A purpose-led business is one that puts purpose at the center of its governance, strategy, and operations, holding itself accountable to all stakeholders—not just shareholders. Purpose is not a marketing claim or aspirational statement; it is embedded in board-level decisions, operational practices, and supply chain relationships, and measured through clear, verifiable metrics.

Within the Purpose Pledge framework, a purpose-led business:

• Governs with purpose: Board-approved commitments guide strategic, financial, and operational decisions.

• Measures impact: Progress is tracked across all ten commitments, with transparent reporting and third-party verification where appropriate.

• Learns and adapts: The business iterates based on peer learning, stakeholder feedback, and evolving environmental and social conditions.

• Centers right relationship: Decisions prioritize long-term wellbeing of workers, suppliers, communities, customers, capital providers, and natural systems.

This approach goes beyond ESG disclosure or traditional CSR by making purpose the driver of all business choices, ensuring that action, accountability, and systemic impact are inseparable from the company's core operations.

The Purpose Pledge advances systemic change through three mutually reinforcing levers:

1. Pledge

A community of land- and ocean-supplied companies committed to purpose-driven governance, practices, and continuous improvement. Progress is measured through clear metrics and verified against rigorous ecological and social standards. Allied support organizations-called Commitment Catalysts-partner with companies to accelerate achievement of the ten commitments.

2. Fund

An investment facility that supports early-stage companies with terms prioritizing long-term purpose governance, while enabling later-stage firms to provide exits for investors. This structure allows companies to scale impact without succumbing to short-term return pressures.

3. Policy

Catalyzing bold public policy that supports purpose-led business models, advances stakeholder capitalism, and centers environmental and social wellbeing.

Through these levers, the Pledge moves companies from isolated efforts to system-wide impact, aligning business decisions with the health of people, communities, and the planet.

The Purpose Pledge operates as an ecosystem of support, designed to support execution, shared learning and accountability:

• The Purpose Pledge Organization: The backbone entity coordinating commitments, community, capital, and policy engagement.

• Companies: Companies pledging the ten commitments and supporting peers.

• Commitment Catalysts: Allied support organizations providing technical assistance, verification, and guidance on achieving commitments.

• Capital Providers: Investors and funders, led by the Purpose Fund, providing aligned, non-extractive capital.

• Policy Makers & Regulators: Partners helping advance policies that reinforce purpose-led business systems.

The Purpose Pledge is distinct in three core ways:

• Rigor, depth and integration across ten commitments: The Pledge spans ten ecological and social impact areas, intentionally designed to reinforce one another. Progress in one commitment often advances another-for example, investments in regenerative agriculture directly contribute to climate action targets.

• Radical accountability and transparency: Companies do not simply list certifications or policies. They publish board-approved, multi-year Commitment Plans and report progress publicly, enabling stakeholders to track action over time.

• An ecosystem of support and shared learning: The Purpose Pledge brings together Companies, Commitment Catalysts, Capital Providers, and Policy Partners in a shared learning and action-oriented community. This ecosystem accelerates implementation, supports continuous improvement, and enables pre-competitive collaboration at a systems level.

Together, these elements move purpose beyond intention or disclosure and into governed, measured, and collective action-where accountability and learning drive durable impact.

Purpose Pledge companies develop 3-year Commitment Plans: public, transparent, accountable roadmaps that define how a company will make measurable progress across each of the 10 Purpose Pledge Commitments. These plans translate the 10 Commitments into focused, achievable actions. Purpose Pledge companies operate on a 9-year achievement horizon: they have 9 years to achieve each commitment, accomplished through 3 cycles of 3-year Commitment Plans. Each 3-year cycle includes:

1. A company-approved and Purpose-Pledge approved 3-Year Plan that will be published on the Purpose Pledge website to support transparent progress tracking.

2. Annual reporting on each Commitment Plan, including relevant verifications and metrics shared with Purpose Pledge and Commitment Catalyst partners.

3. A full Commitment Plan reset every 3 years, ensuring plans evolve with business growth, learnings, and shifting conditions.

4. Confirmation of all Commitment achievements through submission of relevant verifications and data.

Each company develops a Commitment Plan that addresses the same shared 10 Commitments. Plans are shared publicly, and progress is tracked and shared via the Purpose Pledge website. Purpose Pledge companies are accountable not only to their stakeholders, but to one another.

In the near term, the focus is on a strong launch-translating pilot-year learning into durable systems for shared learning, mutual accountability, and collective action.

Looking ahead over the next five to ten years, the Purpose Pledge is designed to grow and deepen its impact through several interconnected pathways:

• Expanding the community of Purpose Pledge companies, scaling participation while maintaining rigor and accountability.

• Pre-competitive collaboration and supply chain development, enabling companies to solve shared challenges together and invest in regenerative, resilient sourcing systems.

• Growth of the Purpose Pledge Fund, expanding access to aligned, non-extractive capital that supports long-term purpose governance.

• Policy advocacy, advancing public policies that embed purpose into broader economic systems and reinforce stakeholder-centered business models.

Together, these efforts position the Purpose Pledge not only as a company-level framework, but as a catalyst for systemic change-helping shift markets, capital, and policy toward a more equitable and regenerative economy.