Inclusion & Opportunity

Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation announced that Gerri Mason Hall, senior vice president of human resources services, Sodexo North America, became the new Chair on September 1. As Chair, Mason Hall will lead the Foundation’s efforts to mobilize partners that are developing long-term solutions to end childhood hunger in America based on the belief that no child should be hungry today or risk being hungry again tomorrow.

We have recently published a 28-page report with experts from the likes of Unilever, Dell, Heineken, ebay, Mastercard, WBCSD, IKEA, Vodafone and Siemens on how they’re driving quantified social impact through their business.

Sophie Bernstein always wanted to grow her own garden. At 12 years old, she was looking for a meaningful project to complete for her bat mitzvah – something that would serve a larger purpose and help the community. Sophie realized she had the perfect opportunity to start her garden, while also benefitting others by donating the crops that her garden produced to the local food bank. She had no idea where that project would take her.

In July, the City of New York released CreateNYC: A Cultural Plan for All New Yorkers, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive plan to establish New York City’s cultural roadmap for the next decade. The plan sets forth objectives and strategies for achieving a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient cultural ecosystem. It examines a number of issue areas including diversity, equity and inclusion, education, affordability, and health of the cultural sector that are essential to a vibrant, creative city.

Whether it’s providing training, the right tools and resources for the job, growth and development opportunities or celebrating achievements, at Republic Services, we believe in making our people feel welcomed and valued. We believe this brings out the very best in our people and it attracts the best possible outside talent. It is why we have become an employer of choice.

21st Century Fox and National Geographic took home top honors at the second annual Shorty Social Good Awards on November 15 for developing social media campaigns that engage audiences on important social issues and empower them to take action. The winning campaigns included 21CF’s contest to award free screenings of Hidden Figures to communities across America, as well as initiatives from Nat Geo to encourage women in STEM, expand access to clean water, and inspire the genius in each of us. The Shorty Social Good Awards launched in 2016 to celebrate the power of digital storytelling tools to raise awareness and make change.

This week, Visa received recognition from two notable organizations, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) and Diversity Best Practices (DBP), a division of Working Mother Media, for the company’s work in championing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. HRC announced that Visa received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workplace equality.

The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and the production company Lightboxhave named director Muta’Ali as the winner of the first ever ABFF Lightbox Documentary Initiative, a new annual program sponsored by 21st Century Fox and National Geographic to support new voices in documentary film. As the winner of the competition, Muta’Ali will receive funding for his feature-length documentary project, Storm Over Brooklyn, which commemorates the 30th anniversary of the killing of 16 year-old Yusuf Hawkins. ABFF and Lightbox will work with Muta’Ali to develop the project, which is set to premiere at the American Black Film Festival in Miami in June 2019.

The first 40 years I lived a life of noble poverty. When I heard the term “noble poverty,” I had a visceral reaction in my heart and my gut. I felt deeply understood. I experienced a relief of having named a condition I had lived with since I was a child.

Shundrawn Thomas, the new president of Northern Trust Asset Management, is the first person of color in 128 years in the senior management group at the bank and will help diversity efforts.

"I don't consider myself special per se, but I do know that I have some unique opportunities to have a positive impact."