At a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology last year, Megan Krench saw something remarkable: Children, previously unable to move their head or sit up, were turning their heads to look at their parents, sitting up, and even walking. It was a video of a company’s clinical trial for a gene therapy to treat a devastating childhood neuromuscular disorder, spinal muscular atrophy. Infants with this disease typically never reach any developmental milestones, and most die by age two.

Each year, Forbes partners with market research company Statista to poll 30,000 U.S. employees. With this data, the companies compile a country-wide ranking of the best employers of 2018. This year, VMware is excited to announce that the company ranks #21 on Forbes’ list of best employers. Additionally, when looking at companies in the “IT, Internet, Software & Services” category, VMware ranks as the #4 best employer. And if you look at companies headquartered in the competitive San Francisco Bay Area, VMware takes the #3 spot!

GRI has appointed Peter Paul van de Wijs as Chief Communications Officer. With extensive international experience in communications and sustainable development, he will bring valuable input to driving GRI's mission of empowering decisions that create social, environmental and economic benefits for everyone.

As the world’s population continues to grow at a rapid pace, so must our ability to feed it. To meet this need, companies are seeking new ways to enhance and expand their capabilities to safely produce and distribute food across the globe, making the journey from farm to table more complex than it once was. Although rare, food safety and security concerns do arise, and when they do, time is of the essence as public health and lives are at stake, not to mention the livelihoods of industries, companies, and employees. Because of this, food traceability has become increasingly important.

Divine Masters Ltd (DML), a Ugandan socially-focussed agribusiness enterprise, has joined Business Call to Action (BCtA) with the aim to incorporate 96,000 Ugandan farmers into its agricultural value chain, increasing their production yields, reduce post-harvest losses through climate adaptation practices, improve access to markets and increase household income by 10 percent by 2020.

Rouge River Farms joins a fast-growing network of certified growers that have made a commitment to improve labor conditions, food safety and pest management through Equitable Food Initiative’s workforce development program.

The company’s farming and packing operations in Clewiston, Florida, became EFI's first certified grower shipper on the East Coast after meeting more than 300 rigorous indicators, based on independent assessment by third-party certifier SCS Global Services.

Aramark (NYSE: ARMK), a global leader in food, facilities management and uniforms, was once again named to DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for diversity list.

Ahead of the June 3 premiere of his new FX series Pose, a dance musical about ball culture in 1980s New York City, writer and producer Ryan Murphy announced he will donate 100% of his profits from the show to trans and LGBTQ charities across the U.S. The series features the largest cast of transgender actors in regular roles in TV history, as well as the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ actors ever for a scripted series. Murphy will spotlight each of the recipient organization on his Twitter account and plans to host fundraiser screenings and other benefits to continue to raise awareness and drive donations. Murphy is also the creator of hit FX series American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud, as well as FOX’s 9-1-1.

More than one-out-of-five students in the U.S. reports being bullied, making it a prevalent topic for educators and parents. And, over the past few years, organizations and brands have joined the conversation – creating hashtags, emojis and even hidden camera stunts – to bring awareness to the issue. Now, Ikea is joining the ranks with a simple, tangible activation that demonstrates the negative effects of bullying.