Riverwater Partners Achieves Green Master Status: Leading the Way in Sustainable Business Practices

We’re thrilled to announce that Riverwater Partners has been certified as a Green Master by the Sustainable Business Council’s Green Masters Program® – achieving the highest possible recognition in this prestigious sustainability certification framework.

“This achievement represents more than just an award; it validates our comprehensive commitment to integrating sustainability into every aspect of our business operations and demonstrates our leadership in responsible business practices.” – Cindy Bohlen, CFA, Chief Mindfulness Officer and Director of Responsible Investing

What is the Green Masters Program®?

The Green Masters Program® is a rigorous, third-party certification that helps organizations define, prioritize, measure, and manage their performance across meaningful sustainability topics. Unlike one-size-fits-all frameworks, this program offers a customizable approach that allows companies to focus on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) areas most material to their business and stakeholders.

Specifically, the program evaluates organizations across four key dimensions:

1. Environment. Including energy management, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable transportation, water resources, biodiversity, waste management, materials management, and product circularity
2. Society. Focusing on community impacts and customer welfare
3. Workforce. Addressing employee health and safety, employee experience, and diversity, equity, and inclusion
4. Governance & Leadership. Evaluating ethical governance, sustainable leadership, and supply chain management

The Journey to Green Master Status

Achieving Green Master status isn’t easy – and that’s precisely what makes it meaningful. The certification recognizes organizations that have:

• Earned more than 75% of possible points across all selected material sustainability topics
• Effectively integrated sustainability into business management systems and operational practices
• Implemented best practices across material sustainability areas
• Demonstrated measurable improvement in key ESG performance indicators

As a Green Master, Riverwater Partners has proven that we’ve identified and are effectively managing all material sustainability issues, taking a comprehensive approach that actively leads the transformation to a more sustainable society.

Why This Matters for Our Stakeholders

This certification provides several tangible benefits:

For Our Clients: Third-party validation that our sustainability program meets or exceeds internationally recognized standards, giving you confidence in partnering with a truly responsible organization.

For Our Team: Recognition of the hard work, innovation, and commitment that everyone at Riverwater Partners brings to our sustainability initiatives every day.

For Our Community: Demonstration of our ongoing commitment to creating long-term value without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.

For Our Industry: Leadership and a roadmap showing that comprehensive sustainability integration is both achievable and beneficial for business performance.

What Sets the Green Masters Program Apart

The Green Masters Program® stands out from other sustainability certifications through its:

• Credibility: Built on widely accepted best practices and developed through consultation with subject matter experts, technical experts, and business advisors
• Transparency: Facilitates disclosure of timely, reliable information for stakeholder assessment
• Scalability: Designed to meet organizations where they are while facilitating continuous improvement
• Comprehensive Framework: Addresses the interconnectedness of business, society, and environmental systems
• Focus on Materiality: Allows organizations to concentrate on issues that substantively affect credibility, operational integrity, and stakeholder decisions

Looking Forward: Our Continued Commitment

Achieving Green Master status isn’t a finish line – it’s a milestone in our ongoing journey. We remain committed to:

• Continuously improving our sustainability performance by aiming to reduce our carbon intensity to 10 megatons CO2e per $1 million revenue by 2030, enhancing our proprietary responsible scoring system to capture improvement by portfolio companies, , and continuing our engagement on water stewardship through partnerships with The Water Council’s WAVE certification program
• Sharing our knowledge and experiences through our active participation in UN PRI working groups, Ceres investor networks, and the Sustainable Business Council community, while mentoring emerging sustainable investment professionals through our scholarship and internship program at UW-Milwaukee’s Lubar School of Business
• Innovating our investment approach by refining our three-pillar framework (Due Diligence, Engagement, and Collaboration) to incorporate evolving best practices, expanding our assessment of portfolio companies’ contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals, and developing new engagement strategies that help small- and mid-cap companies improve their sustainability performance without compromising returns
• Transparently communicating our progress and challenges through our annual sustainability reports that detail our carbon footprint, engagement activities, proxy voting records, and portfolio impact metrics, while maintaining our B Corp certification and openly discussing both our successes and areas where we’re still working to improve
• Leading by example by maintaining our commitment to donate employee hours and up to 3-5% of revenue to local communities (262+ volunteer hours and $77,500+ in 2024), participating in collaborative policy advocacy on climate change and plastics pollution with fellow UN PRI signatories, and continually aspiring to demonstrate through our investment performance that responsible investing delivers superior risk-adjusted returns

We’re proud to join the community of Green Master organizations and to work alongside the Sustainable Business Council in advancing sustainable principles and practices through the power of business.

Join Us in Building a Sustainable Future

Whether you’re a client, partner, employee, or community member, we invite you to join us in this commitment to sustainability. Together, we can create meaningful, lasting positive impact.