Annual Report 2021-22

Who we are

Good Business Lab is a not-for-profit labor innovation organization. We use rigorous research methods to find a common ground between worker wellbeing and business interests. We believe that building the business case to support better conditions for workers is the most sustainable way to transform labor markets and enable all workers to live dignified lives.


Our founding team brings together two US-based academics from the University of Michigan, and the head of Organizational Development at Shahi Exports, India’s largest exporter of garments.


We are registered as a Section 8 company under the Indian Companies Act.

What we do

Our mission is to lead businesses to improve the lives of all workers. We do this by identifying workers’ needs, designing solutions, testing for wellbeing impact and financial returns, and driving the adoption of proven solutions.


We work across the journey of employment—from freeing up rural women to take up paid work and maximizing vocational skills, improving the quality of available jobs for low-income workers, to improving physical and mental health outcomes for workers through workplace health interventions.


We work responsibly and believe in communication, a lot. We are flexible, respectful, and approachable. We believe in collaboration over competition.

Our Story

Striving to find common ground since 2007

The story of Good Business Lab's inception

2007
LIFT-OFF
Gap Inc., a leading apparel brand, launched Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E.)—a soft skills training program for female garment workers in supplier factories within Shahi Exports.
2012
CRYOGENIC STAGE
Parallely, our-cofounders—Anant A, Achyuta, and Anant N—met through Anant A's brother. They started discussing the possibility of evaluating the effects of the P.A.C.E. program on both workers and the firm's bottom line through a Randomized Controlled Trial.
2013-15
PROPULSION
P.A.C.E. training was administered to the treatment group & data collection for the purpose of the evaluation concluded. Meanwhile other worker wellbeing projects were launched at Shahi factories.
2016
EARTH ORBIT
Preliminary results of P.A.C.E. established hope that there was a potential business case for developing worker wellbeing programs, thus incentivizing businesses to invest in it beyond compliance.
2017
FINAL STAGE
Good Business Lab was officially registered as a Section 8 Company under the Indian Companies Act.
2020
MISSION IN PROGRESS
Our first step has come full circle as P.A.C.E. reached 500,000 girls and women as of March 2020. This—motivated, in part, by our findings—further cements our resolve to prove the business case for worker wellbeing programs.

The team and its work continue to grow with 14 ongoing

projects in India and 03 in Latin America

18:18
GENDER SPLIT
50,000+
UNIQUE SURVEYS CONDUCTED
23
LANGUAGES WE SPEAK
WFH
FAV ACRONYM
GBL team group photo
The good humans of the Good Business Lab
Work with us
Join us to build the business case for worker wellbeing!