Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

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.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Watermark & Project 24: Repok Bunut, Indonesia

Jun 11, 2018 9:00 AM ET

As with many other communities in the east of Lombok, Repuk Bunut Village struggles to access clean water. For the more than 1,250 residents in this village, only 14 wells are actively used to meet the daily water needs. The water is dirty and harmful when consumed. Unfortunately, there is no other choice but to use the contaminated water, which can lead to illnesses that greatly affect the education of local students.

Access to clean water and water hygiene education are both necessary to provide these chidlren with a better, healthier life. The AquaTower provided to this community by Xylem Watermark and Planet Water Foundation during Project 24 will help to bring that needed change.

Research, Reports & Publications

Landsec Publishes 2018 Sustainability Update

Jun 11, 2018 9:00 AM ET

This year you’ll find updates on all of Landsec’s sustainability activities, performance and data embedded throughout its 2018 Annual Report, available at www.landsec.com/investors/reports

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

The Real Price of Madagascar’s Vanilla Boom

Jun 11, 2018 9:00 AM ET

In the humid Sava region of northern Madagascar, where vanilla vines grow in the shaded canopy of the jungle, villagers guard their crop as though it were a precious metal. Well they might. Strong demand for natural vanilla, speculation, bad harvests and money laundering have driven prices as high as silver. Farmers often awake to find their vines stripped bare, carried off in the night by gangs of thieves filling orders for buyers in the far-off capital of Antananarivo, who in turn supply the markets of western Europe, the US and Asia. In some parts of Sava, say non-governmental organisations working in the region, vigilante groups have sprung up to mete out summary justice to the vanilla snatchers.

Media & Communications

#AskTt Twitter Chat: Building Resilience Through Integrated Programming

Jun 11, 2018 6:00 AM ET

Join @TetraTechIntDev and @Climatelinks on June 13, 2018, at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT for an #AskTt Twitter Chat on Building Resilience through Integrated Programming, hosted by Tetra Tech International Development Services and Climatelinks, and co-hosted by the USAID Planning for Resilience in East Africa through Policy, Adaptation, Research and Economic Development (PREPARED) Program.

Research, Reports & Publications

Dow Generated More Than $100 Million From Valuing Nature Projects and Engaged With Nearly 400,000 Students in 2017

Jun 11, 2018 5:00 AM ET

The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) released its 2017 Sustainability Report, detailing its progress against its 2025 Sustainability Goals and how Dow employees are helping drive value and deliver transformative and more sustainable ways to do business.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

GLAM4GOOD Hosts Inspiring Mentoring Initiative With #VISIONQUEST Panel Discussion and #SHOPPINGSPREE4FREE for NYC High School Students

Jun 8, 2018 2:40 PM ET

GLAM4GOOD, the award-winning empowerment platform and non-profit organization, in partnership with Nine West Eyewear hosted 150+ students at New York City’s High School of Fashion Industries on Wednesday, June 6th with an inspiring panel discussion and mentoring initiative focused on preparing students for college, job interviews and presentations.

Environment

World Oceans Day at Aramark

Jun 8, 2018 2:00 PM ET

June 8, 2018 is World Oceans Day, a day to celebrate what the oceans mean to our planet and our health, and how we can continue to be good stewards from sea to shining sea. At Aramark, we support our oceans on two main fronts—by watching what goes into the water and what comes out of it.