HELM’s New Just Label

We are proud to announce that HELM has renewed our Just label. Created by the International Living Future Institute, the Just program is a voluntary disclosure tool for organizations to elevate internal discussions, policies, and procedures and create a common language and measurement framework for social justice issues. Just is a call to action, and HELM is committed to being a more transparent, equitable, and socially just organization.

Our Process

HELM first applied for a Just Label in 2021. While we scored in all 22 metrics, we learned there was room for improvement in many areas. Since then, HELM has used the Just program as our roadmap for reviewing our policies and practices, measuring our progress using Just metrics.

In March 2023, we renewed our application and were able to improve our scores in 10 of the 22 areas:

• Gender Pay Equity

• Physical Health

• Well-Being

• Health Care

• Retirement Provision

• Family Medical Leave

• Training/Education

• Local Communities

• Volunteering

• Charitable Giving

Our updated policies include a new commitment to pay scale equity through our fixed tier compensation commitment; added paid sick time in addition to regular paid time off; an increase in our QSEHRA health reimbursement benefit; an increase in paid volunteer time; additional parental leave; an increase in retirement contribution; additional professional development through coaching; and the addition of weekly paid wellness time. The work HELM does within our industry as a partner with NESEA, our commitment to local purchasing, and offering vegetarian food at our retreats also contribute to our progress.

We are proud to be an ILFI Just organization. We display our pledge to these principles of equity and sustainability proudly – publicly committing to practices that exemplify social justice and corporate social responsibility while using these measurements to drive improvement.