Month: July 2023

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

Imagine logging on to your mobile banking app to find a nearby branch and seeing the list described as tree branches. When language translations aren’t done with the proper nuance, some phrases can potentially confuse customers, and that’s something that Alicia Lopez and the translation team she leads work to avoid.

“Our team helps customers learn about things they may not have ever experienced before, like the mortgage application process, what a down payment is or what escrow means,” Lopez said. “We want to make sure we never mislead our customers, and we also need to make sure our work follows all UDAAP (Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices) laws and regulations.”

After English, the most common language of preference among U.S. Bank customers is Spanish, but people from different places often speak different Spanish dialects.

“The Hispanic segment in the United States is such a melting pot of cultures,” Lopez said. “People here can have Mexican heritage, like me, or El Salvador, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Spain, you name it.”

Because of that, the team focuses on what it has labeled as Spanish for the U.S., which takes different nuances into account.

“It’s a more universal vocabulary that’s not specific to one country, and sometimes there’s some liberty to have English words in parentheses,” she said.

The second most common non-English language of preference among U.S. Bank customers is Chinese. Because of the December 2022 acquisition of MUFG Union Bank, which was owned by Japan-based MUFG, Japanese has become the third most common, followed by Vietnamese, Lopez said.

While those languages make up the bulk of the translation team’s work, the team translates some 3,000 pieces a year spanning numerous languages.

“Some of the requests we get include Somali, Hmong, Korean, Haitian Creole, Polish, Ukrainian and Marshallese, which is spoken in the Marshall Islands,” she said.

The team has in-house expertise in Spanish, Chinese and Japanese, and relies on vendors to manage translations for other languages.

Every translation project goes through a rigorous compliance review process to ensure that it provides accurate and properly nuanced information before it is certified, she said.

That process can include a “back translation” review where, for example, a piece that is translated from English to Haitian Creole will be given to another Haitian Creole translation expert to translate back to English without seeing the original version. Then the two English versions are compared for accuracy.

“If you end up with something that’s very close to the original English but doesn’t have all the right nuances, the translation can be rejected,” Lopez said. “When that happens, we go back to the drawing board. We’re passionate about what we do, and we believe it’s important to provide customers with high-quality translations.”

As someone who focuses on translations in her job, Lopez said she was interested in seeing the new, U.S. Bank-funded Translators documentary, which focuses on children who translate bills, medical advice and more for their parents.

“When my mom was a child and my grandfather had an accident at work, she lost a year of high school to serve as his translator for medical appointments and important documents,” Lopez said. “The documentary really hit home on how at a young age some people are put into more adult situations and sometimes have to make sacrifices to help their family.”

Providing translations for the bank’s customers gives Lopez and her team great satisfaction, she said.

“We take a lot of pride in the work we do,” she said. “There’s more to accomplish but it’s been so rewarding to use some of the products ourselves and to hear from bankers, customers, and family and friends that they think the quality is top-notch.”

United States, July 25, 2023 /3BL/ – The Council for Latino Workplace Equity (CLWE), an initiative under the National Diversity Council, will host the Eighth Annual National Latino Leadership Conference virtually via Whova on Tuesday, Sept. 19th and Wednesday, Sept. 20th, from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. CT. This year’s theme is “Escalando y Superando (Rising and Overcoming): The Stories of Our Leaders.”

The 2023 Top Employer Latino Leaders Awards list honors organizations for their extraordinary and unfailing commitment to Latinos in the workplace and surrounding communities. These companies contribute to creating and promoting a culture where Latino talent is supported and leveraged for organizational success. They demonstrate leadership excellence and high visibility in the Latino community and maintain a record of professional accomplishments.

“We must recognize and honor our Top Employers for Latino Leaders,” said Anika Rahman, CEO, National Diversity Council. “These companies are paving the way for opportunities, leadership and inclusion of the Latino community in workplaces and communities.”

To see the full list of the 2023 Top Employers for Latino Leaders & Top Latino Leaders please visit; (Insert Link if available)

2023 Top Employers for Latino Leaders

JP Morgan Chase & CO

Block Inc. 

Harris Health System

MLB

NIQ

Registration for The 8th Annual Latino Leadership Conference is currently open and can be purchased starting at $249 for non-partners and $299 for partners at www.clwe.org. For more information about this event please contact: Emily Pfister at emily.pfister@nationaldiversitycouncil.org.

About The National Diversity Council

A non-profit organization committed to fostering a learning environment for organizations to grow in their knowledge of diversity. The council affords opportunities for organizations to share best practices and learn from top leaders in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. More information about the National Diversity Council is available at: www.nationaldiversitycouncil.org.

About the Council for Latino Equity Council 

The Council for Latino Workplace Equity is a resource and platform to foster workplace equity for Latino talent. It highlights the pertinent issues concerning Latinos in the workplace in order to advance equal opportunities and incite change within organizations. For information about the CLWE is available at www.clwe.org.

Media Contact 

Kamaria Monmouth 
Sr. Communications Specialist 
National Diversity Council 
kamaria.monmouth@nationaldiversitycouncil.org

Covia Team Members are our most important asset and that’s why we’re committed to supporting them in every aspect of their lives. We recently announced the launch of the Covia Cares Emergency Relief Fund, administered by Emergency Assistance Foundation (EAF). The Fund was created to help Covia Team Members who need immediate financial assistance following an unforeseen disaster or personal hardship. We hope that our Team Members never need to use the Fund but we are pleased to have a new way to support them in times of need.

The Covia Cares Employee Relief Fund acts as the foundation of our commitment to our Covia Team Members by providing confidential support to help with nearly any personal situation.

“The Covia Cares Employee Relief Fund is a robust program. Whether it’s a natural disaster or a personal crisis that an employee may be experiencing, there are many resources and financial support that Covia now has available to help when our Team Members need it most.” said Brian Richardson, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer.

Originally published on bloomberg.com

July 21, 2023 /3BL/ – Bloomberg today announced the Bloomberg New Economy Forum’s return to Singapore, November 8-10, 2023, with a full delegation of global corporate and government leaders. This sixth annual Forum will mark Singapore’s fourth time as host, following the inaugural event in 2018 and subsequent events in 2021 and 2022.

The event marks a critical moment for global leaders from the public and private sectors to connect and share insights during a busy calendar of Asia-linked events, including the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit (APEC) in San Francisco.

Confirmed 2023 delegates thus far include Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister, Republic of Singapore; Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies; Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, Acting Chief Executive Officer, SABIC; Henry Fernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MSCI Inc.; Jan Jenisch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Holcim; Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sinovation Ventures; Edu Lyra, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Gerando Falcões; Sanjay Mehrotra, President and Chief Executive Officer, Micron Technology; Dina Powell McCormick, Vice Chairman and President, Global Client Services at BDT and MSD Capital; Robert E. Moritz, Global Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited; Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive, HSBC; and Lei Zhang, Chief Executive Officer, Envision Group, with more to be confirmed. Also attending as confirmed Advisory Board members are: Sara Menker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Gro Intelligence; Nandan Nilekani, Chairman and Co-Founder, Infosys Limited; Josephine Wapakabulo, Founder and Managing Director, TIG Africa; and Lei Zhang, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hillhouse Investment.

This year’s theme, “Embracing Instability,” highlights the challenges confronting the global economy and underscores the opportunity to better understand and address underlying issues such as persistent inflation, geopolitical tensions, the rise of artificial intelligence and the precarious state of the world’s climate.

The Forum caps off the most comprehensive year of Bloomberg New Economy events and programs yet, following the recent inaugural Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in Morocco and Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Europe in Ireland. Later in Summer 2023, the third class of Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts will be announced and the Bloomberg New Economy Climate Technology Coalition will provide its recommendations for the clean hydrogen sector.

For more information, please visit Bloombergneweconomy.com/forum2023 or request an invitation if you would like to attend.

The 2023 Bloomberg New Economy Forum’s Founding Partners are Bayer, Envision, Holcim, HSBC, Hyundai and Tata. Singapore is the Host Partner. PwC and Standard Chartered are the event’s Presenting Partners. The Spotlight Economy Partner is IDA Ireland. BloombergNEF, Bloomberg Intelligence and Bloomberg Economics provide cutting-edge intelligence as the Forum’s Research Partners.

The 2022 Forum in Singapore hosted more than 500 world leaders from public and private sectors bringing together innovative ideas and capital to drive solutions forward in a time of turbulence. Last year’s delegates included TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew; former World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships Mari E. Pangestu; Sequoia China Founding and Managing Partner Neil Shen; Assistant to the President of the U.S. for National Security Affairs United States Jake Sullivan; U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai; former Vice President of the People’s Republic of China H.E Wang Qishan; Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong; Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura and others.

Mike Bloomberg, joined by Dr. Henry A. Kissinger as Honorary Chair and Henry M. Paulson, Jr. as Chair, leads the Bloomberg New Economy Forum Advisory Board composed of more than 40 distinguished government and business leaders from around the world.

Follow Bloomberg New Economy across LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates and use #NewEconomyForum to join the conversation.

About Bloomberg Media
Bloomberg Media is a leading, global, multi-platform brand that provides decision-makers with timely news, analysis and intelligence on business, finance, technology, climate change, politics and more. Powered by a newsroom of over 2,700 journalists and analysts, it reaches influential audiences worldwide across every platform including digital, social, TV, radio, print and live events. Bloomberg Media is a division of Bloomberg L.P. Visit BloombergMedia.com for more information.

For press inquiries, contact:
Rob Koh
rkoh22@bloomberg.net 

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

Starting a small business is a big step that requires knowledge, preparation and courage. But for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, there are additional challenges, such as discrimination and finding support for their venture.

To gain a deeper understanding of the LGBTQIA+ entrepreneur experience, GoDaddy recently conducted a survey of 510 small business owners from all walks of life to gain insight into their perspectives on issues that impact the LGBTQIA+ community.

Conducted this year between May 17 and May 25, the survey found that there are differences between businesses owned by members of the LGBTQIA+ community and those that are not.

Facing discrimination

Discrimination and harassment continue to be predominant issues for LGBTQIA+ small business owners. Nearly one in three (32%) of those surveyed report encountering issues with online harassment or discrimination directed towards their business due to their LGBTQIA+ identity.

Meanwhile, less than 20% of non-LGBTQIA+ business owners report this.

Networking opportunities

One important finding is that 71% of LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs agree that having networks and communities of support is crucial to the success of their businesses. This is higher than non-LGBTQIA+ business owners, 59% of whom desire that support.

Our survey showed that one quarter of LGBTQIA+ business owners have received targeted support, most often in the form of networking, mentorship or financial support.

Community engagement

When it comes to support for LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs and business owners, 45% said community engagement and support were most critical to them.

58% of LGBTQIA+ business owners report feeling like the business community is currently supportive of business owners like themselves.

Using technology

One of the most significant differences is that LGBTQIA+ owned businesses are more likely to sell products using social media. They are also more likely to have done paid online marketing activity.

However, among all businesses that are not using paid marketing activities, LGBTQIA+ business owners are most likely to say that they don’t know where to start — 41% of LGBTQIA+ business owners compared with 16% of the general community report this.

This data also showed a higher percentage of the LGBTQIA+ identity among Gen Z and Millennials, which may explain the increased use of social media and digital marketing.

Finding allies

In terms of allyship, 45% of all business owners surveyed indicate that they advocate for fellow business owners who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. A sense of fairness and equality resonated among the vast majority of respondents.

Benefits of allyship

We found 73% of business owners report positive reactions and benefits to their business to being an ally. Allies are also generally younger, with 79% of allies being either GenZ or Millennial.

Examining the attitudes of the general population

We also conducted a separate poll of 1,000 individuals from the general population during June 5-7 2023. Specifically, we wanted to know how people feel about businesses that support LGBTQIA+ people and how these answers change based on a variety of factors.

Overall, most responses are neutral. However, 33% of respondents indicated they were more likely to do business with companies that show support for LGBTQIA+ community, while 22% said they were less likely.

Support for the LGBTQIA+ community is higher among younger generations

Interestingly, our data suggests a generational shift in attitudes. In the coming years, it is crucial for businesses to consider how they are showing their support of LGBTQIA+ rights.

With Gen Z and millennials, we noted a 76% increase in the likelihood to do business with those who show support for the LGBTQIA+ community. Companies that fail to embrace diversity and inclusivity risk losing out on a significant customer base, while, businesses that prioritize diversity and inclusivity may emerge as market leaders.

Personal connections to the LGBTQIA+ community affects responses

Not surprisingly, we found personal ties to members of the LGBTQIA+ community affected responses.

We began by asking whether survey respondents knew someone personally in the LGBTQIA+ community. Of these respondents, 42% knew someone that identified as LGBTQIA+ while also indicating a greater likelihood to do business with companies that show support for the community.

Of those who did not know someone in the LGBTQIA+ community, 32% were less likely to do business with a company that showed support. This is a 28% increase compared to the general population.

Conclusion

Overall, the two surveys highlight the importance of community support for LGBTQIA+ owned businesses and the prevalence of discrimination and harassment in the business world. It also shows that more education and resources are needed to help LGBTQIA+ business owners navigate the world of marketing and advertising.

Roads are like a circulatory system for cities, moving people and goods, ideally by the most efficient means available. Unfortunately, as cities grow, streets can clog quickly with cars and trucks, impacting lives and pocketbooks. 

Take the story of Suvarna Reddy, a 58-year-old grandmother in Bengaluru, India who shares a home with her son and his family. Every day, she cooks before taking her grandson to school. She then catches a bus to work, first to the main market, followed by three households where she then cooks for her living. 

“It used to take over 40 minutes to get from one home to another,” she recalls. “I had to wait for a long time before I got the bus and … always feared falling when I had to stand, because the buses were unstable.”

More than 5 million passengers ride Bengaluru’s transit system daily. For people like Reddy, the bus is a lifeline. 

Reimagining how megacities move 

In 2010, FedEx and WRI teamed up to create what is now the Mobility and Accessibility Program (MAP). MAP’s goal is to transform major public transportation systems across the world, making them safer, more efficient, and more sustainable. MAP leverages FedEx expertise in areas like vehicles, customer experience, and driver safety and merges it with WRI’s innovative research and global network. 

MAP helped Bengaluru’s transit agency improve the public bus network along high-demand corridors, adding routes, services, and nearly a thousand new low-emissions vehicles.  

“The new buses come every five to ten minutes,” marvels Reddy. “I don’t have to wait a long time before I get a bus to get to any of my workplaces … I get there much more comfortably and a lot faster. And that gives me more time to spend with my family.”

MAP teams are active throughout cities across Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. To date, the program has impacted more than 18 million people.   

Building local expertise 

WRI accomplishes its mission to create systemic change by building the expertise of transportation planners. To date, MAP has trained and engaged more than 57,000 professionals in transportation and safety, including 10,000 bus operators on “Safety First” principles to reduce accidents.

In India, MAP started Bus Karo, a peer-to-peer group sharing best practices among 63 member cities, from fleet operations to finance. In 2022, building on coordination through Bus Karo and other efforts, officials announced the procurement of more than 5,400 electric buses in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Surat. The new e-buses are expected to reduce emissions and create an estimated 25,000 new jobs.  

“FedEx support, knowledge, and guidance have played a big role in our success,” says Madhav Pai, CEO of WRI India. “Their enthusiasm has kept the flame alive in our teams. It couldn’t be more crucial at this moment when cities across India are making a major transition to electric fleets.”

Another prime example is the Mexican city of Guadalajara, which opened its newest bus rapid transit (BRT) line in 2022, serving 320,000 people a day. The MAP team was closely involved in creating this new 28-km network of bus-only lanes. With success throughout Mexico, MAP is now helping the federal government create new technical and financial support programs for mass transit. WRI has also helped establish national road safety and public transport policies while promoting better management, operation, and financing of transit systems across the country.

“We chose to work with WRI because they’re more than a think tank,” said FedEx Chief Sustainability Officer Mitch Jackson. “WRI offers not only analysis, but boots on the ground. It’s a proving ground for ideas that then get expanded—a chance to translate thought into action.”

Emerging leaders

Once every few years, WRI’s emerging transportation professionals visit FedEx’s Memphis headquarters for an intensive week of learning. The FedEx Fellows program gives these young leaders access to experts across the company and to one another. One seminar focuses on improving the customer experience through the FedEx Quality Driven Management program (QDM).

WRI’s Cristina Albuquerque was one of the very first to complete the program. She saw how QDM tools could be applied to transit systems across Brazil where buses account for 90% of public transport. Successfully improving the riders’ experience meant more people would choose this lower-emissions transportation option. 

Led by Albuquerque, the WRI Brazil team issued their first customer surveys in 2013. Bus service now has improved across the country, boosting ridership, increasing revenue, and expanding economic opportunity. Surveys are now mandated in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and Salvador, benefiting 3.8 million daily riders.

Lu Lu, a 2017 FedEx Fellow, remembered the tour of e-buses during her visit to Memphis. She applied this knowledge to Shenzhen, a Chinese city preparing to launch a BRT line. After working with the MAP team for more than three years, Shenzhen electrified 100% of its bus fleet in 2019. Today, Shenzhen’s system is providing faster, cheaper, and more efficient bus service for 3.1 million riders daily and avoiding nearly 200,000 tons of CO2 annually

“Thanks to what we learned from FedEx, we are developing a thorough review of e-bus asset management and operations,” said Lu, a transport analyst for WRI China. “We’re giving cities the facts they need to give citizens the best possible transport options.”

Looking ahead at a sustainable future

Across the world, cities and nations are seizing the moment and focusing on transportation as an essential component of sustainable growth. MAP’s success during the next decade will depend on their ability to catalyze change in a risk-averse industry, and they are well-placed to do so. MAP provides a laboratory for innovation, applying research to real-world problems and sharing the results with a global network. With FedEx support, WRI is committed to transforming public transport and moving the planet toward a more sustainable future.

Learn more about the FedEx-WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities partnership and its accomplishments over 10 years as depicted in FedEx’s 10-year report: https://www.wri.org/initiatives/mobility-and-accessibility-program

June Impact Days, the firm’s global month of service, is an opportunity to demonstrate those values and make a tangible impact by volunteering.

This June, Franklin Templeton celebrated its 17th year of Impact Days. The company hosted a variety of local and global volunteering events in June designed to make a difference in the lives of those in need, while giving employees a chance to make meaningful connections with each other.

Globally, employees participated in the firm’s two long-running projects: Missing Maps and the CAN Competition, a food drive with a structure build contest. Employee volunteers partnered with the Pride business resource group and joined their Live. Love. Be. diversity team’s activity challenge on the Virgin Pulse platform. The month of service officially wrapped up with Global Involved Day on June 27.

Building Maps to Help with Disaster Relief

For the seventh year, Franklin Templeton participated in Missing Maps, a global, virtual volunteer project. Volunteers went online to track satellite imagery for unmapped locations to help humanitarian organizations during emergencies. The firm donated $100 for each employee who recorded at least 60 minutes of mapping. Based on employee votes, Save the Children was selected as the recipient of these contributions, supporting its mission of improving the lives of children worldwide.

Global CAN Competition

Employees competed in the CAN Competition, celebrating the firm’s 10th annual global food drive this year. Seven teams participated in the CAN construction build competition. The winning team will be recognized with a donation to their local food bank or other hunger organization of choice.

Live. Love. Be. Challenge 

The Live. Love. Be. challenge combined Be Well’s five pillars of well-being (physical, emotional, financial, social, purpose) and the firm’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and volunteerism. For two weeks in June, employees virtually teamed up to “move” across five stages to unlock a $5,000 firm sponsored donation to the National Black Justice Coalition. Participants from Franklin Templeton and Western Asset Management moved a collective 31.3 million steps.

Global Involved Day

June 27 marked Global Involved Day to celebrate and officially close out Impact Days 2023. On this day, employees wore Involved program t-shirts, took group photos and used a special Impact Days virtual background to show their volunteering spirit in meetings and video calls.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,300 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and over $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Fifth Third keeps its customers at the center of everything it does by pairing outstanding customer experience with innovative and inclusive products and services that benefit their lives and improve their businesses.

The Bank is proud of the many products that put its customers in control, offering the features and innovation of a digital-first bank with the security, reliability and local presence of a 165-year-old institution that has remained committed to its communities.

In early 2023, Fifth Third’s innovative culture was recognized with inclusion in Fortune’s inaugural list of America’s Most Innovative Companies. Fifth Third also received the Outstanding Implementation of Digital Customer Experience by a 2022 team award from The Digital Banker.

Enhanced Products and Services for a New Age of Consumer Banking

Fifth Third continues to improve its award-winning, flagship Fifth Third Momentum® Banking checking and savings accounts to help customers bank more easily while avoiding frees and having faster access to their money.

Features of Fifth Third Momentum Banking

The Early Pay® feature gives customers access to their paychecks up to two days early at no cost. In 2022, the Bank expanded the feature to include income received from self employment, also known as gig work, as well as some forms of government and retirement benefits, allowing these customers access to their paycheck up to two days early (following their initial direct deposit). Since its launch in 2021, over 500,000 customer accounts have received their pay up to two days earlier with $27.6 million in paychecks deposited early in 2022.Extra Time® gives customers additional time to make a deposit and avoid overdraft fees, up until midnight ET the following business day. With this feature, customers avoided $39.0 million in overdraft fees in 2022.MyAdvance® allows customers to advance funds against future qualified direct deposits, starting the month after direct deposit is established. Fifth Third believes this is a more responsible and less expensive option for consumers than check-cashing facilities.Smart Savings allows customers to create goals through the Fifth Third mobile app to save small amounts of money automatically. With this product, customers were able to save $25.4 million in 2022 with automatic transfers from their checking to their savings accounts.Immediate Funds gives customers instant availability of check deposits (a small fee is incurred).Peace of mind with Fraud Protection.No Hidden Fees and No Minimum Balance.24/7 Banking Support.

For more information on Fifth Third’s innovative and inclusive products, read the 2022 Sustainability Report.