ESG News from Leading Brands

Energy

Addressing the Cost of Home Heating for Working Families

Dec 20, 2017 5:00 PM ET

For more than a third of American earners, paying monthly bills is a challenge. For some – nearly a fifth of American residents – that struggle can include choosing which essential commodity to go without during peak usage periods: Food, medications or the electricity to power and heat their homes.

Education

Meet Tiger Tech: Verizon Innovative Learning Students

Dec 20, 2017 4:55 PM ET

A group of 24 students, the Tiger Tech team keeps the school’s technology running smoothly. To see them at work, it’s hard to imagine the team is only four years old, but until 2014, Armstrong had little technology and no access to Wi-Fi. The school was transformed thanks to a Verizon Innovative Learning initiative that provides free tablets, two-year data plans and teacher training to select underserved schools across the country.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Social Impact in a Network World

Dec 20, 2017 4:35 PM ET

Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google all have three things in common – they are simple to use, effective and fun. They have revolutionized the way that we interact with each other, shop, watch TV and gather information.

Environment

World Agroforestry Centre Publishes a Climate Change Atlas for Central America

Dec 20, 2017 4:25 PM ET

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in collaboration with Bioversity International and The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) today published an Atlas titled ‘Suitability of key Central American agroforestry species under future climates’. The Atlas presents current and future suitability maps for 54 species that are commonly used as shade in agroforestry systems in Central America.

Education

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Dec 20, 2017 4:10 PM ET

Since 2015, 50 students have benefited from this joint scholarship between TransCanada and local communities from Mexico. The opportunity involves overcoming new challenges and barriers such as the language and weather, but every applicant has had the same goal of becoming a better professional in the energy industry.

Diversity & Inclusion

Ganjapreneurs: Andy Greenberg & Sharon Krinsky

Dec 20, 2017 4:00 PM ET

This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to two women who are working to change all that. Andy Greenberg and Sharon Krinsky, are the founders of Society Jane, a cannabis business that targets women customers. We discuss the game-changing medicinal benefits of a relatively new cannabonoid derivative, CBD, how it appeals to a female market, and the challenges this burgeoning industry faces while prohibition is still technically the law of the land.

Research, Reports & Publications

Behavioral Decision-Making and Environmental Consequences - Erb Institute | Business for Sustainability

Dec 20, 2017 4:00 PM ET

Events, Media & Communications

Israelis Redefine Business Sustainability

Dec 20, 2017 3:10 PM ET

The essence of CSR today should be about the way businesses are bettering life of employees, customers and society at large.

Diversity & Inclusion

VIDEO | eBay Everyday Heroes: A Bear's Tale

Dec 20, 2017 3:00 PM ET

As a young child, Peter Krohn experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. During an inspection, Nazis suspected his favorite teddy bear was being used to smuggle money and destroyed it. Nearly 80 years later, he found a replica of the same toy on eBay. Learn how it's enabling him to share his family’s story of survival with others, and in the process helping teach acceptance and love to younger generations.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Coming Together, Changing Lives in Carapongo, Peru

Dec 20, 2017 2:00 PM ET

During 2017, AT&T’s long-standing culture of service and volunteerism has been highly visible across the nation with employees coming together to support communities affected by disasters and in need in Houston, Texas, Puerto Rico, California and many other regions. As an AT&T employee, and National President for HACEMOS, our company’s Latino focused employee resource group, I recently had the opportunity to serve alongside my colleagues from more than a dozen countries in a transformative project showing that our company’s spirt of service is also truly global.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Subaru Shares Stories of Love in Latest Testimonial Ads for Its Charity Partners

Dec 20, 2017 2:00 PM ET

Subaru of America marks the 10th year of its “Share the Love” program, which supports various charities, with a new flight of moving commercials from Carmichael Lynch. Reprising the casual yet intense style of last year’s ads, and once more featuring renditions of Jackie DeShannon’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” the work presents real people explaining how the ASPCA, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Meals on Wheels and the National Park Foundation touched their lives.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Scotiabank Drafts Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs as its Newest Teammate

Dec 20, 2017 1:05 PM ET

"I'm excited about the chance to join Scotiabank's team and the other great players who work to do so much to support kids on and off the ice," said Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "I am proud to be associated with an organization that has helped give more than one million children the opportunity to play the game of hockey and I look forward to working closely with Scotiabank to provide other kids with some of the same opportunities that the game has given me."

Energy

Energising Development

Dec 20, 2017 12:30 PM ET

Approximately 300 million people in India are estimated to lack access to energy with an even higher number experiencing intermittent access. Since a majority of the population resides in rural areas, energy access acquires strategic importance for poverty reduction, quality of human capital, livelihood opportunities, inclusive economic development and social justice.

Events, Media & Communications

GRI Reporters’ Summit North America: Learn, Master, Lead

Dec 20, 2017 12:05 PM ET

GRI will be hosting a sustainability reporting summit in Arizona, USA, in February 2018. The Summit will bring together sustainability professionals from across North America to explore practical solutions and valuable learning they can take back to their organizations. Find out more and register today!

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Edison At A Glance: 2016

Dec 20, 2017 12:00 PM ET

Corporate responsibility and sustainability remain the foundation from which we operate our business each and every day. We know that our success depends on the quality, productivity and engagement of our employees. Edison is proud to foster an inclusive culture in which every employee is valued and respected; and to do the right thing for customers, fellow employees, investors, suppliers and our communities. We strive to be transparent and straightforward when we discuss our business performance.

Events, Media & Communications

Save the Date! International Women's Day Forum March 6-7, 2018

Dec 20, 2017 11:30 AM ET

Our eighth annual International Women's Day Forum, Partner with Purpose: Business for Gender Equality, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Department of State, will gather the business community, civil society, and government representatives to advance women’s and girls’ empowerment around the globe.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Impact at Work Employee Volunteer Spotlight: May Chen

Dec 20, 2017 11:15 AM ET

This holiday season, we’re spotlighting May Chen, one of our inspiring employee volunteers from Fidelity Investments. May has now volunteered on two skills-based volunteering projects, where she helped develop a Salesforce community application for Citizen Schools and an IT assessment and strategic roadmap with Metrocrest Services. Throughout both projects, May has been an incredible team player and is extremely dedicated to developing the most effective deliverable for her nonprofit partners.

Environment

TD Bank Group Launches Initiatives to Support a Sustainable and Prosperous Future

Dec 20, 2017 10:40 AM ET

TD Bank Group (TD) today announced a set of initiatives to advance the low-carbon economy of the future.

Environment

Urban Gardens Grow Detroit Communities

Dec 20, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Detroit’s urban garden scene continues to grow in impact, bringing neighbors together and supporting the underprivileged with access to healthy produce. General Motors contributed a small part in fueling this movement through the donation of its steel shipping crates repurposed as raised garden beds. Five years later, 2,000 of the automaker’s crates are home to plantings in 33 different gardens.

Environment

Ecocentricity Blog: A Climate Year in Review

Dec 20, 2017 10:30 AM ET

It’s not game over for humanity and climate change; it’s game on.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Green Berets Get a Little Bit of Home for the Holidays

Dec 20, 2017 10:05 AM ET

Brian Clay is used to sending care packages to faraway places for his Green Beret son-in-law, Tripp White. In the past six years, his family has sent packages to Afghanistan and Africa, and his teammates at Duke Energy’s Harris Nuclear Plant have pitched in, too. But this year, Clay said, his teammates surpassed all of his expectations.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

EMPLOYEES at the KitchenAid Plant in Greenville Donate Over $400,000 to the Darke County United Way

Dec 20, 2017 10:05 AM ET

Whirlpool Corporation employees at the KitchenAid Plant in Greenville, Ohio donated more than $400,000 to United Way agencies in the area.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

CVS Health Foundation Announces Grant to Increase Access to Provider Education and Diagnosis Program for Alzheimer’s Disease

Dec 20, 2017 10:00 AM ET

The CVS Health Foundation today announced a $550,000 commitment to the Alzheimer's Association, extending its support for a new program to enhance disease diagnosis and assessment with clinicians while also educating them about care and support programs available to help families following a diagnosis. The grant is being shared with six local Alzheimer’s Association chapters and brings the Foundation’s total contribution to more than $1 million since 2016.

Environment

Practical Ways to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

Dec 20, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Fernando Icaza is studying Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech's H. Milton Stewart School. He participated in the Carbon Reduction Challenge, at the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, funded by a grant from the Ray C. Anderson Foundation's NextGen Committee and the Scheller College Dean's Innovation Fund. The Challenge is an affiliated project of the Georgia Tech Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain.

Education

From Creating Rock Climbing Holds to Conducting Amgen Scholars Research, Meet Elizabeth (Lily) Hallett

Dec 20, 2017 10:00 AM ET

"I was really interested in exploring Caltech, specifically the Lewis lab’s work on solar fuel. That particular project really drew me to apply to the Program."