HigherRing 2024 Impact Report
Letter To Our Stakeholders
As we reflect on 2024, we recognize it has been a year of resilience, growth, and deepened commitment to our mission. Like many purpose-driven companies, we've navigated economic uncertainty, industry shifts, and evolving needs of our clients, employees, and planet. While challenges remain, we are proud of how HigherRing has adapted—strengthening our foundation while staying true to our values.
This year, we took significant strides in solidifying our ethical outsourcing model. We achieved living wage certification, reinforcing our commitment to fair compensation for our team. We also launched open book management, ensuring transparency, education, and shared ownership of our company's financial success. These milestones reflect our unwavering dedication to building a workplace that prioritizes equity, growth, and opportunity.
Beyond our internal commitments, we've continued to support our clients with flexible, values-aligned operational solutions. We helped businesses scale efficiently, stay mission-focused, and navigate change while upholding ethical employment practices. Our impact extended beyond client partnerships—we deepened our advocacy efforts through voter mobilization initiatives and advanced sustainable finance practices by helping clients transition to more responsible banking options.
At the heart of everything we do is our team. Their hard work, adaptability, and shared belief in our mission fuel our impact. We invested in their growth with over 2,900 hours of training, enhanced benefits, and expanded opportunities for professional development. As a result, 86% of team members who responded to our Employee Happiness Survey rated our company culture with five out of five stars. Additionally, 100% of our team members agreed that people from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to provide input at HigherRing. This feedback is particularly meaningful, as we strive to maintain a culture that is inclusive, supportive, and aligned with our mission and values.
Looking ahead to 2025, we are focused on deepening our impact—expanding our open book management initiative to kick off profit sharing, strengthening our sustainability efforts, and continuing to be a trusted partner for socially responsible businesses. While the macro environment presents increasing challenges this year, we are thankful to exist within a purpose-driven community and remain confident in our approach: building an ethical, resilient, and impact-driven company that helps others do the same.
We are grateful for the clients, partners, and team members who make this work possible. Your trust and collaboration inspire us to push forward, innovate, and amplify our shared impact. Here's to another year of using business as a force for good.
Michelle Hirons CEO, HigherRing
HigherRing's Core Services
HigherRing specializes in managed, fractional & full-time operations support in the following areas:
  • eCommerce Consumer & Wholesale Operations Support
  • Customer & Application Support (from fractional to team)
  • Marketing & Sales Support
  • Executive Assistance
  • Bookkeeping & Financial Operations Support
What is Ethical Outsourcing?
Ethical outsourcing represents a fundamental shift in how companies approach their operational needs. Unlike traditional outsourcing models that often prioritize cost-cutting at the expense of worker wellbeing, our approach places equal emphasis on employee satisfaction, client success, and positive social impact.

We're Client Mission-Aligned
Seamless team integration with client brands
We're Impact-Driven
Authenticated through B Corp, 1% for the Planet, and The Change Climate Project
We're Employee-Centric
Fair treatment, living wages, benefits, and development opportunities
Our fractional and scalable model delivers a high ROI by providing motivated workers in only the amount of time needed, while prioritizing fair treatment, living wages, benefits, paid training, professional development, and even offering employee stock options.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Impacted
HigherRing aligns our business practices with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our focus on ethical employment practices supports SDG 8, while our environmental initiatives contribute to SDG 13. Through our civic engagement and advocacy work, we advance SDG 16, promoting just, peaceful, and inclusive societies.
How We Impacted Each SDG
SDG 8
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Commitment to a living wage, including our certification with Living Wage US
84.8% of our employees live in states where the minimum wage is below $14 we're proud to bring living wage jobs to these regions in accordance with our mission.
SDG 13
Climate Action
Paid Volunteer Policy for our team members to participate locally with 1% for the Planet environmental partners that they are passionate about
Carbon-neutral operations since 2023
Assisted clients in transitioning to more sustainable banking options
Recycled all of our electronic equipment through HomeBoy Recycling
SDG 16
Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Launched internal and external civic engagement campaigns before the November elections
Drove poll-worker signups (7 people) through Power the Polls & implemented a paid poll-working policy.
Provided over 70 hours of pro bono support to Business for Democracy
Michelle's Advocacy
WeTheChange
156 hours as Membership Chair on the Leadership Circle.
Climate Changemakers
Hour of Action participation to drive climate action.
Sustainable Banking
Assisted clients in transitioning from extractive banking to B Corp-certified banks, with a goal to continue this work in 2025
In 2025, we will encourage our clients and community members to look hard at their supply chains to ensure they are not funding extractive practices. Our advocacy work extends beyond our own operations to influence positive change throughout our business ecosystem.
Open Book Management Launch
We were proud to launch open book management (OBM) in 2024. This business operating system educates each employee in the company's financials and then reports out business performance each month at a detailed level so that employees can follow our target KPIs. We also tie robust performance journey alignment to profit payouts and everyone partakes equally in any profit distribution.
Reducing Expenses & Administrative Stress
Encouraging proactive, thoughtful teamwork to keep administrative costs low
Team Partnership
Increased transparency so team members think strategically about client work and the benefits of happy clients
Profit Sharing
Rewarding our hard-working team members who drive our success
Michelle's Personal Why
"When Susan and I founded HigherRing, we envisioned everyone owning a piece of the company through our Employee Stock Incentive Plan (ESIP). However, without imminent plans for a public offering or sale, we found this less motivating than anticipated. Discovering Open Book Management after reading "The Great Game of Business" was an exciting shift for us. We love the education aspect and also the shift it has made in how our team members show up every day for our clients."
New Policies & Benefits
These new policies reflect our ongoing commitment to creating a workplace that values employee wellbeing, diversity, and civic engagement.
Sick Leave Pool
Employees that do not use all of their sick leave can contribute it to the pool for those who experience a hardship and have already used their paid time off
Supplier Diversity Policy
This policy outlines our commitment to partnering with businesses that contribute to economic growth in historically marginalized communities
Paid Poll Working Policy
To exemplify our commitment to a free and fair democracy, this policy aims to facilitate an increase in civic participation amongst our team members
Racial Diversity on Panels Initiative
Inspired by Better Allies, our leadership team has committed that we will not speak on panels of all white speakers
Faster Access To Sick Time
Developed as a direct response to a request made in our employee happiness survey we've implemented sick time available after 30 days.
Team Updates
2,924
Training Hours
Invested in team development
41.7%
Promotions to Date
41.7% of our employees have been promoted
1.83
Average Tenure (Years)
Including seasonal employees 1.65 years
70+
Pro Bono Hours
Marketing and sales operations
Team Volunteerism & Sustainability Initiatives
Environmental Initiatives
During HigherRing's Plastic Free July challenge, one team member participated in the National Parks TrashBlitz event organized by 5 Gyres, representing her HigherRing client and our sister B Corp, ECOBAGS.
Community Volunteer Work
Our team's volunteerism extended to organizations like The Cleanup Club, Make Food Not Waste, People First Economy, The Greening of Detroit & The Orchard Project through our paid volunteer policy.
B Corp Certification in 2025
We take pride in our B Corp certification and are busy going through the process to recertify in 2025.

Initial Certification 2018
Joined the B Corp community (Score: 86.9)
Recertification 2022
Continuous improvement (Score: 88.2)
Recertification In Progress 2025
We have made significant improvements over the last three years and are hoping to improve our score in 2025.
1% for the Planet
As a proud member of 1% for the Planet, we contributed $25,784 for 2024, bringing our total contributions to $87,136. Our contributions span monetary donations, volunteer hours, in-kind services, and advertising support.
We also recommended four nonprofit organizations to the network: Make Food Not Waste, Connecticut Sustainable Business Council, Naturally NorCal, and People First Economy.
Our diverse contribution methods reflect our holistic approach to environmental stewardship, leveraging not just financial resources but also our time, expertise, and platform to advance environmental causes.
Carbon Neutral Commitment
We have calculated our emissions and offset 100% of that estimation through carbon reduction projects via B-E-F.org. For ongoing details about our offset projects, visit our Carbon Disclosure page on our website. Our commitment to carbon neutrality represents a key component of our environmental responsibility strategy and aligns with our broader sustainability goals.
1. Measure
Estimate our carbon emissions
4. Reduce
Implement reduction strategies
3. Offset
Fund carbon reduction projects
2. Report
Transparent disclosure
Additional Certifications & Verifications
Living Wage Certified
The Living Wage For US Tier I certification confirms that HigherRing has committed to taking actionable steps towards paying a living wage for all employees by initially meeting specific entry-level wage requirements. Employers certified at this level pledge to increase wages for non-living wage positions by inflation plus three percent annually until all wage gaps are closed.
People + Planet First Verified
This recognition underscores our unwavering dedication to sustainability, equity, and ethical practices in every aspect of our business. Verified companies must demonstrate accountability, transparency, and action in areas like sustainability, fair labor practices, and community engagement.
Ethical Supply Chain & Client Partnerships
We partner with organizations that share our values and commitment to ethical practices. These are the B Corps we work with in our own supply chain:
Honeybee
Financial coaching services that empower our team
Homeboy
Recycling partner helping us reduce waste
Narrative Food
Thoughtful, ethical employee gifts
Sensiba
Accounting services aligned with our values
Swift Printing
Sustainable business card production
TS Designs
Ethically manufactured shirts
Backmarket
Sustainable hardware and electronics
Client Certifications
We're proud to work with clients who share our dedication to social and environmental responsibility, as evidenced by their own certifications and nonprofit status.
Team Member Diversity
Based on a 77.7% respondent rate, our team reflects diversity across multiple dimensions.
More Team Member Diversity
Our team brings together diverse backgrounds, languages, and perspectives.
Language Diversity
21.4% of our team members speak languages other than English, enriching our communication capabilities and cultural understanding.
Age Diversity
HigherRing's age diversity spans from 25 to 65+, with the largest group (42.9%) in the 25-34 range.
Caretaking Diversity
35.7% of our team members are caregivers, highlighting our commitment to supporting employees with family responsibilities.
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI)
We view DEI as fundamental to workplace excellence, not as an optional initiative. Research consistently demonstrates that diverse companies outperform their peers by up to 35%, and teams with diverse leadership report nearly 20% higher innovation revenue. This year we were proud to complete the following engagements and initiatives.
Inclusive Language Initiative
Inspired by Better Allies, we have updated our Slackbot to suggest inclusive language. Internal and client-facing channels now provide education and suggestions for alternatives ways to say commonly used but damaging phrases.
Stacey Abrams Event with NationSwell
Our team was proud to join NationSwell and Stacey Abrams for a virtual conversation to explore how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion can advance the work that is so crucial to building and advancing new pathways to achieving the American Dream.
B Corp DEI Network Leaders Training
Michelle Hirons and Katie Carano participated in B Lab US and Canada's Racial Equity Learning Journey 2.0 for Network Leaders, led by nonprofit Groundwater Institute, exploring the history of systemic racism and tools for cultivating mindfulness and equity.
We would like to share a huge thank you to B Lab U.S. & Canada as well as the B Networks that sponsored our attendance (People First Economy and WeTheChange) for supporting Michelle and Katie in their JEDI journeys. Together, we're building a more equitable world—one conversation and one action at a time.
Employee Happiness Survey
At HigherRing we conduct annual employee satisfaction surveys and are proud to share results showing a positive trend opposing some of the industry standards. While the call center industry typically struggles with employee satisfaction, our 2024 survey revealed:
100% agreed that people from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to provide input at HigherRing. 100% of our team members feel a sense of belonging, with all giving a five-star rating. 81% rated their interest in growing with HigherRing at 5 stars, and 90% rated their comfort in asking for help from colleagues and management at five stars.
In a resounding endorsement of our leadership, 100% of respondents rated their managers' support and the leadership team's modeling of our values and mission as five stars. Our company culture received high praise, with 86% of respondents giving it a five-star rating.
What's Next? Goals for 2025
As we look ahead to 2025, we're committed to building on our successes and expanding our impact.
Profit Sharing Kickoff
Initiation of profit sharing as part of open book management
Sustainable Banking
Moving more clients to impact financial institutions and systems
Environmental Programs
Employee recycling, travel offsets & volunteer match programs
Advocacy Initiatives
Expanding our impact through collective action
Global Expansion Investigation
Growing our services internationally
We'll continue to advocate for sustainable banking practices among our clients, deepen our advocacy initiatives, and implement new environmental programs for our team. We're also excited to initiate our profit sharing program as part of open book management and increase PTO benefits.
Additionally, we'll focus on further reducing our carbon footprint through travel offsets and other sustainability measures. These goals reflect our ongoing commitment to using business as a force for good and creating positive change for our team, clients, and planet.
Last, we are taking steps to investigate what it would take to increase our visibility to the B Corp community in Europe, Austraila and New Zealand, places where we already have clients and feel that there may be significant growth opportunities.