News from Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest impact news from companies embracing the triple bottom line, shared via 3BL's publishing platform.

Helen Mathis seated on a couch

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement | Verizon

Entrepreneur Expands Her Thriving Tax Firm With Digital Innovation

Helen Mathis taught accounting as a vocational instructor for 30 years before facing a career-defining moment: The school where she worked closed and Mathis knew she needed a new plan

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Environment

New Taskforce Tackles Food Insecurity Within West Virginia’s Senior Community

Hunger affects all 55 counties and more than 275,000 residents in West Virginia, including seniors. Four organizations — Alderson Broaddus University (ABU), Sodexo, The Campus Kitchens Project, and AARP Foundation — formed a taskforce to address food insecurity within West Virginia’s senior community, and today announced plans to launch a new initiative this fall to fight hunger with opportunities for student involvement. The program is made possible through a grant awarded by AARP Foundation to Alderson Broaddus University.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sodexo Inducted into DiversityInc Top 50 Hall of Fame

Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company committed to improving Quality of Life, announced today the company’s induction into the inaugural DiversityInc Top 50 Hall of Fame -- an honor bestowed to only six U.S. companies -- for exceptional human capital management accomplishments and superior corporate values and culture.

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Sustainable Development Goals

Arbor Day Foundation and Boise Paper Celebrate 10th Project UP™ Planting Day

This spring, the Arbor Day Foundation and Boise Paper will celebrate the 10th planting day event of Project UP™, a partnership to revitalize neighborhoods across North America through tree planting. Project UP turns abandoned and neglected urban spaces into clean, green neighborhood gathering places where families and individuals can come together, relax and thrive.

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Research, Reports & Publications

Bloomberg 2017 Impact Report Adopts TCFD Recommendations Including Scenario Analysis; And Highlights Innovative New European Headquarters

loomberg's 2017 Impact Report integrates for the first time the recommendations of the FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). A dedicated section on climate -related scenario analysis explores Bloomberg's business strategy under a 2° or less Celsius scenario and under a scenario in which no concerted action is taken to mitigate climate change.

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Sustainable Development Goals

Designing Sustainable Water Supply Systems in Africa

Tetra Tech is bringing clean water and effective delivery systems to Liberia to address water sector challenges.

Piped drinking water has not flowed in most of Liberia's secondary cities for a quarter century. Shortly after the Liberia civil conflict began in 1989, these systems were destroyed or fell into disrepair, leaving urban residents dependent on either unreliable or contaminated water sources like shallow wells and surface waters. As a result of the war, local capacity in water supply engineering, operations, maintenance, and management became limited or non-existent. Tetra Tech is implementing the Liberia Municipal Water Project (LMWP I & II), which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Energy

The Mackie Building

For nearly the same cost as a traditional system, The Mackie Building now has a highly reliable, energy-efficient HVAC solution that delivers comfort and conveniences for its tenants.

Education

Seize the Moment, Steel Yourself Against Rejection, and Connect: A Professor-Parent’s Advice

Steven McCornack is an unlikely member of the Amgen Scholars community. He is not a biology researcher, undergraduate, program alumnus, or student program director. A professor of communications at the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB), McCornack studies interpersonal relationships. He has recommended students before for the Amgen Scholars Program but his true connection to the program is a very recent and personal one: his son was a 2017 Amgen Scholar.

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Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Albertsons Companies Foundation 2017 Community Impact Report

Albertsons Companies Foundation announced the release of its 2017 Community Impact Report, which illustrates how money donated by Albertsons Companies customers helped effect meaningful change for the people who need it the most.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Team ASEAN Storm Resilience Fund Aims to Help Communities Withstand Extreme Weather Events in Southeast Asia; Wins 2018 Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge

Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in the U.S. today announced that ASEAN Storm Resilience Fund was named the winner of the 2018 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge. Comprised of students from Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, the team was one of 12 finalist teams competing in the Challenge at Morgan Stanley’s London offices on Friday.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates More than 70,000 Pounds of Protein to Food Banks Across America

This week, Smithfield Foods, Inc. joined forces with Smith’s Food and Drug to donate more than 35,000 pounds of protein to Utah Food Bank. Smithfield also contributed nearly 35,000 pounds of protein to the Maryland Food Bank. Smithfield’s contributions are part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donations, equivalent to about 140,000 servings each, will help families fight hunger across Maryland and Utah.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Make-A-Wish Challenges You! Support the Make-A-Wish #ArmWrestleChallenge

The Make-A-Wish #ArmWrestleChallenge kicks off in April as part of the Make-A-Wish® World Wish Day® campaign, raising awareness and funds online to help grant the wishes of children diagnosed with critical illnesses. A wish experience can give kids the mental toughness they need to fight their illness.

21st Century Fox

Environment

Learn How Twentieth Century Fox Went Green on “The Post” in This Exclusive Behind-the-scenes Look

As part of Twentieth Century Fox’s commitment to environmental sustainability in its film productions, the studio recently led efforts to green the set of The Post, Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-nominated drama starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks about The Washington Post’s role in publishing the Pentagon Papers in 1971. The filming process lasted 52 days and took the cast and crew across dozens of locations in New York and Washington, D.C., with each new site presenting its own unique sustainability challenges. However, the combined efforts of the cast and crew allowed the movie to save 32.5 metric tons of carbon emissions, divert 80% of its waste from landfill, and donate more than 2,600 meals to those in need.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

The Academy of Country Music Partners With Aflac to Present First Ever Aflac ACM Lifting Lives Honor

The Academy of Country Music has officially announced a partnership with Aflac for an incredible new award.

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Environment

Traceability Is a Must for Companies With Zero-Deforestation Pledges

Unilever and Nestlé made waves in February when they became the first global food companies to publish their entire palm oil supply chains — both their direct suppliers and the mills that indirectly supply them. Palm oil is a key ingredient for many of the companies’ products, from margarine to candy to soap and shampoo; yet, it has been a thorn in the side of their zero-deforestation commitments.

PYXERA Global

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Breaking Down Barriers to Women’s Empowerment

Gender equality benefits everyone. The evidence is abundantly clear that women’s empowerment alleviates poverty, creates jobs, boosts education levels, promotes agricultural productivity, and reduces hunger, among a myriad of other positive outcomes.

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Events, Media & Communications

Announcing New Speakers for #USCCFcircular!

Join business and sustainability leaders on May 9—10 in Washington, D.C. for the 2018 Sustainability and Circular Economy Summit, Translating Value to Ignite Action.

Environment

Saving the Planet, One Dining Hall at a Time

In honor of Earth Day, Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company, recognizes college campuses demonstrating innovative, sustainable dining practices. From hydroponic greenhouses to reusable container systems, here’s three Sodexo-operated campus dining programs reducing their carbon footprints through sustainable kitchens.

Research, Reports & Publications

FCA transforms our sustainability commitments into tangible results

In 2017, FCA continued to transform our sustainability commitments into concrete actions that aim to create long-term value responsibly. We recognize that our environmental and social activities affect not only our aspiration to grow the business but also our determination to positively affect our world.

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Education

Sands Cares Adopts Local Las Vegas Elementary School

On January 23, 2018, Sands Cares, the company’s corporate giving program, adopted its first school, Helen Herr Elementary School, in partnership with non-profits Spread The Word Nevada (STWN) and Green Our Planet in Las Vegas. The $50,000 donation will fund free books and literacy programs for more than 800 students through 2020.

Yum! Brands, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger Grill logos

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

KFC Foundation Offers New Personal Finance Program, MyChange, to KFC U.S. Restaurant Employees

The KFC Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by KFC franchisees, announced personal finance program, MyChange, as its newest charitable offering for employees at participating KFC U.S. restaurants. Offered in partnership with Sum180, MyChange fosters personalized financial wellness and teaches foundational personal finance skills to KFC’s restaurant employees who choose to enroll in the program.

AccountAbility logo

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Dr. Natasha Matic Appointed to AccountAbility AA1000 Standards Board

AccountAbility is pleased to announce that Dr. Natasha M. Matic, Chief Strategy Officer, King Khalid Foundation (KKF), Saudi Arabia and USA, has been appointed to the AccountAbility AA1000 Standards Board. Dr. Matic currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at the KKF in Saudi Arabia working between Washington, DC and Riyadh on developing strategy, management structures, partnerships and investment opportunities for the foundation. During the past decade, Dr. Matic led strategic transformation of KKF into a leading Saudi foundation, which played a key role towards building the Saudi economy.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

News From the Capital Markets

In this new series, GRI will share updates on the latest developments from capital markets in Europe and the world, and how it's interacting with them to promote and enable change. The World Federation of Exchanges has established sustainability as a priority for the coming year. In line with this, the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka has launched its guidance, Communicating Sustainability: Six Recommendations for listed companies. Colombo Stock Exchange is also working together with GRI to support listed companies in their sustainability reporting efforts.

HP logo

Diversity & Inclusion

On the Job: A Chat with HP’s Chief Diversity Officer, Lesley Slaton Brown

When Oprah Winfrey wowed the world at the Golden Globes with her rousing call for greater opportunities for “little brown girls,” it signaled a turning point for HP’s Chief Diversity Office, Lesley Slaton Brown. “I watched it over and over and over,” she says. “I cried. I laughed. I rejoiced. I cried some more. I got inspired. I have goosebumps now, just talking about it. Literally, arms-to-legs goosebumps.”

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Energy

New Energy Companies: “Green,” Sustainable, and Profitable

Future growth hinges on the appropriate response to present conditions while strategically developing longer-term plans. For most industries, social, environmental, and political issues are having increasingly greater impact in reshaping the present and future business environment. In particular, the oil and gas (O&G) industry is challenged to reliably and economically deliver transportation fuels in the present day while working strategically to provide “cleaner” energy products in the future.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Barclays' Reverse Mentoring Scheme Turns Generational Hierarchy on Its Head

Barclays’ Reverse Mentoring Scheme turns hierarchies on their heads, with junior colleagues coaching their senior partners. One pair – Lucy Eyers and Martin Hyde – explain how their relationship has led to shared insights and new plans.

Latest Campaigns

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