ESG News from Leading Brands

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Who's Afraid of MIFID 2?: Fixing Wall Street’s Broken Plumbing

Sep 5, 2017 3:15 PM ET

The European Union (EU) has sweeping reforms of financial markets coming into force January 3, 2018. They will affect Wall Street firms in many ways, covering all transactions of EU securities wherever traded worldwide. Whether the firm is on the buy-side: portfolio managers, mutual funds, institutional investors, or on the sell-side: broker-dealers, investment advisors, researchers, consultants, MIFID II will affect business models, research, trading, reporting and order execution.

Innovation & Technology

Five Years Out: The European Space Agency’s Rosetta Spacecraft

Sep 5, 2017 2:40 PM ET

In September of 2016, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta probe successfully ended its 12-year journey with a planned landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Implementing a Successful Public-Private Partnership | Part 2: Determining When and How Long to Engage

Sep 5, 2017 2:30 PM ET

How does a company or organization develop and sustain successful public-private partnerships to achieve large-scale impact?

Determine when, and how long, to engage: Successful public-private partnership programs are strategic multi-year, multi-phased engagements, not single transactions. It’s important to provide flexibility in the level and length of engagement. But, to have large-scale impact, a core set of partners should be committed for the long-term.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Qualcomm Announces $1 Million Donation to Hurricane Harvey Relief

Sep 5, 2017 2:15 PM ET

Our thoughts are with all those who have been displaced and severely impacted due to the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey, and we are strongly committed to supporting relief, response, and rebuilding efforts.

Education

Introducing the Rural Spark Project: A Chance for Rural Students to Have Bright Futures in STEM

Sep 5, 2017 2:00 PM ET

For students growing up in rural communities, access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs can be limited. Poor retention of teachers and lack of technology are just two factors that often times leave rural schools unable to provide the same type of STEM education that students in urban or suburban districts receive. To address this issue, Astellas USA Foundation launched the Rural Spark Project through a multi-year grant with Project Lead The Way (PLTW) over the next three years.

Health & Healthcare

Gilead Implements Emergency Disaster Response Procedures to Ensure Medicine Access

Sep 5, 2017 1:40 PM ET

Education

Scotiabank Financial Knowledge: Talking with Kids about Money

Sep 5, 2017 1:35 PM ET

Scotiabank’s sponsorship of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education’s Talk With Our Kids About Money promotes financial literacy and helped reach over half a million students in 6,000 schools across Canada over the past year.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

HanesBrands Donates More Than 1 Million Items of Underwear and Activewear to Assist Hurricane Harvey Victims

Sep 5, 2017 12:45 PM ET

HanesBrands announced today that it is donating more than five trailer loads of underwear and activewear to assist victims of flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the Gulf Coast. Hanes is partnering with nonprofit charity Delivering Good and North Carolina-based transportation company Glen Raven Logistics to get the more than 1 million items of underwear, socks, intimate apparel, T-shirts and activewear fleece valued at more than $2 million to flooding victims.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Merck’s Response to Hurricane Harvey

Sep 5, 2017 12:20 PM ET

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Voya Promotes A Lifetime of Financial Well-being

Sep 5, 2017 12:05 PM ET

Managing one’s finances can be challenging and stressful, and Voya is committed to enabling all Americans to achieve a secure financial future. We use our core competency — financial knowledge — to educate Americans of all ages, and offer tools and solutions that help them achieve financially secure futures. This year’s Corporate Responsibility Annual Report highlights the strategies and programs Voya has in place to promote a lifetime of financial well-being.

Health & Healthcare

The International WELL Building Institute™ Launches the WELL Community Standard™ to Promote Human Health and Wellness on a District Scale

Sep 5, 2017 11:45 AM ET

Today, the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) opens registration for the WELL Community Standard™ pilot, a companion to the pioneering WELL Building Standard™ (WELLä). Grounded in evidence-based research and developed through consultation with leading physicians, scientists and public health professionals, as well as city planners, engineers and architects, the WELL Community Standard is a district-scale rating system centered exclusively on human health and wellness.

Innovation & Technology

#TechstarsATL: Get to Know FarmCrowdy

Sep 5, 2017 11:30 AM ET

Techstars Atlanta is presented in partnership with Cox Enterprises and is part of a worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Applications for the 2017 program’s 10 coveted spots came from 41 countries around the globe. FarmCrowdy, one of the participants, is an Agric-Tech platform focused on connecting small-scale farmers with funding from the middle-class to boost food production and provide healthy ROI.

Innovation & Technology

#TechstarsATL: Get to Know Rapid RMS

Sep 5, 2017 11:30 AM ET

Techstars Atlanta is presented in partnership with Cox Enterprises and is part of a worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Applications for the 2017 program’s 10 coveted spots came from 41 countries around the globe. Rapid RMS is one of the participants.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Global Social Impact at Tupperware Brands

Sep 5, 2017 11:20 AM ET

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

After Seven Years in Foster Care, Teen Boy is Adopted

Sep 5, 2017 11:00 AM ET

When Phoenix Creech was adopted on July 14th, it ended seven years of uncertainty. Phoenix had been in foster care for 2,598 days before finally being adopted by his forever family. His Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter never gave up hope and we are so thankful she didn’t.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Finalists Named for Boston’s Cox Conserves Heroes Program, Public Asked to Vote

Sep 5, 2017 10:30 AM ET

WFXT Boston 25, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land are recognizing volunteers who are creating, preserving or enhancing shared outdoor spaces. Finalists for Boston’s Cox Conserves Heroes program were announced today, and the public is being asked to vote for the winner now through September 25th.

Green Infrastructure

We Have to Look Beyond Electric Cars If We Want Sustainable Cities Fit for the Future

Sep 5, 2017 10:15 AM ET

The WBCSD's Peter White argues that cities need to be strategic and take a holistic public-private approach to tackling air pollution and rising greenhouse gas emissions

Health & Healthcare

WELL Story: Light at Arup

Sep 5, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Energy

Domtar Inaugurates Its Second Generating Unit at Windsor Mill

Sep 5, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Domtar is proud to inaugurate its second generating unit with a power output of 18 MW at its Windsor (Quebec) Mill.

The start-up of its second generating unit, built for $36 million, will improve the energy efficiency of the mill produced from renewable resources while reducing production costs.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Northern Trust Supports Harvey Victims

Sep 5, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Responsible Production & Consumption

Science + Cocktails = Soap

Sep 5, 2017 10:05 AM ET

We just finished our latest batch of 42BELOW® Recycled Cocktail Lemons Eco Soap… Here’s sneak peek at the upcoming Lemon Soap Science series!

Education

Verizon Bridges the Digital Divide for Middle Schools Across the Country With 24/7 Internet Access, Tablets and Technology Coaches

Sep 5, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Today Verizon Innovative Learning, in partnership with the technology education nonprofit Digital Promise, announced it has added twenty-eight underserved middle schools to its program that equips students and teachers with free mobile devices and two-year data plans for access to the internet both in the classroom and at home.

Environment

How Leading Beverage Companies Are Tackling Climate Change Together

Sep 5, 2017 9:45 AM ET

Education

VIDEO: HP World on Wheels | Driving Digital Literacy Across India

Sep 5, 2017 9:15 AM ET

Providing underserved people with access to learning that boosts economic opportunity and employability requires technology combined with innovative thinking.

Environment

Forests and Fungi: Mekong Communities Reap the Rewards of a 500 Million-year-old Partnership

Sep 5, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Most people would agree that forests are a vital part of a healthy planet: around 1.6 billion people directly depend on forests for their livelihoods, and forest trees help provide us with healthy soils, clean water and even breathable air. The role of fungi is less well known. Yet without fungi, forests would not exist.