ESG News from Leading Brands

Health & Healthcare

Las Vegas Sands Announces Winners of Spring Step Challenge

Jun 1, 2017 9:15 AM ET

Update: Last month, Las Vegas Sands Team Members in Las Vegas participated in the Sands ECO360 Spring Step Up Challenge as detailed in a previous story published on the Sands Confidential blog. The voluntary, 4-week walking challenge was designed as an internal initiative to promote more daily walking, as well as to raise awareness about energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

At 50 Strong, America and Innovation Go Hand-in-Hand

Jun 1, 2017 9:15 AM ET

The feeling of providing meaningful jobs is hard to put into words, but our mission is simple: When we start making more things in America, it’s a win for our workers, our families, and our communities.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

GRI Standards and Integrated Reporting - Embedding Sustainability Into the Heart of Business Operations

Jun 1, 2017 9:10 AM ET

Coordinated by GRI and the IIRC, the Corporate Leadership Group on Integrated Reporting is a peer learning forum where businesses are exploring the best ways to use the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards to produce the sustainability disclosures for their integrated reports.

Innovation & Technology

Xylem Discusses Smart Water Tech at Global Water Summit

Jun 1, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Executives from Xylem recently participated in the Global Water Summit 2017 in Madrid, which explored how data is disrupting the traditional dynamics of the water industry. Xylem President and CEO Patrick Decker participated in forums focused on emerging trends in the water sector, particularly the adoption of smart technologies.

Diversity & Inclusion

Healthcare Benefits for Families of All Shapes and Sizes

Jun 1, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Healthy crewmembers mean a healthy JetBlue, so it’s on us to keep improving. Building on the 2015 introduction of in-network health coverage for gender reassignment surgery, in 2016 we extended fertility benefits to support all crewmembers to build families.

Research, Reports & Publications

Nestlé in the U.S. Releases 2016 Creating Shared Value Report

Jun 1, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Nestlé in the U.S.’s 2016 Creating Shared Value Report highlights the company’s efforts and achievements in nutrition, health and wellness; environmental sustainability; rural development and responsible sourcing; water; and social impact.

Events, Media & Communications

3BL Media Acquires TriplePundit, Bolsters Service Offering to Include Custom Branded Content, Editorial Sponsorship

Jun 1, 2017 6:00 AM ET

3BL Media, the digital corporate communications platform for sustainability and corporate responsibility content, announced today it has acquired TriplePundit, the leading online business publication for the triple bottom line.

Research, Reports & Publications

SABIC Has Recently Launched Its 2016 Sustainability Report, Transforming Together

Jun 1, 2017 5:00 AM ET

SABIC’s 2016 Sustainability Report, the sixth published by one of the world’s largest suppliers of chemicals, is an enormous achievement. For the first time, SABIC handed the report out alongside the Annual Report at its Annual General Meeting: an accomplishment that could only be achieved with the full support of stakeholders throughout the organization.

Social Impact & Volunteering

21st Century Fox and Team Sky Partner for Bike Giveaway with the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood

May 31, 2017 8:30 PM ET

On Monday, May 22, 21st Century Fox and European professional cycling team, Team Sky, joined forces to give away 100 free bicycles to children from the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Environment

DEQ Grant Will Help Promote Residential Composting in Lake Oswego

May 31, 2017 4:40 PM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Carnival Corporation Environmental Partner Wins Top Travel Innovation Award

May 31, 2017 4:30 PM ET

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company congratulated its partner, The Nature Conservancy, for receiving the Tourism for Tomorrow Innovation Award at the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC)'s annual Global Summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

240 Miles for Charity

May 31, 2017 4:05 PM ET

Over the next two days, 15 bikers will ride 240 miles from Benton Harbor to Clyde, Ohio. The intention is to raise money for the two United Way organizations prevalent in each city. While some of the bikers work in Ohio and others work in Benton Harbor, they all come from the same home appliance maker.

Events, Media & Communications

Sustainable Brands Announces 2017 SB Innovation Open Winner

May 31, 2017 4:00 PM ET

Sustainable Brands® recently announced Detroit Ento as the winner of the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) startup competition, co-sponsored by Whirlpool and with technology provided by YouNoodle and awards provided by Rivanna Natural Designs. The competition, culminating at SB’17 Detroit, May 22-25, attracted world-changing entrepreneurial teams with unique ideas to solving some of the world’s pressing environmental and social concerns.

Green Infrastructure

The International WELL Building Institute™ Announces WELL Portfolio™

May 31, 2017 3:45 PM ET

The International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) announced today that CBRE Group, Inc., Hines, and Lendlease are among leading global developers collaborating with IWBI to deliver WELL Portfolio™, a new cost-effective, existing building portfolio certification pathway within the WELL Building Standard™ (WELL). This new pathway will reward a commitment to ongoing enhancements to existing buildings, with specific focus on policies, programs, procurement guidelines, and plans that can be applied across a portfolio of buildings.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

T. Rowe Price Foundation Grants Loyola University Maryland $105,000 to support York Road Initiative

May 31, 2017 3:45 PM ET

Loyola University Maryland has received a $105,000 gift from the T. Rowe Price Foundation to support work with community residents, neighborhood organizations, and businesses in the development of a shared vision for strengthening the Greater Govans/York Road corridor communities in Baltimore City.

Research, Reports & Publications

Flash Report: 82% of the S&P 500 Companies Published Corporate Sustainability Reports in 2016

May 31, 2017 3:30 PM ET

In the sixth annual monitoring and analysis of S&P 500 Index® company sustainability reporting, just completed by theGovernance & Accountability Institute research team, the findings are that eighty-two percent (82%) of the companies included in this important investment benchmark published a sustainability or corporate responsibility report in the year 2016.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

How One Promise Is Worth $15 Million

May 31, 2017 3:00 PM ET

Inspired by PNC’s signature philanthropic program, Grow Up Great, Cincinnati employee Cheryl Rose helped to create a city-wide effort called the Preschool Promise. The approach will help children become kindergarten ready and is being studied nationally as a new collaborative model for early childhood education.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

A Sustainability Intrapraneurship Story at General Mills Canada: Jessica Kirshenblat-Gooderham

May 31, 2017 2:35 PM ET

When Jess started at General Mills as a sales rep almost a decade ago, there were no sustainability teams or green initiatives. Fast forward to today, Jess is the leader of a thriving employee-led team of sustainability minded professionals- a.k.a the General Mills Canada Sustainability Team.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

How to Help Employees Reach their Highest Potential Through Professional Development

May 31, 2017 2:25 PM ET

A strong company requires core values, exceptional leaders and dedicated employees, among other attributes. Unfortunately professional development for employees is often overlooked despite its highly beneficial impact on company performance. Industry leaders know that professional development is necessary to help employees achieve their full potential.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Business Opportunity and Social Good: Not a Zero Sum Game

May 31, 2017 2:05 PM ET

Creating Shared Value is not a donation strategy. It’s a fundamental guiding principle for how Nestlé does business and a strategy tool to deliver our purpose: enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. It’s based on the idea that how we operate every day can make a positive impact in the lives of individuals and families, our communities, and our planet, while achieving a positive bottom line. As the largest food and beverage company in the world, how we make our food, run our factories, and manage our supply chains can make a difference.

Health & Healthcare

The Snowball Effect of Healthy Offices

May 31, 2017 1:05 PM ET

Everyone has experienced them – those days at the office that never seem to end and when you just can’t seems to get any work done. But imagine if we all worked in an environment that fully supported our health and wellbeing; would that make us healthier? And would it make us perform better? The answer is ‘Yes’.

Research, Reports & Publications

SEPA and Black & Veatch Release New Case Study on Distributed Energy Resources Planning

May 31, 2017 12:45 PM ET

Consumers could outspend utilities in the adoption of solar, storage, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources (DERs), making it essential for utilities to track and integrate these DERs into their planning processes to benefit their customers and the grid. That is one of the key findings of a new case study from Black & Veatch and SEPA, which details the efforts of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to create such an integrated DER planning process.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Bullying Victim Finds Confidence Through Volunteerism

May 31, 2017 12:40 PM ET

Fourteen-year-old Lucas Smith clearly remembers one of the first times he was bullied. He recalls being just four or five years old when some kids picked on him, taking off his glasses and throwing them in a sandpit. Lucas felt down after being bullied, but he soon found an outlet to channel his emotions into something positive.

Education

She Preaches and Teaches Reading and Writing

May 31, 2017 12:15 PM ET

If Deanna Cureton’s students at Charlotte Engineering Early College ever feel overwhelmed by the challenge of becoming the first in their families to graduate from college, they know their teacher can empathize.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Fighting the Cycle of Poverty in New York City: A Conversation with Matt Klein of New York City Center for Economic Opportunity

May 31, 2017 12:00 PM ET

In this episode of the Champions for Social Good Podcast, Jamie Serino speaks with Matt Klein, Executive Director of the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, an organization that fights the cycle of poverty in New York City through innovative programs that build human capital and improve financial security.