Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

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







Editors Pick

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

You Can Give the Gift of Family This Holiday Season

This holiday season, give the gift of family to help us find a permanent home and loving family for more youth, like Haylee.

Health & Healthcare

What Will We be Eating in 2019? A Nestlé Nutrition Expert (and More Than 2,000 Americans) Weigh In

After decades of staying on the cutting edge of food, I’ve learned that the world of nutrition moves fast. Now, I lead a team of nutrition and wellness professionals at Nestlé, helping to design new foods and beverages to give you the foods you love with the nutrition you crave.

Throughout the recent decades of our wellness-focused culture, we’ve seen fats, protein, and carbs all rise and fall in popularity. One thing that never changes? Flavor. Food has to taste good — if it doesn’t, we won’t eat it, no matter the potential health benefits. Every nutritionist knows this from day one, and luckily, the latest trends in functional food are packing more flavor than ever.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Army Principles Helped This Walmart Manager Move up the Ranks

Elise Hackstall no longer wears an Army uniform. But to this day, the military values she learned in her years of service still inform her identity. For Hackstall, commitment, accountability and leadership weren’t abstract principles but essential traits that propelled her through a military career at Fort Knox.

When she joined Walmart, she quickly noticed a cultural overlap. The company's four basic beliefs had plenty in common with the seven Army values she already knew, sharing an emphasis on respect and integrity.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Professions with Purpose

Simone Andrews, an Associate Analyst in our RRS group within Moody’s Investors Service, grew up in Houston, Texas. She saw the devastating effects of Hurricane Ike on the Gulf Coast in 2008 and of Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

How I Became Passionate About the Circular Economy

Graduate school completely changed this guest author’s thoughts about sustainability issues, and equipped her with a toolkit for analyzing environmental challenges and implementing circular economy solutions.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

National Grid Wins Project of the Year, Best Water, Environment & Excellence in Safety Award of Merit

Throughout the $30-million project, the team had to coordinate with the city of Gloucester, the Maritime Museum and the Coast Guard as well as National Grid, which was the project client that also owned property on the 78,970-sq-ft waterfront area.

Events, Media & Communications

Brands Taking Stands: 3BL Forum Explores Corporate Activism

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Food is the Most Important School Supply

Every kid needs three meals a day to be healthy and do well in school. And for some kids, school is the best place to get those meals.

Sustainable Development Goals

Expert Interview With Dave George, Architecture and Engineering Program Management Expert

Dave George has more than 25 years of experience in large-scale infrastructure and facility planning, design, and construction management for Department of Defense (DoD) projects, including significant work outside the contiguous United States (OCONUS). Since 2003 Dave has managed facility design and civil and utilities-related services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Middle East District (MED). He also has managed the design of prototypical district and training center facilities for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and projects for the U.S. Air Force.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Corporate Purpose Is the Tie That Binds: CECP’s Annual Trends Report

Leading companies are laser-focused on corporate purpose. They explore what their purpose is and how it translates to their people and community and bring that purpose to life through intentional practices and strategies. They use a human-centered lens for all business operations because it helps them see around corners and delivers a competitive edge. All this leads to a future-forward outlook that enables a long-term view. Within this purpose megatrend, we see five prominent themes: Employee Power, Collaborative Advocacy, Responsible Tech, Long-Term Growth Going Mainstream, and Impact Measured.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Abbott Named One of the Top Companies for Responsible Business on the JUST 100 List by Forbes and JUST Capital

Abbott was recently named one of America's Most JUST Companies by Forbes magazine and JUST Capital. The list recognizes the top 100 companies in the U.S. leading the way for responsible, sustainable business.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Solving the National Affordable Housing Crisis With Mercy Housing

Every day, millions of Americans have to sacrifice food, education, and healthcare because the cost of housing is so high. The numbers are grim: only one out of every four households who needs housing assistance gets it; more than one in four renters pays more than half of their income on housing costs; and nationwide waiting lists for affordable housing are years long. Many lists aren’t even open to new applicants because the backlog is so enormous. The lack of affordable housing affects millions nationwide, and people who have full time jobs are not immune: the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) notes that someone has to make $21.21 per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom rental home at Fair Market Rent. Of the people fortunate enough to receive federal housing assistance in

Research, Reports & Publications

Report: How Business Can Measure the Impact and ROI of Corporate Sustainability

In partnership with the Erb Institute, Innovation Forum recently hosted a conference in Detroit that delved into the best ways to assess materiality, build a business case and deliver impact at scale.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Smithfield Foods Adds 250 Jobs in North Carolina With New Distribution Center

Smithfield Foods, Inc. is pleased to announce the grand opening of its new distribution center in Tar Heel, North Carolina, which will create approximately 250 new jobs in the state. Smithfield invested more than $100 million into the over 500,000-square foot facility, about the size of eight football fields, and its blast cell cold storage capabilities at its processing facility, which will strengthen the company’s supply chain to better serve customers globally.

Diversity & Inclusion

With Girls Who Code, Viacom Develops a Pipeline of Future Tech Leaders

“Ultimately, our goal is to establish a pipeline of talent and help develop the STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] skills that are vital to pursuing careers in tech,” says Viacom Chief Technology Officer Dave Kline. “We’re focused on crafting opportunities for the Girls Who Code alumni where they can explore, learn, and thrive in an all-encompassing environment surrounded by top-tier talent.”

Innovation & Technology

VMware Opens Its Discovery Center, Continuing Their Commitment to Innovation, Sustainability and Resilience

From our global commitment to green building practices, to the order of magnitude our technology delivers in terms of energy and carbon emission reductions in IT, VMware aims to leave ahead a better future by weaving sustainability into everything we do, including the opening of our new VMware Discovery Center.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Study Puts Aflac in Top 5 for Workplace Culture

Aflac, the leader in voluntary insurance sales at U.S. worksites, is listed as a top five company in Comparably’s 2018 list of the 50 Best Company Cultures. Comparably is a California-based culture data website that rates companies’ workplace cultures. According to Comparably, the companies on their annual Best Company Cultures list received the highest ratings by employees who provided anonymous feedback on a variety of workplace culture questions ranging from work environment and compensation to leadership.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Sysco is Committed to Seafood Sustainability

In 2009, Sysco began working with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to assess and improve the sustainability of its seafood supply chain. Through this collaboration, Sysco committed in 2011 to source its top 10 Portico® brand (Sysco’s own seafood brand) frozen and further-processed wild-caught seafood species from fisheries that were either certified to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, in full assessment for MSC certification or engaged in a comprehensive Fishery Improvement Project (FIP), by 2015.

Continuing its alliance with WWF, in 2016, Sysco committed to further improve the sustainability of its seafood procurement through 2020, incorporating additional elements to guide its seafood procurement practices and standards.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

PT Freeport Indonesia, a Freeport-McMoRan Company, Receives Top Corporate Social Responsibility Awards

Business News Indonesia magazine recently presented PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) with three corporate responsibility awards for 2018. The three awards are:

Top Leader on Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment
Top Corporate Social Responsibility in the Mining sector
Top Corporate Social Responsibility Infrastructure Program

Responsible Production & Consumption

Keep America Beautiful Tips for a Sustainable Holiday Season

Make a difference this holiday season by taking small steps that can make a meaningful difference by reducing waste and your carbon footprint. And since it’s the season of giving, share these eco-friendly tips with family and friends!

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education Announce 2019 Possibility Grant Sweepstakes

The Siemens Foundation, one of the country’s premier organizations advancing STEM workforce development and education initiatives, and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, today announced the launch of the 2019 Possibility Grant Sweepstakes. The $10,000 grant provides the opportunity to enhance science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education experiences and access to immersive learning for K-12 youth.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Notable Women in NonProfits 2018

Carolyn Bloodworth is an effective team builder who works tirelessly to meet the basic needs of Michigan residents through Consumers Energy Foundation and Consumers Energy employee volunteers. Throughout her tenure as director of Corporate Giving at Consumers Energy, she has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for our communities in Michigan.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Merck Supports The Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN)

Merck’s Office of Corporate Responsibility announced a $500,000 grant to the World Health Organization’s Expended Special Project to Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN).

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Whole Kids Foundation Awards Bee Hive Grants to Three Chicago Schools

Whole Kids Foundation announced today that it has awarded Bee Hive Grants to three schools in Chicago with money raised from the inaugural Give Bees a Chance campaign this past summer. Grant recipients include Smyth IB World School, Genevieve Melody STEM Elementary School and Community Christian Alternative Academy. Each school will receive support for an educational bee hive on campus, providing students with learning opportunities around science, ecology, nutrition, business and agriculture.

Green Infrastructure

SCE, Car Manufacturers Share Insights on Future of EVs

Building infrastructure for charging electric vehicles and educating customers about EVs are two key things electric utilities should be doing to help accelerate the adoption of electric cars in California, according to automakers who joined Southern California Edison President Ron Nichols in a recent panel discussion.

Latest Campaigns

  1. 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...
  2. ESG Recognition
    While our commitment to being a responsible corporation is not dependent on recognition, it is a great validation of our work when external...
  3. Aflac Stories
    Get a closer look at the people, products and stories that make Aflac the company we know today.
  4. America's Charities Employee Engagement & Social Responsibility
    More than ever, retaining and recruiting employees is a top priority for companies. Aware of the link between workplace giving and employee engagement...
  5. 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...
  6. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...
  7. 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...
  8. Growth Through Sustainability
    Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator with a clear purpose to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world. See how embedding...
  9. Goals That Inspire: Environmental Stewardship
    Through our Goals That Inspire we have established aggressive commitments with targeted and measurable metrics which will require innovation...
  10. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  11. KeyBank's Community Investment
    In states where Key has a presence, there are approximately 1.7 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. Many LMI individuals don’t have bank...
  12. 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...
  13. Tork, an Essity brand
    Tork is an Essity brand. Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company. Wherever there is a need for wiping, drying, cleaning or polishing...
  14. Aflac Insights
    Learn more about Aflac’s survey findings to better understand workplace trends as well as consumer attitudes, habits and opinions toward health and...
  15. Technology for Good
    We believe that technology, when thoughtfully and strategically applied, can bring positive, lasting change to people’s lives and communities and...