It’s Earth Month and to celebrate, we’re reflecting on the progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve faced and the road ahead. Throughout the month we’ll offer opportunities to hear directly from our leaders in animal well-being, the environment, workplace safety, hunger relief and more. Part of being a company committed to sustainability is being a company that also cares about transparency.

Our 2017 sustainability report is out today, the perfect time to turn to our Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Chief Sustainability Officer Justin Whitmore to set the stage for our month-long dialogue on sustainability.

KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) has provided a total of $38.5 million to Ida Yarbrough Phase II LLC, an entity owned by Albany Housing Authority (AHA), for the new construction of Ida Yarbrough Homes. The 76-unit, affordable housing property is located in Albany, NY and will set aside 12 apartments for households at risk for homelessness.

Know more about Travolution, an organization with a mission to strengthen community networks and sales projects through tourism and local development. They are a member organization of La Red de Innovación e Impacto and one of the participating Alumni of the Innovation Challenge powertogrow.wec.org

Conoce más sobre Travolution, organización que trabaja para fortalecer las redes de trabajo y comercialización de proyectos comunitarios a través del turismo y el desarrollo local, miembros de La Red de Innovación e Impacto y uno de los Alumni participantes en el Concurso de Innovación powertogrow.wec.org

In today’s digital economy, a new breed of buildings is emerging. As a key ingredient in expanding urban landscapes, buildings of all types are undergoing a major technological shift toward greater efficiency and sustainability, driven by connected technologies, big data and analytics.

Not much can beat the thrill of opening the latest new gadget during the holidays. But that excitement often comes along with a pang of guilt. What to do with your old hardware, and how do you recycle it responsibly?

Last year, Hurricane Harvey caused widespread devastation, forcing thousands of people out of damaged homes in Texas. In December, 25 Xylem employees volunteered with Houston Habitat for Humanity, rebuilding homes that had suffered from flooding and water damage in the wake of the hurricane.

Last month, I had the great pleasure to meet Bonaria Siahaan who heads the Millennium Challenge Account-Indonesia, the locally led and staffed entity implementing the MCC’s Indonesia Compact in the country’s bustling capital Jakarta. From procurement modernization to maternal and child nutrition to energy efficiency, Bonaria and her team are working on innovative projectsmaking a real difference in a country where tens of millions of people are still struggling to rise out of poverty.

Innovative technology is critical to today’s sustainable and growing communities, and nowhere is that more evident than in Israel. A country with a population of less than 9 million people and a land mass smaller than the U.S. state of Vermont, it has become the go-to place for disruptive technology that can answer some of the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges.

Is it better to manage your company's workplace giving charitable funds distribution in-house or to work with a 3rd party partner? One Fortune 500 company was stunned when it calculated the cost of managing its company’s in-house system for processing employee charitable payroll contributions. The company assumed it was making a fiscally prudent decision by managing this process itself. However, after analyzing what it took to manage its homegrown system, the company quickly learned its assumption was false.