Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest news from 3BL’s clients.







Editors Pick

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

A Deeper Look at CECP's Year-End Investing in Society: Planet

Investing in Society, CECP’s recently launched and updated compendium of data, research, and case studies illustrates innovations in corporate efforts to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Divided into five sections – Priorities, Performance, People, Planet, and Policies – the collection of insights offers a far-reaching assessment of what leading companies are doing in each of the five focus areas.

In the Planet section, CECP asks, “How does a company's approach to the planet's resources factor into investments, resource management, and sustainability decisions?"

Social Impact & Volunteering

SpongeBob Mural at Roy Romer, Van Nuys

Diversity & Inclusion

Business Resource Groups Take Off at UPS

As one of the world’s largest employers, UPS employs people from all cultures, backgrounds, lifestyles, and experiences.

Events, Media & Communications

How to Make MLK Day a Day “On”

Starbucks and VolunteerMatch are empowering volunteers to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and find ways to do good this MLK Day of Service.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Aflac Highlights Why Benefits Matter

Benefits are important to employees, and they’re important to your company’s bottom line too. The Aflac WorkForces Report found that employer-offered benefits are a strong differentiator when it comes to attracting employees, retaining them and protecting their well-being.

Research, Reports & Publications

Your Cheat Sheet to Cisco’s 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

FY18 was a significant year for CSR in many ways – Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink came out strong in his annual letter titled, “A Sense of Purpose,” emphasizing the importance that business considers their impact on society and the environment. Companies continued to take a public stand on issues such as equality, immigration and more. At Cisco, we recognize we cannot solve the world’s problems on our own, but we have an opportunity and a responsibility to do our part. Last week we launched our 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, celebrating our achievements to date as well as how we are addressing the areas where we can do more. Here are highlights from this year’s report across our three CSR pillars of People, Society and Planet; your “cheat sheet” to CSR at Cisco in FY18.

Environment

Putting the “Success” in Succession Planning: Why It Matters and How to Do It

Antea Group’s blog helps you prepare your successor to allow for a potentially seamless career transition and create an invaluable safety net.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Impact at Work: Attracting Talent to Support Financial Education for California Youth

I had the exciting opportunity to interview Amiko Foster of Youth Finance Institute of America (YFIA), a California-based nonprofit that provides personal finance education programs designed to teach finance life skills to youth in disadvantaged areas. Since launching their program in 2015, YFIA’s entirely volunteer-based staff has been able to serve over 1200 youth to date.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Developing Syria's New Humanitarians

“The worst man-made disaster the world has seen since World War II.” That’s how the United Nations human rights chief has described the ongoing conflict in Syria. The response from international NGOs has been swift, providing food, healthcare, and temporary shelter to the millions of Syrians affected by the conflict, but the challenges these aid organizations face getting humanitarian assistance to those in need have grown more extreme.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Partner Insights: Pfizer Global Health Fellows

In 2018, Pfizer celebrated 15 years of the Global Health Fellows (GHF) program, our signature international corporate volunteer initiative that places colleagues on short-term assignments with international development organizations to help improve healthcare systems and build local healthcare capacity in underserved communities. For program partners, it brings much-needed resources, specific technical skills and a fresh mindset.

Diversity & Inclusion

Interview with Tim Singh, Proposal Coordinator, Business Development Support Services

Tim Singh is a proposal coordinator with Tetra Tech based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He helps Tetra Tech teams specializing in water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, and geotechnical engineering pursue and win new business. Tim has a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and a master’s degree in strategic design.

Green Infrastructure

Alliance for Community Trees Groups Improve Communities Through Tree Planting

Local impact happens when community-based tree planting organizations create projects that involve citizens, schools, churches, and government. This is the work of the nearly 130 members of the Alliance for Community Trees program. These passionate nonprofit organizations are the boots on the ground — a grassroots network united in its purpose of improving communities and towns across the country with trees.

Environment

General Mills Works to Decouple Emissions From Business Growth

As our warming climate poses greater and greater uncertainty for the food sector, leading companies are looking to shrink their own contributions to climate change and build resilience for the days to come.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Gildan Opens “Rio Market” for Employees at Their Rio Nance Complex in Honduras

Gildan has launched a new onsite supermarket for its employees, offering non-perishable food, household essentials and personal care items at discounted prices for 8,500 workers located at the complex.

Research, Reports & Publications

Elkay Begins Tracking Their “Honorable Endeavors”

Elkay Manufacturing Company today released their inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, documenting the company’s commitment to their communities, employees, customers, and the planet. The report, named Honorable Endeavors, follows the Global Reporting Initiative G4 model and outlines the company’s focus on promoting social and environmental responsibility while building stronger communities.

Diversity & Inclusion

21CF and U.S. State Department Host Second-Annual #HiddenNoMore Program, Helping Advance Women Around the World in STEAM Fields

In 2017, 21st Century Fox partnered with the U.S Department of State to launch #HiddenNoMore, an all-female STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) leadership development program inspired by the Fox 2000 film Hidden Figures. The initiative marked the first time in history that a Hollywood movie led to the creation of a publicly-funded educational exchange program.

Innovation & Technology

5 Best Practices of Design Thinking Companies Can Use to Ensure Data Privacy

As online security and user experience simultaneously become two of the most important topics for modern companies, GDPR compliance by companies is a must. There is an art to creating a high-quality user experience while also adhering to this new regulation, and it begins with design thinking.

Energy

Bloomberg, Cox Enterprises, Gap Inc., Salesforce and Workday Close All-New Renewable Energy Aggregation Deal

Bloomberg, Cox Enterprises, Gap Inc.(NYSE: GPS), Salesforce (NASDAQ: CRM), and Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY), with guidance from LevelTen Energy and its renewable energy procurement platform, closed 42.5 megawatts of a 100 megawatt North Carolina solar project, by global renewable energy developer, service provider and wholesaler, BayWa r.e. This group of companies, coming together as the Corporate Renewable Energy Aggregation Group, is the first example of companies aggregating similar, relatively small amounts of renewable energy demand to collaboratively enter into a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA), collectively acting as the anchor tenant for a large offsite renewable energy project.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

PepsiCo and The Global FoodBanking Network Partnership Delivers More Than 85 Million Servings of Fresh Food to Communities in Need in 2018

PepsiCo, one of the world's leading food and beverage companies, and The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN), a nonprofit organization that develops and supports food banks in more than 30 countries, delivered more than 85 million servings of fresh food to communities in need in 2018 as part of their partnership to strengthen food banks around the world.

Sustainable Development Goals

How DSM is Embracing The Sustainable Development Goals

As the world's largest food ingredient supplier and vitamin producer, Netherlands-based DSM has a clear interest in global nutrition. The company long has had an outward-looking approach to the subject, having signed a partnership with the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) back in 2007 and setting up its own Nutrition Improvement Program.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Schneider Electric Recognized by Bloomberg and Catalyst for Advancing Gender Equality and Inclusion

Schneider Electric, the global leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has received two significant accolades for its commitment and progress towards gender equality and inclusion across the Group. The company has been awarded as one of the 230 companies included in the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) and for the first time received the 2019 Catalyst Award that highlight companies for their bold and forward-thinking initiatives that help create safe and inclusive workplaces where women can advance.

Sustainable Development Goals

A Message to Entrepreneurs: This Is About Missing Entire Markets, Not Just Marketing Opportunities

Sahba Sobhani is a Global Programme Advisor-Private Sector in the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS), UN Development Programme (UNDP). He provides programme support and policy advice on private sector development issues and technical oversight for UNDP’s multi-stakeholder initiatives including the Business Call to Action Initiative, the Connecting Business Initiative and the G20 Global Platform on Inclusive Business. Previously, he managed two key UNDP private sector initiatives. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Fletcher School of Diplomacy (USA).

Events, Media & Communications

American Express Backs the Community of Puerto Rico

The company is proud to back global brand ambassador, Lin-Manuel Miranda, as he reprises his role of Alexander Hamilton in a special, limited-run of the award-winning musical Hamilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, all in support of the arts. Lin-Manuel has committed to donating proceeds from the production and its partnerships to the Flamboyan Arts Fund, in partnership with the Flamboyan Foundation.

Education

Lockheed Martin Announces $50,000 Scholarship for STEM Students in Partnership with Surface Navy Association

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced a $50,000 scholarship program for students pursuing a STEM path, in partnership with the Surface Navy Association (SNA). The scholarship will be $10,000 a year for the next five years. Four students across the nation will receive a $2,500 award each year for financial aid. Recipients of the 2019 scholarship will be announced in the spring.

Latest Campaigns

  1. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...
  2. Cascale Events
    Cascale organizes and participates in a series of events, leveraging its position as a global convener of close to half the sector to bring together...
  3. Kids to College Powered by Entergy
    Entergy believes in the dreams of the families we serve. Everyone deserves the opportunity to continue their education and, as a corporate leader and...
  4. Investing in our Communities
    We invest in sustainable community outcomes that improve lives.
  5. Sustainable Operations
    ops-related sustainability content (e.g., new electric equipment, decarb efforts, etc.)
  6. Accelerating access to healthcare technology
    We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And...
  7. IWBI | WELL Building Standard
    Our built environment can shape our habits and choices, regulate our sleep-wake cycle, drive us toward healthy and unhealthy choices, and passively...
  8. Cascale Events
    Cascale organizes and participates in a series of events, leveraging its position as a global convener of close to half the sector to bring together...
  9. Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG)
    The business landscape is reorienting itself and you can almost hear priorities shifting toward change-readiness and the bigger picture. And in this...
  10. Social Impact at Mastercard
    At Mastercard, we’re powering economies and empowering people, building a sustainable economy where everyone prospers.
  11. Health and Safety by Antea Group
    Antea Group's health and safety consultants understand what it takes to help make a positive impact on safety culture. Read blogs, insights, and more...
  12. Integrated Tools
    Cascale shares updates on its efforts to align the industry on a common language to describe sustainability performance to reduce duplication and...
  13. 2024-25 AMD CR Report
    AMD Commemorates 30 Years of Corporate Responsibility with 2024-25 Report
  14. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...
  15. 2024-25 AMD CR Report
    AMD Commemorates 30 Years of Corporate Responsibility with 2024-25 Report