Just Add Ethics is a specialized consulting firm that helps organizations develop the moral courage and ethical capacity needed to navigate today's complex business environment. Through strategic advisory services and interactive workshop training, we guide leaders in transcending the false choice between profit and purpose.
We work with organizations across three critical areas: ethical innovation, principled leadership, and values-driven strategy. Our approach recognizes that the greatest business challenges of our time—from technological disruption to environmental sustainability—require both economic acumen and moral courage.
Rather than treating ethics as compliance or constraint, we position ethical thinking as a competitive advantage. We help leaders develop the internal compass and decision-making frameworks needed to create solutions that serve both stakeholder value and societal good.
Founded on the principle that doing good and doing well are not just compatible but inseparable in the modern economy, Just Add Ethics empowers organizations to build sustainable success through ethical excellence
About Jon Mertz
With over 20 years of leadership experience spanning technology giants like Deloitte, IBM, and BMC Software, I've witnessed firsthand how businesses can thrive when they embrace the intersection of profit and purpose. My journey, from a farmer's son who learned the value of hard work and community connection, to a corporate executive who helped grow Corepoint Health from a startup to an industry leader, taught me that sustainable success comes from balancing bottom-line results with genuine betterment. This philosophy was further refined through my Doctor of Education research at Creighton University, where I developed frameworks for moral courage in leadership and studied how social enterprise leaders navigate the inherent tensions between business objectives and societal impact.
Just Add Ethics was born from my conviction that today's businesses need more than compliance—they need moral courage. Through my research published in the Open Journal of Leadership, my work as a management instructor at the University of Colorado Denver Business School, and my experience founding initiatives like Santa Fe Innovates and Activate World, I've seen how organizations can transform challenges into opportunities for growth when they lead with ethical clarity. Just Add Ethics helps companies move beyond checking boxes to build cultures where ethical decision-making becomes a competitive advantage, drawing on proven frameworks that enable leaders to navigate complex moral landscapes while driving meaningful business results with confidence.