It’s easy to take for granted how significantly computers, tablets, and mobile devices have changed our jobs and lives — offering nearly instant access to an endless array of tools and information whenever and wherever we need it. For the 253 million people around the world with visual impairments — of whom 36 million are blind — all that information is sitting there at their fingertips, but without the proper accessibility tools, it might as well be a million miles away. Fortunately, there are people like Jeremiah Rogers who advocate for improving and enhancing online accessibility for the blind and visually impaired community.

Bloomberg’s new European headquarters has been named the UK’s best new building the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) after an expert jury reached a “unanimous” decision. The prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize was awarded at a televised ceremony in London where the judges called the building a “once-in-a-generation project” that has “not just raised the bar for office design and city planning but smashed the ceiling.”

General Motors North America was recently awarded the 2018 SmartWay Excellence Award, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) highest honor for leadership in freight performance. The award recognizes the top two percent of SmartWay Partners with superior environmental performance. This year, GM is the only original equipment manufacturer (OEM) represented on the list.

Today, the hygiene and health company Essity will open the annual meeting of the United Nations Foundation’s dialogue on the UN’s sustainable development goals. The meeting will be held at the UN headquarters in New York and bring together the business community, governments, authorities, civil society and NGOs to exchange experiences and perspectives on how to achieve the global sustainable development goals.

Happy Fall! Common Impact is excited to head into the last few months of 2018 (can you believe it?) with new initiatives under our belt and a wealth of inspiration. Over the past eight months, we have had the opportunity to define and launch new models for scaled impact, interview everyday leaders from all backgrounds to understand how they create a meaningful impact in their communities, build our internal capacity by hiring new rock star team members and create new partnerships that enable inclusive and sustainable social progress.

On the International Day of the Girl, HP Inc. launched a powerful new film titled A Generation Found. The film, narrated by George Clooney, tells the story of two young Syrian girls living in refugee settlements in Lebanon who regain access to quality education following years of uncertainty. It is the result of a unique partnership between HP, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), UNICEF and Google.org focused on improving educational opportunities and learning outcomes for underserved communities.

Through her work with the Thameside Prison Initiative, Sabrina is successfully helping prisoners gain the skills they need to find meaningful employment after release.

Marina Bay Sands has implemented an innovative two-day Learning Leave incentive for its over 9,700 Team Members to enroll in SkillsFuture courses. Believed to be the first such initiative in the hospitality industry, the two-day program allows all full-time staff to take paid leave to attend courses related to language and communication, service excellence and information technology.

Pollinate Energy is improving the lives of India’s urban and Nepal’s rural poor by giving them access to sustainable everyday household products and empowering local entrepreneurs.