I like that Ben & Jerry's is willing to speak out about social and political issues that aren't always safe - but are the right thing to do.

Businesses can lead with their values and make money, too. You don't have to simply be purely profit-driven. You can integrate social and environmental concerns into a business, be a caring business, be a generous business and still do very well financially.

It's pretty rare to have CEOs or high level executives at big companies who are social activists. They tend not to be drawn to those areas of life.

Ben & Jerry's evolved into what it is doing and is trying to transition its supply chain, but this is essentially retrofitting. In the social enterprise movement, we see companies whose essence, the products they make, the reason they exist from day one, is because these people see something out in the world that they cannot accept.

Business can be a source of progressive change.

I'm a pretty laid-back kind of guy. What I've always wanted to do is set up situations in our company where if people who worked there needed help, we would try to help them, and at the same token if the company needed help from people, they would help us. A kind of give and take.

One out of every 100 families in Vermont was a part owner of Ben and Jerry's.