Impactful Conversations: Creating a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) to Repopulate News Deserts

In this episode of Impactful Conversations as a part of MoFo Perspectives, Jesse Finfrock, a San Francisco-based associate in Morrison & Foerster’s Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Group, meets with Ken Doctor, the founder of Lookout Local, to discuss how he has incorporated Lookout Local’s mission into its corporate form in electing to become a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC).

A PBC requires balancing the traditional fiduciary duties owed to stockholders with the social or environmental benefit that is written into the corporation’s charter documents. In this case, Lookout Local’s mission is to provide the news and information needs for the local communities it serves. “The main thing I want to do is change the conversation and repopulate these news deserts,” says Ken Doctor, so finding a corporate form that embraced his company’s values was the first step.