Month: March 2023

HORSHAM, Penn., March 21, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Sofidel, a leading global provider of paper for hygienic and domestic use, today announced the winner of its Sustainable Hygiene Heroes contest. This contest highlights individuals who prioritize sustainability and hygiene in all types of facilities. The winner is… Dorota Pradziad-Hyc from Chicago! She will receive the $4,000 grand prize and $500 in Sofidel paper products for her facility.

“Incorporating sustainable practices into all facilities is an essential process, “said Giorgia Giove, Marketing Manager, Sofidel America. “Dorota has an incredibly inspiring story, and we’re honored to crown her as this year’s winner.”

Dorota cleans US Cellular Plaza in Chicago. She is a resolute, diligent worker and is passionate about sustainability. She maintains her building using cleaning solutions and chemicals that are made from just three ingredients: water, salt and electricity. The solutions are created on-site, so they further help reduce the building’s environmental footprint and the containers are all reusable. Dorota has had an extraordinary life – she grew up in Poland and was a professor there prior to coming to the United States roughly 30 years ago.

“We’re beyond excited that Dorota was recognized for her relentless dedication to keeping US Cellular Plaza in tip-top shape,” said Kurt Kuempel, Vice President, GSF USA, Inc. “She brings passion to her job and uplifts everyone she meets.”

The runners-up in this year’s contest, who will each receive $500 cash, are Amy Gaddy from Touchpoints House Services in Pittsburgh, Kans. and Clinton Roby from Germantown Public Schools in Germantown, Wis.

Each nominee was judged by a panel for its compellingness, the nominee’s quality of service, and their commitment to sustainability. To learn more about Dorota’s story, visit sustainablehygieneheroes.com.

About The Sofidel Group   
The Sofidel Group, a privately held company owned by the Stefani and Lazzareschi families, is a world leader in the manufacture of paper for hygienic and domestic use. Founded in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 12 countries – Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and the USA – with more than 6,400 employees. A member of the UN Global Compact and the international WWF Climate Savers program, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic imperative and is committed to promoting sustainable development. For more information, visit www.sofidel.com.

###

Media Contact: 
Brianna Fitzpatrick 
Mulberry Marketing Communications 
bfitzpatrick@mulberrymc.com

KeyBank and the Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Foundation have announced a $2 million grant from the KeyBank Foundation to grow innovative, accessible workforce training.   

This commitment will fund crucial steps toward addressing Northeast Ohio’s employment and earnings gap. Tri-C’s Workforce, Community and Economic Development (WCED) division offers more than 60 credit and noncredit training programs in high-demand fields that pay family-sustaining salaries. More than 75% of students in these programs earn low-to moderate-incomes and seek new career possibilities. 

“We are so grateful for this significant investment from KeyBank to expand access to workforce training, especially for people from populations underrepresented in their chosen career path,” said Megan O’Bryan, president of the Tri-C Foundation and vice president of development at the College. “This partnership will have direct, immediate impact on students and employers and fill a critical need through enhanced workforce preparation.” 

“Cleveland is our home and all of us at KeyBank are excited to partner with Tri-C on this innovative program that will have a transformative impact on Northeast Ohio’s workforce and provide new opportunities to many in our region,” said Kelly Lamirand, KeyBank Cleveland market president and commercial sales leader. “KeyBank is proud of our 30-plus year partnership with Tri-C, helping people in our community access education and reach their potential. Together, we are enhancing Northeast Ohio’s economic vitality, and bringing hope and resources to the communities we serve.”

KeyBank’s investment will support core areas of growth within Tri-C’s workforce training programs: 

Targeted recruitment with the aim to increase enrollment of individuals who are underemployed and underrepresented across key industries. On-demand assistance to support students and make programs affordable. Responsive curriculum innovation to address industry demands. Job placement support and increased employer partnerships.   

Tri-C and KeyBank’s transformational partnership will ensure students secure meaningful employment with family-sustaining wages — a critical need throughout Northeast Ohio. 

“Thanks to the generosity of KeyBank and the KeyBank Foundation, Tri-C can continue to eliminate barriers to success so that more members of our community can achieve the education needed to prosper,” said Tri-C President Michael Baston. “When more people have opportunities to climb the ladder of success, the entire region benefits.” 

“Helping people achieve the skills, education and capabilities they need to succeed in current and future employment opportunities is a major focus of the work the KeyBank Foundation does in the communities we serve,” said Eric Fiala, head of corporate responsibility & community relations at KeyBank. “We are thrilled to continue our long partnership with Tri-C and look forward to seeing the impact this investment will have in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.”   

Learn more about KeyBank’s commitment to helping clients and communities thriveRead more about KeyBank’s grant to Tri-C on Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer

 

This content was paid for and produced by Mastercard in partnership with the Commercial Department of the Financial Times.

Small businesses are the beating heart of economies, but for many finding the right resources is a challenge. Digital tools can help empower entrepreneurs by providing access to expert guidance, training, community and funding.

Learn more about how Mastercard is empowering small businesses to thrive in the digital economy through Strive Community—a global initiative of Caribou Digital and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth—which is equipping five million small businesses with innovative digital solutions to enable them to build resilience and grow.

Visit Strive Community to learn more.

Get engaged in the conversation about empowering small businesses at the upcoming Global Inclusive Growth Summit. Presented by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the Aspen Institute, the 2023 summit will feature a dynamic and diverse group of global leaders, innovators and game-changers.

to register.

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth advances equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world. The Center leverages the company’s core assets and competencies, including data insights, expertise and technology, while administering the philanthropic Mastercard Impact Fund, to produce independent research, scale global programs and empower a community of thinkers, leaders and doers on the front lines of inclusive growth.

The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a community-serving organization with global reach whose vision is the creation of a free, just, and equitable society. For 70 years, the Institute has driven change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the world’s greatest challenges. With headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Institute has offices in Aspen, Colorado and New York City, as well as an international network of partners. Learn more at www.aspeninstitute.org.

During its Inspiring Conversations audio series, Truist Foundation President Lynette Bell sits down with various partners of the foundation so they can share the amazing work their organizations are doing to make a difference in their respective communities.

In the second installment of Inspiring Conversations, Lynette hosts an insightful discussion with Alan Alvarez, director of Educational Programs for the Miami Bayside Foundation. This woman-led community development financial institution (CDFI) uplifts historically disadvantaged business owners with a program that teaches them how to use social media and modern technology tools to build their businesses. The work became increasingly important as BIPOC-owned small businesses were disproportionately impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

To learn more, listen to Lynette’s conversation with Alan.

About Truist Foundation

Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation’s (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. Established in 2020, Truist Foundation makes strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality of life. Truist Foundation’s grants and activities focus on building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses. Learn more at truist.com/foundation.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., March 21 2023 /3BL Media/ — Black & Veatch, a global leader in critical infrastructure solutions, has announced Silas S. Dulan III as an Associate Vice President and the company’s Global Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Dulan will work with company leaders to advance commitments to creating and sustaining a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace.

Dulan previously served in various DEI-related leadership roles, most recently as Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at electric utility company Evergy. Dulan’s experience includes facilitation of companywide training and education, extensive work with employee resource groups and boards of directors, and improvement of diversity in hiring.

“Silas will be a key contributor to further strengthen our collaborative, inclusive and innovative culture where we value and respect one another’s differences and continually enhance how we work together as employee-owners,” said Black & Veatch Chairman and CEO Mario Azar. “In an industry where complex challenges demand innovative solutions, real value is driven by the unique skills, backgrounds and experiences of all our professionals.”

As part of its DEI focus, Black & Veatch has increased leadership diversity while driving DEI principles further into the organization’s hiring practices and training. One example includes a new program that matched professionals representing historically marginalized communities with Black & Veatch leaders who provide support, advocacy and career development guidance. In addition, the company recently launched a DEI knowledge builder learning series with courses for all professionals to build empathy, understanding and a culture of inclusion.

As Black & Veatch continues to identify meaningful DEI metrics, it remains committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all employee-owners, including those represented through its many company-sponsored Employee Resource Groups.

“As an employee-owned company, our people are at the heart of everything we do,” said Joy Johnson, interim Chief Human Resources Officer for Black & Veatch. “DEI is fundamental to our hiring process and employee experience. We believe every individual has a unique perspective and we are committed to fostering an environment where everyone can be part of the solution and feel equipped to make a difference.”

Editor’s Notes: 

Black & Veatch earned a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index, earning “Best Place to Work for the LGBTQ Equality” for the fourth consecutive year.To learn more about Black & Veatch’s DEI initiatives, click here.For a high-resolution headshot of Silas S. Dulan III, click here.

About Black & Veatch 
Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2022 were US$4.3 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

Media Contact Information:

MEGHAN LOCKNER | +1 201-977-1628 | locknerm@bv.com 
24-HOUR MEDIA CONTACT | Media@bv.com

As previously seen on Skytop Strategies and published with permission.

50,000 Entities

We estimate that more than 50,000 entities (companies, not-for-profits, and government bodies) generate data on their ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) performance. They talk about how they treat their employees, what goes into their products, their impact on climate change, and many other topics.

Many Types, Factors and Data

We currently track more than 13,000 different types of ESG factors and ingest more than 10 million pieces of data per month. However, we do not get to see a lot of “dark data”—the ESG information that is shared between suppliers and their customers or between companies and regulators. We also do not see all the reports that go up and down the chain within an entity or the opinions that are offered on ESG data by auditors and assurance firms. We suspect there could be 50 million pieces of ESG generated per month—or more!

Paper, Spreadsheets and Modules

Most entities that emit ESG data have built systems to capture it. Initially, data was tracked on paper or in a spreadsheet. Nowadays, many larger entities have added modules to their software systems to capture and process data and other modules to aggregate it and prepare it to be reported.

It Takes Time and Money

Generating data, capturing data, preparing it, and auditing or assuring it all take time and money. Middle-sized ($50 million to $100 million revenue) companies have one to three full time staff handling “sustainability” issues. These people are paid $50,000 or more, each. Producing an annual sustainability report for larger entities can easily cost over $100,000. Software tools for capturing ESG data can cost over $100,000 and many thousands of dollars more to operate. Assurance for a sustainability report could cost $50,000. Getting one’s auditors involved could add $50,000 to $100,000 to an annual report process.

A Cost of More Than $20 Billion

Let’s put the average annual cost of creating ESG data at $200,000 per entity. If 50,000 entities are creating data, the total cost may be $10 billion. If we include suppliers and smaller companies, another 200,000 to 2,000,000 entities may be spending money to create data. This could mean creating ESG data is already costing the world more than $20 billion. Is this money well spent? Is ESG reporting a net value creator or a net value destroyer?

Not Necessarily Driving Change

It is easy to argue that measuring ESG factors could encourage companies to uncover sustainability-related opportunities. If a company is emitting a lot of carbon, it could lay out a plan to cut its energy use. If a company’s managers aren’t behaving ethically, it could strengthen its internal controls. However, it seems that many of the ESG factors that companies are producing do not tie to or drive change and action. For instance:

A. Measuring something doesn’t automatically lead to finding benefits. Changes in measurement methods (for instance due to changes in regulatory guidance) could swamp the effect of actual changes.

B. Improvement in one area might generate poor performance in another. Allowing remote work (good for human management issues) might reduce opportunities for employees to contribute to and learn from a company’s culture. Volunteering time to serve the community (good for encouraging community support) could create conflicts with employee attitudes and beliefs (if for instance, the supported organizations were faith based).

C. Simplifying an issue to a number doesn’t translate into impact. Ensuring that a company’s board has a balanced representation of genders and races may be desirable. But, board members also need skills and sensitivity that can’t be measured solely by their gender or color. Simple number or percent based targets may not fully capture the progress an entity may be making in the quality of its board.

Focus on Impact and Value

We often hear calls for more reporting of more indicators by more entities. Some want this data rigidly standardized, integrated into an entity’s other reports, and included in a formal audit and review process. Following this path will further increase the cost of ESG reporting. Isn’t it time to step back and focus instead on its impact and value? “Material” should not be defined as “something that matters to investors. It should instead be defined as “something that makes the world better.” It may be sensible to:

1. Encourage industry groups to collaborate with their members to pool data and search for industry-centric improvements. 
2. Encourage government regulators to mandate reporting indicators only if they can be shown to directly generate “public good.” 
3. Ask standards bodies to stop producing standards that are not tied to specific objectives that have positive impact on society.

Increasing Impact

People responsible for ESG reporting have told me that some of what they do is pointless, fill in the box, and cover your a**. They want to increase their impact and help change the world. Let’s give them room to do the job they signed up for by allowing them to spend money on things that really matter. Let’s focus ESG reporting on value creation rather than valueless paperwork.

 

Bahar Gidwani is CTO and Co-founder of CSRHub. He has built and run large technology-based businesses for many years. Bahar holds a CFA, worked on Wall Street with Kidder, Peabody, and with McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to a number of major companies and currently serves on the board of several software and Web companies. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy. He plays bridge, races sailboats, and is based in New York City.

About CSRHub

CSRHub offers one of the world’s broadest and most consistent set of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings, covering 50,000 companies. Its Big Data algorithm combines millions of data points on ESG performance from hundreds of sources, including leading ESG analyst raters, to produce consensus scores on all aspects of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. CSRHub ratings can be used to drive corporate, investor and consumer decisions. For more information, visit www.CSRHub.com. CSRHub is a B Corporation.