Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

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

Focus for maximum impact

Responsible Production & Consumption

Maven Launches City Car Sharing in Atlanta

Maven, General Motors’ personal mobility brand, is expanding its offerings in Atlanta from the Lyft Express Drive program to now include Maven City car sharing.

Environment

Where the World Stores Its Seeds: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Hidden deep in the permanently frozen mountainscape of the world’s northernmost inhabited place, lies the ultimate agricultural failsafe for cities and populations around the globe: a remote vault with the capacity to store billions of seeds. A sharp decline in seed biodiversity – largely due to the fact that three-quarters of the world’s food supply comes from just 12 plant species, including major staples like rice, wheat and maize – has made preservation of seed and crop diversity more important than ever.

Green Infrastructure

International WELL Building Institute™ CEO Rick Fedrizzi Lays Out 2017 Goals

The International WELL Building Institute’s™ (IWBI™) new Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi capped the first 100 days in his new role by laying out the cornerstones of his 2017 plan for the rapidly growing WELL Building Standard™ (WELL). These pillars will come as no surprise to those who have followed Fedrizzi’s leadership as the founding chairman and former CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council: Identify, simplify, solidify, amplify.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

When the Business Case and Shared Value Aren’t Enough

BSR Vice President Laura Gitman explores the concept of shared value and why "proving the business case" isn't always enough.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Fortune Magazine Names Astellas Among 50 Best Companies for Giving Back in the US Across All Industries

Astellas is committed to changing tomorrow for the patients we serve, our employees and the communities in which we live and work. Astellas was recognized as one of 2017’s 50 Best Companies for Giving Back in the United States across all industries by consulting firm Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine. Astellas ranked 25th on the list.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sands Cares Heroes of the Year Announced

On February 1, Team Members around the world were congratulated after learning they had been selected as Sands Cares Heroes of the Year, as well as finalists for The Sheldon G. and Dr. Miriam Adelson Citizenship Award presented by Sands Cares. Sands Cares is the corporate giving program of Las Vegas Sands, where we make our communities better places to live through philanthropic giving, volunteerism and other in-kind support to local organizations.

Innovation & Technology

YourMatch™ Feature Spotlight: Volunteer Shifts

Imagine this scenario: After extensive planning and discussion with your nonprofit partner, you finally iron out the details for an upcoming, large-scale volunteer event.

Education

Gildan: Supporting Women with Life Skills

Gildan’s founders began manufacturing apparel more than 30 years ago in Canada, with a fundamental belief that owning its factories was the only way to ensure that products were better quality and always manufactured in the most responsible way. They also believed that true innovation and long term success would come from believing in its people, for it would be in their excellence and commitment that great things could be found.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Aflac has Raised More Than $113 Million for Childhood Cancer Awareness, Research and Treatment

Aflac, the leading provider of voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the U.S., announced it exceeded its 2016 goal for social interactions regarding the company’s #Duckprints campaign for childhood cancer.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index Reveals Global Progress

Bloomberg today announced the 2017 Financial Services Gender-Equality Index (BFGEI), providing investors and organizations with unique insight into the statistics, policies, product offerings and external engagement driving 52 firms’ commitment to building gender-equal workplaces. Bloomberg also introduced a Fixed Income Gender-Equality Index, representing investment grade debt issued by the 2017 BFGEI member firms.

Environment

Benevity Partners with Mojave Desert Land Trust for Clean Up Event with Fortune 1000 Leaders

Tuesday, over 50 corporate citizenship leaders from Fortune 1000 companies joined the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) for a stewardship event organized by Benevity. The desert cleanup took place on an MDLT property, a wilderness corridor located within the Sand to Snow National Monument.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Cone Communications’ Research Honored in Institute for Public Relations’ Top 10 Research Insights List

Cone Communications, a public relations and marketing agency, is honored to announce that it been included in the Institute for Public Relations’ (IPR) Top 10 Research Insights of 2016. The report lists the 2016 Cone Communications Millennial Employee Engagement Study among ten research reports on themes ranging from technological innovation and business transformations to the effect of political content on social media users.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

CITGO Recognizes Safety Excellence and Leadership at Annual Contractor Safety Association Summit

The CITGO Contractor Safety Association (CSA) held its 5th annual Contractor Safety Summit at CITGO Park this past November. During the summit, more than 350 contractor foremen and supervisors took part in three separate interactive workshops. The workshops included Leadership Skills; Communication and Perception; as well as Power and Danger of Water and Vacuum.

Education

Institute for CSR Alumni Reflects on Benefits of Program

Institute for CSR Alumni Reflections: Interview with Kelly Waldron, Director of Capacity and Performance at United Way Worldwide (formerly with Deloitte)

Why did you choose to participate in the Institute for Corporate Social Responsibility and what year did you graduate?
The Institute for CSR was an incredible opportunity to learn from industry leaders – like Tim McClimon from American Express and Diane Melley from IBM – as well as network and learn from my peers in the field. I was part of the inaugural class (2014) and learned a great deal.

Education

QoL Solutions Can Help Retain Teachers

Every year, about 13 percent of the nation’s 3.4 million teachers transfer to different schools or leave the profession altogether, according to the Alliance for Excellence in Education in collaboration with the New Teacher Center. It’s estimated that over 1 million teachers move in and out of schools annually, with 40 to 50 percent of teachers quitting within five years.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Employees Volunteer More Than 21,000 Hours with Local Organizations in 2016

Employees from Xylem (NYSE:XYL), a leading global water technology company that is dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues, logged more than 21,000 volunteer hours in 2016 in activities aimed at providing and protecting safe water resources and educating people about water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Innovation & Technology

How Bloomberg Integrated Learning-to-Rank into Apache Solr

The latest milestone in open source development at Bloomberg is the incorporation of the Learning-to-Rank (LTR) plug-in into Apache Solr 6.4.0, which shipped this week. The release of the plug-in marks the culmination of a year’s worth of close collaboration between two groups of Bloomberg software engineers in New York and London and the open source project’s community to make it easier to re-rank search results using machine learning.

Education

Meet Amgen Scholars Alumni Elisa Paoluzzi Tomada

I have always been curious about human biology and have had a desire to help others. This has motivated me to study human diseases and to pursue a career in which I could help others through medicine and scientific research.

Energy

Opening a New Frontier: Duke Energy Renewables’ 200-Megawatt Oklahoma Wind Project Delivering Power

Duke Energy Renewables has completed its large-scale wind power plant in Oklahoma, the 200-megawatt (MW) Frontier Windpower Project.

Research, Reports & Publications

2017 Giving in Numbers Survey Launches

CECP, in association with The Conference Board, announced the launch of the 16th annual Giving in Numbers survey. The largest and most robust of its kind, the survey is open through March 31, 2017 to companies with revenue of US $2 billion or more, including companies not yet affiliated with CECP or The Conference Board. CECP: The CEO Force for Good is a coalition of more than 200 of the world’s largest companies that represent $7 trillion in revenues, $18.6 billion in societal investment, and 13 million employees.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Aramark Partners to Improve the Health of Millions of Americans

The largest U.S.-based food services provider, Aramark, has teamed up with the nation’s largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke, American Heart Association, to develop the “Healthy for Life 20 by 20” initiative. This outstanding collaboration is aimed at improving the health of Americans 20% by 2020 by empowering people to make healthy food, nutrition, and lifestyle choices. Read more.

Health & Healthcare

Hand Hygiene in Kindergartens Reduces Illness

Educating children in hygiene is a good investment in their health. A joint SCA and Vinda project in Shenzhen, China, showed that good hygiene habits can reduce the risk of childhood diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) by up to 60%.

Innovation & Technology

A Smarter City is the Smartest Gift to Give

I was at a friend’s birthday party recently and noticed something interesting about the presents he received from guests. The standard bottle of wine or tickets to a ball game don’t cut it anymore. The trendy gifts these days are gadgets that incorporate “smart” technologies, connect to your home and try to make life easier. You can speak to a radio to tell it to change the station, remotely lock the doors or turn off lights in your home and even buy an interactive refrigerator with touchscreen and internet access!

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Super Bowl 51 Ads Put Company Values in the Forefront

For the past 8 years, we’ve tracked which companies choose the Super Bowl as a moment in time to reaffirm or amplify their CSR commitments, but this year we saw something new.

Responsible Production & Consumption

As Seen on The Guardian: Weave a Supply Web as a Bridge to the Circular Economy

A more sustainable future means advancing a circular economy – one that keeps material in use and creates jobs along the way. The way to get there lies in the collaboration of organizations of all sizes, in what we’re calling supply webs.

Latest Campaigns

  1. Fifth Third’s Neighborhood Program
    Fifth Third has a proven track record of success in community development through its neighborhood program, which creates and implements innovative...
  2. AEG's Commitment to Social Impact and Volunteerism
    AEG embraces its responsibility to enrich the lives of people in the communities around the world where we do business, and to use business to create...
  3. Communities and People
    Employees are our most valued resource and are at the center of everything we do. Their talent, diversity, and commitment are crucial to our...
  4. 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...
  5. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...
  6. Forests
    Managing our forests sustainably and protecting water, wildlife, and species at risk.
  7. KeyBank Foundation: Helping Communities Thrive through Education, Workforce Development, and Service
    KeyBank Foundation helps build thriving communities by supporting organizations and programs that foster thriving students and a thriving workforce...
  8. License to Operate
    Corporate governance, risk management, operational integrity, and regulatory compliance are demanding challenges that companies face in today’s ever...
  9. Subaru Love Promise: Community
    Subaru is dedicated to supporting those who need it the most in our communities. From donating food to Feeding America, providing essential items to...
  10. 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...
  11. Scotts Miracle-Gro | Environment Improvement
    Earth's beauty and resources should be appreciated now and preserved for generations to come. Discover the stewardship initiatives underway to protect...
  12. Opportunity for All
    At Trane Technologies, uplifting our communities and workforce is the key to our continued success. We focus on broadening access to education...
  13. Recognition of our Company
    As the leading sports and live music company in the world, we recognize our responsibility to provide industry leadership and to conduct our business...
  14. Investing in our Communities
    We invest in sustainable community outcomes that improve lives.
  15. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...