Month: February 2023

Originally published by Entertainment Weekly

RuPaul paid tribute to — who else — RuPaul on the runway for the monumental 200th episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The Queen of Drag strutted atop the Main Stage toward the middle of the celebratory episode commemorating 14 years and 200 episodes of the Emmy-winning competition series, wearing a sexy red leather corset with gold embellishments — all of which channeled the iconic ensemble RuPaul first wore in 1994 as the first face of the MAC Viva Glam cosmetics initiative.

Continue reading here.

ST. PAUL, Minn., February 27, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Antea Group is proud to announce that through Inogen Alliance, we will be a sponsor of the upcoming eighth annual AWS Global Water Stewardship Forum with Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) on May 16-17 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

As part of Inogen Alliance, we will be attending the event with our Associates ANTEA Brasil, Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Limited (CMSRS) in India, denkstatt Österreich GmbH in Austria, and HPC Italia with our global water working group leader Beatrice Bizzaro.

This is a unique opportunity to exchange your water stewardship experiences with industry leaders and build connections with members of the wider AWS community. The event has already sold out, but if you didn’t manage to get a ticket, you can join the AWS waitlist.  Or watch for more content and themes to come from our Inogen Alliance global team that will be attending.

“Inogen Alliance has been supporting clients all over the world in undergoing a transformation that, for the first time, is leading to a holistic approach when dealing with water management. We truly believe in working hand in hand with clients to reach ever more ambitious targets. Water efficiency and water quality are a great starting point, but the commitment to water stewardship principles is a further steppingstone to developing an integrated and more meaningful system towards a more sustainable future, without leaving anyone behind,” Beatrice Bizzaro, HPC Italy, Inogen Alliance global water working group leader.

About Inogen Alliance 

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of dozens of independent local businesses and over 5,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates here and follow us on LinkedIn. 

About Antea Group 

Antea®Group is an environment, health, safety, and sustainability consulting firm. By combining strategic thinking with technical expertise, we do more than effectively solve client challenges; we deliver sustainable results for a better future. We work in partnership with and advise many of the world’s most sustainable companies to address ESG-business challenges in a way that fits their pace and unique objectives. Our consultants equip organizations to better understand threats, capture opportunities and find their position of strength. Lastly, we maintain a global perspective on ESG issues through not only our work with multinational clients, but also through our sister organizations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and as a founding member of the Inogen Alliance. Learn more at us.anteagroup.com.   

Cummins

Cummins Inc. has received several sustainability-related awards and recognitions for 2023, including high marks from two prominent ESG rankings.

The global power technology leader finished No. 35 in Newsweek’s fourth annual ranking of America’s Most Responsible Companies, and first in the Automotive and Components industry. Cummins received its highest marks for the company’s work on the environment followed by its corporate governance score and its social score.

The 2023 ranking of 500 of the country’s largest companies is based on more than 30 key ESG performance indicators and an extensive survey among U.S. residents regarding the corporate social responsibility reputation of each company reviewed. Cummins’ overall ranking was unchanged from 2022.

JUST 100

Meanwhile, the company returned to JUST Capital’s Just 100 list of America’s Most Just Companies for 2023 after falling off the list in 2022. Cummins finished No. 67 in the most recent ranking of America’s largest publicly traded companies and first among 23 companies in the Commercial Vehicles and Machinery category.

In individual areas, the company ranked highest for how it invests in workers and how the company minimizes its environmental impact. The ranking polls Americans on what matters most to them when it comes to business behavior and then evaluates companies on those behaviors, using publicly available data. Cummins ranked No. 99 in the 2021 Just 100.

OTHER HONORS

Cummins also received several other recognitions:

The company was one of 66 companies honored as America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises for 2023 for the way it works with women-owned businesses. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) honors corporations that have a sustained commitment to the inclusion of women-owned businesses in their supply chains.Cummins has also been recognized as a 2023 Military Friendly Employer, receiving the group’s bronze designation for its success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefits for the military community.

Philanthropy and service are an integral part of Bloomberg’s culture, and every employee in every one of our offices makes that commitment possible, giving back to the cities in which we live and work to create lasting impact. With our unique insight into data and news and continual focus on innovation, we look to address unmet needs in our communities, deepen engagement with our colleagues, clients and partners, and improve lives around the world.

As the most vulnerable in our local communities face growing social and economic challenges, and the impact of climate change and political unrest accelerates disaster relief efforts around the world, the collective efforts of our global workforce continue to make a significant impact in the cities where we live and work.

In 2022, a record-breaking 18,382 Bloomberg employees from 111 cities around the world came together as part of our Best of Bloomberg volunteering, giving and access programs, resulting in 131,487 hours of service and over $10.2 million of critical funding being contributed to both global and local needs and causes of personal importance to our employees. These collaborations facilitated the distribution of emergency relief kits as well as much needed food and essential items; provided access and opportunity to under-represented individuals in the fields of finance, technology and journalism; and restored and conserved urban green spaces and local wetlands.

Watch a selection of employees’ volunteer projects above.

This year, we’re aiming to make an even greater impact as we continue to leverage our employees’ time and talents alongside the resources of our business and our vast network of non-profit partners to create a more equitable post-pandemic recovery and to respond to emerging needs in our local communities.

Discover more about life at Bloomberg and our career opportunities.

February 23, 2023 — Edison International President and CEO Pedro Pizarro will take the stage at the 2023 South By Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference on March 11 in Austin, Texas where he will examine the critical need for equity, affordability and the stark reality of what might happen if we do not take immediate actions to address climate change. If you’re going to SXSW, the annual conference that celebrates the convergence of technology, film, television and music, be sure to check out his session entitled, Making Energy Clean, Reliable and Equitable.

There’s a role for all of us in the clean energy future.

Electric power companies play a huge role in addressing climate change and have already been leading the clean energy transition — one that must continue at increased speed and scale. Pizarro, the President and CEO of one of the nation’s largest energy holding companies, will offer an insider’s look at the challenges, decisions and players influencing what we need to safely power a clean, reliable and equitable energy future. From powering electric vehicles and electrifying buildings with renewable energy to deploying promising new technologies, this session will examine how decarbonizing the economy and making the grid more resilient will benefit all communities.

Pizarro will speak at 10 a.m. on March 11. If you are a reporter, contact us at 626-302-2255 or email diane.castro@sce.com, and we can provide more details and answer questions about:

The role that electric power companies play in the transition to a clean energy economyThe challenges in safely powering a clean, reliable, equitable and affordable energy futurePromising new clean energy technologies in developmentThe actions in California to power electric vehicles and buildings with renewable energy and make the grid more resilient

Pizarro is a scientist by training and one of the industry’s most emphatic CEOs on the need to accelerate the global energy transition so that no one is left behind.

Mark Boulton, a Specialist Sustainability Advisor at Suncor, attended the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, COP15, held in Montreal, Canada. The convention focused on achieving biodiversity targets and negotiating a global biodiversity framework.

Mark noticed that industries, including Canada’s energy sector, are increasingly being seen as a part of the solution to achieve these targets. He observed that industry having a role in achieving biodiversity targets was a consistent theme throughout COP15.

The term “nature positive” was talked about and it got Mark thinking about what it actually means and how can companies like Suncor achieve it. He highlighted the complexity involved in achieving it and the need for a deeper understanding of the term. He also considered the challenges of defining biodiversity, for example, how to define the importance of a caribou compared to a Canadian toad or a fungus that lives within the roots of a tree.

Suncor has made progress in this area and continues to do so as it works with organizations such as the Alberta Conservation Association and as a member of Ipieca. Suncor continues to work on balancing disturbance with reclamation, conservation, and protection.

Read the full story.

Why do academic institutions, government contractors and state and federal agencies often partner together?

Fostering relationships between these organizations is an opportunity for industry to create a more synergistic engagement, develop business and bring scholarships and educational opportunities to the students and communities the universities serve. In addition, relationships between these organizations frequently provide students with job opportunities and allow corporations to make academic support donations. These opportunities tend to be more impactful through historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Here are three ways that industry could maximize HBCU partnerships.

1.Think more broadly about what HBCUs can provide to industry partners. 

Some companies only engage with HBCU’s in spring university career fairs. Once that initial connection is made with students, companies often disappear until the next spring recruiting cycle. Yes, HBCUs are great a resource to identify talent but also provide advanced research and can serve as partners on government contracts, significantly enhancing the value companies bring to their customers. For example, SAIC made a commitment to Bowie State University that if we sponsor an event in their proximity, we will host it on their campus. Recently, we facilitated a connection between Bowie State University and SAIC’s NASA client to host their Women in STEM event, with our CEO Nazzic Keene as a guest speaker. As a result, Bowie State maintains an enduring relationship with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

2. Help HBCUs navigate the business world. 

Many HBCUs do not benefit from the same level of financial donations, endowments and company engagement as predominately white institutions (PWIs). Industry partners can help universities navigate unfamiliar business opportunities, opening the door to available funds and resources. Sharing business knowledge is particularly helpful in the complex world of government contracts. Partnering with Bowie State University, SAIC hired a consultant to guide them through the business practices necessary to engage with industry, identify available resources and obtaining government funded contracts.

3. Make an investment of time.

Good things take time, and developing meaningful partnerships is no different. Companies mean well when they endeavor to partner with HBCUs, but they must be willing to make an ongoing investment of time and energy to cultivate meaningful relationships. SAIC’s partnership with Oakwood University goes back more than 20 years, and we continue to grow our relationship with other HBCUs such as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University. These partnerships were built through a few dedicated SAIC employees willing to visit campuses and engage with university administration routinely.

Building enduring relationships with HBCUs empowers these amazing organizations to do more for the communities they serve and helps industry to achieve our goals. Healthy organizations embrace diversity and understand unique experiences and backgrounds make them stronger. Learn more about how SAIC’s diversity, equity and inclusion program leads to innovation.

KFC Stories

KFC is on a journey to reflect the diversity we see in our restaurants, within the dining room, and across our counters.

In celebration of Black History Month, we’re shining a light on some incredible leaders throughout our KFC family who are playing a role in advancing a more equitable and inclusive KFC for future generations.

Meet Kedibone Patricia Malatji Lebethe (she/her), CEO and Managing Director of KFC South Africa’s KPML Group of Companies. This is her story.

How did you get started as a franchisee with KFC?

My journey started with this great brand in 1986, working as a cashier at a franchise-owned KFC restaurant. My relationship with KFC progressed over the years as my career reached different milestones – only then did I realize my purpose at KFC. Success demands singleness of purpose and mine was to be a franchisee one day.

Through prayer, persistency, influential mentorship and the boundless support of my family, my career grew rapidly to that of senior management at Yum! Brands. After hardship, a lengthy standard application process and with the support from Tarun Lal (currently KFC U.S. President) and other senior leaders at Yum! Brands, I was then approved as a franchisee.

“Alongside my great people, we grew our portfolio to 29 restaurants in 3 different provinces with a team of over 1,000 employees.”

In 2007, I opened my first restaurant and worked as the General Manager. After the opening of my third restaurant, I worked as an Area Coach, and as my business grew so did my team. I capitalized on the experience gained from ground level of what can be done and how it can be done; this ensured a strong foundation for the way forward. Alongside my great people, we grew our portfolio to 29 restaurants in three different provinces with a team of over 1,000 employees.

We know the customer experience will never exceed the team member experience. How do you keep a winning mindset when growing your restaurant teams?

True culture is a shadow of the leader. At KPML Group of Companies, we lead through our motto, Motho Ke Motho Ka Batho, meaning “No man is an island.” This ignites our HWWT2 principles and delivers a magic recipe in running a great business.

“As a leader, I have learned that my people are the 12th ingredient to a successful KFC franchise and they are the most important assets of my business.”

Being compassionate is also a great blend to top our motto and this makes each and every person in my business feel appreciated and valued, as my shadow filters down all the way to store management and team members. Over the years I’ve learned that you don’t merely build restaurants, you build people. And the people will not only build the restaurants but will grow them to greater heights.

This all ensures that KFC’s People Promise stays alive and everyone can ‘Be their Best Self, Make a Difference and Have Fun.’ The key to success as a franchisee consists of being true to the core of the business with passion, hard work, dedication and determination to make it work, while doing the same thing every day until it gets done.

My advice on motivating staff and cultivating a culture of recognition and training is to:

Celebrate people doing things rightGive consistent recognitionPromote from within

Training is an integral and ongoing part of our business, which allows people to grow and improve their capability to do their jobs more effectively. We also put people capability first, which results in satisfied customers and sales that will follow and to maintain this we have leaders who lead with their heart to ensure sustainability. Any business is, in large measure, the elongated shadow of one person.

When you think about the KFC of the future, what inspires you?

It is said, “The only constant is change.” This alone inspires me – to know that we are forever growing and evolving not only as individuals but as a business, too. One constant since my time with the brand is witnessing how we transform with time. If we reject change there is no growth, no progress. Being part of a brand that rejects being stagnant makes room for innovation. KFC stays aligned with new innovation and technology, and as a global brand, we study and measure other markets to ensure we do things in the right way to benefit the customer and continue to grow the brand on the southern tip of Africa.

“…this puts me at ease to know together, the future will be bright.”

The brand has the right strategy to ensure we move with time. We have recently seen more technology come on board to ensure we keep the smiles on our important customers faces. The brand always has a go-forward strategy, and this puts me at ease to know together, the future will be bright.

Click here to continue reading stories about the People of KFC

Originally published on HBI Sustains.com

Champion Europe donated personalized apparel to 240 athletes, volunteers and members of the Special Olympics committee at the first European Unified Youth Basketball Tournament in Sansepolcro, Italy. This contribution is part of our ongoing partnership with Special Olympics to promote a world free from discrimination where everyone can be a champion.

“Champion was honored to play a part in promoting these amazing athletes and celebrate the inclusion of everybody,” said Champion Europe Vice President of Human Resources, Caterina De Rossi. “Special Olympians and their families illustrate what it means to be true champions. We’re excited to further our partnership with the Special Olympics, ensuring we do our part to create a more comfortable world for every body.”

The competition featured athletes from 16 European nations, ages 14 – 30 years with and without intellectual disabilities, who trained and competed together. After the medal ceremony, all the athletes proudly wore their Champion gear, showing their compassion, determination and commitment to fair play – values they embrace on and off the court.

“We are very happy to have Champion Europe as a partner, who firmly believes in sport as a means for personal and cultural growth,” said Alessandra Palazzotti, National Director – Special Olympics, Italy. “Special Olympics’ athletes teach us to welcome challenges and face them with strength, courage and determination. Supporting these athletes means promoting a culture based on respect and inclusion and the creation of a society in which all people can be recognized for their abilities and not discriminated against for their differences.”

This tournament is part of a year-long project that provides equal opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, promotes volunteerism, social inclusion, gender equality and grassroots community engagement.

Champion is proud to partner with Special Olympics around the world, including the United States, where we’ve been a partner for more than 20 years.

To learn more about HanesBrands commitment to being a positive force within our communities, click here.

GoDaddy holds itself to a high standard of stewardship in areas where it can have the greatest impact and influence, from building a more inclusive workplace culture to engaging with and empowering its customers regardless of age, race, gender, location or socioeconomic background.

Learning Program Manager, Desmond Sweet, in his almost four years at GoDaddy, is committed to GoDaddy’s mission of empowering entrepreneurs everywhere, making opportunity more inclusive for all. This means spending his days welcoming new employees to GoDaddy, developing leaders, and fostering more collaborative teams. Desmond is also dedicated to educating, inspiring and celebrating the Black in Technology community within and outside of GoDaddy as president of the GDBIT (GoDaddy Black in Tech) employee resource group.

February is Black History Month, a time for reflecting on the past while focusing on the future and particularly, the role everyone can play in creating equitable opportunities for all. Importantly, this includes considering how people might empower not only their own lives, but also honor a communities’ collective lived experiences and build opportunities for success.

In recognition of Black History Month, GDBIT hosted GoDaddy customer Malik Muhammad, founder of Malik Books – an African American bookstore that specializes in books full of cultural diversity – to discuss the power of education, knowledge, representation, resiliency, entrepreneurship and empowerment. Desmond facilitated the event and shared his reactions.

“What makes Malik Books different? Malik would tell you that one of his differentiators is the fact that he is a bookstore that only sells books by Black authors and with Black characters,” said Desmond. “But after talking with Malik the other day, what makes Malik different, in my opinion, is Malik. He is full of energy, excitement and anticipation of what a good book can do for someone in their future.”

When it comes to impacting someone’s future, Desmond knows firsthand how access to resources can change an entrepreneur’s life. As a volunteer for Empower by GoDaddy – the company’s signature social impact program that supports entrepreneurs in underserved communities – Desmond became one of the first employees to pilot You Empower, a 12-week, skills-based, full-time employee volunteer assignment where employees are paired with Empower by GoDaddy nonprofit and community partners. The goal of the pilot was to provide GoDaddy employees with an enriching professional-development experience while delivering much-needed additional digital support and training to underserved Empower by GoDaddy microbusinesses.

A particularly eye-opening moment for Desmond during his rotation with You Empower came while he was teaching a digital-skills workshop for Black women business owners. He recalls working with young entrepreneurs who were both excited and emotional about publishing their websites – a common obstacle for many fledging microbusinesses.

“The empowerment they felt in taking a leap of faith in their businesses and control of their futures literally brought some of them to tears,” said Desmond.

Inspired by these interactions, Desmond notes how important programs like Empower by GoDaddy and You Empower are for humanizing the entrepreneurs he serves every day through GoDaddy and reminding employees of their purpose as part of the greater company mission.

“No longer is the job about picking up the phone to answer the fourth customer service call of the day,” he said. “No longer are you – if you are in my shoes – facilitating a class of engineers on how to effectively manage and coach direct reports. Now, you bring yourself into work and say, ‘When I provide effective coaching to the people that are on my team, I am helping them develop software and develop information that will help somebody who has potentially been in a dire situation, use a product that is easy to understand, that can get them online very quickly, so that they can begin to chase their dreams.’”

Desmond emphasizes that he will continue seeking opportunities to make an impact on people’s livelihood and will do whatever it takes to push technology forward into Black communities.

“I want to make sure that little brown boys and girls everywhere know that technology and the future of the workforce in this world is in their hands. And just because they didn’t grow up in the house of an engineer, or in a neighborhood that had coding programs within their elementary school, doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in this space. I am inviting them here, and I will prop open doors and leave them open, so that the people behind me can come pick up where I left off and continue to move this work forward.”

Empower by GoDaddy Spotlight Series: By partnering with diverse local nonprofits and community organizations around the world, Empower by GoDaddy aims to reach those who haven’t otherwise had access by offering skills training, resources, and mentoring to help accelerate their business journeys. This article is part of the Empower by GoDaddy spotlight series that shines a light on the individuals who make this unique initiative possible.