Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company committed to improving Quality of Life and student nutrition to nearly 400 school districts throughout the U.S, recently hosted The Kitchen Wars Challenge for Lakewood High School students in Lakewood, New Jersey. Teams of seven submitted recipes to compete in the “At the Movies...” themed event. Chef G. Garvin joined Diane Piasentini, Kevin Campbell, and Laura Winters from the Lakewood Public School District (LPSD) to serve as guest judges to determine the best team based on taste, presentation from the students, plate appearance, recipe knowledge and decor of their station.

Capturing rain water for irrigation is not a new idea. In fact, the Romans perfected the technique and were the innovators of their time, harvesting rain water for irrigation and other uses with simple to advanced concepts. Most of these models have not changed much over the centuries, and continue to be used today around the globe, ranging from multi-thousand-gallon cisterns to 55-gallon drum rain barrels. The idea of collecting rain water surfaced while our team at General Mills brainstormed ways to manage storm water runoff using simple storm water retention and pollution prevention techniques to protect endangered wetlands.

In May 2016, we launched the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index (BFGEI), a first-of-its-kind reference index measuring the gender equality performance of global financial services companies. The index recognizes member firms’ commitment to disclosure and best-in-class policies and practices, providing investors with valuable data on internal company statistics, employee policies, gender-conscious product offerings and external community engagement.

The Taproot Foundation’s U.S. Pro Bono Summit is an annual gathering of leaders from across sectors and industries with a shared vision to make the talents and skills of the business community accessible to social change organizations. As part of this year's Summit, Taproot gathered CSR, nonprofit, and government leaders at New Ways Forward to identify and co-design new pro bono solutions for pressing challenges like food access, developing leaders, and driving technology adoption and use in the social sector.

Emphasizing the importance of workforce development and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Duke Energy recently awarded more than $1.56 million in grants to 46 Florida-based programs. The grants are administered through the Duke Energy Foundation, which provides philanthropic support to communities served by Duke Energy, with a focus on "K to Career" educational and workforce development initiatives, the environment and community impact.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today released its 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility report, which details the significant progress the company made last year to address social, economic, and environmental challenges through its philanthropy, operations, and products and services. In the report, Wells Fargo also reinforces its enhanced commitment to community investments that support economic growth, resiliency, and sustainability, including a pledge to donate $400 million — or more than $1 million a day — to nonprofits in 2018. The company also recently announced that it will provide $200 billion in financing to sustainable businesses and projects by 2030.

As part of Tyson Foods’ efforts to raise the world’s expectations for how much good food can do and its commitment to support the communities it serves where help is needed most, the company announced today over $600,000 in grants to six community healthcare providers in four states.

At the 3rd annual Women Transforming Technology (WT2) Conference in Palo Alto, with the theme “Inclusion in Action,” VMware (NYSE:VMW) announced it is collaborating with Stanford University to create the VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab, in the pursuit of dramatically improving female representation in leadership positions.

When I had my children more than two decades ago, I went back to work after four weeks. I even hid my pregnancies from my all-male team for as long as I could. I felt that if I didn’t, I’d be judged and my career would suffer.

For Val Walls, the energy at Toronto’s Pride Parade feels like “arriving at the top of the mountain.”

A long-time participant in Pride festivities, Val says she looks forward to experiencing the spirit of harmony and togetherness that permeates the event each year.