Mike Brady: Greyston Bakery's CEO on Hiring the Unemployable

Next Economy Now highlights the leaders who are taking a regenerative, bio-regional, equitable, transparent, and whole-systems approach to using business as a force for good. 

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In this episode of Next Economy Now, Ryan Honeyman, a Partner at LIFT Economy, interviews Mike Brady, President and CEO at Greyston Bakery.

Mike is building on Greyston’s thirty year heritage as a model for social enterprise. He served on the Board of Directors of the Greyston Foundation before being named President of the Bakery in January 2012. Mike’s passion for social entrepreneurism and the use of business to solve social issues are fundamental to his work at Greyston Bakery.

Prior to joining Greyston, Mike launched the first incubator in the country dedicated to organic food production and distribution. He spent over 20 years in strategy and executive management positions identifying and exploiting new business opportunities in high-growth and transitional industries.

Mike is also a business advisor to the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and is on an Advisory Council with the Urban Institute helping to promote policies for a more sustainable economy. Mike received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business and lives in New York City with his wife and sons.

In this interview, Ryan and Mike discuss a number of topics, including:

  • Greyston’s Open Hiring program

  • The suite of services needed to break the generational cycle of poverty

  • Greyston’s partnerships with Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods

  • Mike’s former career in internet startups

  • The book he most often gives as a gift

  • The thought leaders Mike looks to for inspiration

  • Why Greyston’s “Blondie” brownie might change your life

  • And much more

 


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Ryan Honeyman is a Partner at LIFT Economy and author of The B Corp Handbook: How to Use Business as a Force for Good (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). LIFT Economy is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to create, model, and share a locally self-reliant economy that works for the benefit of all life. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @honeymanconsult or email him ryan@lifteconomy.com.