On Friday, about 180 Jackson County middle and high school students from 11 schools will showcase their work during Consumers Energy’s annual STEM and robotics expo. Students are part of teams that spend the year developing robotics projects for competitions that build their STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills that can lead to high-tech careers.

Today, on World NGO Day, I want to take a moment to offer my thanks to the many organizations with whom Mars works to achieve progress against our shared ambitions. Over the years, we’ve had the good fortune of collaborating with global nonprofits doing amazing work to shape change and implement programs in the communities our company’s footprint touches. Through these partnerships, we’re learning from each other and ultimately strengthening our impact through combined efforts.

Illustrating Aflac’s long-term and ongoing commitment to ethical excellence, today the Ethisphere Institute announced that Aflac, the leading supplemental insurance company for sales at the worksite,* has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for a record-setting 13th consecutive year. Aflac is one of only eight businesses and the only insurance company to appear on the list every year since its inception in 2007.

Could this be the beginning of the end for single-use packaging? Loop™, a coalition of the largest consumer product companies, thinks it might be. Check out how UPS is helping to enable this coalition and learn from the experts on Wednesday, 2/27 at GreenBiz19 in “Delivering Circularity: Innovative Models for Reusable Packaging.”

Kudos to TerraCycle and the brands that are working to create the Loop model; a compelling example of business-led innovation that reduces environmental impact. #circulareconomy #recycling

HP is unveiling today its expectations for “megatrends,” or the major trends that will shape our world in the years to come. It comes courtesy of Shane Wall, the chief technology officer of HP and head of HP Labs. He oversees research and development at HP.

There is an urgent need to enhance disclosure practices across all industries that receive requests for data and assistance from law enforcement agencies.

Corporate citizenship leaders from 110 enterprise companies participated in a volunteer bike build benefiting 120 children in foster care in the Palm Springs area last evening.

As part of its ongoing commitment to tackling the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans, SC Johnson has announced that it will launch the industry’s first product that uses 100 percent recycled ocean plastic in a major home cleaning brand. That product is part of the ubiquitous Windex® brand, one of the company’s most popular brands and a household favorite for the past 86 years.

As the field of pro bono service continues to grow, companies increasingly identify pro bono programming as a critical element of their overall social impact objectives. Taproot Foundation conducted an inaugural survey of companies doing pro bono to collect data on their programs, identify trends, and share key observations for advancing the field.