The 2019 Global Pro Bono Summit, hosted by Taproot Foundation, will take place in New York City this May. Leading up to this gathering, Taproot will be releasing a series of profiles featuring movers and shakers of the pro bono movement, from companies with cutting-edge programs to individuals working towards a more engaged society to nonprofits tapping into pro bono service as a way to deepen their impact on the communities they serve.

The Mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, will welcome the Johnson & Johnson Global Pro Bono team to New Orleans for the program’s official kickoff event at City Hall on April 29. Johnson & Johnson has designed its Global Pro Bono program in collaboration with PYXERA Global to tackle healthcare and community issues by harnessing the power of its most powerful resource—its people. The mayor’s attendance shows that the city believes cross-sector partnerships are needed to improve the lives of the citizens of New Orleans.

The 12-person cohort will engage the skills of employees from Brazil, Colombia, USA, and Canada. The teams will work for four weeks with four organizations in the New Orleans area.

AccountAbility CEO, Mr. Sunny Misser, spoke with Mr. Matthew Bechard, Senior Vice President of Communications at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), about the key trends shaping business in 2019.

Tom Hess has worked with many companies during his 28-year career as an environmental inspector.

In many cases, Hess has experienced clients who tolerate his environmental recommendations, or do only what’s required — often with pressure. Thus, Hess wasn’t sure what to expect when he proposed spending extra money to restore construction areas on a major natural gas pipeline project for Michigan-based Consumers Energy. He suggested using seed mix containing native grasses and wildflowers to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators losing habitat across the country.

Nestlé today announced that 77% of its agricultural commodities are verified as deforestation-free. This is a key milestone in the company’s efforts to achieve its zero-deforestation commitment.

Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder and Group CEO comments: “2018 was another turbulent year for the global economy and the food and agri-industry. Against this backdrop, we continued to focus on ensuring that Olam is future-fit, pioneering a number of major financial, sustainability and digital initiatives to create long-term value for our continuing shareholders and other stakeholders, particularly customers and farmer suppliers.”

For 14-years Ethical Corporation has run the world-renowned Responsible Supply Chain Summit, providing companies with practical ideas and new connections to help solve the key supply chain issues and opportunities. The past couple of years has seen a significant shift where both procurement and sustainability teams have discussed the challenges on how business can embed sustainability at the heart of supply chain activities.

To encourage positive driving habits for young drivers, Shorecrest Preparatory School junior, Caleb Kravitz developed a creative PSA to inspire his peers to practice safe driving skills. His video, titled Don’t Recline Behind the Wheel, is the winner of the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge, a national peer-to-peer driver safety public service announcement competition. More than a thousand videos were submitted in the TeenDrive365 Video Challenge by teens educating students on the risky behavior of distracted driving.

More than 2,000 high-school students visited Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) facilities across the globe on Saturday to compete in the company’s Code Quest computer programming competition.

Duke Energy continues to generate cleaner energy at prices below the national average for its 7.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers.