News from Leading Brands

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

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Media & Communications

The UN Sustainable Development Goals – “What Matters” for 40 Sectors? G&A Institute's Research Project Yields Key Data

Nearing the end of the 20th Century, the United Nations assembled experts to develop the eight Millennium Goals (MDGs), to serve as blueprints and guides for public, private and social sector actions during the period 2000-2015 (the “new millennium”).

Innovation & Technology

Additive Manufacturing Beyond Hobbyist 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing (AM) already has many industrial uses, with more being discovered every year. Similar in principle to 3D printing, but distinct in execution, AM is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D models, usually layer by layer, followed by a finishing process that prepares the new part for installation or use. While 3D printing excels at producing models and imitations, AM combines printing technologies, computer-assisted design (CAD), and post-production processing to create usable components.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

GRI Podcast December: Tax Reporting

GRI's Global Sustainability Standards Board released a draft Standard on Tax and Payments to Governments, to make tax reporting more transparent and accessible. Hear from members of the Technical Committee on this project, on GRI's latest podcast

Events, Media & Communications

Positive Impact Launch White Paper Demonstrating How The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a Business Opportunity for the Global Event Industry

Four United Nations staff attended this year’s IBTM World, in what is believed to be an industry first, to engage with the global event industry as events are increasingly recognised as a route to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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.

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. Carbon Footprint
    We are accelerating our efforts to help build a low-carbon economy and avert the worst impacts of climate change. Our goal to reduce our GHG emissions...
  3. Environmental Sustainability
    As sustainability leaders, we implement our sustainability strategy across all company activities along the entire value chain, from raw materials to...
  4. Corporate Social Responsibility
    Corporate Social Responsibility
  5. Sustainability Report
    Our latest Sustainability Report highlights recent accomplishments and progress toward achieving goals in the environmental, social and governance...
  6. Kingfisher Around the World
    The SCS Kingfisher certification mark is showing up on an increasing number of products around the world. It differentiates companies that are making...
  7. License to Operate
    Corporate governance, risk management, operational integrity, and regulatory compliance are demanding challenges that companies face in today’s ever...
  8. 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...
  9. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  10. Green Mountain Energy Commitment to Sustainability
    At Green Mountain Energy Company, we share our customers’ commitment to the environment and sustainability. We are inspired by the success that we...
  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. SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights
    Highlighting the top news, commentary, and research for the week coming from SHQ. The highlights newsletter also spotlights one profiled organization...
  13. Responsible Investing
    Responsible Investing
  14. FedEx | Awards & Recognition
    We are consistently ranked among the world’s most admired brands and employers. Read more about honors and recognition for FedEx’s ongoing effort to...
  15. FedEx | Delivering for Good
    Doing what we do best for those who need it most. When disaster strikes, and there’s not a moment to lose, our people mobilize the FedEx global fleet...