STEM

Stan Litow’s new book, The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward published by John Wiley & Sons, presents a fact-based assessment of the role that corporations have played in society both historically and currently and perhaps most important, offers a road map for a more promising future.

Access to modern sources of energy is fundamental to eradicating poverty and spurring economic growth. Energy touches every aspect of a household’s quality of life. Without access to electric lighting, kids huddle around smoky kerosene lamps to study at night—endangering both their health and education. Lack of refrigeration and gas or electric cooking also impacts a family’s health as it hinders food preservation, makes it harder to purify water, and brings more smoky pollutants into the home. And without electricity for charging phones and starting businesses, many people are falling further and further behind both informationally and economically.

All across the U.S. this week, kids arriving for their first day of school are being met with cheers, applause and high fives. It’s part of a nationwide “Clap-In” given by Verizon employees to welcome students into Verizon Innovative Learning, a transformative program that gives a free tablet and internet access to every student and teacher, and provides extensive teacher training, support, and a unique, immersive curriculum.

Around the world, employers are seeking highly-skilled workers to take on existing and emerging roles in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, also known as STEM. Workforce development and education, particularly as related to STEM, are two of the largest focus areas for corporate and foundation giving as well as two of the largest mission focuses for nonprofits, according to the CECP’s 2017 Giving in Numbers report. Yet, even given this great investment, gaps in STEM education still exist, leaving both employers and students without the critical thinking and analytical problem-solving skills sorely needed in our ever-changing global economy.

Investing in Society, CECP’s recently launched compendium of data, research, and case studies illustrates innovations in corporate efforts to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Divided into five sections – Priorities, Performance, People, Planet, and Policies – the collection of insights offers a far-reaching assessment of what leading companies are doing in each of the five focus areas.

In the People section, CECP asks, “How can large corporations maximize societal impact and outcomes through employee engagement and purpose?”

The challenge of diversifying the tech workforce is confronting companies across sectors as more jobs are requiring computational thinking and digital fluency. Simultaneously, the demographics of the United States are changing rapidly, and companies are challenged with ensuring that the talent pipeline reflects those dynamic shifts. Developing a robust and diverse technical workforce in the United States is becoming a national priority as a result of the emerging technologies and their impact on industries.

Trevor Clements, Tetra Tech’s Mid Atlantic regional manager for Integrated Water Management, discusses how educating water resources graduate students about Holistic Management and One Water principles and practices is an essential part of shifting the global and domestic water management paradigm to address today’s challenges.

Stellar Girls™, an after-school science program offered to more than 600 girls from 25 Chicago-area schools, was the recipient of an $8,570 check raised from voluntary contributions by employees of Astellas Medical Affairs, Americas (MAA) with a match from the Astellas Matching Gifts program. The donation, earmarked for program supply kits, augments funding provided by the Astellas USA Foundation and the One Astellas Spirit Run fundraiser sponsored by the Womens Employee Resource Group (Stellar Women) during the US National Sales Forum.

For more than two decades, Cisco has built a world-leading IT training program, Cisco Networking Academy, which has empowered millions around the world. Now we are taking this experience to younger learners with Global Problem Solvers: The Series (GPS: The Series), a new animated web series for kids exploring entrepreneurship, life skills, and how to use technology for social good.