Month: March 2024

Staying Ahead of Reporting Regulations

Thursday, March 14th

11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. ET

Join Workiva and PwC for a webinar exploring the results of the 2024 Executive Benchmark on Integrated Reporting, a survey of more than 800 corporate executives and 100 institutional investors across North America. Leaders from both organizations will discuss how financial and ESG reporting are evolving amid new regulations—including the SEC’s climate disclosure rule.

Register Now

Attendees can earn one complimentary CPE credit for their participation.

Taco Bell blog

Another month, another celebration! March is dedicated as Women’s History Month in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and many other parts of the world. In 1982, Women’s History Week was officially launched in the United States, and eventually turned into a month-long event in 1987.

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day is Inspire Inclusion. So, to honor and celebrate the courageous women of the world (and at The Bell!), we will continue to tell their stories and amplify their voices. We hope that they not only educate, but also inspire inclusion and drive positive impact in your community and uplift those around you.

Born and raised in northern France, Ombeline grew up in the city of Lille to parents who owned a cheese shop and lived right above it! She spent her early years talking to customers, learning how to bike and playing pretend vendor all in this one place.

You could say Ombeline was the free little bird of her family, wanting to explore the world since she was young…and she did exactly that!

Around the age of 15, Ombeline got the opportunity to study abroad in Los Angeles to learn English. At 18, she lived in Costa Rica for six months where she learned Spanish. She returned to the U.S. for undergrad.

Although Ombeline loved SoCal, she found herself living between Europe and South Africa after graduation. Working in South Africa opened her eyes to the value of education, so she decided to go back to L.A. to pursue an MBA.

While looking for jobs, Ombeline held an ambassador position for a women’s leadership program that focused on career development and empowerment. This quickly became a passion of hers as she looked for these traits when exploring different opportunities.

“It became important for me to pick a company that matched my values of supporting women in leadership. When I explained this to my career adviser, he mentioned how Taco Bell aligned with my aspirations and encouraged me to seek an opportunity with the company. I was then accepted as an MBA marketing intern at Taco Bell.”

Once she was a full-time employee, Ombeline joined the Business Employee Resource Group Womxn At The Bell to continue her passion for supporting and inspiring inclusion for women in the corporate space.

“I have now been co-chair for over a year, and it has been so beneficial for my personal and professional development. I’ve been able to volunteer, help others through the program and get access to career-building opportunities.”

So, what even fuels Ombeline’s love for leadership and breaking societal norms? First and foremost, her own mother.

“My mother had a tough upbringing and did not get a full education. When she met my dad, they decided to open a cheese shop without prior knowledge of business or cheese! My mom even decided to take full responsibility of the company and become the CEO. I just always admired how she built the business from the ground up.”

The second person in Ombeline’s life that inspires her is Roni. Roni was one of Ombeline’s clients in South Africa.

“In South Africa, I worked closely with Mama Roni on rebranding her hotel. She taught me so much about life and staying resilient. She told me to not focus on what others think, but rather on what you want to accomplish for yourself…all with a smile.”

Uplift and empower one another – It can be as easy as taking the time to have a conversation with them.Read and educate yourself – Keep up with incredible stories, news and inspiring learnings that come out in March.Get involved – There are many ways to get involved in the local community and start making a difference.Celebrate women ALL the time – One month is not enough to celebrate the community. Celebrate yourself and those around you as often as you can.Embrace being unique and who you are! Coco Chanel once said, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.”

Breaking news on sustainability disclosure and reporting for corporate boards and management teams!

On March 6, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) released its Final Rules on climate disclosures, designed to “enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings.”

According to the SEC’s press release, one of our Top Stories below: “the final rules reflect the Commission’s efforts to respond to investors’ demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related risks on a registrant’s operations, and how it manages those risks while balancing concerns about mitigating the associated costs of the rules.”

We also include in our Top Stories several links reporting on the SEC announcement. The Final Rules will be published in the Federal Register and on the SEC web site.

There is also news out of the European Union as member countries blocked (at the last minute) proposed supply chain reporting rules. This demonstrates that EU nations are not necessarily “unanimous” in their quest for expanded and enhanced corporate and capital market disclosure relating to ESG topics.

In China, the world’s #2 economy, the country’s three large stock exchanges have rules in place now to require listed large companies to disclose a range of sustainability information (including disclosure climate change matters, ecosystem, anti-corruption, anti-briber, and rural revitalization efforts).

Important: China has adopted the EU approach on double materiality on corporate disclosure. Tim Mohin, former CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative, shares his thoughts in ESG News in another Top Story below – “The Dragon Roars: China’s New Sustainability Disclosure Mandate.”

The G&A Institute team will share more news and perspectives regarding the SEC Final Rule announcement in future issues of our Newsletter. There is much to review and digest, and as always, our team is available to provide counsel as these rules go into effect in the links in this issue.

This is just the introduction of G&A’s Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.

Written by Mackenzie Hicks

The importance of a diverse team is rarely disputed in any industry. Most large companies, agencies and organizations agree on the importance of different voices and perspectives in critical decisions, but in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, diversity is still lagging.

According to research from the Society of Women Engineers, the percentage of women working in engineering has grown at a slow pace — 5% in the 1980s to 16.7% in 2023. While this illustrates some progress, female workers in those fields are still outnumbered by their male peers. And, the gender gaps are particularly high in future-proof, often well-compensated fields like computer science and engineering. So, how do organizations build a more diverse workforce?

Since its inception, Leidos has valued and fostered the importance of inclusion. Listing it as one of its six values, the company strives to ensure its workforce is representative of the world around it more so than the various industries it operates in, including IT, national security and health.

All of this work has led to Leidos outperforming national numbers of women in the engineering field. The company’s workforce is 35% female, with 20% of those women being in technical positions and 18% in engineering jobs. Those numbers have paid off for Leidos, which has been consistently recognized in Employer of Choice rankings, including Newsweek’s 2023 and 2024 America’s Best Workplaces for Women and Forbes’ 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women.

A driving force for inclusion

However, the company believes the payoff is more than recognition; Leidos sees the women in its organization as the driving force continuing its promise of inclusion – especially when it comes to what women bring to the table and how they innovate the business itself.

L’Shaun Powell, a portfolio execution lead, worked in construction before joining Leidos. As one of only two women to major in civil engineering with a focus in construction at the Catholic University of America, Powell found herself in a field that is still primarily dominated by men after graduation.

While Powell uses her previous experience to make Leidos better, others carved out their own path within the company.

After three years of working at a remote shipyard in Canada, Survivability Department Manager Maggie Nate was called back to Washington, D.C., and she found herself unsure of where she fit in.

“I didn’t belong to a traditional engineering department given my remote customer location previously, and there wasn’t a specific discipline that covered my field of surface ship survivability,” Nate said.

Nate wasn’t alone. She and another female employee who had the same concern met with senior leaders to discuss a plan they developed to create a new, specialized department. Four years later, the department has more than 42 unique programs and comprises almost 40% women.

“The two of us standing up the department, managing it in tandem with starting our own families, and being able to inform hiring and mentoring to include multidisciplinary engineers, such as ourselves, has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” Nate said.

Inclusion as a retention strategy

While the hiring of women engineers has risen, like its peers across various industries, Leidos is focused on the troubling issue of retention.

“In a male-dominated field, women engineers tend to have a difficult time finding their way in the workplace. It is a culture historically built by men, the paths have been decided by men, and expectations are driven by men,” said Tiffany Creamer, a portfolio business manager at Leidos.

The Society for Women Engineers lists retaining diverse and talented women in the field as a priority; their data shows that of women who received their degrees 11 to 15 years prior to 2021, only 26.8% of women remained working in engineering disciplines. Male engineers held steady at 41%.

Creamer sees opportunity, though, when women are invited to re-engineer the culture. Her coworkers agree.

For Vice President of Land Systems Growth Elizabeth Robertson, connection is key to retention and building a culture that is committed to inclusion and representation.

“I think, sometimes, those of us who have been in the field for a while forget how intimidating that first class or meeting was when you were the only person who looked like you in room. Reaching out to younger engineers who may be the minority because they are women — or for any other reason — is how we encourage inclusiveness,” Robertson said.

Overall, the women working at Leidos are thankful to be working in an environment where inclusion is a priority.

“Collaborating with diverse teams fuels innovation. Embracing inclusion in technology ignites creativity and drives pioneering solutions forward,” said Lauren Lawson, a software engineer for Leidos U.K.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WOMEN AT LEIDOS

CHICAGO, March 12, 2024 /3BL/ – In a move set to redefine compliance processes within the life sciences industry, leading advisory CPA firm Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly), introduces engagementNOW and transparencyNOW. These cutting-edge solutions aim to streamline engagement and reporting procedures for life sciences companies, irrespective of their size or global reach. By integrating these products into the complianceNOW platform, Baker Tilly enables life sciences companies to simplify interactions with healthcare professionals (HCP), reducing manual efforts and enhancing compliance controls within their existing workflows.

“Leaders in the life sciences industry consistently grapple with ever-changing regulations, alongside the complexity of orchestrating workloads across various departments, engaging multiple stakeholders and managing disparate systems,” said Darren Jones, Baker Tilly principal, life sciences consulting. “Baker Tilly’s complianceNOW platform enables life sciences leaders to confidently fulfill their operational duties by gaining access to embedded compliance and risk controls backed by a trusted brand that facilitates a more cohesive approach to their compliance function.”

“With the launch of engagementNOW and transparencyNOW, Baker Tilly provides life sciences companies with a streamlined HCP engagement solution, enabling life sciences companies to have a more coordinated approach when interacting with healthcare professionals as well as an enhanced compliance solution that is able to scale with growth of their organization,” said Samantha Sutherland, Baker Tilly director, life sciences consulting. “These two new products also provide users with access to Baker Tilly’s extensive healthcare experience, empowering life sciences companies with both technological solutions and strategic guidance, ensuring leaders stay focused on core objectives while enabling teams to pursue higher value-added goals.”

engagementNOW and transparencyNOW seamlessly connect with Baker Tilly’s suite of complianceNOW products, including fmvNOW and kolNOW, creating a true end-to-end HCP engagement and reporting solution. This all-in-one platform allows life sciences companies to:

Assess business needs to ensure HCP engagements serve legitimate purposesObtain internal and external approvals to meet key control requirements prior to engagement initiationCoordinate interactions with key opinion leaders across various departmentsReconcile proof of payment and performance to ensure contractual obligations are metProcess payments to consultants across the globeEstablish fair market value rates, determine HCP expertise levels, and manage payments to prevent bribery or kickback incidentsComply with global spend transparency reporting requirements, reducing the risk of penalties or government inquiries related to spend transparency data

Discover Baker Tilly’s complianceNOW solutions:

engagementNOWtransparencyNOWfmvNOWkolNOW

About Baker Tilly US, LLP (bakertilly.com)

Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) is a leading advisory CPA firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world’s leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly is an independent member of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms in 141 territories, with 43,000 professionals and a combined worldwide revenue of $5.2 billion. Visit bakertilly.com or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.