Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Social Impact & Volunteering

When Personal Passions & Purpose at Work Pair Up

Mar 10, 2017 7:45 PM ET

A few weeks ago, I came home from a meeting at Chic Geek (a Calgary-based community to support women interested in tech) and opened my laptop to find an email from Benevity’s CEO, Bryan de Lottinville. At first, I thought it was an office-wide notice. Then I saw my name alongside a handful of female leaders from different teams, whom I admire. So I re-read the email carefully. Bryan asked us to put our heads together and see how we can partner with Chic Geek, the very same group that I volunteer with and had just returned from a meeting with! He explained how supporting Chic Geek aligned closely with Benevity's goals of improving our local tech-landscape, especially for women.

Diversity & Inclusion

Meet Swati Daji, Fuel Systems Executive

Mar 10, 2017 5:10 PM ET

We’re celebrating Women’s History Month this March by introducing you to 10 women who help power your life at Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas. They advance our company with their vision, talent, hard work and creativity. These trailblazing women – including a nuclear engineer, astrophysicist and lineman – reveal inspiring stories of persistence, pluck and achievement in largely male-dominated fields. A diverse workplace isn’t just a nice idea, it’s a competitive necessity. Today, meet Swati Daji, a senior vice president of fuels & systems based in Charlotte, N.C.

Education

Michael Weiner Scholarship Recipient Colleen Fewer Lives by Labor Movement Values

Mar 10, 2017 4:30 PM ET

Since 2015 the Major League Baseball Players Trust has annually awarded a Michael Weiner Scholarship for Labor Studies to five deserving law or graduate school students pursuing careers aimed at protecting and defending workers' rights. The Michael Weiner Scholarship for LaborStudies was established by Major Leaguers to honor the life and work of the Major League Baseball Players Association's late executive director.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Bunker Labs and Comcast NBCUniversal Extend Partnership to Help Grow Military-Led Startups

Mar 10, 2017 4:15 PM ET

Comcast NBCUniversal and Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit organization for military veteran-led startups, today announced a three-year expansion of its partnership, continuing their mutual support of the military community and veteran-owned businesses.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

3 Aflac Executives Honored by BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine

Mar 10, 2017 3:45 PM ET

Aflac, the leading provider of voluntary insurance at the worksite in the United States, announced today that Aflac U.S. President Teresa White, Executive Vice President and General Counsel Audrey Boone Tillman, and Vice President of Human Resources Brenda Mullins have all been selected to appear on BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine’s 2017 list of the Most Powerful Women in Business.

Education

Keep Genesee County Beautiful Partners with Keep America Beautiful for School-Based Recycling Education in Flint Schools

Mar 10, 2017 2:45 PM ET

Keep America Beautiful and its local Flint, Michigan, affiliate Keep Genesee County Beautiful recently announced the launch of an integrated recycling education and awareness initiative for the 10,000 school students affected by the Flint water crisis.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The Albertsons Companies Foundation and the Vons Foundation Makes Generous Contribution to HoldYou Foundation

Mar 10, 2017 2:00 PM ET

HoldYou Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to providing financial assistance to families in need who have a child facing a critical illness or injury, today announced The Albertsons Companies Foundation and The Vons Foundation donated $1,500 in support of HoldYou’s ongoing fundraising efforts.

Environment

Economics of Soil Health: Key to Adoption

Mar 10, 2017 12:30 PM ET

The current world population of approximately 7.4 billion is projected to increase to approximately 9.7 billion by 2050. Growing enough food, while also sustaining and improving our natural resources, is one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Diversity & Inclusion

Marching for Togetherness

Mar 10, 2017 12:30 PM ET

Shannon Sigmund likes to talk about women’s rights and is the first to explain that feminism isn’t just for one gender.

Diversity & Inclusion

Tech for Good and for Women

Mar 10, 2017 12:15 PM ET

“When you’re in a movement, you don't hold your finger to the wind,” Gloria Steinem told the rapt audience. “You become the wind.” Or, put another way, “If you feel you’re pushing a rock uphill, throw it.”

Health & Healthcare

Military Dining and Quality of Life

Mar 10, 2017 12:15 PM ET

Napoleon has been credited with the saying, “An army marches on its stomach.” An infantryman himself, Napoleon understood first-hand the importance of supplying an army on the move in which it was common practice for each soldier to procure his own food from villages along the campaign trail.

Responsible Production & Consumption

ANSI and Leonardo Academy Announce Extension for the ANSI/LEO-4000 American National Standard for Sustainable Agriculture Certification Body Pilot Program

Mar 10, 2017 12:15 PM ET

Leonardo Academy, Inc. The Sustainability Experts® announced today that the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has extended the deadline for Certifiers (Certification Bodies or CBs) to sign up for the ANSI Accreditation Pilot Program from March 10th, 2017 to May 10th, 2017.

Social Impact & Volunteering

What Does it Take to Build a Habitat House?

Mar 10, 2017 11:45 AM ET

People in your community and all over the world partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve the place they call home. In fact, Habitat is the largest privately held homebuilder and regularly ranks as one of the top 20 homebuilders in the United States.

Environment

Here's the Buzz on Häagen-Dazs' Plan to Protect Honeybees

Mar 10, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Last week, a few journalists, a farmer, an entomologist and an ice cream man drove two hours southeast from Oakland to Chowchilla, California. It’s an in-between place most people never will visit — the neighborhood bar is a lonely box with one window — but if you’ve eaten an almond in the United States, you depend upon this community. Its riches are rooted in nature.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Costa Group and Mercy Ships Present Their Memorandum of Understanding to Provide Practical Help Where it is Needed the Most

Mar 10, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Mercy Ships and Costa Group celebrated Tuesday the official start of the memorandum of understanding which has been recently signed. The agreement is aimed to develop synergies in different fields with the objective to support the accomplishments of Mercy Ships.

Events, Media & Communications

Timberland Talks Collaboration and Employee Engagement at GreenBiz 17

Mar 10, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently joined more than 1,000 sustainability leaders from around the world at GreenBiz 17, hosted in Phoenix, AZ. The annual three-day event brings together companies, sustainability executives, nonprofits and academics to discuss emerging trends and challenges facing sustainable business through presentations, panels, and workshops.

Education

Preparing Youth for the Future of Work

Mar 10, 2017 9:30 AM ET

Over the past few evenings, I’ve been escaping from the news of the day by reading some science fiction. Or at least I thought my choice was science fiction. The book, Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford, describes how automation threatens jobs and industries not in the distant future, but in the coming decades. Ford points out that while advanced technologies and automation have the potential to improve our lives by offering driverless cars, digital finance, and data-driven medical diagnoses, these advances also threaten jobs and industries.

Health & Healthcare

Preventing the Preventable and Treating the Treatable

Mar 10, 2017 9:30 AM ET

The start of a new year often conjures up hopes of a new you – losing extra pounds, stopping that unhealthy habit, or making changes to enrich life overall. In fact, many of us are already trying to prevent bad health and create solutions for the solvable in ourselves.

Diversity & Inclusion

#WomensHistoryMonth at Cox Enterprises: Get to Know Cathy Gunther

Mar 10, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Environment

Mike Bloomberg Co-Authors Book, Climate of Hope

Mar 10, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Just in time for Earth Day, yes, a hopeful book of strategies for delivering the planet from our worst environmental depredations.

Innovation & Technology

Smarter Public Safety Communication Systems Are Critical to the Evolution of Cities

Mar 10, 2017 9:00 AM ET

As the communication technologies leveraged by the public safety sector advance, the intersection with smart city initiatives becomes all the more inevitable. Technological advances afforded by broadband long-term evolution (LTE) networks have changed how first responders, city and county officials, public agencies and transportation fleets communicate and gather data to better serve their communities.

Innovation & Technology

Giant Sinkhole Studied with Xylem Technology

Mar 10, 2017 8:15 AM ET

In February 2014, a large sinkhole opened up beneath the National Corvette Museum and swallowed $1 million worth of classic cars. Researchers used Xylem’s EXO water-monitoring technology to study the sinkhole and ensure the surrounding buildings were safe.

Research, Reports & Publications

Kesko’s Annual Report Tells About Kesko’s Strategy Implementation and Renewal

Mar 10, 2017 8:00 AM ET

Kesko’s Annual Report 2016 describes the recent steps that Kesko has taken to strengthen the customer experience for consumers and businesses, both in-store and in digital channels. In addition to the progress of Kesko’s strategy and sustainability work, the report presents a comprehensive package of interesting stories.

Research, Reports & Publications

A.P. Moller-Maersk Sustainability Report 2016 Released

Mar 10, 2017 4:00 AM ET

The Sustainability Report 2016 follows A.P. Moller - Maersk’s continued work to unlock growth through their business, while operating responsibly and sustainably. The Report details the changes made on the ground at shipyards in Alang, India, progress on activities to create shared value by enabling trade, and a special feature on responsible tax.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Confessions of an Aspiring Work-Life Ninja

Mar 9, 2017 7:30 PM ET

After combating severe sleep debt, major diaper malfunctions, nap schedules and breastfeeding woes, I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to return to work before the end of my year-long protected leave (yay, Canada!). Did I really want to leave the tiny love of my life in the care of someone else (in this case, Daddy) so I could set my alarm every day, commute through busy morning traffic to sit in meetings and navigate heavy workloads?