By Steve Presley

When you live in a country with the abundance of the United States, it’s hard to fathom that millions of people still live in poverty. But in our largest cities and our smallest towns, poverty is very real. Too many families go day-to-day wondering where the next meal’s going to come from.

As a leader at the world’s largest food and beverage company, I know that no single person, company, or organization can solve hunger, but our collective efforts can change lives.

Businesses are investing heavily in sustainability, as it regards environmental and social concerns — but what about the sustainability of an organization’s most important asset, its people? Yes, there is the workplace wellness movement, often thought of as a human resources concern. However, if the movement is truly going to move the needle in terms of employee health, happiness and productivity, corporations will do well to elevate it to an organization-wide pursuit, and understand it as part of the big picture of sustainability.

One in three children in Washington, D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8, east of the Anacostia River, live in households that are food insecure, where their families don’t know if they’ll have enough to eat every month, said Mike Curtin Jr., CEO of D.C. Central Kitchen. That’s one of the many reasons the nonprofit is working to fight poverty in the nation’s capital.

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In collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and companies like Nestle and Novozymes, Essity invited experts and executives from the UN, government, business and non- governmental organizations to discuss the relationship between policy and investments that drive progress toward SDG implementation.