FY18 was a significant year for CSR in many ways – Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink came out strong in his annual letter titled, “A Sense of Purpose,” emphasizing the importance that business considers their impact on society and the environment. Companies continued to take a public stand on issues such as equality, immigration and more. At Cisco, we recognize we cannot solve the world’s problems on our own, but we have an opportunity and a responsibility to do our part. Last week we launched our 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, celebrating our achievements to date as well as how we are addressing the areas where we can do more. Here are highlights from this year’s report across our three CSR pillars of People, Society and Planet; your “cheat sheet” to CSR at Cisco in FY18.

I had the exciting opportunity to interview Amiko Foster of Youth Finance Institute of America (YFIA), a California-based nonprofit that provides personal finance education programs designed to teach finance life skills to youth in disadvantaged areas. Since launching their program in 2015, YFIA’s entirely volunteer-based staff has been able to serve over 1200 youth to date.

“The worst man-made disaster the world has seen since World War II.” That’s how the United Nations human rights chief has described the ongoing conflict in Syria. The response from international NGOs has been swift, providing food, healthcare, and temporary shelter to the millions of Syrians affected by the conflict, but the challenges these aid organizations face getting humanitarian assistance to those in need have grown more extreme.

In 2018, Pfizer celebrated 15 years of the Global Health Fellows (GHF) program, our signature international corporate volunteer initiative that places colleagues on short-term assignments with international development organizations to help improve healthcare systems and build local healthcare capacity in underserved communities. For program partners, it brings much-needed resources, specific technical skills and a fresh mindset.

Local impact happens when community-based tree planting organizations create projects that involve citizens, schools, churches, and government. This is the work of the nearly 130 members of the Alliance for Community Trees program. These passionate nonprofit organizations are the boots on the ground — a grassroots network united in its purpose of improving communities and towns across the country with trees.

As our warming climate poses greater and greater uncertainty for the food sector, leading companies are looking to shrink their own contributions to climate change and build resilience for the days to come.

Tim Singh is a proposal coordinator with Tetra Tech based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He helps Tetra Tech teams specializing in water, environment, infrastructure, resource management, and geotechnical engineering pursue and win new business. Tim has a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and a master’s degree in strategic design.

Gildan has launched a new onsite supermarket for its employees, offering non-perishable food, household essentials and personal care items at discounted prices for 8,500 workers located at the complex.

Elkay Manufacturing Company today released their inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, documenting the company’s commitment to their communities, employees, customers, and the planet. The report, named Honorable Endeavors, follows the Global Reporting Initiative G4 model and outlines the company’s focus on promoting social and environmental responsibility while building stronger communities.

In 2017, 21st Century Fox partnered with the U.S Department of State to launch #HiddenNoMore, an all-female STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) leadership development program inspired by the Fox 2000 film Hidden Figures. The initiative marked the first time in history that a Hollywood movie led to the creation of a publicly-funded educational exchange program.