Business is a powerful force in our society. It impacts our children, our health, our environment and our social welfare. For that reason, it is not sufficient to measure business by goals of profit, efficiency and market share alone. We must also ask how business contributes to standards of sustainability, justice, and values.

Working Assets, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to political change, set out to create a radically distinct path for social change. It runs a for-profit telephone business with $140 million annual revenue and directs a portion of its revenues to lobby for gun control, to derail policies that hurt the poor, and to promote peaceful alternatives to war, among other causes.

Globalization is often held up as a dream for lifting the world's poor. So far that dream has not materialized, but it's not too late for globalization to work. To a great extent, its destiny lies is the hands of global corporations. Will they introduce equitable practices to benefit ordinary citizens wherever they operate in the globe?

Danny Grossman launched Wild Planet Toys in 1993, and has watched revenues grow 50 percent annually to go along with steadily rising profitability. Despite this dizzying pace, he takes the time to foster an open community, starting with the leadership.