Ben Cohen , along with his long time friend Jerry Greenfield, was a founder of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream who ran it for its first twenty-two years of existence as it grew form a single ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont to an internationally known and loved brand of gourmet ice cream. Ben is a role model for hundreds of independent business owners who emulate the Ben and Jerry’s model of a socially conscious corporation. From the outset, Ben and Jerry’s gave a percentage of their profits to charity, gave employees generous benefits, used only environmentally sound ingredients, and supported many humanitarian causes directly including Farm Aid, and the Children’s Defense Fund.
Inspired by many aspects of sixties counter-culture (two of Ben and Jerry’s most popular flavors were Cherry Garcia and Wavy Gravy, ) Ben has dedicated his post corporate life to activism in service of his ideas: peace and love. He also has the gift of making work and activism feel like fun. His current project, Stamp Stampede is a grass roots campaign to reduce the influence of money in politics.
Ben claims not to follow any particular path but the more I get to know him, the more I feel that aspiring Bodhisatvas could do a lot worse than to follow his vibe, his spirit and his example.
Photo via USA Today