Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

A Seed to Stalk Future: Financing America’s Grain Economy

Jun 17, 2019 11:05 AM ET

The idea of “nose-to-tail” dining, shorthand for using as much of an animal as possible, has no field-grown counterpart. What about the grains that make up so much of our agricultural production and diet? Where is our “seed to stalk?” In Maine, the craft beer industry is making sure that grain is valued from field to glass to trough.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Inclusive Fintech 50, Global Competition to Elevate Early-Stage Fintechs Driving Financial Inclusion, Announces Winners

Jun 17, 2019 10:15 AM ET

MetLife Foundation and Visa Inc., with global nonprofit Accion and World Bank Group member IFC, announced the winners of the Inclusive Fintech 50, a competition launched in February to help early-stage fintech companies attract capital and resources to benefit the world’s 3 billion financially underserved people.

Diversity & Inclusion

Men’s Role in Workplace Equity: Achieving Our Full Potential

Jun 17, 2019 10:10 AM ET

I always thought I was rather enlightened in my attitudes towards gender equity. Through MARC, I realized that the depth of thinking and self-awareness I needed to make a real difference was simply not there. That doesn’t mean I didn’t “get it,” but rather that what I saw before MARC as my enlightenment and championship was only scratching the surface. I wasn’t getting it wrong; I just wasn’t getting it all.

Education

Comerica Free Prix Day Brings Thousands to Belle Isle

Jun 17, 2019 10:05 AM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Points of Light Announces 2019 Honorees of The Civic 50 at Annual Conference

Jun 17, 2019 10:00 AM ET

Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service announces The Civic 50 honorees of 2019, recognizing them as the most community-minded companies in the United States.

Research, Reports & Publications

Amid Climate Change Worries, the Question: What to do With Too Much Water?

Jun 17, 2019 10:00 AM ET

Water, water everywhere. And with the troubling prospect of more of it in coming years, concerns over climate change and its effects are deepening, from more frequent extreme events in the Midwest to rising sea levels affecting low-lying areas vulnerable to coastal flooding. Aging infrastructure still dominates the discussion, yet a pressing question lingers: How can water utilities and those entrusted to oversee them do more, sometimes with less, to mitigate against mega-storms already proven to outmatch legacy conveyance and storage strategies?

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Future Returns: Invest for Goals Instead of Returns

Jun 17, 2019 9:55 AM ET

Northern Trust has discovered the best way to bring female clients into the investment process is to show how their portfolio can fund their current lifestyle and their goals, instead of talking about how they are going to invest to beat the market.

Health & Healthcare

Battling the Baby Blues: Meet 3 Researchers Whose Innovative Work Is All About Boosting the Mental Health of Moms

Jun 17, 2019 9:30 AM ET

Worldwide, 13% of women who've just given birth experience a mental disorder—most commonly postpartum depression, which can leave new moms with feelings of sadness, hopelessness and emptiness that can last for more than two weeks after delivery. What researchers hypothesize could be to blame: a complex interplay of physical and emotional factors, like fluctuating hormone levels and lack of access to adequate social support.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

If You Missed the World Circular Economy Forum 2019 — the Elephant is Still in the Room

Jun 17, 2019 9:30 AM ET

“The World Circular Economy Forum brought together more than 2,000 business leaders, policymakers and experts from around the world to present the best circular economy solutions”, it states on its website. As such, it reflects the current state of affairs and the direction of the international community towards transitioning to a circular economy. There’s really no better place to be if you crave a rich multi-stakeholder perspective on the topic in the short span of two days.

Health & Healthcare

Mobile Solutions to Improve Access to Healthcare

Jun 17, 2019 9:30 AM ET

Health inequality is a growing concern in Canada and the United States.1 Where you live can play a big part, especially for those living in remote communities, but so can employment status, income level, gender and ethnicity. And in turn, there is a link between the state of your health and your finances. The cost of care, the ability to carry a job or to participate in society can have health impacts.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Trust and Partnership in Action

Jun 17, 2019 9:00 AM ET

We recognize the relationship with our neighboring communities has a direct impact on our license to operate. A strong example of this recognition can be found at our Pascagoula Refinery in Mississippi where we implemented a process that reflects our approach to stakeholder engagement. We caught up with Melanie Landsiedel on the community affairs team at the refinery to learn more.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Fifth Third Bank to Offer New, Free Virtual Concierge Service

Jun 17, 2019 9:00 AM ET

Personal demands don’t stop while you’re at work, so Fifth Third Bank is now offering a virtual concierge service to its employees through Best Upon Request.

Energy

NRG Energy: Sustainable Solutions for Customers

Jun 17, 2019 8:10 AM ET

Innovation & Technology

Annual Ideagen Global Innovation 2030 Summit

Jun 14, 2019 8:40 PM ET

Leaders and Luminaries from the world's leading companies, NGO's and Public Sector convened for the Annual Ideagen Global Innovation 2030 Summit at Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle on June 4th, 2019.

Energy

ALLETE Clean Energy's Diamond Spring Wind Project Will Provide Renewable Energy to Large Corporate Customers Including Smithfield Foods and Walmart

Jun 14, 2019 6:00 PM ET

ALLETE Clean Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of ALLETE (NYSE: ALE), announced today a power sales agreement with Smithfield Foods, Inc. for the remaining output of the Diamond Spring wind site ALLETE Clean Energy will build, own and operate in Oklahoma.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Mohawk Group Honored with NeoCon Accolades Spanning Multiple Flooring Categories and Awards Programs

Jun 14, 2019 4:30 PM ET

Leading commercial flooring manufacturer Mohawk Group earned several awards this week in Chicago at NeoCon covering all major flooring categories, including carpet tile, broadloom, area rugs, resilient tile and resilient sheet. NeoCon is North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interior design professionals, offering ideas and introductions that shape the built environment today and into the future.

Environment

A Better Way for Michigan

Jun 14, 2019 3:05 PM ET

Consumers Energy has a long term vision to create a more sustainable energy future for our state. Our Clean Energy Plan,* developed with a variety of Michigan stakeholders, is a path to reduce carbon emissions by more than 90 percent and end the use of coal as a fuel source for electricity by 2040. But we’re not waiting two decades to do our part for Michigan’s natural resources.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Ten Billion Dollars & Counting: Helping Small Businesses Globally

Jun 14, 2019 2:30 PM ET

For more than 20 years, PayPal has been helping small business owners achieve their dreams. In the beginning, we provided marketplace sellers with a secure way to accept electronic payments from buyers. In 2013, we started pursuing another path: providing our small business owners with much needed access to capital in order to grow. So, in response, we launched PayPal Working Capital as a way to bring our merchants the financing they so desperately needed.

Environment

Keep America Beautiful® 'Cigarette Litter Prevention Program'

Jun 14, 2019 2:00 PM ET

Keep America Beautiful®, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, has taken aim at aggressively reducing cigarette litter and beautifying communities through its Cigarette Litter Prevention Program® (CLPP), which launched in 2002.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Alliance Data Named as a Forbes America’s Best Employer by State

Jun 14, 2019 1:35 PM ET

Diversity & Inclusion

JetBlue and RuPaul’s Drag Race Bring It to The Runway for World Pride as New York’s Hometown Airline® Celebrates Ongoing Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Jun 14, 2019 1:20 PM ET

JetBlue today announced a series of special events and highlighted the airline’s ongoing support for various LGBTQ organizations throughout Pride Month – and throughout the year – as New York’s Hometown Airline celebrates World Pride.

Diversity & Inclusion

Schneider Electric: Building an Inclusive Culture for LGBT+ at Work

Jun 14, 2019 12:35 PM ET

Over the past few years, our company has adapted and improved the way to talk about Inclusion. Especially about LGBT+ communities. When I joined Schneider Electric in France, my partner and I had access to the same benefits as any other couple. Even before marriage was legal, the company was already one of the few to recognize all forms of unions.

Research, Reports & Publications

Water Meets "New Energy": Surging Renewables Have Utilities Eyeing Alternative Power Sources

Jun 14, 2019 12:30 PM ET

Water and energy systems long have been intrinsically intertwined, given electricity's entrenchment as one of a water or wastewater utility's biggest expenditures. But as water suppliers and wastewater service providers grapple with ways to reduce power costs, advance toward "green" energy and participate in the electric industry evolution, there's talk of "ner energy."

Environment

Painting A Blue Sky

Jun 14, 2019 12:10 PM ET

Shipping containers play a major role in global trade, helping companies around the world to move goods securely from A to B. However, until recently, containers manufactured in China were painted using solvent-heavy coatings. This endangered the health of local communities due to the release of high concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Different From Business As Usual: Unique Talent Management Principles in Inclusive Business

Jun 14, 2019 12:00 PM ET