Month: May 2023

Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2022 Sustainability Report

Inclusive Entrepreneurship

We empower and champion entrepreneurs everywhere.

As we foster and inspire a growing wave of inclusive entrepreneurship, GoDaddy is changing the way people around the world work and live for the better. We recognize that the entrepreneurial journey is as diverse and unique as entrepreneurs themselves — and we know that barriers along that journey aren’t experienced equally.

To us, that highlights the importance of delivering customized experiences at every stage of an entrepreneur’s journey, with one-on-one support and resources that are responsive to individual needs and circumstances.

That’s why we’re committed to providing equitable resources that support and empower everyone, including entrepreneurs in and from underserved communities.

We’ve shared our beliefs in previous reports and statements, and our core message remains the same today. When it comes to inclusive entrepreneurship, commitment and consistency matter. We believe:

Inclusive entrepreneurship helps fuel local economies globally, increases generational wealth, decreases wealth gaps and ultimately improves lives 
 Everyone — no matter their age, race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, location or other experience or identity — should have the opportunity to pursue their independent ventures and forge their own path

Empower by GoDaddy

As our signature social impact program, Empower by GoDaddy allows us to partner with local community organizations and nonprofits 
to help propel entrepreneurship in underserved communities. Together, we provide in-person and virtual educational workshops, technology tools, mentorship opportunities and peer networks to thousands of small and microbusiness owners across the U.S., Europe and Canada.

Through GoDaddy employee volunteerism and strong relationships with our partners, we offer entrepreneurs practical and emotional support including:

Workshops and training on accepting payments, branding, marketing, website building and other foundational business topics 
 One-on-one and group mentorship and coaching 
 Wraparound services such as access to technology, childcare and transportation

Empower by GoDaddy’s 10-course series features customized learning experiences for the entrepreneurs we serve. In our sixth year, we launched Empower by GoDaddy in Canada and expanded language offerings for the program to include French in addition to English, German and Spanish.

In 2022, we met with nonprofit and community organization partners regularly, strengthening these partnerships while facilitating collaboration and improving resource sharing. We are delighted to have provided $1.92 million in funding to these partners through Empower by GoDaddy in 2022.

GoDaddy team members play an integral role in Empower by GoDaddy by serving as coaches and mentors. Our highly skilled and passionate employees taught 83 workshops and supported an additional 477 Empower by GoDaddy workshops led by our community partners, resulting in more than 9,700 learning engagements with entrepreneurs in 2022.

Empower(ing) Stories

In 2022, Empower by GoDaddy continued to impact the lives of entrepreneurs and their extraordinary businesses. Here’s just one example of the many entrepreneurs we are proud to serve.

HARP VISION 
For Tyron and April Harper, the husband- and-wife duo behind Harp Vision, what started as a personal journey to relieve their own chronic pain morphed into a business idea that transformed into a business reality. In Baltimore, Maryland, Empower by GoDaddy helped turn their ideas into action. Now, these Empower by GoDaddy graduates have a wellness brand of all-natural products to help relieve pain and improve quality of life.

“We work closely with local small business incubators such as Impact Hub Baltimore and Empower by GoDaddy in order to network, learn about new tools and skills to grow our business, and generally stay connected to the entrepreneur scene that surrounds us. Having a digital presence has been vital to growing our clientele. We leverage GoDaddy tools to build our website to reflect our mission, enable ecommerce and take our business to the next level.”

Tyron and April Harper — Harp Vision HARP-VISION.COM

You Empower

In 2022, GoDaddy launched the pilot You Empower program to provide dedicated support to Empower by GoDaddy entrepreneurs in select markets.

Full-time, U.S.-based GoDaddy employees volunteered to be based in these communities through 12-week rotational programs, and while there, they provided digital learning in one-on-one and group environments to help entrepreneurs achieve their business goals.

The pilot ensured that GoDaddy employees had enriching personal development experiences and that You Empower participants got much- needed digital support and training.

“This experience afforded me the opportunity to see things I would have never seen [being in Alabama]. The program gave me an understanding of who I am — the uniqueness of who I am. I now approach my work with even more conviction. I can help anyone lean in more and stretch.”

Desmond Sweet, GoDaddy Learning Program Manager And You Empower Volunteer

About This Report 
Unless otherwise noted, the GoDaddy 2022 Sustainability Report outlines our environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, activities, progress, metrics and performance for the fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2022. This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector.

GoDaddy is committed to regular, transparent communication about our sustainability progress, and to that end, we will share updates on an ongoing basis through our website and will continue to publish an annual Sustainability Report.

To learn more, please read our 2022 Sustainability Report.

OnQ Blog

Every year on April 26, World Intellectual Property Day reminds us of the importance of inventing — and the diverse community of creators who drive breakthrough innovations. It’s certainly a day to celebrate, as nothing conveys optimism like the act of creating something new. But innovation cannot occur in a vacuum. To flourish, it requires two things: a continually replenished pool of innovators and a robust legal system to protect their inventions. Here at Qualcomm, we know that the protection of intellectual property (IP) through a strong patent system lies at the heart of our success. At the same time, we are striving to grow and diversify the universe of patent holders to include historically underrepresented groups — including women.

By protecting and rewarding innovation, IP laws shape our lives for the better. Patent licensing plays a key role in spurring innovation, giving inventors of all backgrounds the incentive they need to create, finance their research, and make their ideas commercially viable. At Qualcomm, our philosophy is to continually innovate and create a foundation upon which others can build and succeed. Licensing our IP is an integral part of this approach. It democratizes innovation, taking cutting-edge inventions and making them accessible to a broad range of players across industries.

That said, it’s equally imperative that the population of inventors continually grows. Recognition of this is implicit in the theme of World IP Day 2023, “Women and IP: Accelerating innovation and creativity.” Everyone should have the opportunity to invent and patent their ideas. Not only do more diverse inventor communities result in more varied problem-solving but breaking down barriers creates more — and better — innovation. It results in more jobs, boosts the global economy, closes wage and wealth gaps, and yields new ways to improve society.

A recent global report from the World Intellectual Property Organization showed that women are still gravely underrepresented in IP ownership around the world; they often face significant challenges in accessing the knowledge, skills, resources, and support they need to thrive. That is why we are proud to work with Invent Together in initiatives such as . This is a free online learning platform designed to guide inventors through the benefits of patenting and the process of obtaining a patent — particularly for historically underrepresented groups in the patent-heavy sciences and engineering fields. In addition to women, these groups include people of color, LGBTQIA+, people from lower-income communities, and people with disabilities.

True innovation depends on diversity. World-class research and development (R&D) teams who have a broad wealth of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives play a critical role in ensuring that our — and everyone’s — products live up to their potential. We encourage and celebrate innovation across all backgrounds, from school-aged children who participate in our Thinkabit Lab programs across the country, to our engineers who receive special recognition for patenting their inventions, to participants in our Female Founders Summit start-up competition.

For centuries, the American patent system has served as a model for strong IP rights. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, intellectual property in the U.S. supports more than 45 million jobs and contributes over $6.6 trillion to the nation’s economy. IP-intensive industries have become the backbone of our economy. It is critically important to protect the fundamentals of the system that makes this all possible. And it will go a long way towards preserving our status as the world’s preeminent innovation economy.

Qualcomm is first and foremost an innovation company. In order to continue funding our R&D, we patent our inventions and license them to companies in several industries who incorporate those inventions into their products, including mobile, automotive, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, we hold over 140,000 patents and pending applications, and our patent portfolio is the most widely and extensively licensed in the wireless industry, with over 300 companies licensed.

But we cannot do it alone. World IP Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on how patent protections have driven economic growth and job creation in the U.S. and around the world. Countries with strong IP systems have higher levels of foreign investment, more innovation, increased R&D activity, higher percentages of workers employed in good-paying jobs, and greater potential to produce and export complex, knowledge-intensive products. If we keep IP protections strong and ensure that the pool of inventors continues to grow and diversify, we best position society to reap the global benefits of innovation.

by Thomas Newmark of Finca Luna Nueva Lodge 

Make chocolate in the rainforest? Of course! You’ll take a thousand-year journey through the history of growing cacao and making chocolate, even using an ancient cacao grinding stone recovered from the Caribbean slope of the great Atlantic rainforest in Costa Rica. Plus, you get to drink and eat the tour, experiencing the spicy Mayan “Drink of the Gods,” the silky sweetness of our hot chocolate, and bars of chocolate flavored the way you, the jungle chocolatier, like it!

Learn about the brightly flavorful medicinal honey of the famous “Mariola” stingless bees? Yes, those bees are what we consider the livestock of this farm, pollinating native plant species and creating delicious honey. You’ll see how we’ve created homes and habitats for them and how they support the great biodiversity in our fields.

So, if it’s a farm-to-table experience in the rainforest you’re seeking, we’re here to fill your senses. We can check that box! But what about filling your souls? Is there a rainforest medicine that gives you hope about the planet? We think so, and it’s called regenerative farming. Farming is so often blamed for many of the world’s ills, and many environmentalists feel that we need to limit farming to a bare minimum of acres, in order to conserve wilderness. Simply put, this approach says intensively and destructively farm some areas in order that other areas can survive. That ecological concept is called “sparing,” and it’s NOT how we approach farming here at Luna Nueva. Instead, we have a mindset of “sharing,” where we produce food in a way that mimics how rainforests create food energy. We and others call this concept of farming “regenerative,” reflecting that we grow food in a way that repairs and enriches our ecosystem. 

Read Tom’s complete article here and then get ready to pack your bags – https://greenmoney.com/regenerate-and-rejoice-at-finca-luna-nueva-lodge

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DES MOINES, Iowa, May 8, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today, the Wells Fargo Foundation announced a $7.5 million grant to Habitat for Humanity International to help make homes more affordable and accessible for everyone. Through the 2023 Wells Fargo Builds program, the grant funding will enable local Habitat for Humanity affiliates to build and repair more than 360 homes nationwide, including accessibility modifications to meet the needs of low-income older adults and people with disabilities.

The grant was announced in Des Moines, Iowa as part of a citywide repair event with Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity where roughly 130 Wells Fargo and community volunteers completed critical home repairs and updates to help up to a dozen local homeowners. In Iowa and across the U.S., roughly 20% of the population will be 65 or older by 2030. Yet more than 19 million older adults are living in homes that are in disrepair or ill-equipped to meet changing mobility needs around the home, according to Habitat for Humanity International.

As part of the week-long Wells Fargo Builds project, volunteers installed home modifications such as grab bars and wheelchair ramps for homeowners like Robert, a 66-year-old who needed to make his house more accessible for himself and two adult children who use wheelchairs. Jessi, a social worker with two young kids at home, now has an updated front porch with sturdy new steps and railings. These modifications will help prevent falls during Iowa’s harsh winters and enable the homeowner to maintain the condition of her home, which is often a family’s greatest asset.

“As a company, we’re committed to bringing homeownership to more families so they can pass that legacy on and grow generational wealth,” said Mary Mack, CEO of Consumer and Small Business Banking for Wells Fargo and Habitat for Humanity International board member. “We’re proud to join Habitat for Humanity once again to create more quality, affordable and accessible homes through new construction and renovation projects to help families and older adults remain in their homes and communities they love.”

“Safe and accessible housing is a key social determinant of health and helps to improve longevity and overall quality of life,” said Tolli Love, chief development officer at Habitat for Humanity International. “With the support of Wells Fargo this year, we will work together to make a greater impact in communities across the country, including advancing both housing and health equity for older Americans.”

For nearly three decades, Habitat for Humanity International and Wells Fargo have worked together to increase access to affordable homes and homeownership. Since 2010, Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation have donated more than $129 million to Habitat for Humanity International and local affiliates, including grant funding for new home construction and repairs, disaster response and rebuilding efforts, and Habitat’s Aging in Place program to enable people to remain in their homes as they age.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 41 on Fortune’s 2022 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy.

News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in south Georgia. Since its founding in 1976, the Christian housing organization has grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower.To learn more, visit habitat.org.