Etsy’s approach to reporting reflects its mission: “Keep commerce human.” The human aspect is prominent in the company’s approach to integrated reporting and is an important reason why the company issues an “Impact Update.”

To understand, remember that Etsy was B Corp certified until last year, only giving up the certification because it would have had to convert from a C Corporation to a benefit corporation. No public company had ever tried that. By giving up the certification, internal practices didn’t change. But Etsy’s talent pool has always been attracted to the cachet of a B Corp so the company wanted to demonstrate that it was still dedicated to all of the work that supported its certification.

That’s where the Impact Update fits in. And this year, the company published a robust report to bring its integrated disclosure to a higher level. Hilary Young, Sustainability Manager for Etsy, gave the <IR>US Community a guided tour of the company's latest report.

Young highlighted a foundational piece of the Impact Update, what she called the flywheel model of value creation. Business is at center of the flywheel, but it sits inside the community and the ecosystem within the flywheel. Keeping all those circles spinning together charges the flywheel and keeps it spinning.

Young pointed out that the report starts with a letter from CEO Josh Silverman, which is indicative of the level of executive engagement in the process of developing the flywheel model of value creation. That engagement paid off in developing a robust flywheel model, which in turn tied all six capitals together. Ironically, previous impact reports didn’t touch as much on the core business itself. The flywheel puts Etsy’s business at the center, ensuring integrated thinking.