Month: April 2023

April 4, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today (22nd March 2023) marks the launch of the Sustainability Census, a new survey with the aim of creating the largest and most global report ever completed on the global sustainability employment landscape.

The survey, created by the founders of the CR Salary Survey which released biannual reports from 2007 – 2020, aims to paint a holistic and global picture of the sustainability profession within business and finance and targets to gather data and insights from more than 3,000 sustainability professionals across Asia, Europe, North America, and the UK. It will focus on topics including the demographic makeup of the sustainability profession, global hiring trends, compensation and working patterns, job functions, current challenges, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

While sustainability professionals are working to drive immediate action around sustainable change, one challenge they face is the lack of a global snapshot of where the true problems within the sustainability profession lie, along with the resource, funding, and talent needed to solve them.

The survey was therefore developed by key partner Acre, the specialist sustainability recruitment and executive search firm, to generate the most comprehensive data ever collected on the global sustainability employment landscape so that professionals can make sense of what really matters, highlight opportunities for creating an even greater impact, and move away from making assumptions about the profession to making data-informed inferences.

“Since its inception, Acre has spent the past two decades supporting the growing ecosystem of sustainability professionals as we navigate the transition towards net zero together. We continue to be committed to this goal and in order to continue doing that, we understand the need to bridge the knowledge gap around global hiring trends, growth within sectors, EDI trends and more. As the founding partner of the Sustainability Census, and the co-owner of the CR Salary Survey which ran from 2007 – 2020, we believe that the survey will be able to provide a valuable platform for sustainability professionals to understand the true state of the profession at this historical time of change.” said Acre’s Founder, Andrew Cartland.

Data gathered from the survey will be incorporated into global reports that will be produced in chapters with localised insights for Asia, Europe, North America, and the UK. The data collection phase of the Sustainability Census will take place over a one-month period following the launch, and the first regional chapter report release is estimated to be released in Summer 2023.

“While the sustainability employment landscape is changing every day, we know that change cannot happen in isolation. This is why we are making a call for the community to come together and take part in this survey to drive the highest response rate possible globally. This ensures we have the most meaning dataset available, so that we are able to provide both individuals and businesses with a blueprint for better, more informed decision-making as we work towards a low carbon economy together,” further commented Andrew Cartland.

The Sustainability Census will gather data driven by a team effort from the global sustainability network and community, driven by partners including Eco-Business, Diversity in Sustainability, ICRS, EcoVoice, 3BL Media, Reconsidered, Carntone, The Purpose Business and HR PSOR. Distribution partners will be key in raising awareness of the survey by sharing it with their database and posting it on their owned channels to encourage responses.

To participate in the sustainability census survey or to find out more, please visit sustainabilitycensus.com.

ENDS

About Acre 

Acre is the world’s market-leader in search, recruitment and talent development exclusively focused on integrating sustainability and catalysing positive change across business, finance, and energy. Acre has placed thousands of professionals in over 40 countries globally since 2003. Twenty years of focus on sustainability has given us an in-depth understanding of the sectors in which we operate, enabling us to consult, challenge and advise our clients to create a more sustainable future.

At Acre, we work with the most aspirational businesses with potential to make real change; from those who are just starting out to those who are well on the journey to crafting a legacy.

Our 18 years’ experience in sustainability recruitment, combined with our extensive global network, enables us to provide talent solutions that are designed to deliver this change.

Through our unique behavioural assessment technology, we understand the types of people, skills and behaviours required to create impact. We can develop these qualities within your existing teams too.

We find talented people and develop their skills to ensure they make a true impact in ambitious, progressive organisations.

Acre. Making companies ready for tomorrow.

Cutting costs on social impact initiatives can feel like an easy decision for companies in uncertain economic times. Forward-thinking companies can seize the moment by staying committed to social impact.

This isn’t the first economic cycle companies have been through, and it won’t be the last. In our latest piece, we write on how those who stay committed to social impact will differentiate themselves from their peers now and long into the future.

We recognize that corporate leaders are facing pressure to cut costs and keep profits up in the near-term. But abruptly disinvesting in social impact can break down brand loyalty and trust with customers, employees, investors, and communities. Companies that divest in social impact may be sacrificing long-term growth opportunities and benefits for short-term gains.

Read more >

About FSG 
FSG is a global, nonprofit consulting firm that partners with foundations and corporations to create equitable systems change. Through customized consulting services, innovative thought leadership, and learning communities, we’re working to create a world where everyone can live up to their full potential.

Learn more at www.fsg.org.

Originally published on Workiva

Editor’s note: With our Europe-wide Accelerate event series coming up in April-May, now is the time to embrace unity in reporting. Here, our expert speaker Andromeda Wood (Vice President of Regulatory Strategy, Workiva) breaks down the whats, hows and whens of integrated reporting readiness.

By Andromeda Wood, Vice President of Regulatory Strategy, Workiva

The global move towards integrated financial and sustainability reporting is building momentum. But what exactly is ‘integrated reporting’, and how should a company prepare for it?

The term integrated reporting has already been around for some time, often used in reference to an annual report covering both financial and sustainability information. Over the past decade, the IIRC—now part of the IFRS—has worked to solidify integrated reporting as a more robust concept, whereby the report itself is reflective of real integration within the business.

As our understanding of sustainability has matured, this idea has become both a goal and a regulatory imperative. This is now being illustrated more clearly than ever with the CSRD, which is requiring companies in scope to adopt integration as they prepare to meet new guidelines.

For these organisations, the clock is now ticking to bring financial and sustainability reporting onto an equal footing. Those not in scope, meanwhile, have the opportunity to learn from this implementation phase among their peers and bolster their own reporting. With this in mind, let’s take a look at five key steps to integrated reporting readiness.

Step 1: Set and define your goals 
First, you need to understand exactly what your organisation is aiming towards. Whether you are preparing to align with mandated or voluntary requirements, ensure you know precisely what you need to be reporting on, how you should be reporting on it and by when. If you’re working towards mandate reporting then are you clear about how much of your organisation is in scope, which entities will be required to report and how many will need to contribute data?

Alongside this, also think about your strategic goals surrounding not just your reporting, but your sustainability practices as a whole. How are you planning to go beyond compliance and drive value for your organisation, and how do these aims align with your existing business model?

Step 2: Apply the principles of double materiality 
Double materiality—the consideration of both one’s own internal interests alongside external impacts—is one of the core concepts of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which provide detailed instructions on how to report on sustainability issues in this manner.

As you dive into your reporting strategy, apply these same principles to examine your processes, aims and objectives. Start with your company’s existing materiality assessment and expand this to include all the internal and external stakeholders throughout the life cycle of an integrated report, identifying key areas of risk, opportunity and potential positive and negative impact.

Step 3: Assess your current state 
Next, you’ll need to assess what needs changing in order to meet your aims. The amount of time you’ll need to get up and running with a more integrated reporting process will depend on your company’s size and ESG maturity level. However, you may well need to re-evaluate your people, processes and technology to meet the raised bar set by the standards, audit requirements and long-term aims of integrated reporting.

Starting from your goal date, work your way back, taking into account everything that will need to be done, from the assessment and restructuring of processes, to the time your team members will need to adapt to new technology and processes, to report creation and tagging requirements.

This assessment should be a dynamic and regular process, segueing directly into readiness actions while being continually revised to keep your processes in line with your aims and the current state of reporting.

Continue reading the full article on Workiva

Our mission here at T-Mobile is to be the best in the world at connecting people to their worlds. I’ve thought a lot about what connecting people means. While it certainly relates to the obvious – providing reliable wireless service – I think there’s something even bigger than that. To me, connecting people is also about the bond we forge every single day with our employees and the thousands of communities that we live in, work in, and serve. One of the ways we do that is by giving back.

At T-Mobile we take seriously the unique opportunity we have to be a force for GOOD … and we strive to support the communities that do so much to support us. Financial donations are important and meaningful, but the culture of giving that has been threaded through the fabric of our culture truly comes to life through our passionate team of employees. They step up with time, resources and support when and where they’re needed most, from helping out during disasters, volunteering with local organizations and giving back to the causes most important to their hearts.

But in true Un-carrier fashion, we’re always thinking bigger. Bolder. We challenge the status quo to think about how we can shake things up. Ask “What if?”

Our employees came to us and said, “What if … we could do more as a collective team to really make a difference in the communities we love so much?” The answer was easy: “Let’s do it!” Our employees wear their hearts on their Magenta sleeves, and when they come together with these types of big ideas and hard work, it’s an amazing opportunity to create EVEN MORE real change.

Enter our first-ever Magenta Giving month this April, a single month where we deploy our 70,000 Team Magenta members from across the country to unite as one and become an EVEN BIGGER force for good. From getting involved in fundraisers, engaging in team service days, and donating to their favorite causes – we’ve told our teams to Dream Big and Deliver (one of our values) as long as it’s all about giving back! To help get them started, the T-Mobile Foundation will give every employee $23 (for 2023!) to donate to one of our eligible nonprofits, plus a 2-for-1 match of their volunteer hours – $20 for every hour they volunteer in April up to $1 million total. With all of this goodness, can you imagine what kind of impact we will make in a single month?

Employee giving happens year-round here at T-Mobile, but we are so excited that this Magenta Giving month will offer our teams a shared experience to show up for the many communities we call home and see the impact we can make, together. This element is especially important for us. Three years ago, after our merger with Sprint and as we were poised to come together as a new T-Mobile, the pandemic was keeping us physically apart. We have been craving a moment like this to unify our teams around our love of giving and our shared sense of pride and belonging, enabling team members to connect with each other and showcase the skills and passions that go beyond their jobs.

This is going to be a fun and impactful month. I can’t wait to see what we do!

BALTIMORE, April 4, 2023 /3BL Media/ – T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ-GS: TROW), a global investment management firm and a leader in retirement services, today announced that CFO and Treasurer Jennifer Dardis and Head of U.S. Taxable Low Duration Cheryl Mickel have been named to Barron’s Top 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance 2023 list.

This prestigious recognition honors women who are helping to shape the modern financial services industry and leading it confidently into the future. The list, chosen by a panel of Barron’s writers and editors, is based on external and internal nominations and includes executives at major U.S. companies, investment managers and securities analysts, and public servants and policymakers.

“We are proud that Barron’s has recognized the contributions of two of our senior leaders,” said Rob Sharps, chief executive officer and president, T. Rowe Price Group. “We are grateful for the perspectives and skills that they bring to the leadership of T. Rowe Price and how they enrich our strong culture.”

Jen Dardis, CFO and Treasurer 

Dardis is the chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., the treasurer of T. Rowe Price Investment Management, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Her responsibilities include global oversight for the Controller’s Group, Global Tax, Procurement, Corporate Strategy, Financial Planning & Analysis, and Investor Relations. She leads a global team of 230.

As the newly appointed CFO, Jen successfully led the firm through its largest acquisition in the firm’s history of Oak Hill Advisors (OHA) for $4.2B, which enables the firm to accelerate expansion into alternative investment markets.

Dardis has been with T. Rowe Price since 2006, beginning in the CFO Group in a corporate strategy role, and became head of Corporate Strategy in 2016. Most recently, she was the head of Finance. Before T. Rowe Price, Dardis held positions at Constellation Energy in investor relations, at Energy Merchant in finance and business development, and at SG Cowen in mergers and acquisitions.

She earned a B.A. in economics from the College of William & Mary and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business. Dardis currently serves as chair of The Maryland Food Bank’s Board.

Cheryl Mickel, Head of U.S. Taxable Low Duration 

Mickel is the head of the U.S. Taxable Low Duration team and a co-portfolio manager of the US Short Duration Income and Stable Value Intermediate Term Strategies in the T. Rowe Price Global Fixed Income Division. Mickel and her team manage $111B in money market, short-term bond, and stable value strategies for individual and institutional investors as well as T. Rowe Price corporate entities and internal reserve fund assets. She is also a member of the Fixed Income Steering Committee, which is responsible for the general oversight of the fixed income business, including risk management, talent, and strategy performance review.

She began her career at T. Rowe Price in 1989, where her early responsibilities included trading across an array of fixed income markets. In 1997, she became a taxable portfolio manager, and in 2015, she assumed her current role.

Mickel is an inaugural member of T. Rowe Price’s Black Leadership Council, established to provide a direct channel of communication between Black associates and T. Rowe Price’s Management Committee to ensure that there is active dialogue on matters of importance, such as recruitment, advancement, retention, development, culture, policies, etc. She was an early supporter and remains involved as a member and ally of the firm’s business resource groups, which work to maintain our inclusive culture and engage associates in the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy.

Beyond her professional duties at T. Rowe Price, Cheryl is a trustee of the T. Rowe Price Foundation, the firm’s philanthropic arm, which partners with nonprofit organizations to support the communities where we work and beyond. Mickel is also a member of the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Investment Committee and a past Women United Executive Council member.

She earned a B.S. in economics from the University of Baltimore and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Maryland. She also has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

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ABOUT T. Rowe Price

Founded in 1937, T. Rowe Price (NYSE: TROW) helps people around the world achieve their long-term investment goals. As a recognized global asset management company known for investment excellence, retirement leadership, and independent proprietary research, the firm is built on a culture of integrity that puts its clients’ interests first. Investors rely on T. Rowe Price for its active management approach and its broad range of equity, fixed income, retirement, alternatives, and multi-asset investment capabilities. T. Rowe Price manages $1.31 trillion in assets under management as of February 28, 2023, and serves millions of clients globally. T. Rowe Price can be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, and troweprice.com/newsroom.

Media Contact:

Tiane Harrison  
T. Rowe Price  
tiane.harrison@troweprice.com