ESG News from Leading Brands

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion, Institute of International Finance and MetLife Foundation Launch Project to Help Banking Industry Overcome Barriers to Financial Inclusion

Jan 13, 2017 2:20 PM ET

The Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion (CFI), the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and MetLife Foundation, together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a technical partner, announced today a two-year initiative to help advance the financial services industry’s ability to reach unserved and underserved populations.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Whirlpool Corporation's Sponsorship of FIRST® Robotics Encourages Youth Interest in STEM Fields

Jan 13, 2017 1:45 PM ET

At our global headquarters, Whirlpool Corporation is a proud sponsor of FIRST® Robotics, providing local teams with challenge grants, materials and supplies, including Gladiator® GarageWorks tool chests. Our employees also spend thousands of volunteer hours coaching and mentoring high school youth to encourage their interest in science, technology, engineering and math, as well as careers in manufacturing. In 2015, three area teams competed in the World FIRST Robotics Competition.

Environment

Detroit Rooftop Garden Fed Diners and a Nonprofit

Jan 13, 2017 1:45 PM ET

The rooftop garden next to General Motors’ Renaissance Center world headquarters wrapped up another productive growing season. Now in its third year, the garden – thriving from the landfill-free facility’s compost – resulted in 815 pounds of fresh produce, 150 jars of honey, and $3,546.00 in donations to a community shelter located across the street.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Enabling Safety Excellence for a Global Oil and Gas Client

Jan 13, 2017 1:10 PM ET

A client’s remediation organization was concerned over the financial and safety performance of contractors and subcontractors working on its portfolio of over 800 remediation sites consisting of retail service stations, terminals and pipeline properties across the USA. Antea Group was hired to develop and implement a comprehensive HSSE Compliance and Assurance Program across the portfolio.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Epsilon Partners with OakLuv to Make the Holidays Brighter

Jan 13, 2017 11:30 AM ET

Making the holiday season a little brighter, associates in San Francisco from Alliance Data’s Epsilon business, partnered with OakLuv, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, Calif., to fulfill Christmas lists for families in Oakland.

Innovation & Technology

Scale the Technology Now: Separating Content and Technology in Digital Health

Jan 13, 2017 11:05 AM ET

At this year’s Global Digital Health Forum, I was excited to see the range of ways that digital tools are helping us move towards a healthier world. Despite the variation in the types of programs presented, two questions came up in nearly every conference session.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Announcing KIND Snacks Founder & CEO as Newest Speaker at Health Means Business Summit!

Jan 13, 2017 11:00 AM ET

New speaker alert! We're thrilled to welcome KIND Snacks Founder & CEO, Daniel Lubetzky, as a featured speaker at our Health Means Business National Summit and Healthy10 Awards on February 15-16! Register today to join innovative businesses of all sizes to discuss the link between business and health and inspire action.

Health & Healthcare

WHO New Economics of Tobacco Control Report

Jan 13, 2017 11:00 AM ET

A new comprehensive report conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization provides powerful evidence about the economic implications of tobacco use, manufacturing, trade and global tobacco control efforts.

Health & Healthcare

Holland America Line’s ms Koningsdam Receives Perfect Score of 100 on First United States Public Health Inspection

Jan 13, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Holland America Line’s ms Koningsdam earned a perfect score of 100 on its first routine United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ship launched in April 2016 in Europe and made its maiden visit to the United States in November.

Environment

EHS Consulting for the Chemical Industry

Jan 13, 2017 9:15 AM ET

We’ve all heard the analogy of the three-legged stool, right? Despite being incredibly stable when all three legs are firmly on the ground, if you lose one leg, the stool topples over. This principle holds true with EHS&S programs as well.

Antea Group has assembled a team of seasoned professionals to create a similarly stable EHS&S support structure for the chemical industry. The “legs” that support a successful EHS&S program are Environmental Compliance, Health & Safety and Sustainability.

Read the rest on the Antea Group blog.

Social Impact & Volunteering

White Plains Hospital Sponsors Health Alliance on Alcohol Program to Raise Awareness of Underage Drinking

Jan 13, 2017 9:10 AM ET

Nearly 200,000 teenagers across the country end up in hospital emergency rooms as a direct result of injury or accidents due to underage drinking, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Excessive drinking is responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among underage youth each year, they report.

Responsible Production & Consumption

5 Trends That Are Creating the Sustainable Property Framework

Jan 13, 2017 9:05 AM ET

While 2016 was a year of humanizing sustainability and empowering people to take action, 2017 will be a year of more ambitious climate change initiatives. We’ve identified five trends in sustainability that are creating the framework for the future of development.

Events, Media & Communications

Major Stakeholders Co-Create Unifying Strategy to Address Post-Harvest Loss in Nigeria

Jan 13, 2017 8:55 AM ET

Major stakeholders in the Nigerian tomato value chain came together from across the globe for the first-ever YieldWise Partner Planning Session last month. YieldWise, a $130 million dollar initiative launched in 2016 by The Rockefeller Foundation, seeks to demonstrate how the world can halve food loss by 2030, one of the UN’s Global Goals.

Education

Avnet Supports STEM Education Through Junior Achievement Partnership

Jan 13, 2017 8:05 AM ET

Thanks to Avnet’s corporate partnership with Junior Achievement (JA) of Arizona, more than 25,000 students are able to have a hands-on tech industry experience. Sparking interest in the technology industry and nurturing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education is important to Avnet, and sponsoring two shops at JA BizTown provides students with critical exposure to important STEM career opportunities.

Environment

New Fuel Option Means Cleaner Truck Routes

Jan 13, 2017 8:00 AM ET

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) has a name that sounds like it could be a complex scientific concept, but it’s really not that complicated: CNG is primarily methane gas stored at high pressure. That’s it.

Education

First-Year Harvard MBA Student Chooses Las Vegas Sands for Climate Change Assignment

Jan 13, 2017 8:00 AM ET

Technology and Operations Management is a required class taken by all first year MBA students at Harvard Business School. In 2016, for the first time and as part of their program, all 950 students were assigned a task that focused on climate change. Specifically, the students were given a challenge to write a blog posting of about 800 words, describing how a single organization of their choosing is being affected by climate change, either through the company’s operations, innovation system, or supply chain.

Education

21CF and Pepsico Award $200,000 Scholarships to Women in Stem as Part of ‘The Search for Hidden Figures’ Contest

Jan 13, 2017 7:00 AM ET

21st Century Fox and PepsiCo, in partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), have named Yuna Shin from Bothell, Washington, and Joy Bualamwini from Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the two grand prize winners of “The Search for Hidden Figures,” a contest awarding scholarships to young women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

No Barriers Warriors y Wells Fargo Buscan Veteranos Para la Expedición de “Warriors to Summits” de 2017

Jan 12, 2017 4:00 PM ET

No Barriers Warriors (en inglés) y Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) buscan veteranos con discapacidades para la Expedición de Warriors to Summits (en inglés) de 2017. El épico viaje se diseñó con el fin de presentar desafíos mentales y físicos rigurosos que ayuden a los veteranos a reflexionar sobre su pasado, reconocer donde están ahora y desarrollar una visión de su futuro para que puedan lograr con éxito la transición a la vida civil después del servicio militar.

Education

PepsiCo and 21st Century Fox Announce the Two Grand Prize Winners in "The Search For Hidden Figures" Contest

Jan 12, 2017 4:00 PM ET

PepsiCo and 21st Century Fox, in partnership with the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), are proud to announce the two grand prize winners from "The Search for Hidden Figures" scholarship contest. Inspired by Fox's "Hidden Figures", this program actively engaged the next generation of female leaders in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and received more than 7,300 submissions from students across the country.

Education

Attending the 2016 European Amgen Scholars Symposium

Jan 12, 2017 4:00 PM ET

Environment

Keep America Beautiful’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Opens 2017 Grant Application Period

Jan 12, 2017 3:30 PM ET

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a green, clean and beautiful place to live, today announced the organization has opened the grant application period for the 2017 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program to help communities combat the most commonly littered item in America.

Innovation & Technology

Fortune Video: "The Weird Whirlpool Appliances of CES 2017"

Jan 12, 2017 2:30 PM ET

Education

MilliporeSigma Kicks Off Year-Long ‘Curiosity Cube™’ Tour

Jan 12, 2017 2:15 PM ET

Recognizing that tomorrow’s discoveries depend on the next generation of scientists—and that breakthroughs begin with curiosity—MilliporeSigma has kicked off a year-long “Curiosity Cube™” tour.

Events, Media & Communications

NAEM's 2017 Calendar Features Latest Practices, New Formats, Fresh Ideas

Jan 12, 2017 2:15 PM ET

Today NAEM announced its 2017 conference calendar, focused on the latest management challenges and emerging practices for environment, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability leaders.

"Because the EHS&S field continues to evolve along with the spectrum of risks it manages, NAEM's 2017 calendar was developed to be timely and relevant to the needs of those leading these programs within companies," said Executive Director Carol Singer Neuvelt.

Research, Reports & Publications

Bechtel Releases Annual Sustainability Report

Jan 12, 2017 1:30 PM ET

Bechtel announced today the release of its annual sustainability report, showcasing projects and innovations that are delivering sustainable cities, fostering cleaner energy, and preserving scarce water resources worldwide.