Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Frey Vineyards – Out of the Ashes

Jun 12, 2018 9:05 AM ET

This true story begins with a strange orange glow in the sky that awakened me at 1:00am on the morning of Oct 9th, 2017. Stepping outside into a howling wind, I watched in horror as a huge wildfire burned on the distant ridge. The wind was blowing away from us, so I was very concerned about our neighbors below the ridge in Potter Valley, never dreaming that at the same time the Redwood Complex Fire was racing around the bottom of the ridge and heading straight to Frey Vineyards and engulfing the only paved road out...

Social Impact & Volunteering

Volunteering Is “Me Time”

Jun 12, 2018 9:00 AM ET

When your schedule is crammed full of work obligations and caregiving for family members, how do you squeeze in some much-needed “me time?”

If you take the advice of Domenica Robinson, Humana’s 2017 Volunteer of the Year, you’d find a volunteer activity that makes you feel happy and connected to your local community.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Arbor Day Foundation Expands Partner with Cable ONE Through the Hurricane Tree Recovery Campaign

Jun 12, 2018 9:00 AM ET

The Arbor Day Foundation announced a recently expanded partnership with Cable ONE to include the Foundation’s newly-launched Hurricane Tree Recovery Campaign, whose goal is to plant 5 million trees over the next five years in order to help rebuild disaster-stricken communities impacted by 2017 hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Research, Reports & Publications

KB Home Publishes Industry-Leading 11th Annual Sustainability Report

Jun 12, 2018 9:00 AM ET

The first major homebuilder to publish a comprehensive sustainability report in 2008, KB Home continues its commitment to documenting the Company’s industry leadership in sustainability and its strategies for future progress.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Reporting 3.0 Conference Launches Transformation Journey: From Mono-Capitalism to Multi-Capitalism, Integrated Accounting, and Integral Business Models

Jun 12, 2018 5:00 AM ET

Mono-capitalism, with its singular obsession on financial capital, has fueled growth in global economies and markets that ultimately threatens sustainability and broad prosperity. The resulting megatrends, such as climate change and dangerous wealth disparities, require fit-to-task responses – most notably, transitioning to multi-capitalism as the new operating system for our markets. At its 5th International Conference at KPMG in Amsterdam on June 12-13, Reporting 3.0 is releasing a Transformation Journey Blueprint – as well as a Blueprint for Integrated Accounting and a Blueprint for Integral Business Models – to guide all actors to contribute productively to the shift from degenerative to regenerative economies.

Research, Reports & Publications

Saipem Sustainability 2017 Looks Towards the Saipem of Tomorrow and Its Future Strategy

Jun 12, 2018 5:00 AM ET

Saipem released its 12th Sustainability Report, marking a 60-year extraordinary journey of innovative approaches in response to the challenges posed by the evolution of global scenarios. Saipem Sustainability 2017 is the operative tool to measure the Company’s performance and to increasingly dialogue with all its stakeholders. This is reflected in the way Saipem communicates and in the willingness to show how it creates economic and social value: through long-term vision together with its three cornerstones - ethics, competence and technology.

Education

CLP Stimulates Young People’s Interest in Energy and the Environment

Jun 11, 2018 8:00 PM ET

The CLP Group has kept up its efforts in supporting education in the areas of energy and the environment at different levels across Asia Pacific by tailoring plans to local needs and engaging various partners.

Green Infrastructure

Designers Agree: Biophilic Design is Transforming the Built Environment

Jun 11, 2018 6:40 PM ET

Biophilic design is gaining traction as workplace wellness becomes a central focus in design studios, according to a recent survey by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

As Amanda Sturgeon, FAIA, CEO of ILFI writes in Creating Biophilic Buildings, “There’s a magic chemistry that happens between nature and architecture that can connect us to a place and ground us at the same time. Biophilic design as a discipline is really all about tapping into our primal need to be a part of nature and not apart from nature – it’s how we reconnect to ourselves, and to one another.”

Amanda will be signing copies of Creating Biophilic Buildings during Neocon at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, at the Teknion showroom in the Merchandise Mart, #1048, and is available for interviews by appointment.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The JetBlue Foundation Invests in Puerto Rico’s Future by Pledging Grants for Organizations That Power STEM Initiatives

Jun 11, 2018 4:30 PM ET

The JetBlue Foundation has pledged $100,000 worth of grants to STEM education programs in Puerto Rico. JetBlue has offered service to Puerto Rico since 2002 and last year initiated 100x35JetBlue, a hurricane recovery and relief initiative. The airline currently serves three destinations in Puerto Rico including its San Juan focus city where JetBlue is the largest carrier, as well as Aguadilla and Ponce.

Grants from the JetBlue Foundation will help further the airline’s efforts to invest in the island’s future and place aviation fields top-of-mind as career choices for students. The JetBlue Foundation will award $100,000 to qualified schools and organizations to fuel learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

FSG Announces New Team to Lead Global Social Impact Consulting Firm

Jun 11, 2018 4:00 PM ET

FSG, one of the world’s most experienced social impact consulting firms, is excited to announce Lauren A. Smith, MD, MPH and Greg Hills as their co-CEOs. The pair will succeed John Kania, who is stepping away from his current role as global managing director and 18+ years of leadership at FSG.

Events, Media & Communications

Video: How to Boost Employee Engagement with the VolunteerMatch Network

Jun 11, 2018 3:50 PM ET

On May 29, 2018, the team at VolunteerMatch walked through: Why it’s important to give your employees choice in your volunteer program, how to balance employee choice with company-sponsored cause areas, how the VolunteerMatch Network connects employees with causes that are meaningful to them, and how VolunteerMatch’s custom integrations can serve the interests of both your company and its individual employees, while saving you time and money. Miss the webinar? Watch the recording.

Energy

California’s Solar Decree: Could Other States, Utilities Follow Suit?

Jun 11, 2018 12:00 PM ET

California energy regulators recently passed a new building code requiring most newly constructed, low-rise homes constructed after 2019 to have built-in solar-powered energy systems, making that state the first to adopt such a mandate. That decree was part of other additions to the building code aimed at bolstering energy efficiency.

Diversity & Inclusion

Why Women Should Reconsider a Career in Energy

Jun 11, 2018 11:35 AM ET

Corporations have become more diverse and inclusive. There are more women on the customer and leadership ends. The end customer is not the male engineer he once was; she is a female CEO or sustainability manager. Her perspective changes business outcomes and rounds out discussions in powerful ways. It makes a difference in our orientation for customers and employees, and offers a rounded view of the problems they face. In encouraging progress at Schneider, we can now report that 42 percent of board members are female, 21 percent of global leadership is female and more than 40 percent of new hires are women.

Innovation & Technology

Digging Deeper Into Transforming Technology Pro Bono

Jun 11, 2018 11:15 AM ET

Pro bono service has the potential to shift technology adoption and implementation in the social sector. The Taproot Foundation, in collaboration with VMware Foundation, released a new supplement to Transforming Technology Pro Bono that will ensure nonprofits can maximize the impact technology pro bono can have on their organizations.

Innovation & Technology

Honda Partners on General Motors’ Next Gen Battery Development

Jun 11, 2018 11:00 AM ET

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) announced an agreement for new advanced chemistry battery components, including the cell and module, to accelerate both companies’ plans for all-electric vehicles. The next-generation battery will deliver higher energy density, smaller packaging and faster charging capabilities for both companies’ future products, mainly for the North American market.

Environment

Forests, Food and Land Can Deliver 30% of Solutions Needed to Tackle Climate Crisis by 2030

Jun 11, 2018 11:00 AM ET

As part of the Global Climate Action Summit, WWF, together with a broad coalition of partners, today issued the 30X30 Forests, Food and Land Challenge: calling on businesses, states, city and local governments, and global citizens to take action for better forest and habitat conservation, food production and consumption, and land use, working together across all sectors of the economy to deliver up to 30% of the climate solutions needed by 2030.

Education

Big Impact in Bio: Creatively Engineering Tissue Solutions

Jun 11, 2018 10:35 AM ET

The word “creativity” may not be traditionally associated with scientific research, but for Elisa D’Arcangelo, it sums up some of the aspects she most values about being a biomedical engineer. As a tissue engineer, she must come up with creative solutions for growing tissue in the lab that can help shape new therapies for cancer and other diseases.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Pension Funds Invest Responsibly

Jun 11, 2018 10:30 AM ET

Increasingly, employees with pensions think about how environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors affect their investments. BNY Mellon’s Marvin Vervaart, Asset Owner Segment Head for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and pension fund manager Gert-Jan Sikking, Senior Advisor Responsible Investment for PGGM, a Dutch cooperative pension fund manager, discuss the trend and how it benefits society, our business and our stakeholders.

Innovation & Technology

All Eyes on the Cisco Networking Academy Dream Team at Cisco Live


Jun 11, 2018 10:25 AM ET

There’s hardly a more scrutinized stage to demonstrate Cisco’s best-of-breed network technology than at Cisco Live, our largest customer event of the year. Over 26,000 attendees will converge at the Orlando Convention Center from June 10-14 to check out Cisco’s latest solutions and meet with some of the best and brightest in the industry.

Research, Reports & Publications

Merck for Mothers Publishes “Evidence for Impact” 2018 Research Compendium

Jun 11, 2018 10:10 AM ET

At Merck for Mothers, we believe that actionable research is essential for taking on maternal mortality. On behalf of our team and many partners, we are pleased to share Evidence for Impact, our first Research Compendium. The publications included in this compendium advance our collective understanding of the problem of maternal mortality, inform the design and implementation of programs aiming to improve women’s health, and strengthen the global health community of practice to save women’s lives.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Multipliers of Prosperity: The Rise of Skills-Based Volunteerism

Jun 11, 2018 9:45 AM ET

One of the biggest assets MetLife possesses is the skill and passion of MetLife employees around the world. And one of the most exciting trends in the company is the rise of skills-based volunteerism: opportunities for MetLife employees to take the professional expertise they have developed and apply it for social good.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Agroforestry Concessions Are a Strategic Mechanism for Smallholders in the Amazon. How Do We Make It Work?

Jun 11, 2018 9:40 AM ET

Despite Peru’s ambitious commitment to reduce deforestation and emissions derived from the LULUCF sector, advances in the design and implementation of governance tools and strategies to revert land use change trajectories at the deforestation frontiers are still lacking.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

U.S. Conference of Mayors, Wells Fargo Announce 2018 CommunityWINS Grants

Jun 11, 2018 9:35 AM ET

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wells Fargo today announced that Mayors Robert Garcia of Long Beach, Calif.; Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio; and Jamael Tito Brown of Youngstown, Ohio, received top honors on behalf of nonprofits in their cities with the 2018 CommunityWINS® Grant Program funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Research, Reports & Publications

2017 Year in Brief | Health for Humanity Report | Johnson & Johnson

Jun 11, 2018 9:15 AM ET

Events, Media & Communications

3BL Media to Host Chicagoland Corporate Responsibility Stories Forum

Jun 11, 2018 9:05 AM ET

While sustainability is a competitive advantage for many companies, it can be difficult to break through the noise to get a media mention. In addition to sharing sustainability stories, we will explore best practices for making them “pop” to garner media attention.