The Politics of Impact
By 2012 Fellow, Jay Subramaniam
My first job out of college was serving as a finance intern on then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley’s campaign for Governor of Maryland during the midterm elections of 2006. Later that summer, with O’Malley favored to his race, my friend convinced me to help her in our hometown of Silver Spring on a District 20 state senate race for Jamie Raskin, a progressive American University law professor trying to unseat the 32-year incumbent. My friend and I canvassed all the neighborhoods in District 20 where he won en route to winning the critical Democratic Primary. Raskin along with O’Malley both then went on to win the general elections later that November.
Fast forward to October 26, 2012 where I’m sitting in the Plenary Hall of the Baltimore Convention Center at the 20th annual Net Impact Conference, awaiting the opening remarks from Governor O’Malley. When he explained that Maryland was the first state to pass benefit corporation legislation, I felt a great sense of Maryland pride. Right after the opening session, I attended the breakout session on Benefit Corporations, B Corps, and More, moderated by Melissa Carrier, Assistant Dean at my alma mater, Maryland’s Smith School of Business. Carrier mentioned that the benefit corporation bill, signed into law, was in fact introduced by State Senator Jamie Raskin.
Not everyone gets to see the long term impact of their work, let alone unpaid days and nights in a political race. This is why I was so gratified and lucky to learn at Net Impact how Maryland’s transformational legislation was introduced and signed by two candidates whose campaigns I volunteered on. Benefit corporations will provide greater latitude for companies to operate in a socially responsible ways. It seemed like a drop in a bucket then but what I didn’t realize is that those phone calls made and doors knocked on had a ripple effect in the evolving harmony of politics, business, and social change.
Jay Subramaniam is a 2012 ProInspire Fellow serving in Washington, DC with Partners for the Common Good, a community development financial institution whose mission is to advance economic justice and access to capital.