Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Energy

Smart Grid and Microgrids—the Hard Solution for Asia’s At-Risk Megacities

Mar 29, 2017 3:00 PM ET

Disaster recovery remains a driving force for Asia, which experiences more natural disasters than any other region in the world. Floods, earthquakes and cyclones continue to wreak havoc—killing people, wiping out homes and livelihoods, and leaving economies in distress. However, there may be a solution that will help mitigate loss going forward—making small investments in the power grid today by embracing emerging smart grid and microgrid solutions will save these ever-expanding cities’ resources while critically improving disaster resilience and recovery of life in times of human tragedy.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The UPS Foundation Commits $14.1 Million To Humanitarian Relief & Community Safety

Mar 29, 2017 2:30 PM ET

From imbedding its logistics experts with the United Nation’s agencies to vaccine tracking programs to drones delivering medical supplies, The UPS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS (NYSE: UPS), is taking on global humanitarian relief and community safety in a big way. This year, The UPS Foundation will award $14.1 million in grant funding and in-kind support to advance humanitarian relief and community safety initiatives around the world.

Environment

From Michael Bloomberg: Fighting Climate Change Despite Trump Rollbacks

Mar 29, 2017 2:00 PM ET

“Trump Using Detroit as Stage for Loosening Obama’s Fuel Economy Standards” repeated a fallacy that has become conventional wisdom. The article cited experts who claimed that policy rollbacks by the Trump administration “would make it impossible for the United States to meet Mr. Obama’s commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement” on climate change.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Three Ways to Take Your Impact Further | Taproot Foundation's Advisory Services Spring Newsletter

Mar 29, 2017 2:00 PM ET

It's a common misconception that the bigger and more complex a pro bono initiative is, the higher the impact will be for nonprofits, your employees, and the company itself. In fact, the biggest determinant of a program's impact is not its scale or complexity but the quality of the match between employees' expertise and nonprofits' needs.

Health & Healthcare

Delos™ VIDEO | Exploring the Great Indoors

Mar 29, 2017 1:20 PM ET

On average, Americans spend over 90% of their time indoors, meaning that these spaces can have a profound effect on human health and well-being. Delos is transforming our homes, offices, schools and other indoor environments through technology, design and innovative solutions that nurture and promote human health and well-being.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Voya Financial Announces First-Quarter 2017 Grant Recipients

Mar 29, 2017 1:05 PM ET

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), today announced the nonprofit organizations selected to receive grants in the first quarter of 2017 through Voya Foundation, the company's charitable giving arm. Voya Foundation invests in programming to help foster healthy, sustainable communities and supports local and national nonprofits with missions that advance children’s education and financial resilience.

Events, Media & Communications

Sustainable Brands Announces Full Conference Program for SB’17 Detroit

Mar 29, 2017 1:00 PM ET

Sustainable Brands® recently announced full program details for SB’17 Detroit, running May 22-25 at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. The conference will convene more than 2,000 senior executives, top brand strategists and leading sustainability practitioners to discover how brands can position themselves for success against a backdrop of changing societal needs.

Diversity & Inclusion

We Are Family: FCA US Women’s Group Inspires the Next Generation

Mar 29, 2017 12:45 PM ET

More than 150 daughters of FCA US employees converged on the Company’s Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters on March 28 to participate in a half-day program designed to help young women discover their strengths, interests and to prepare them to pursue a range of possible career paths.

Environment

Top Five Circular Economy Trends for Business

Mar 29, 2017 12:45 PM ET

Waste is a resource. That simple sentence is the driving force behind one of the fastest growing economic trends in recent history—the circular economy. But how can businesses take full advantage of the circular economy to benefit their business and the environment?

Green Infrastructure

Mohawk Group Video | Light Lab: Sustainable Design Through Community Partnership

Mar 29, 2017 12:35 PM ET

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Announcing Our 2017 Inventor’s Challenge Winners

Mar 29, 2017 12:35 PM ET

For the past several months, AT&T has been collaborating with Imagination Foundation on our second-annual Inventor’s Challenge – bringing together young people from around the world to create innovative, imaginative and often totally viable solutions that solve problems in their schools and communities. This year, we saw entries from nearly 10,000 kids and teens from pre-k to high school, with ideas that ranged from a 3D-printed soap dispenser to spring-loaded “sky shoes” to help anyone reach great heights.

Diversity & Inclusion

Millennials Have Already Changed the Workplace. Here’s How.

Mar 29, 2017 12:20 PM ET

For many years now, we’ve been making conjectures about the impact millennials could have on the workforce as more of them begin their careers. The majority of millennials—those born between about 1980 and the mid-1990s—are now of working age. Their impact on the workplace isn’t just conjecture anymore: It’s here.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

CSR: How Fortune 500 Companies Measure Up

Mar 29, 2017 11:10 AM ET

It is well documented that CSR practices are both an emerging and rapidly expanding set of standards for 21st century corporations. As $30 to $40 trillion shifts hands from the current generation to the upcoming millennials over the next few decades, there are markedly different standards that companies must uphold to gain traction in the evolving investor and consumer market.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Prudential Recognized as One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute for Third Consecutive Year

Mar 29, 2017 11:10 AM ET

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) has been named a 2017 World’s Most Ethical Company® by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Social Impact & Volunteering

2,000 Dow Volunteers and New Technology set the Stage for 2017 Partnership with Habitat for Humanity

Mar 29, 2017 11:00 AM ET

This year, The Dow Chemical Company and Habitat for Humanity enter their 35th year of partnership and will add new technologies to help make communities healthier and homes more sustainable for families in need of decent and affordable housing.

Innovation & Technology

Avnet and Arizona State University to Host Inaugural ASU Innovation Open

Mar 29, 2017 10:40 AM ET

As part of its ongoing partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) to drive technology innovation and entrepreneurship, Avnet (NYSE:AVT) is sponsoring the inaugural ASU Innovation Open (ASUio). The final round of the ASUio, the ASUio Demo Day, will take place this Sunday, April 2 at Arizona State University’s Beus Center for Law and Society, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Net Impact Team Heads to the World Unigame Finals in London

Mar 29, 2017 10:30 AM ET

In partnership with Unilever, Net Impact is excited to announce that the Santa Clara University Net Impact team has advanced to the world Unigame finals in London. UniGame is the annual competition in which Unilever, one of the world’s largest producers of consumer products with a portfolio spanning 400 brands, asks university students for proposals to help address identified business needs.

Diversity & Inclusion

#WomensHistoryMonth at Cox Enterprises: Get to Know Sheila Stallings

Mar 29, 2017 10:30 AM ET

In celebration of Women's History Month, female leaders from across Cox Enterprises are sharing insights from their experience throughout the month of March. Sheila Stallings is Cox Communications’ executive director of people services.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Dropps Laundry Detergent Partners with Keep America Beautiful to Help Reduce Plastic and Packaging in Household Products, Improve Recycling in America

Mar 29, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Dropps, the eco-friendly unit dose household cleaning brand that delivers dye-free EPA Safer Choice certified laundry detergent direct to your door, is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to the environment by partnering with Keep America Beautiful, one of the nation’s most iconic nonprofit organizations.

Environment

Cox Enterprises Partners with Atlanta Bicycle Coalition to Promote Sustainable Lifestyles Through Atlanta Streets Alive Initiative

Mar 29, 2017 10:15 AM ET

As part of the 10th anniversary of its Cox Conserves sustainability program, Cox Enterprises is announcing its support of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition’s (ABC) Atlanta Streets Alive open streets initiative. Cox is joining Atlanta Streets Alive at the Road Captain level, supporting ABC’s efforts to develop a more livable and accessible Atlanta by making biking equitable, safe and appealing.

Health & Healthcare

Investing in Sustainable Buildings

Mar 29, 2017 10:00 AM ET

As we learn more about how sustainable building techniques can be used for industrial purposes, we are putting this knowledge into practice with similar projects in the UK, where GSK funding led to the construction of the country’s first ever carbon neutral laboratory in Nottingham.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

G&A Institute's Co-Founders Recognized As "Top Thought Leaders In Trustworthy Business"

Mar 29, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Trust Across America / Trust Around the World (TAA-TWA), globally recognized leaders in organizational trust, has selected both of G&A Institute's Co-Founders, Hank Boerner and Louis Coppola as 2017's Top Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business.

Health & Healthcare

GSK announces new scholarships to recognise retiring CEO Sir Andrew Witty’s contribution to global health

Mar 29, 2017 10:00 AM ET

GSK has today announced a new partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to establish the Sir Andrew Witty GSK Scholarships. The partnership recognises the contribution Sir Andrew has made to the company and more broadly, his deep commitment to addressing health challenges in the developing world, particularly in Africa.

Education

Eat a Taco, Feed a Dream

Mar 29, 2017 9:50 AM ET

In celebration of the Doritos Locos Tacos’ 5-year anniversary, Taco Bell has launched its first Feed a Dream promotion, which will help students follow their dreams.

Innovation & Technology

A Day in the Life of Barclays Eagle Labs

Mar 29, 2017 9:35 AM ET

Bournemouth is one of nine Barclays Eagle Labs across the country, from Jersey to Salford. Just over a year after its launch, we spent a day there finding out what goes on in the buzzing environment of a Lab … and how to make an animatronic dragon.