Why Biodiversity Is Great for the Planet — and for Business

Trineo, a certified B Corp, is using its new Seva Grant to help other companies positively impact both the environment and their industry.
Written by Erik Fassnacht
June 30, 2021Updated: October 14, 2021

A silvery rain falls upon the short-grass steppe and peat-forming wetlands of High Creek Fen, Colorado. It nourishes hummocks and creeks, spruce trees and willows, bog birch and bulrushes. Situated at just under 10,000 feet above sea level, High Creek Fen is a relic of the Ice Age and home to 14 rare plant species. It’s one of the most biodiverse locations in Colorado. 

This spectacular area, like many others in the world, is in danger of degrading in the future. Some forward-thinking businesses believe the time to act is now.

“One of our stakeholders is the planet,” said Abhinav Keswani, CEO and Co-Founder of New Zealand-founded Trineo. “If we lose the biodiversity of our planet, and lose all the complex and nuanced systems that create equilibrium — from the way various species interact to the macro-level structures that make the planet work — there won't be any businesses left, let alone the beauty and grandeur of a planet that prior generations have taken for granted. We have to do something about it.”

Trineo is a boutique software development consultancy that modernizes business systems, reimagining the ways in which businesses integrate technology, people and process. Trineo is also a certified B Corporation, a business that meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Keswani, who is most comfortable sleeping under the stars or on the side of a mountain, is driven by a desire to make that beauty and balance available to future generations. To that end, Trineo has unveiled the Seva Grant, a $100,000 NZD fund open to organizations with an objective to positively impact the planet.

“What are you going to leave behind?” Keswani asked. “I don't want to die with a lot of money sitting in a bank account — that's not useful. What I'd like to be able to leave behind — for people, animals, plants and the entire ecosystem we are a part of — is a sense of continuity.”

In a passionate conversation, Abhinav Keswani and Josh Ashton, Trineo’s chief people officer, told us more about Trineo’s greater purpose and the road to supporting biodiversity through the Seva Grant.

 

Trineo Outside Team Shot
trineo

 

Josh, great to meet you. Can you tell us a little more about yourself?

Josh Ashton
Chief People Officer • Traction on Demand

Ashton: My role is Trineo’s chief people officer and I humbly lead the people experience team. We label it “people experience” because it really is about the experience we’re trying to curate as the center for most — if not all — of our decisions. Ultimately, my team’s role is to connect the dots and ensure there’s strong alignment between our business strategy and our incredibly talented team. We also try to foster a great culture where each employee can be their most authentic self and do their best work.

 

What was it like meeting Abhinav for the first time? Did his altruistic motivation come through right away?

Ashton: I remember when Abhinav was first interviewing me, we got into some fairly meta topics. He talked about how he wanted to create a successful business, but also how the commercial aspect of Trineo was always a means to a broader and more purposeful end. He explained that with a purpose like that, we could create a legacy to leave behind to our families, others and beyond. It was really inspirational. At the time, I hadn’t known that Abhinav or Trineo had this deeper purpose, but after that conversation, I knew it was what I had been seeking.

 

Abhinav talked about how he wanted to create a successful business, but also how the commercial aspect of Trineo was always a means to a broader and more purposeful end.

 

How did these beliefs and conversations lead to the Trineo Purpose Statement?

Ashton: Trineo’s Purpose Statement has been part of our DNA from the beginning, but we’ve codified it because it allows us to be more intentional and prescriptive in what we’re trying to do. It allows that purpose to stand on its own as opposed to being part of the business strategy. Essentially, it acts like our North Star. Another benefit of having the purpose statement stand on its own is that it allows us to think more commercially on how we take the steps to achieve that purpose.

 

Trineo Purpose Statement

To exemplify good business conduct, delivering lasting impact and services to people and our planet.

 

Abhinav, that sense of purpose must have led to becoming a certified B Corporation. What kind of process did you have to go through to get certified?

Abhinav Keswani
CEO, CTO & Co-Founder • Traction on Demand

Keswani: To become a B Corporation, you must be assessed on so many aspects of your business. For instance, the quality of health in your offices — even air quality — is evaluated. They want to know what you do to create a healthy working environment for your team and your staff. Your supply chain is also assessed. Or, for another example: What do I do with things like this laptop that I'm using currently? When it reaches end-of-life, how do I dispose of it? 

They look at the impact of what companies do overall, and that’s a very tricky space. Trineo has a very small footprint when it comes to resource usage, travel costs and carbon credits — we can go down to that degree of granularity and assess the impact we have on the planet, through our conduct. We may have a lighter footprint than say other companies whose starting point is, “Well, we dig huge holes in the ground.” 

It’s a well thought-out certification process, and it’s also difficult, because every business is a special snowflake, right? While there are high standards, the certification process has to be thoughtful because every business has slightly different circumstances. We had to work hard to meet the B-Corp standard, and we will continue to do so in order to uphold that standard.

We wear our B Corp badge with pride.

 

Since becoming a certified B Corp, you’ve focused on biodiversity. Can you walk us through why biodiversity is so important?

Keswani: One way to look at biodiversity is with a commercial and economics-driven approach, because it’s the only sustainable way of expressing a long-term goal in a construct that people will understand. If something is not economically viable, it will almost certainly not be widely adopted unless you have never-ending funding and a massive philanthropic interest. 

The complex systems inherent in biodiversity have been degrading and will continue to degrade if we don’t do something. Biodiversity — from a purely economic standpoint — should be seen as directly tied to the sustainability of our future and our businesses. Supply chains are being looked at very carefully by huge companies like Walmart, for instance. If the products they’re selling can’t be produced at the same costs in the future, then their business model will be adversely affected, and so many of these companies are being very methodical about improving things at the most fundamental level in order to have a sustainable business in the future.

 

Trineo Kitchen Picture
trineo



How did your interest in biodiversity lead to the Seva Grant?

Keswani: I happen to know a lot of people who are in research roles or working for organizations that are involved in nature or conservatories. By learning from them about what is actually helpful — what works and what doesn’t — we structured the Seva Grant as a lightweight approach for organizations who want to help the planet but also need help from a company like Trineo. 

We want our team to be able to use their skills for a grander purpose, so we put together this grant to fund that motivation and say, “Look, we’ll essentially give impactful organizations our time for free — they just need to go through a lightweight process in order to apply.” 

I think that future generations need to be able to access what this planet has to offer and care for it. Through the Seva Grant, we want to help improve the biodiversity of the planet, both from an economics point of view and from a selfless service point of view.

 

I think that future generations need to be able to access what this planet has to offer and care for it.

 

How can companies apply for the Seva Grant?

Keswani: The process is not formal — we quickly get into direct conversations about how biodiversity fits into the objectives of their organization. We also want to know if there can be a degree of co-investment, because that’s an important facet — having skin in the game means that people are more motivated to finish something. We go through a series of conversations with organizations that apply, and we have a simple application form.

 

More on the Seva Grant

Trineo implores all organizations to submit their biodiversity-focused initiatives to the Seva Grant. Projects can be any digital solution that adds value to customer experience, employee experience or optimized organization.

 

One last question — why is it called the Seva Grant?

Keswani: I was having a cup of tea with my dad in Sydney a few years ago, and I was running this idea by him and trying to think up a name for the initiative. It was early in the morning and we each had a cup of tea in hand and were huddled together, and he said, “Seva is a Sanskrit word that means selfless service.” And I said, “Well done, Dad. Let’s go with that.”

 

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