Rohini Anand, PhD, is the Senior Vice President Corporate Responsibility and Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo, and Chair, Catalyst Board of Advisors. In a three-part Q&A blog series, we asked Dr. Anand to share details about her pivotal role at one of the world's largest multinational corporations focusing on “quality of life services.” Below is the third and final part where we asked about what challenges she faces and what she believes the future holds for diversity and inclusion.

Understanding how companies contribute to solving the great sustainability issues of our time is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDG Compass tool shows companies how they can align their strategies, measure and manage their contribution to reaching the SDGs, and put sustainability at the heart of their business strategy.

Is the smart city hype cycle over? Have concerns about cost, security and public skepticism finally won out over the benefits of efficiency, sustainability and public safety? It is fair to consider whether the futuristic visions of hyper- connectivity and advanced livability, enabled by accessibility to vast streams of data, can withstand the very real concerns that municipalities cannot afford the technologies behind smart city projects.

The Well Living Lab today announced an extensive three-year scientific research plan to identify how indoor environments effect five significant facets of people’s lives: health, performance, stress and resiliency, sleep and comfort. Studies will examine these factors for homes, workplaces and independent living communities. A critical component of the research is the interplay of elements such as sound, lighting, temperature and air quality, all of which can be altered in various combinations to uncover positive, neutral and negative effects on people.

Today, a national coalition convened by the Noble Research Institute announced its intent to create a new voluntary environmental services market that benefits agricultural producers and improves the environment for society at large.

T. Rowe Price has released its 2016–2017 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, which is available at troweprice.com/CSRreport. The report details how CSR is an integral part of the firm’s culture and interwoven through its business, as demonstrated in how it invests for clients, associates, and communities.

A ground-breaking study called EarlyBird was set up to explore the biology of growing children, how metabolic disorders develop in childhood and their consequences in adulthood. I lead the Nestlé team that is involved in this research.

Our research shows that by monitoring children during crucial stages of their development, we can accurately identify those at risk of developing metabolic disorders, better understand how these diseases develop and hopefully, eventually intervene nutritionally to prevent the onset of these conditions.

Read about Antea Group’s Owen McKenna, a sustainability practitioner based in the Marlborough, MA office.

The transition to 100 per cent renewable energy is underway across Canada. In 2018, 15,000 youth will participate in Relay Education's renewable energy workshops as part of this national energy shift.