Green Festivals - Ben Cohen

Ben Cohen

Ben Cohen is a co-founder of Ben & Jerry's. The business started in 1978 as a homemade ice cream parlor in a former gas station on an investment of $8,000. In 1988 Ben and Jerry's was named US small business of the year by president Ronald Regan and received the Corporate Giving Award from the Council on Economic Priorities, presented by Joanne Woodward at a reception in New York City, for donating 7.5 percent of its pre-tax income to non-profit organizations through the Ben & Jerry's Foundation. By 1999 the enterprise had an annual sales volume of over $250 million with 700 employees and Ben had become a pioneer in the area of socially responsible business. Despite Ben's efforts to keep the company independent, Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever in 2000.

Today, Ben is President of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities and TrueMajority.org. Business Leaders is a group of 650 business leaders working to fund social needs at no additional taxpayer expense by trimming Cold War weapons from the Pentagon budget.

TrueMajority.org is the grassroots arm of Business Leaders. It monitors Congress on issues of social justice, environmental sustainability, and international cooperation. When a constituent's voice counts, its 500,000 members receive an e-alert offering an opportunity to make a difference.

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