Sustainable Business Network wins Not for Profit award at AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards
The Sustainable Business Network has won the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation - Not for Profit Award at the
2014 AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards, announced at the Langham Hotel, Auckland on 2 October.
Sustainable Business Network (SBN) CEO Rachel Brown says she is thrilled to win the award, which is a welcome
endorsement for her organisation’s dedication to help business succeed through sustainability.
“SBN exists to help businesses play a key role in making New Zealand a model sustainable nation. We believe that all
businesses, large and small, have a role to play and we work individually with members as well through coalitions to
address some of the more challenging issues around water, food, transport, community and resource efficiency,” she says.
Awards evaluator, AUT Senior Lecturer in Management, Dr Irene Ryan, says, “the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) has
boldly reframed its vision in 2013/14, using the tagline ‘reshaping profit’. The objective is to initiate
transformational change by rethinking traditional business models to integrate sustainability at all levels. To do so,
the SBN is working with the UK based non-profit Forum for the Future, adopting its #BIGshift market-led approach to
boosting sustainability outcomes.
“A strong team culture exists at the SBN, with staff members literally ‘walking the talk’ alongside the CEO.
Sustainability and carbon footprints are the ‘hot’ topics of the 21st Century, and the SBN is leading the way as
business responds to those issues,” she says.
AUT University Dean of Business and Law, Professor Geoff Perry says, “the standard of entries in the Awards this year
was excellent. It is heartening to see the wider business sector taking a strong interest in these Awards, which
highlight the important role of business support in our economy.”
The AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards are now into their ninth year and are the only national performance
measure for New Zealand organisations that provide business support. Applications are judged by evaluators from the AUT
Business School and the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.
The Sustainable Business Network was one of 11 category winners, with the Supreme Award going to law firm Minter Ellison
Rudd Watts. A full list of category winners can be found at www.aut.ac.nz/business/ebsa
The Sustainable Business Network provides advice and support to help business succeed through becoming more sustainable.
With approximately 500 members it is the largest organisation of businesses dedicated to sustainability in New Zealand.
-ends-