Case Study: Greyston Foundation and Greyston Bakery

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Greyston Foundation and Bakery present a prime example of a thriving hybrid model. In 1982, a Buddhist
monk and former NASA engineer opened the Greyston Bakery in an effort to address poverty in his community. Greyston was built upon an open-hiring model, offering employment to individuals on a first-come, first-served basis, without an interview or background check, regardless of their education, job experience or criminal or drug records.

As the bakery grew, the corporate structure evolved as well. Greyston Bakery is a for profit entity with over $20 million in annual revenues, supplying brownies to Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods, among others. The bakery’s success sustains the charitable work of Greyston Foundation, which includes multiple poverty-eradication initiatives. While the non-profit is directly supported by the revenue from the for-profit, the for-profit benefits as well from its non-profit parent. Greyston’s non-profit social impact commitment has enhanced the bakery’s reputation, creating loyalty with other mission oriented corporations and consumers.

For more information, please visit https://greyston.org/about/

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Next steps

Now that you have an overview of what structures may be most suitable for your social venture, you should seek legal advice to ensure the structure meets all your organization’s needs.

TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation global pro bono legal program, connects social enterprises with leading law firms to provide free legal assistance on issues such as a structuring. In the US alone, TrustLaw supports over 175 social enterprises with free legal assistance.

Apply to join TrustLaw to request free legal advice for your social venture.