Joseph Kenner Calls Upon Business Leaders at World Economic Forum to Adopt Open Hiring After Winning Social Innovators of the Year Award

YONKERS, NY—Joseph Kenner, CEO and President of Greyston, took the stage at Davos as one of the Social Innovators of the Year 2023 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, to discuss the need for companies to embrace Open Hiring® to fulfill the dramatically changing labor market. Open Hiring® battles the current labor shortage by offering work on a first-come, first-hired basis, with no interviews, background checks, or resumes.

Per the US Chamber of Commerce, transportation, accommodation, and food sectors are amongst the industries with the highest numbers of job openings. As Greyston has proved over the years, these industries are ripe for embracing Open Hiring®. “The pandemic revealed the deep structural inequalities in society, and it has become increasingly clear that traditional hiring practices are not working for many people. This recognition highlights the need to change how hiring is done, and it comes at a time when the world is facing a growing need to disrupt the employment process,” says Joseph Kenner. Greyston’s recognition as a Social Innovator of the Year 2023 is a testament to the impact that the Open Hiring model can have on individuals, communities, and society.

Employing the practice at their bakery, which is well known for the brownies used in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Greyston has pioneered Open Hiring® since its inception. “We are honored to be recognized by the Schwab Foundation for our approach to creating opportunities for those whom traditional hiring practices may have left behind,” said Andrew Yearley, Greyston Board Chair. “The people who come through our doors through Open Hiring are making a world-class product enjoyed worldwide through Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.”

Greyston has shown that the Open Hiring® model can give employers access to a labor force that is willing and able to work, grow, and propel companies forward – they just need to be given the chance – especially in a rapidly changing economic environment.

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About The Schwab Foundation’s Social Innovation Awards

Since its foundation in 1998, The Schwab Foundation has acknowledged social innovators as a new kind of leader – values-driven, inclusive, entrepreneurial individuals who develop sustainable new models across businesses, social development and environmental initiatives. The Schwab Foundation’s 2023 Awards seeks to honor social change leaders, across a diversity of social innovation models in society in four different award categories: Social Entrepreneurs, Corporate Social Intrapreneurs, Public Social Intrapreneurs, Collective Social Innovation Award. For more information on the award categories and nominations, please visit www.schwabfound.org.

About Greyston

Greyston is a hybrid social enterprise comprised of New York States first registered B-Corp, Greyston Bakery and a non-profit foundation, the Greyston Foundation. In 2020, Greyston announced a 10-year vision to provide employment opportunities to at least 40,000 of the ten million Americans facing barriers to employment by scaling and replicating the “Open Hiring” model in businesses across the U.S. Since announcing their vision, Greyston has begun work with several organizations including The Body Shop, Ikea, and Bonduelle. To learn more, please visit https://greyston.org.

For more information, please contact:

Elkin Hoyos
Greyston
21 Park Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10703
914-376-3900
elkinh@greyston.org