A public benefit corporation (PBC) is a type of corporate entity whose charter purpose includes one or more specific "public benefits," in addition to the traditional for-profit goal of maximizing shareholder value. PBC status holds the company legally accountable to its mission and offers a guiding framework through which the company can navigate critical business decisions.
Incorporating as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) codified our strategy to focus on the long-term sustainability of our business and the impact we have on our employees and the publishers, governments, law firms, businesses, and citizens we serve.
We convene regional Advisory Boards to help guide the company toward our charter purpose and ensure that what and how we are building will serve their interests most effectively. These boards include representatives from media companies of all shapes and sizes as well as their counterparts in the government and legal sectors that are key stakeholders in the public notice process.
Organizations advocating for the protection of public notice, like state press associations, can participate in our free Partner Program. We provide the technological muscle to power initiatives like the hosting and design of statewide public notice databases, data-driven insights for advocacy campaigns, and even fiscal sponsorship donation tools.
Column hosts periodic events, from dinners at industry conferences, to in-person retreats in exotic destinations, to the user conference we dream of hosting to bring together stakeholders from all sides of our ecosystem. These events will be open to any and all folks interested in joining the conversation.
To hold the company accountable to our mission, we were honored to appoint Nancy Gibbs to Column’s board as our Public Benefit Director. Nancy was formerly the editor-in-chief of TIME, and she currently serves as the Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
– Nancy Gibbs, Director of Harvard Shorenstein Center & Public Benefit Director of Column