just a program or an initiative—it’s a shift in posture. A commitment to transparency, humility, and transformation. And it must be collective. Not the responsibility of one role or one group, but something we each carry and shape together.

To our team: thank you for your honesty, your partnership, and your trust.

To our clients and partners: thank you for challenging us to live our values inside and out.

To the B Corp community: we’re proud to walk alongside you—and we’re committed to doing the work, not just earning the label.

This work must be intentional. It is iterative. And it is urgent. We’re grateful to be on the path—and we’re not going anywhere.

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