What's in a Name?
For its first three years, Olab was known as ‘Sustainability Lab’, a laboratory in which the emerging concept of sustainability could be explored and applied in different contexts.
We soon realized that not only was ‘sustainability’ a mouthful in Portuguese, it was also something of a buzz word, whose meaning was inclined to change as trends evolved. As we became clearer about our mission to facilitate transformative processes, we decided to drop the word ‘Sustainability’ from our name and become just ‘The Lab’ or ‘O Lab’ in Portuguese.
We like the fact that the ‘O’ is a circle and all it represents: the dialogue circle, a safe haven, and harmony itself.
2011
Olab was founded in São Paulo in 2011 in response to a growing demand by companies to establish multi-stakeholder forums through which they could engage with local communities and governments in those parts of Brazil where they had factories, mines or business units. Olab’s founders were inspired by the ways in which meaningful engagement between companies and communities could lead to lasting transformation for both parties.
2011 - 2015
In its early years, Olab’s work was focussed on social investment programmes, and the team cut their teeth on facilitating community forums, composed of the private sector, civil society and local government. These forums were responsible for identifying and scaling social investment programmes that would improve the well-being of communities and strengthen relationships between companies and citizens.
2015+
In 2015, the Olab team was invited by the United Nations to facilitate the development of the Food and Agriculture Business Principles, a pioneering initiative that sought to bring together stakeholders from across food supply chains to agree on how to strengthen food security while promoting environmental responsibility and respect for human rights. This project opened the door to a much broader set of work on Food Systems by the Olab teams.
2018+
From 2018 onwards, Olab’s work branched into a new area: leadership and organizational development. This was in response to a need recognized by Olab’s partners that the relationships within an organization were just as important as the relationships between organizations - and that dialogue is the basis for collaboration. Olab began working with a new range of clients including start-ups, scale ups and fast-growing businesses.
2021+
In 2021, Olab celebrated its first decade. The company now has a team of facilitators who work with clients across Foody Systems and Organizational Systems. Olab’s evolution has always been organic, responding to client needs, and the passions and visions of those who make up the Olab team. In that sense, we are open to explore how the next decade will unfurl.
