Month: February 2023

Originally published on Illumina News Center

Every year on the last day of February, Rare Disease Day is celebrated worldwide in a collective effort to raise awareness and funding for the 300 million people living with a rare disease. First recognized in 2008 by EURORDIS, a nonprofit alliance for over 1000 patient organizations, Rare Disease Day includes events in more than 110 countries.

“Rare Disease Day is an important reminder of the common humanity that underlies these disorders,” says Ryan Taft, Illumina’s vice president of Scientific Research. “In our lifetimes it is almost certain that we, or someone we know, will be affected by these often-devastating diseases. At Illumina, we have a moral imperative to get these patients the diagnoses they need and deserve.”

Each year, Illumina selects four rare disease organizations to support and spotlight their work.

Association pour la Recherche Génétique des Anomalies du Développement, better known as ARGAD, is a nonprofit association established in 2010 in Bourgogne, France. The association supports clinical and biological research in the area of genetics of developmental disorders, and assists in education and raising awareness for health care professionals and the public, all with the mission of improving the care and support of rare disease patients in France. To mark Rare Disease Day 2023, ARGAD has been conducting workshops in which children with a rare disease collaborate with professional artists to tell the story of their diagnosis and their experience living with it. This ambitious project will culminate in the creation of a 200-page collectible book of the artwork and an exhibition and discussion panel at the Ground Effect gallery in Paris on February 28.

Founded in 1999 by two patient parents, the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders (TFRD) enhances patients’ quality of life while also advocating for medical rights. Remarkably, TFRD’s efforts prompted the Rare Disease Prevention and Orphan Drug Act—making Taiwan one of the first governments to pass legislation related to rare disease. In addition to promoting research, fostering patient groups, and influencing policy, the organization also provides direct services to 18,000 families, helping with at-home care visits, psychological support, family education, rehab, and more. TFRD has an extraordinary commitment to improving access to diagnostic technologies and it subsidizes genetic testing and newborn screening for low-income families.

Life changed dramatically for Texan singer-songwriter Casey McPherson and his family when, after pursuing whole-exome sequencing to find an explanation for his daughter Rose’s symptoms, she was diagnosed with the rare genetic disease HNRNPH2. To the fans of his music, Casey might seem an unlikely scientist, yet his passion to save his daughter has meant pushing boundaries to model a different future for people living with rare disease and their families: He started the To Cure a Rose Foundation to save his daughter and scale a better model for rare drug development, and he cofounded Everlum Bio, a personalized medicine company and proof-of-concept drug discovery lab to serve family foundations.

Finally, the Tanzania Human Genetics Organization (THGO) is a nonprofit organization whose main goal is to coordinate human genetics research and activities in Tanzania to generate knowledge and recommendations for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of genetic disease. THGO envisions a health community that is able to use genetic information and services to save lives and promote healthy outcomes in Tanzania. They work passionately to partner with and support the broader advocacy of disease-specific patient organizations throughout the country (including Ali Kimara Rare Disease Foundation and Lupus Warriors Tanzania) and have formed a coalition-partnership with the Southern Africa Youth Forum to advise and promote the adoption of a common policy on health care and social services for people living with rare diseases in the countries of the Southern Africa Development Community.

Illumina also remains committed to supporting the rare genetic disease population through initiatives that provide direct access to clinical whole-genome sequencing. For 10 years, the Illumina iHope program has facilitated pro bono genome testing for more than 1700 children with suspected rare genetic disease across 24 clinical sites in eight countries. Approximately 40% have received a diagnosis and up to 78% received a change in their care management.

Based on the success of this program, Illumina recently announced an expansion of iHope to China at the Illumina NGS Summit. In partnership with the Special Fund for Diagnosis and Treatment of Genetic Diseases—under the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation of China—and supported by the Illumina Foundation and Give2Asia, iHope China will provide genetic testing to more than 2000 patients with rare disease over a three-year period. The initiative will also provide training to more than 100 clinicians at 20 Chinese hospitals.

Illumina has committed to dramatically expanding access to genome testing outside China through a partnership with Genetic Alliance to develop iHope Genetic Health—a program supported by a $120 million in-kind donation of sequencers, reagents, and software to enable dozens of laboratories to provide genome testing in low- and middle-income communities around the world. This effort will support up to 50,000 patients a year in five years, and will work with local communities to support genetic education, local capacity building, and patient-authorized data use.

Learn more about how Illumina is expanding access to genomics, click here.

Mental health

How can we improve mental health in the workplace? The new Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being from U.S. Surgeon General outlines Five Essentials that companies can use to create a healthy workplace culture.

Gender equality

A few days ago, the European Parliament adopted a new EU law that requires publicly-traded companies to ensure better gender balance on corporate boards. A minimum of 40% of non-executive director positions, or 33% of all director positions, need to be filled by women by the end of June 2026. Read more here.

Women in leadership

The “Reykjavík Index for Leadership” from Kantar Public was first launched in 2018 and measures society’s perceptions of men’s and women’s suitability to lead. According to new data, trust in women leaders has significantly declined in the past year.

Inclusion & tech

Ahead of the International Day of People with Disabilities on December 3rd, Apple released “The Greatest”, a new campaign about accessibility. Worth watching!

Why? Because the person behind the badge mattered.

Across the United States, police officers have taken up post to support the families and communities of fallen officers who have been killed while making the “ultimate sacrifice.”

The Brotherhood for the Fallen was formed in 2010 in response to a growing rate of reported police officers being killed while in the line of duty. The non-profit organization started in Chicago and has expanded to nine chapters across the United States.

“The idea is for us to have a presence and attend every funeral of a fallen police officer in the U.S.,” says Patrick Munroe, President at Brotherhood for the Fallen Boston. “We provide support to the community to show how important the person was behind the badge.”

The chapter also provides one-time financial support to families to help them meet their immediate needs following the death of their loved one. As membership to the Boston chapter has grown, so has the support—Brotherhood donations to the families, which began as $250 payments in 2018, have risen to $1,250 this year.

Every November, the Brotherhood hosts an annual event to recognize the lives of those officers lost, re-energize the community around its mission, and raise funds to continue helping families who lose their loved ones while in the line of duty.

In 2022, Enbridge made a $1,500 Fueling Futures donation to Brotherhood for the Fallen Boston as part of our commitment to the communities near our operations. The donation follows a $5,000 Enbridge grant given in 2021, whose funds were directed toward the fall fundraiser event and hosting families of fallen officers.

While the primary activities of the Brotherhood chapters are to send two members on the road to attend funerals for fallen officers, often the support shown to families evolves into relationships that last much longer.

“Initially, we attend these funerals to show families that they are not alone in their grieving, but it can quickly feel like an extended family,” says Munroe. “Us being there is a small gesture that means a lot to them—we know what they are going through.”

Munroe himself has lost friends in the line of duty, leading him to co-establish the Boston, MA chapter of the Brotherhood in 2017. The chapter started with four members and now boasts over 1,000 supporters, including those from surrounding towns and cities.

The fundraising event of nearly 500 attendees marked the fifth event in the Boston chapter’s history, with families getting to gather once again to connect with people who understand what they have been through.

“It’s amazing to be able to host these families and make sure they feel like the most important guests there,” says Munroe. “To see them smiling and genuinely having a good time means we are accomplishing what we set out to do.”

For many underserved families, transportation is a barrier to getting their children to routine doctor appointments or to receiving critical medical treatment. With Q4HE’s support, Primary Care of Southwest Georgia (PCSG)—an FQHC providing healthcare services to families—will open its second school-based health center. There, it will deploy mobile COVID-19 testing as well as provide general healthcare services for students and their families.

In addition to wellness screenings, chronic disease screenings, and other routine health services, PCSG plans to expand COVID-19 testing, vaccine access, and educational efforts with a focus on public housing sites, church events, and underserved populations in the Early County area of southwest Georgia. Q4HE’s support will also fund the purchase of a van to ensure that a lack of transportation is never a barrier to families seeking care at one of PCSG’s clinics.

“The day we received the Q4HE grant was one of the most rewarding days I’ve had as CEO of PCSG. We’ve worked with Quest Diagnostics for more than 10 years, and our partnership has allowed our sliding-scale patients to receive critical lab work at a discounted rate. Now we’re able to open a site at a school that serves a predominantly low-income community, and we’re purchasing a van to transport students from across the area so they can get medical care without their parents having to take off a day of work. What a blessing for the community of Early County to expand our safety net of healthcare services.”

– Angie McVey

Primary Care of Southwest Georgia

Read more

How does one thrive during change, rather than simply respond to it? This is one of the greatest professional challenges of our time.

In my recent meetings with customers, I have seen a shift in leaders’ commitments to make sure human resources (HR) functions thrive as they have been evolving from being compliance-oriented functional silos to value-driven organizational functions that naturally join with business operations and technology.

I am excited because the combination of HR, operational, and IT expertise underpins the people function of the future.

And it makes perfect sense. People impact operations. Operations impact people. Technology enables the connection between the two.

To that end, here are a few exciting trends I see SAP customers achieving right now.

1. Reimagined core business processes that touch people’s experiences

One of the trickiest parts of business transformation is simplifying, unifying, and integrating company business processes. Payroll procedures, organizational regulatory compliance, and standardized reporting are some examples.

The people function of the future replaces disparate, manual, and paper processes with intelligent technology solutions that unite people, manage risk, and save time at scale.

The business benefits are significant, but business process simplification is not simple work!

Leaders need tenacity to challenge the status quo. They must ask themselves and their colleagues: “What will it take to make a true difference in our business?”

I see SAP customers rising to the challenge, reimagining the business processes that touch their employees day in and day out, and emerging with amazing stories of how SAP enables their success.

2. Reinvigorated employee experiences

The people function of the future zeroes in on employee experience, starting with understanding what those words actually mean to employees. Then, it entails taking action in collaboration with operations and IT.

A recent survey, for example, noted that employees can waste up to five hours per week on repetitive, frustrating tasks that could, or should, be automated. Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and robotic process automation (RPA) can clear the psychological friction of those mundane tasks, improve productivity, and contribute to retention and refreshed employee experiences.

A well planned automation initiative starts with a collaborative, top-down assessment of people’s existing workflows. Business process intelligence tools help to quickly identify the business processes that would benefit most from automation.

3. Demonstrated proof of DEI&B commitments

Organizational and HR leaders of the future don’t just say their company is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B). They show proof every day.

Our customers’ business transformations include eliminating systemic hiring biases and making more diverse hiring decisions, for example, with the help of AI solutions. The SAP.iO Foundries program’s SAP SuccessFactors integrations are creating some important avenues for that to happen.

I also can’t wait to see the SAP SuccessFactors functionality for personal pronouns and chosen name in action — a feature that lets employees indicate their personal pronouns and chosen names on their company profiles, enabling them to own how they show up and are recognized at work.

Enabled by Technology and Inspired, at Scale

Building the people function of the future involves masterful collaboration between HR and operations that is enabled — and inspired! — by technology. Organizations in both the private and public sector thrive when their people are engaged in their careers, encounter frictionless experiences in their day-to-day work, and have a sense of belonging.

I’m enthusiastic to see our customers taking major leaps forward in creating environments where teams can thrive and achieve great results today and in the future.

BELLEVUE, Wash., February 28, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today T-Mobile, the T-Mobile Foundation and Ashoka are launching the fifth Changemaker Challenge, a nationwide contest that gives young leaders an opportunity to take their innovative ideas for creating a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable future to the next level. Since the first Changemaker Challenge in 2018, over 1,500 applications have been submitted with projects focusing on everything from therapy kits and digital apps to support children on the autism spectrum to repurposing tobacco to create biodegradable food packaging.

Starting today through May 18, visionaries, advocates and social entrepreneurs ages 13 to 18 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico who are passionate about driving digital empowerment, putting equity into action, and mobilizing for a thriving planet can apply to the Changemaker Challenge. Youth innovators will then have the opportunity to receive seed funding to support their bold ideas and an all-expenses paid trip to T-Mobile headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., to participate in the Changemaker Lab experience later this year. T-Mobile and the T-Mobile Foundation have invested over $2.5 million in the program over the last four years and given $414,000 in prize seed funding directly to teams who are making an impact in their communities.

“As T-Mobile is committed to creating a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable future, Changemaker Challenge is an investment in this nation’s youth – some of this most innovative, problem solvers out there today – to deliver big ideas to help us achieve it,” said Janice V. Kapner, chief communications and corporate responsibility officer for T-Mobile. “Our goal is to elevate these bright young minds and help turn their ideas and dreams into real solutions that have a positive impact for years to come.”

Here’s how it works:

Through May 18, youth ages 13 to 18 located in the U.S. and Puerto Rico can enter the Changemaker Challenge via the contest website.In July, the 15 finalists will be selected to receive $5,000 each in seed funding—five from each of the three categories: Digital Empowerment, Equity In Action, and Thriving Planet. The finalists will also receive an all-expenses paid trip later in 2023 to T-Mobile’s headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., for the Changemaker Lab. At the Lab, the finalists will receive mentorship and guidance from T-Mobile employees, skills training from Ashoka, and other networking opportunities.Three finalists, one from each of the categories, will receive an additional $5,000 seed funding (for a total of $10,000 per team), and the time to pitch their projects to T-Mobile senior leaders.At the Changemaker Lab, the Grand Prize Winner will be selected and will receive an additional $5,000 in funding (for a total of $15,000), plus additional hands-on support and counsel from their mentors to supercharge their project!

Jacqueline Teague and Amelie Beck, cousins who founded MedTechConnect to provide technical and personal support to ensure senior citizens are informed and have access to healthcare technology, shared, “As T-Mobile changemakers, we were able to grow in our professional development by receiving direct mentorship from a team of T-Mobile experts. They gave us incredible resources and advice and provided generous seed money to help build our website! Above all, attending the T-Mobile Changemaker Lab in Bellevue, Washington, allowed us to make great, lasting connections with other young changemakers from all over the country.”

The Changemaker Challenge is made possible by T-Mobile and the T-Mobile Foundation’s partnership with Ashoka, an organization with more than 40 years of experience supporting social entrepreneurs and young changemakers as they bring new ideas to systemically address the world’s biggest challenges and build a world where we all realize our power to create change.

“For young people to thrive in a world where change is the only constant, it is critical for them to master changemaking abilities,” said Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka. “Ashoka, the T-Mobile Foundation, and T-Mobile’s Changemaker Challenge is an opportunity for young people to develop this essential power and contribute to a better future for the good of all.”

Individuals and teams with bold, game-changing ideas can visit the contest website to learn everything they need to know about the 2023 Changemaker Challenge. 

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About T-Mobile
T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is America’s supercharged Un-carrier, delivering an advanced 4G LTE and transformative nationwide 5G network that will offer reliable connectivity for all. T-Mobile’s customers benefit from its unmatched combination of value and quality, unwavering obsession with offering them the best possible service experience and undisputable drive for disruption that creates competition and innovation in wireless and beyond. Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile and Sprint. For more information please visit: https://www.t-mobile.com.

About T-Mobile Foundation
The T-Mobile Foundation is committed to changing the world for good. The Foundation advances positive change in our communities by supporting causes that focus on youth development, and by providing opportunities for T-Mobile employees to engage in causes that benefit the communities where they live and work. The T-Mobile Foundation, created and funded by T-Mobile US, Inc., is recognized by the IRS as a Section 501(c)(3) private foundation.

About Ashoka
Ashoka is the largest global network of leading social entrepreneurs—individuals with new ideas to systemically address the world’s biggest challenges and the entrepreneurial skill to transform those ideas into national, regional and global social impact. Over 40 years, Ashoka has supported nearly 4,000 social entrepreneurs in more than 90 countries with solutions addressing society’s most pressing issues. Ashoka’s vision is a world in which Everyone is a Changemaker—a society that responds quickly and effectively to challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem.

Though she just celebrated her third birthday in August, Nabawesi Shamim can already recite her ABCs and count to 20.

She knows how to dress herself and wash a few utensils; she loves to join other children in games and play with paints. She lives with her extended family on a farm in central Uganda. She can’t wait to start school.

Every morning at 8 a.m., Nabawesi swallows medicine her mother measures out for her. She does not yet know why.

Someday – maybe a few years from now — her mother, Nabbanja Maluusi, plans to tell Nabawesi that the medicine treats her for HIV, a virus she has carried since birth. But for now, she is simply happy that her daughter is growing and thriving.

“Now, she’s happy,” says Nabbanja.

She didn’t always feel so hopeful. During her pregnancy, she worried that she would transmit the virus to her baby. A test after she gave birth confirmed her worst fears; Nabbanja and her mother both cried.

“I felt so bad,” Nabbanja recalls. “I asked myself: ‘Why me?’”

That was when staff of the Joint Clinical Research Centre reached out to offer support. The clinic, located about 11 kilometers southeast of Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, specializes in HIV/AIDS treatment and management. As part of its services, the clinic conducts outreach for children identified as HIV positive through an early infant diagnosis program.

According to the Uganda AIDS Commission, approximately 1.4 million people in Uganda were living with HIV in 2020, up from 1.2 million a decade earlier. The commission reports that improved access to HIV testing, care and treatment has led to greater longevity; new HIV infection rates during the same timeframe declined 60% from 94,000 in 2010 to 38,000 in 2020.

Christine Matama, a spokeswoman for the clinic, said the staff began caring for Nabawesi when she was 3 months old. Every two weeks, her mother traveled to the clinic – a journey that sometimes took as long as four hours – so health care providers could monitor her growth and progress. Eventually, depending on how much care and social support the child needs, visits taper off to once every one to three months.

The clinic provided medication to treat Nabawesi’s HIV, but it came in a syrup that required refrigeration, which the family does not have. Nabbanja tried to improvise by storing the bottle in a pot filled with sand saturated in cold water, but it was challenging. The baby kept vomiting up the only other medicine available at the time.

Finally, a third medicine became available in the form of dispersible tablets that can be dissolved in water or swallowed whole. Little Nabawesi was able to successfully take this medicine.

Manufactured by Viatris, Nabawesi’s medicine was developed through a collaboration with ViiV Healthcare, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Unitaid to help expand access to children living with HIV/AIDS in low- and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization, half of HIV-positive infants will die before their second birthday without prompt diagnosis and treatment.

Relieved to have this treatment option, Nabbanja expressed her gratitude: “Thanks very much, my dear, for making her a good medicine,” she said. “Life wasn’t good at first. But now I’m OK; my child is OK.”

At the Joint Clinic Research Centre, prior to the availability of the dispersible tablets, many young children faced challenges similar to Nabawesi, according to Christine Matama. With the availability of more treatment options for children, the HIV virus is better repressed, which can lead to better outcomes, says Dr. Diana Rutebarika, deputy head of pediatrics.

Dr. Rutebarika remembers a time when HIV-positive patients had almost no options; circumstances have improved significantly since then. One of the clinic’s earliest pediatric patients is now 33, has completed school, married and is the mother of four children herself.

“They are able to go through work and have a more fulfilling life when they’re in care,” Dr. Rutebarika says.

For Nabbanja, the care from the clinic was life-changing: “I knew that living with AIDS is not the end, though you’re (HIV) positive,” she says. “I became strong.”

Our Commitment to HIV Patients Worldwide

As part of our mission to help people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life, Viatris is committed to providing access to medicines for HIV patients. Some examples of this commitment include:

Approximately 40% of adults and more than 60% of children are being treated for HIV worldwide use a Viatris product.Viatris has lowered the cost of treatment for children in low- and middle-income countries by 75% to $120 per year with our pediatric medicine.We have established an initial sustainability goal to provide ARV therapy equivalent to a total of 30 million patients, including more than 2 million children living with HIV/AIDS, between 2022 and the end of 2025.

In recognition of Viatris’ work through public-private partnerships to expand access to innovative HIV drugs, Fortune named the company fifth out of 53 on its Change the World list in 2021. The annual ranking showcases companies making a positive societal impact through activities that are part of their core business strategy.

This blog is part of our People Behind Purpose at Cisco series that focuses on employees driving Cisco’s purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All. Each blog highlights a different Cisco employee whose work positively impacts people, communities, or the planet. The series was formerly known as people behind Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Cisco.

The Purpose Report and ESG Reporting Hub, are where Cisco describes our initiatives focused on our purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All. This includes our goals and progress on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics that are important to our stakeholders and where we highlight our impact over the last fiscal year. Setting clear public goals, measuring our progress against them, and reporting on that progress annually is how we hold ourselves accountable to our stakeholders and society. We have been publicly reporting our performance on ESG topics since 2005.

So how is comprehensive reporting on our purpose and ESG initiatives put together at Cisco? Meet Amanda Cumberland, Director of ESG Strategy and Reporting, Insights, and Impact at Cisco, who leads the creation of our Purpose Report and the ESG Reporting Hub. She shares her academic background in research and statistics, her passion for measuring impact, and how people inside and outside of Cisco help drive our purpose.

Please tell me a bit about your life before joining Cisco.

Amanda: I moved to Arizona for graduate school. My goal at the time was to work in academia and I thought I would be a research professor. I published articles in different empirical journals because we had a massive research lab. My graduate advisor secured a lot of grants, and we did all kinds of great research.

My focus was on social and developmental psychology and studying how children develop emotions and personalities with an emphasis on statistics. Understanding people is complex and the statistical techniques had to be equally complex. We were lucky to have some of the best statistics professors in the country.

What brought you to Cisco, and what are your job responsibilities now?

Amanda: My first job at Cisco fell in my lap toward the end of my Ph.D. program. I only had experience working in academia, so I never imagined a job in the corporate world. I knew a student in our research lab who had been recruited to work for Cisco to do assessment data and analysis and she suggested I come and work for Cisco to help measure the impact of the Networking Academy and other programs.

Sometimes in life you have those sliding door moments where you can go one way or the other, and I chose to do something completely different. They were looking for someone who knew a specific statistics technique to help define and measure the impact of Networking Academy and I was excited to apply my skills for something that was having such a global impact.

It was great because I got to help create something from scratch. We focused on defining and measuring the impact of the Networking Academy and we were able to create and execute on a complete end-to-end measurement plan, and conduct predictive modeling which is still used to measure the impact of the program.

I had another new opportunity at Cisco when they created a strategy team in Corporate Affairs under Mary de Wysocki. This role was exciting as I was able to create and work on many thought-leadership and market research projects to inform our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy holistically along with key insights for improving programs, measuring impact, and creating new initiatives.

Measuring impact is one of my passions. The two roles morphed into having more of a centralized team around anything metrics or research-related, and a few years ago, ESG Reporting was added to the team. I’m in my third year of having the privilege to lead the creation of our annual Purpose Report and ESG Hub. The focus on ESG has accelerated in recent years and I’m very proud of all the amazing work that Cisco does to help Power an Inclusive Future for All.

Can you share more about what it takes to create the Purpose Report?

Amanda: Between January and late March, we conduct multiple analyses, benchmarking and create our ESG materiality analysis which includes inputs from our key stakeholders to help guide our focus areas, initiatives, and reporting. And, of course, we do the benchmarking all year round because of the ever-changing landscape. Many new research reports come out in January. We also use these reports to understand what is happening in the world, such as global challenges including Ukraine or the pandemic, the economic outlook, purpose and ESG trends, technology trends, among a few to help guide our efforts and reporting.

Next, we develop a recommended reporting strategy because that leads to how we identify the right subject matter experts (SMEs) for those topic areas across the company. It’s a massive effort, with 40 teams and over 160 SMEs participating this past year. There are teams such as legal, finance, supply chain, circular economy, Workplace Resources, employee engagement, and more. There are so many groups because we want to get it right. We do a kickoff meeting toward the end of June, and we share the reporting strategy, the process, the timelines, the expectations, and how we’re structuring it.

We start conducting deep dives with SMEs in early July to understand the progress we made that year on key commitments and important areas of focus to highlight. We guide them based on all the frameworks we follow, inquiries we receive, ESG-focused indices, and other areas of focus to cover in the reporting. The team pulls all that all together into an outline at the beginning of the new fiscal year and will start gathering data about progress toward our goals. We also have a thorough data documentation claims review process, through which we work with SMEs to substantiate the claims with quality backup, and work closely with the finance and legal team throughout the process.

Why is it important for Cisco to share what we are doing annually when it comes to our Purpose work?

Amanda: It’s important to share the fantastic work Cisco’s doing towards our purpose for many reasons, including the expectations of our stakeholders both internally and externally. Investors increasingly make investment decisions based on a company’s ESG commitments and initiatives. And our customers are making more decisions about who to work with based on their ESG policies, commitments, and initiatives. Also, we know people decide where to work based on our environmental and social track record. Current employees tend to stay because of a company’s purpose, and for future employees, our reporting could be an important aspect of their decision to work with us.

Cisco has a long history of reporting on our ESG topics and we want to continue to be a leader in this space and continue to transparently share our progress and our best practices that could inspire other companies to do more so we can have even more collective impact.

The theme for this year’s report is Purpose Personified. Can you tell me more about why that theme was chosen?

Amanda: We landed on Purpose Personified because everyone is part of achieving Cisco’s purpose. Not only across the different business units, but there are also people we interact with through our partnerships and programs that exemplify all this amazing work. For example, you can read more about Agnes Chege, who, after experiencing a layoff early in the pandemic, found a new career in cybersecurity through Cisco Networking Academy. The report also shares how Allison Wolff, co-founder of Vibrant Planet, a Cisco Foundation funding recipient, uses data to address catastrophic fires. And you’ll be inspired by Cisco employees like Scott McGregor, Lead for Cisco Social Justice Action 8, who is working to bring connectivity to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

We wanted to showcase our progress through their eyes, too, because we can only achieve our purpose through the people driving the work forward and making a positive impact.

For people who read the 2022 Purpose Report, what key takeaways do you hope they will walk away with?

Amanda: I hope one of the takeaways is that Cisco is doing so much, and all these important topics and this work has always been part of Cisco’s DNA. Whether it’s human rights, environmental sustainability, circular economy, education, health and well-being, or responding to crises, we’re using our differentiation as a company, the power of technology, and the power of our extended network of customers and partners to make a difference across all these areas.

When you read the Purpose Report, I hope you also take away the breadth and depth of everything we’re doing as a company and are as proud as I am of the impact we have had and that we will continue to make a difference for people and the world.

And lastly, I hope you see our efforts and reporting to be transparent. We don’t have it all figured out yet, but we want to keep learning and doing more. We hope others learn from us too so that we can continuously improve and have even more impact over time.

To learn more about our progress to power a more inclusive future, visit our Cisco ESG Reporting Hub, where you can read our 2022 Cisco Purpose Report.

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We know a forward-thinking mindset must remain at the heart of our approach to materials science innovation. This future-focused outlook applies to any and every sector that we support, and for the building, construction and infrastructure industries, this means finding a way to anticipate the needs of our customers while advancing sustainability and performance benefits.

CHALLENGE

Staying ahead of the curve for our drymix customers & facilitating a more sustainably built environment

Urbanization, population growth and resource scarcity are putting increasing pressure on the built environment. These challenges call for greater efficiency, productivity and durability within the industry. A growing demand for more sustainable building products requires new ideas and a product supply that’s ready for future growth and innovation.

Not only do we know that materials science innovation contributes to reduced emissions from drymix formulations for cementitious applications, but also that our additive technologies for these products play the principal role in reducing those emissions via lessened cement, water and sand usage when compared to the more traditional site-mix alternative. These technologies also play a key role in the end-product performance of drymix mortars, adhesives, grouts, and other building materials.

While we’ve been continually committed to providing high-quality and differentiated solutions, we knew there was only so much we could do to further optimize these benefits alone while also preparing for future growth in the industry.

SOLUTION

Strategic collaboration for future-focused growth

“Dow plays a critical role in the construction chemicals value chain. We know high-performance products and supply reliability are essential elements to helping the industry grow and innovate for the future.”
– Ahmed El-Zawahry, Global Business Director, Dow Construction Chemicals

Through continued industry investment as well as collaboration across the value chain, we’re anticipating the future performance needs of the building and construction industry while working to solve the most pressing sustainability challenges for our customers and society. And as a materials science collaborator that’s focused on being the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive and sustainable in the world, this means innovating our approach to help our construction chemical additives, as well as our customers’ sustainable drymix products, be the leading solution in an evolving world.

We’ve connected stakeholders across the entire value chain to address these challenges and to better understand the leadership we each can take in:

developing products that are sourced, produced and distributed with a lower carbon footprint;
designing chemistries used in applications crafted to lower negative environmental impact on the planet;
and determining processes that promote circularity as an integral part of the full product life cycle.

As a result of these collaborations, we are enhancing our additive capacities to prepare for future demand and to be in the best possible position to accelerate adoption of drymix technology while realizing its collective sustainability benefits for the industry and our world.

Most notably, we’re progressively executing on our growth strategy through a series of incremental methyl cellulose (MC) capacity investments that will help guarantee reliable supply of these key additives for our construction customers. The first phase of these investments completed in 2019 with increased MC production at our manufacturing facilities in Bomlitz and Bitterfeld, Germany. In continuation of this growth attuned to future industry needs, the next expansion is set to be available to customers in 2024.

As we make progress toward meeting increased customer demand, we continue to collaborate and innovate so we can provide forward-thinking solutions not only for an industry, but also for a world that’s affected by urbanization, population growth and resource scarcity. If we continue to prioritize teamwork, we know we can come together with our collaborators to positively impact the future sustainability of the planet.

Visit Dow.com to learn more about our cellulosic, redispersible latex powder and silicone drymix technologies.

As published in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

At Qualcomm, we take our responsibility as a global leader seriously. We believe technology can transform industries, businesses, communities and individual lives, and I am proud of our contributions and progress towards this effort this year.

With this report, I would like to introduce our new Purposeful Innovation Framework – guiding our decisions and 2025 Corporate Responsibility goals as we use technology to positively impact how we live, work and thrive. It lays out three strategic areas of focus: Empowering Digital Transformation, Acting Responsibly and Operating Sustainably. I provide highlights of each below, and I encourage you to read the full report to learn more about our commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.

Empowering Digital Transformation

The past year marked an important evolution in our long-term vision of enabling a world where everyone and everything is intelligently connected. We remain focused on transitioning Qualcomm from a wireless communications company for the mobile industry to a connected processor company for the intelligent edge. Our one technology roadmap is allowing us to efficiently scale and diversify our leading technologies across new industries, applications and experiences – accelerating digital transformation and changing the world for the greater good. Our breakthrough innovations – including advanced connectivity, high-performance low-power processing, AI-accelerated solutions and more – can help tackle the world’s biggest challenges and enable society to leap forward into the digital era.

The broad digital transformation at the edge will have a profound impact and we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to participate in this intelligently connected future. We are addressing this imperative to bridge the digital divide by working with a broad ecosystem to deploy advanced technology and solutions at scale and bring programs that strengthen economic and social development to underserved communities globally. Providing everyone with reliable fixed or mobile internet connectivity is a major first step in creating greater access to quality education, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities, health care and other services.

Acting Responsibly

At Qualcomm, we believe that breakthrough innovation depends on the collective effort of the best and brightest minds. Teams that bring a wealth of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and skillsets are the driving force behind our innovation, strategy and success. An inclusive and inspiring workplace – where everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to succeed – provides the foundation to further expand diverse talent and develop our future leaders. This year, I signed Disability:IN’s CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion, to continue advancing equality and inclusion and to serve as a positive example for CEOs and organizations globally.

As part of our commitment to championing and empowering our people, we continue to make progress on our 2025 goals. We increased our representation of women in leadership1 by more than 7 percent, our representation of underrepresented minorities (URM2 ) leadership by more than 5 percent and our overall representation of URMs by more than 12 percent, since 2020. Further, we understand the importance of developing a pipeline of highly skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) innovators. In 2022, we achieved our 2025 goal to engage 1.5 million students and teachers across the globe. But our work and our efforts don’t stop there. As technology and innovation continue to drive a more connected world, it is imperative that we remain steadfast in our commitment to inspiring the next generation of inventors.

Operating Sustainably

We also see our advanced technologies playing an essential role in enabling efficiencies through digital transformation. Connected vehicles will help reduce congestion and pollution. Smart factories will be able to deploy flexible manufacturing lines to improve productivity and energy use. And precision agriculture will enable farmers to optimize the use of water and fertilizer to mitigate waste and reduce environmental impact. In our own operations, we are doing our part as well.

Last year, to reflect our belief that environmental sustainability is imperative for our collective future, we announced our plans to achieve net-zero global emissions for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2040 and committed to the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Business Ambition for 1.5°C. During our first full year of implementing this strategy, we’ve already made progress by reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 4 percent, with a total reduction of 28 percent since 2014. We also joined The Climate Pledge, a cross-sector community of companies committed to be net-zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement’s goals. Further, we engaged with our suppliers to tackle value chain emission reductions in a collaborative and open manner.

In recognition of the positive impact our technology can have on society, we are proud to be included in the Fortune Change the World list for the third time since 2019. The list recognizes companies that are making important social or environmental impacts through innovative business strategies. We are also pleased to be acknowledged, once again, for our leading ESG performance and disclosures in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies. Additional awards and recognitions can be found in the Our Awards and Recognitions section of this report.

We believe in making the world smarter, more connected and more sustainable. We will continue to build on our progress and remain centered around purposeful innovation to create a better future for everyone.

Learn more in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report