Month: August 2023

Originally published on HARMAN Newsroom

At HARMAN, we have always said that our people are our greatest asset and the drivers of unparalleled innovation. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are also built into our core values at HARMAN, and we recognize how diverse perspectives, ideas, and values make us stronger as an organization and help to maintain our position as a global technology leader. This is why we are committed to providing career development and learning opportunities for the next generation of diverse leaders through our summer internship program. This year for National Intern Day, HARMAN wanted to shed a spotlight on our internship program, and thank our interns for their dedication and the meaningful contributions they made throughout their assignments.

HARMAN offers summer internship programs in many countries around the world, designed to give students valuable career development opportunities while getting a true hands-on experience. Comprised of some of the brightest young and creative minds with a passion for delivering unparalleled experiences, our interns make valuable contributions while gaining experience that they can apply throughout their careers. This year, we had 61 interns join our organization. From design to engineering, and legal to data analytics, HARMAN interns were working across a variety of business functions and supporting our teams around the world.

This year, to capture our HARMAN interns’ perspectives, we asked them to share their favorite thing about HARMAN and collected this feedback in the form of video testimonials. What’s more? Some of these perspectives were featured on HARMAN’s TikTok channel! Some of the feedback we received from our interns about HARMAN is below:

“The incredible people.”“Getting to work with audio and sound all day long.”“How friendly everyone is.”“How welcoming and supportive the environment is.”“That you are always around music, and music is also my favorite thing to do.”

We at HARMAN hope to equip our interns with experience and leadership skills to become the next generation of technology innovators. To all of our HARMAN summer 2023 interns, we hope your internship has been a valuable learning experience, and that you will consider HARMAN again in the future!

As a global technology leader committed to making life more connected and delivering superior experiences, HARMAN welcomes talented, ambitious and committed people looking for a company that takes pride in its people and offers them great learning, development and growth opportunities. For more info: https://www.harman.com/career

Previously published by loop

As part of its 50th-anniversary celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago, KFC has donated $250,000 towards 50 tertiary-level bursaries for deserving students.

In a release, the company said the bursary is aptly named the KFC Bucket Bursary, as a symbol of the brand’s values of togetherness, caring, and helping.

Continue reading here.

As published in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

The wireless communications industry is characterized by rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and, with the use of 5G, the expansion into new industries or applications, such as automotive and IoT. Staying at the forefront of so much change requires a continuous effort to enhance existing products and technologies and to develop new products and technologies.

To enable this continuous evolution, we have made significant and long-term investment in R&D — with more than 20 percent of revenues invested in R&D since 2006. Our investment already exceeds more than $70B — more than 140,000 patents and patent applications, and more than 35 years of innovation in chipsets, software, services and integrated platform solutions. We have research and development centers in various locations throughout the world, but primarily in Europe, China, India and the United States.

Just as we make long strides in our R&D efforts to drive leading contributions to technologies powering the connected intelligent edge, we make long-term investments to drive growth in countries and markets by investing in STEM talent, universities, startups and operators and by collaborating on government initiatives and with our licensees. From being a trusted knowledge advisor in spectrum selection and 5G development, deployment and commercialization, to supporting startups around the world at multiple stages of their lifecycles, to developing research collaborations designed to cultivate critical new technologies, to offering tens of thousands of hours of technical and intellectual property (IP) rights training programs, we help broader technology ecosystems flourish.

Since our founding, we have prioritized supporting innovative academic research with a range of university programs helping the academic community to develop new ideas and solutions in a broad range of technological research areas at leading universities around the world. Annually, we engage with more than 100 research faculty, award more than 50 student research fellowships and sponsor more than 70 academic conferences and academia initiatives. In our engagements with academia, we share our expertise and tools across a range of technologies to facilitate research and encourage talent development.

We also support regional innovation through incubation and mentorship programs that cultivate promising startups in vital technology areas. We offer engineering guidance, business coaching and IP programs and trainings to help startups grow and prosper into successful technology businesses. Our programs — which take zero equity in the incubated startups — have a proven record of helping startups receive venture funding, file patent applications and expand their business beyond their home countries. Our incubation challenges are complemented by other Company programs that support startups at different levels of their lifecycles — including latestage venture capital investment.

These Company-supported programs have incubated or mentored more than 162 startups since 2016 in emerging markets, particularly those with an intensifying design talent pool and growing supply chain and local manufacturing expertise, such as India, Taiwan and Vietnam. The startup incubation programs in these countries were launched in 2016, 2019 and 2020, respectively.

In many markets, we have a special emphasis on helping startups founded or led by women entrepreneurs. For instance, the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs India Network (QWEIN) programs mentored 14 and 11 early-stage women-led startups, respectively — representing diverse sectors, including healthcare, IoT, robotics, clean technology, agricultural technology, extended reality (XR) and logistics. The 2022-2023 program will mentor an additional 11 women-led startups.

Harnessing advanced cellular communication (4G and 5G) and advanced computing technologies (including AI at the network edge), these startups have developed end-to-end IoT applications for regionally relevant products and services in the areas of healthcare, smart cities, agricultural technology, smart homes, automotive, advanced computing, semiconductor design, XR, wearables, semiconductor design, robotics and drones. In many countries, we run the annual startup incubation programs in a competition style format, during which a set of top startups are initially identified through a rigorous selection process, subsequently incubated through a period of several months and finally invited to compete in a pitch and demo stage in front of a jury comprising of industry and government members, where three winners are selected. For example:

In the 2021 India startup cohort, the top winners announced in March 2022 were Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd. (a space-tech startup with its low Earth orbit satellite to enable 5G Radio Access Network), Ossus Biorenewables Pvt. Ltd. (with their innovative smart autonomous bioreactor generating green hydrogen from industrial effluents) and Nimble Vision Pvt. Ltd. (with their Ni-Smart manhole product to monitor sewage flow). Twelve additional startups are being incubated in the 2022 India program and are expected to participate in the final stage in March 2023. Separately, responding to the country’s renewed focus on semiconductors, a new program for semiconductor design startups is expected to mentor up to 10 startups in 2022-2023.In the 2022 Taiwan startup cohort, the top winners announced in November 2022 were APrevent (specializing in the development of edge AI-based solutions for accurately recognizing the speech utterances of those afflicted by speech disorders such as dysarthria), Vossic (with edge AI-based fish-gender recognition technology that can be used for sustainable tilapia farming) and Moldintel (with a focus on advanced manufacturing technologies for injection molding, using edge-AI technology to help factories improve yield). Ten additional startups are being incubated in the 2023 Taiwan program, commencing in calendar Q1 2023, and are expected to participate in the final stage in Q4 2023.In the 2022 Vietnam startup cohort, the top winners announced in September 2022 were MiSmart (agriculture drone solutions), VPTech (high-end “Make in Vietnam” portable DAC/AMPLIFIER) and GraphnicsMiner (cardboard legged robot toy kits accompanied with an AR platform). Ten additional startups are being incubated in the 2023 Vietnam program and are expected to participate in the final stage in September 2023.

In addition to providing the startups with mentorship in advanced technology through state-of-the-art laboratories with expertise and equipment for 4G/5G, robotics and AI/machine learning, Qualcomm provides them mentorship in business areas and training on the importance of securing IP rights. These startups have cumulatively filed more than 300 patent applications in regional and international patent offices to protect their own inventions.

Qualcomm is an expert in training partners across the ecosystem on different aspects of mobile technology — from teaching world-leading handset original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) core concepts that underpin 5G, to explaining the technical benefits of millimeter wave technology to multinational carriers, to training startups on IP protection and filing patent applications. Qualcomm Wireless Academy, supported in part by QTL, is an industry-leading virtual education platform that shares the world-class knowledge and expertise of Qualcomm Technologies’ engineers with the greater mobile ecosystem.

As a champion of IP protection and holder of a worldclass patent portfolio, QTL also supports IP Rights (IPR) training programs in multiple countries.

In Europe and India, Qualcomm has collaborated with regional governments and other entities to offer IP programs called “Learn to Protect” (L2Pro). These programs have helped more than 5,000 professionals understand the importance of IPR types such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets.In the U.S., Qualcomm and the Invent Together alliance collaborated on the creation of an online learning platform called The Inventor’s Patent Academy (TIPA), which is aimed at guiding American inventors from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds through the benefits of the patent system and the process of turning their breakthroughs into patented inventions. TIPA is part of a broader effort to foster a more inclusive patenting environment. Since its launch in July 2022, this platform has registered more than 500 U.S.-based students.

In 2022, we launched the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund to invest up to $100 million in innovative developers and companies building immersive experiences with AR, mixed reality and VR. It is anticipated that the fund will deploy capital through a combination of venture investments in leading XR companies by Qualcomm Ventures and a grant program by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. for developer ecosystem funding in XR experiences, such as gaming, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education and enterprise.

Learn more in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Little could anyone predict that an idea scribbled on a napkin would develop into a global Franklin Templeton program, helping to develop young talent in the investment industry for 40 years and running.

“Congratulations to all involved on this milestone—the Futures Program has stood the test of time,” said Charlie Johnson, former Chairman and CEO of Franklin Templeton, who had the original idea for the program while on a flight. “I’ve enjoyed watching it expand and adapt over the years, always with the goal of finding strong new talent to inspire innovation across the company and giving people the opportunity to learn from the ground up.”

The Management Training Program, as it was first called, launched in San Mateo, CA in 1983 as a leadership development program and pipeline of talent into a wide variety of departments. Over the past four decades, the program has evolved to meet the changing needs of the business. Now called the Futures Program, it continues to match diverse and highly skilled early-career talent with high-growth areas of the company.

“As a people business, we consider attracting and retaining the most talented colleagues in the world the key to our success,” said Jenny Johnson, President and CEO. “The Futures Program helps us identify strong new employees, most right out of college, provide exposure to different areas of our company and find the right job that fits Futures Associates’ skills and career aspirations.”

Over the course of two years, Futures Associates (FAs) complete six four-month rotations in different areas of the business. The first year builds the foundation for FAs, learning about Franklin Templeton’s business, culture and values while being exposed to product and client-focused areas of the business. The second year prepares FAs for placement, building stronger relationships and shaping their learning path to align with career goals.

Fifteen FAs joined the firm this year, bringing a variety of experiences, background and perspectives. The 2023 incoming US class attended a special 40th anniversary celebration in San Mateo as part of their orientation. This year also marked the return of the program to the UK for the first time since 2008.

Participants from Inaugural 1983 Class Share Their Memories

The Management Training Program class of 1983 had about a dozen Management Trainees (MTs), half hired from within the firm and half from outside. Two members of this first class are still with Franklin Templeton: Penny Alexander, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Tom Runkel, VP, Portfolio Strategies, Multi-Sector Separately Managed Accounts. Here, they share their experiences.

What do you remember from your first day in the program?

Penny: I started at Franklin in November 1982 in shareholder services. I was thrilled to join the Management Training Program because it marked a new chapter for my career. The first day we all met in a conference room. It was extremely exciting, and a little angst filled, too, because this was Charlie Johnson’s brainchild. My first rotation was in sales and marketing, which was a big “wow” moment for me.

Tom: I was one of several recent college grads who were internal hires into the Management Training Program. I was working in the order room processing fund transactions from the wire houses. The order room essentially became my first rotation. I was excited to be accepted into the program, and I was looking forward to my journey as an MT at Franklin Templeton.

What lessons from the Management Training Program do you still use today?

Penny: Those were formative years. What has gone with me throughout my career is the openness to learn and taking advantage of the new opportunities presented to you. You meet people in all your rotations, and you get to build your network and your brand across the organization. That helped me build my career.

Tom: If I narrowed it to the most important, I would say teamwork and building relationships across the company. We all came from different backgrounds and interests in my MT class, but we formed a bond as a team even though we worked in different departments during our rotations. That bond helped our growth as we all forged our own paths at Franklin Templeton.

What advice would you give to a current FA?

Penny: Take full advantage of the opportunities you have. Learn about the functions you’re in and observe the leadership and your colleagues. Be open. You may come into the program with an idea of what you want to do, but you may get exposure to a different department that sparks a new interest. Recognize that you have a chance to build your brand as you rotate and to decide what your story will be. In doing so, you can also build your career.

Tom: Don’t be too focused on where you want to end up. Instead, enjoy the experience as you rotate through the departments. Along the way, you’ll learn how the groups within Franklin Templeton interact and how they all play an important role in delivering positive experiences and outcomes to our clients. More importantly, the relationships and friendships you build as an FA will make your experience even more enjoyable.

Current and Former FAs Share Benefits of the Program

Brock Wilkins, Futures Associate, Mutual Series Research, New York

Class of 2022

The main benefit of the Futures Program is exploration. Having the opportunity to have marketable work experience within a large variety of sectors in finance is extremely valuable. A side benefit is meeting and working with so many great people in the industry. Everyone is willing to guide, help and push you further in your career, which is much appreciated in this fast-paced, highly intensive industry.

Mike Reed, VP, Digital Assets Strategic Partnerships, Chicago

Class of 2000

Easily the best thing about being part of the program was that it afforded me the chance to try a bunch of career paths while working at the same firm. Instead of spending years getting hired for jobs and finding out they weren’t for me, I rotated through four groups before finding my passion and landing in a role that really played to my strengths and interests.

Marcus Wong, Futures Associate, Australia Fixed Income, Hong Kong

Class of 2022

The main benefits of the Futures Program are the opportunities to explore our passions, areas of interest and build new relationships. FAs can enhance their perspectives and acquire a variety of experiences from different departments to build their knowledge within the investment management industry before placing with a team that interests them.

Lexi Perry, Portfolio Associate, Data Science and Digital Lending Strategies, San Mateo

Class of 2021

The Futures Program allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of our differentiated product suite at Franklin Templeton, all while obtaining the exposure of working in diverse business functions across the organization and acquiring the transferrable skills that result from these experiences.

Thanks to the outstanding mentorship I was given during my time in the program, I was able to network across the organization to spearhead my own understanding of Franklin Templeton and the opportunities that lie ahead for my own career, all while creating lasting connections that still benefit me in my current role.

Futures Program Fun Facts

175+ program alumni still work at Franklin Templeton.11 current and 15 incoming FAs in 2023.121 associates in 1998, the largest class.

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.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., August 10, 2023 /3BL/ — Global critical human infrastructure company Black & Veatch has released its 2023 Sustainability Report to update industry stakeholders on the progress it has made, along with its employee-owners and clients, on environmental, social and governance priorities. The report outlines steps the engineering, procurement, consulting and construction leader is taking to address carbon emissions and improve workplace safety, diversity and inclusion, ethics and compliance and more.

The report also details how the company continues to advance sustainability practices at its world headquarters and with its clients’ assets, including the use of renewable energy, water reuse and other decarbonization efforts. In addition, internal administrative initiatives such as hybrid work schedules help reduce carbon emissions and enable more inclusive working environments. Black & Veatch’s third Sustainability Report highlights the company’s alignment to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, the CEO Water Mandate and the Caring for Climate pledges. 2022 sustainability progress included the following:

Exceeding the company’s 2023 overall emissions reduction goal and achieving, by more than half, its 2023 Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction goal.Maintaining Black & Veatch’s strong safety culture when, for the first time in its 108-year history, the company recorded more construction hours than office hours and still reached its safety goals.Increasing new graduate year-over-year hiring rates for females by 13% and minorities by 80%.Earning a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index, achieving a spot among “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality 2022” for the fourth consecutive year.Making a commitment to reduce inequality by supporting organizations that seek to end human trafficking. Black & Veatch supported Kansas City, Kansas-based Veronica’s Voice with remodeling and renovation needs at its facilities.Executing a Sustainable by Design pilot program to develop recommendations for the most impactful engineering design and supply chain practices for ensuring sustainability of Black & Veatch projects.Leading the third iteration of the IgniteX Climate Tech Accelerator, working with eight startups to help develop and scale new climate technology.

Black & Veatch is helping its clients advance many clean energy technologies such as solar, wind and hydrogen to help the world address climate challenges. In addition, the company has several capabilities to address PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination, including PFAS technology identification, analysis, cost/performance testing and regulatory compliance. This expertise puts Black & Veatch at the forefront in the research, advancement and application of innovative technologies for the removal of these “forever chemicals” from our water.

“By embracing sustainability investments with a broader and balanced perspective, businesses not only align themselves with global goals for a better future but also ensure long-term success, resilience and relevance in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” Deepa Poduval, Black & Veatch’s Global Sustainability Leader, wrote in the report. “Black & Veatch leverages our expertise to create practical pathways for the success of our clients’ investments, from strategy to execution.”

Find more information on Black & Veatch’s Corporate Sustainability Program at www.bv.com.

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:

BRYAN SCRIBNER | +1 913-458-4093 | scribnerbj@bv.com 
24-HOUR MEDIA CONTACT | Media@bv.com

DETROIT, August 10, 2023 /3BL/ – The Michigan Diversity Council (MIDC) will host the third annual National Black Men in Leadership Summit on Thursday, Aug. 17 and Friday, Aug.18, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at The Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. The event, in partnership with the National Diversity Council (NDC) and the Michigan Diversity Council, will focus on “The Legacy of Black Leadership and Excellence.” This theme encapsulates a celebration of accomplishments, a recognition of challenges overcome, and a call to continue striving for equity, justice, and positive change. At its heart, the summit will embody the rich tapestry of achievements across diverse arenas, highlighting the exemplary contributions of Black leaders across generations.

The 2023 National Black Men in Leadership Summit Awards highlight individuals who have succeeded in their careers while paving the way for Black men to advance in the corporate and education sectors. These individuals contribute to creating and promoting a culture where Black talent is supported and leveraged for organizational success. They demonstrate leadership excellence and high visibility in the Black community and maintain a record of professional accomplishments.

“The National Diversity Council honors and recognizes the accomplishments and achievements of Black men that lead in the corporate and educational fields,” said Anika Rahman, CEO of the National Diversity Council. “It is imperative that we promote inclusion and advancement opportunities in the C-Suite and beyond.”

2023 Black Men in Leadership Summit Awardees 

Business Impact Award 
MACC Development

Racial Justice and DE&I Advocacy Award 
New Detroit

Community Leader Award 
Dwan Dandridge 
CEO 
Black Leaders Detroit

Outstanding Entrepreneur Award 
Maurice Evans 
CEO 
Elite School Management 

Outstanding Educator Award 
Glenn McIntosh 
Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer 
Oakland University 

Business Leader Award 
Kenneth Mathies 
Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer 
AAA

Emerging Leader Award 
Dominic Mathis – Nelson 
Undergrad at Michigan State University

In addition to the individual and company awards, scholarships will be awarded to Black male college-bound students. The selected scholarship recipients are individuals who demonstrate strong leadership traits, community involvement, and academic achievement.

The Title sponsor of this event is AAA – The Auto Club Group; the Platinum sponsor is Aston Carter / Aerotek / Actalent; the Silver sponsor is The Elite Group; and the Bronze sponsors are Comerica Bank and Flagstar Bank.

Registration for the third annual National Black Men in Leadership Summit is open and can be purchased at https://blackmeninleadershipsummit.org/2023/. For more information about the event or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Ivy Hunter at ivy.hunter@nationaldiversitycouncil.org.

About the Michigan 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 diversity, equity and inclusion. The Michigan Diversity Council is under the umbrella of the National Diversity Council. More information about the council is available at: http://michigandiversitycouncil.org/.

About the National Diversity Council 
As a diversity, equity, and inclusion focused non-profit offering consulting and training to many of the leading businesses across the nation, we are dedicated to fostering a dynamic learning environment and to empowering organizations to enhance their work environments. Through our programs, we provide invaluable opportunities for organizations to share best practices and gain insights from top leaders in the field of diversity and inclusion. More information about the National Diversity Council is available at: www.nationaldiversitycouncil.org.

Media Contact: 
Katrina Glenn 
Communications Manager 
National Diversity Council 
katrina.glenn@nationaldiversitycouncil.org

Originally published by Forbes

A future world in which nine billion people live well, within planetary boundaries, requires a set of systemic changes in production, distribution, and consumption. Only then can the current system move from fossil fuels into an electricity model based on renewable energies.

“Such a systemic change does not happen without serious investments and long-term partnerships,” said Ramón Zumárraga, Director of Purchasing Services, Iberdrola, the third largest electricity company in the world by market capitalization, and the world leader in renewable energy.

During an interview at SAP Sapphire Barcelona, Zumárraga explained how Iberdrola’s sustainable business model for renewable energy maximizes the use of technology in business areas that add value, either by improving processes and the productivity of its assets, or by achieving greater efficiency in its activities.

The company’s inventive approach is boundless. Among Zumárraga’s favorites are agro-solar initiatives that use land for solar power generation and agricultural purposes. “Whether using solar parks for beehives or cattle grazing, we try not to occupy the land for a single purpose,” he said.

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