ESG News from Leading Brands

Social Impact & Volunteering

Expanded Community Recess Partnership Aims to Increase Physical Activity and Support Learning Through the Power of Play

Jan 30, 2017 3:05 PM ET

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), Playworks New England and the Rhode Island Healthy Schools Coalition (RIHSC) announced today an expanded second-year recess partnership to increase physical activity and bolster social-emotional skills in local students. The Playworks Recess Implementation program has grown from its initial work with 18 schools during 2016 to doubling the size of the program to 36 schools from across the state this school year.

Environment

Domtar EarthChoice Monthly Minute | January 2017

Jan 30, 2017 1:25 PM ET

Read Domtar's EarthChoice Monthly Minute for January 2017.

Innovation & Technology

GM and Honda to Establish Industry-First Joint Fuel Cell System Manufacturing Operation in Michigan

Jan 30, 2017 12:35 PM ET

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) today announced establishment of the auto industry’s first manufacturing joint venture to mass produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products from each company.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Albertsons Companies Celebrates Adding 26,000 Jobs & 174 Stores, and Increasing Support to Local Communities Since 2015 Merger with Safeway

Jan 30, 2017 12:00 PM ET

On the two-year anniversary of the merger that created the second-largest supermarket company in the U.S., Albertsons Companies announced that since the merger with Safeway, it has grown its workforce by 10 percent, creating 26,000 jobs; built or acquired 174 locations; increased healthy food and financial donations; and elevated its commitment to sustainability.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Republic Services Named to Elite List for Corporate Leadership on Climate Change

Jan 30, 2017 11:30 AM ET

Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) is pleased to announce that the Company has been named to the elite Supplier Climate A List by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a leading international not-for-profit organization that drives sustainable economies. Only 3 percent of companies worldwide participating in the 2016 CDP supply chain program earned the prestigious recognition.

Environment

The Importance of EHS Compliance: Where to Focus, Common Challenges & Consequences of Non-Compliance

Jan 30, 2017 10:45 AM ET

These days, environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance isn’t the sole concern of most businesses—it’s just one part of running a healthy and productive company. But compliance is still an absolute must in order to run a safe and effective business, and EHS managers are faced with the daunting task of managing regulatory compliance across multiple facilities and functions, often without a lot of resources.

On the Antea Group blog, we address some common challenges EHS managers face, as well as answer common questions they have about where to focus their efforts and possible consequences of non-compliance.

Environment

Ford Cleans London Air Through Public-Private Partnership

Jan 30, 2017 10:35 AM ET

Companies have long facilitated public-private partnerships to create innovative solutions to the critical issues facing the world today. From Cisco's Smart + Connected Communities effort to Coca-Cola's Project Last Mile delivering medical supplies to remote areas, companies understand the benefits of improving the communities they operate in. Now, one automotive company is taking its work to the streets of London to reduce air pollution as part of a multimillion-pound project.

Health & Healthcare

The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County Honors Nestlé Waters North America CEO Tim Brown

Jan 30, 2017 10:35 AM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Newmont Recognized for Top Sustainability Performance – and Largest Improvements – in Global Mining Sector

Jan 30, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Health & Healthcare

Baxter International Foundation Helps Grow the Independent Health Foundation’s Good for the Neighborhood® Program

Jan 30, 2017 10:00 AM ET

A grant from the Baxter International Foundation will help support and grow the Independent Health Foundation’s Good for the Neighborhood® (GFTN) program, a free community-based wellness initiative that brings healthy living and training tools to assist individuals in at-risk and underserved neighborhoods where access to healthcare is limited due to social and economic barriers.

Events, Media & Communications

Join Businesses to Boost Healthy Workforce, Healthy Communities

Jan 30, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Cox Automotive Presents Barbara Cox Automotive Woman of the Year Award

Jan 30, 2017 9:30 AM ET

Cox Automotive™ presented the 12th annual Barbara Cox Automotive Woman of the Year Award to Linda Silverstein, general manager, remarketing and rental operations, Ford Motor Company.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Northern Trust Asset Management Launches Unique Sustainable Real Estate Index and Fund in Conjunction with GRESB

Jan 30, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Northern Trust Asset Management, collaborating with GRESB, the global sustainability benchmark for real assets, has launched a unique sustainable real estate index. A Dutch-domiciled pooled fund passively managed to this new index has also been launched.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Marina Bay Sands Holds Team Member Bazaar Benefitting Local Organizations

Jan 30, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

A Passion for Continuous Innovation

Jan 30, 2017 7:35 AM ET

UK-based microinsurance specialist MicroEnsure, a member of the Business Call to Action (BCtA) since 2012, has made an ambitious new pledge to insure 5 million additional low-income customers while producing three groundbreaking, scalable new products by 2020.

Health & Healthcare

World Leprosy Day: 4 Stories That Show the Ongoing Impact of Leprosy

Jan 30, 2017 1:05 AM ET

On World Leprosy Day, as part of the Novartis Foundation’s effort to document the impact of leprosy on patients, their families and communities – as well as our work to stop it – we have added four new entries to our visual story-telling platform, called Global Health Stories.

Social Impact & Volunteering

All Hands on Deck: Employees Team up to Assist Flood Victims

Jan 29, 2017 10:25 AM ET

Donning a hooded protective jumpsuit, ventilation mask and heavy work gloves – only her smiling eyes are visible as she raises a 20-pound sledge hammer high above her head.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Voya Financial Recognized in 2017 Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index

Jan 27, 2017 8:35 PM ET

NEW YORK, January 27, 2016 /3BL Media/ - Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that it has been recognized in the 2017 Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index (BFGEI) for its strong commitment to gender parity. Voya was recognized as a leader among its peers in the 2017 index, which includes only 52 firms across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Americas.

Diversity & Inclusion

20th Century Fox TV's 'Fresh of the Boat' and Six-Word Memoirs Collaborate for Crowdsourced Immigration Stories

Jan 27, 2017 7:15 PM ET

20th Century Fox Television’s hit series Fresh Off The Boat has partnered with Six-Word Memoirs on a new crowd-sourced book: Six Words Fresh Off The Boat: Stories of Immigration, Identity, and Coming to America (September 2017). This newest compilation in the bestselling series will feature the personal, complex, and profound emotions that generations of immigrants have felt as they built new lives in America.

Events, Media & Communications

Offer Ends Jan. 31! Get a Free Evaluation of Your Employee Giving & Volunteer Program

Jan 27, 2017 5:35 PM ET

Each year your organization works hard to meet its social responsibility and employee engagement goals while also meeting your employees' expectations. How did your 2016 employee giving and engagement programs perform?

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Wells Fargo Donates $500,000 for Seattle-Area Revitalization Efforts

Jan 27, 2017 3:45 PM ET

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced a total of $500,000 in donations for five local nonprofits that will help revitalize Seattle neighborhoods through the Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT® program

Social Impact & Volunteering

Employee Mentor Shares Big Lessons

Jan 27, 2017 3:30 PM ET

This month, Comcast NBCUniversal is expanding Beyond School Walls, our workplace-based mentoring program with Big Brothers Big Sisters, to NBCUniversal employees at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Including Los Angeles, Comcast NBCUniversal employees currently mentor local schoolchildren in Comcast offices in 17 cities nationwide.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Arrow Employees Expand Support for Tuleeni Orphanage Through Holiday Giving

Jan 27, 2017 1:40 PM ET

Arrow Electronics donated more than $8,000 this past holiday season to the Arrow Scholars Fund, a scholarship program launched by Arrow employees to benefit students at the Tuleeni Orphanage in Africa.

Tuleeni is home to more than 100 orphaned or vulnerable children living in the village of Rau, in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. In 2015, donations by Arrow employees provided scholarship support for five students. The additional funds raised over the 2016 holiday season will enable these same children to continue in their studies, as well as access the orphanage’s educational resources.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Five More Years of Hope and Hard Work for HP Foundation’s Participation in “Mashrou3i”

Jan 27, 2017 1:30 PM ET

In Tunisia, where some 40 percent of youth are unemployed and jobs of any kind are hard to come by, the HP Foundation is working to make a difference. For the past three years, the foundation has been working with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), USAID, the Italian Development Cooperation and other partners on a job-creation project, called “Mashrou3i,” (which in Arabic means, "my project") that fosters a spirit of entrepreneurialism and offers tools that can support fledgling business owners.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

TD Bank Group Helps Drive Carbon Reductions Through CDP Supply Chain Program

Jan 27, 2017 1:10 PM ET

CDP's 2017 supply chain report, "Harnessing the Power of Purchasing for a Sustainable Future," ranks TD Bank Group above average in supplier engagement. This is the first report TD was scored in since joining the program. The report evaluates organizations on their ability to galvanize their supply chains to disclose and improve upon their environmental performance.