These days, we all have audiences, including businesses. The questions become: can businesses have a conscience, and what are they willing to use their platforms for?

Many celebrities have leveraged their notoriety and platforms, from Angelina Jolie supporting various humanitarian causes with a focus on refugees to Emma Watson championing gender equality to Matt Damon who has purposely used his celebrity to promote safe, clean water around the world.

But businesses can, too. For example, Wieden + Kennedy, the celebrated ad agency, supported the Black Lives Matter movement after an employee wrote an impassioned letter that the agency decided to broadcast on its home page for a time. Read more at Its Nice That >

Starbucks recently came forward again taking action to address race relations in the U.S. This time it’s through promoting the message of unity with a collection of songs offered on Spotify. Read more at Brand Channel >

With the announcement this past week of Mike Pence as Donald Trump’s running mate, it was a reminder that companies can take a stand. Last March, Salesforce CEO Marc Brenioff, amongst a few other CEO’s, was very outspoken and cut investment in the state on the heels of the it passing the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” legislation. Read more at The Washington Post >

Companies have a choice as to whether or not they will have a point-of-view and use their platform to forward good in the world. What will you decide you can use your platform for?