Month: April 2024

Eastman

The challenge

Axilone, a renowned luxury cosmetics packaging producer with a history of developing sustainable solutions, is passionate about reducing its environmental impact. That includes lipstick packaging, which usually ends up in the landfill. Consumers increasingly want more sustainable material and packaging solutions but expect zero tradeoffs in aesthetics or performance.

Recycling cosmetics poses many challenges. They are often made with a variety of materials and include extensive decoration. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) — a material commonly used in color cosmetics such as lipstick, mascara and compact cases — creates environmental concerns and hinders recycling efforts.

Axilone’s solutions include biobased materials and recycled content, enhancing recyclability with mono-material packaging, and promoting reuse with refillable packaging.

The solution

Axilone and Eastman’s technical service team have long collaborated on cosmetics innovations. When Axilone needed lipstick packaging solutions, the team knew Eastman provided best-in-class service, along with eco-friendly commitments to innovation.

The two companies took up the challenge to create a lipstick design with the environmentally conscious cosmetics consumer in mind. Their goal was to create a recyclable, refillable lipstick with no materials of concern.

The first step was to replace ABS with Eastman Cristal™ One Renew 100 EN059 PET resin. Since it is compatible with the PET recycling stream for all the components, the mono-material packaging does not require disassembly before recycling. The packaging design is refillable and reusable. It also addressed Axilone’s need for a fully smooth-glide operation in the mechanism, which is difficult to achieve with most other recyclable resins.

The result

The newly developed lipstick has a life that extends beyond its initial use. Users can buy refill cartridges and recycle the containers when finished with them. Consumers can feel good knowing their purchase supports the circular economy. The lipstick’s primary packaging is made from 100% certified recycled content* using Eastman’s molecular recycling technologies. The new design is also compatible with standard decoration options, delivering a glossy outer finish, perfect color compatibility and exceptional durability.

When designing with Cristal Renew, brands can choose up to 100% certified recycled content packaging. This helps keep plastic waste out of landfills or incinerators. Part of the Eastman Cristal™ One family of resins, Cristal One Renew EN059 is compatible with the PET recycling stream.

“Reducing the environmental impact of our products is at the heart of Axilone’s vocation,” said Reynald Trochel, Innovation Director at Axilone. “Through our partnership with Eastman, and with this mono-material lipstick made with Cristal Renew with 100% certified recycled content, we can simultaneously enhance their recyclability and reinforce the flows of the circular economy with a refillable package.”

Together, we’re making sustainable beauty packaging a reality.

*Certified recycled content is allocated using ISCC mass balance.

Eastman

The challenge

Axilone, a renowned luxury cosmetics packaging producer with a history of developing sustainable solutions, is passionate about reducing its environmental impact. That includes lipstick packaging, which usually ends up in the landfill. Consumers increasingly want more sustainable material and packaging solutions but expect zero tradeoffs in aesthetics or performance.

Recycling cosmetics poses many challenges. They are often made with a variety of materials and include extensive decoration. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) — a material commonly used in color cosmetics such as lipstick, mascara and compact cases — creates environmental concerns and hinders recycling efforts.

Axilone’s solutions include biobased materials and recycled content, enhancing recyclability with mono-material packaging, and promoting reuse with refillable packaging.

The solution

Axilone and Eastman’s technical service team have long collaborated on cosmetics innovations. When Axilone needed lipstick packaging solutions, the team knew Eastman provided best-in-class service, along with eco-friendly commitments to innovation.

The two companies took up the challenge to create a lipstick design with the environmentally conscious cosmetics consumer in mind. Their goal was to create a recyclable, refillable lipstick with no materials of concern.

The first step was to replace ABS with Eastman Cristal™ One Renew 100 EN059 PET resin. Since it is compatible with the PET recycling stream for all the components, the mono-material packaging does not require disassembly before recycling. The packaging design is refillable and reusable. It also addressed Axilone’s need for a fully smooth-glide operation in the mechanism, which is difficult to achieve with most other recyclable resins.

The result

The newly developed lipstick has a life that extends beyond its initial use. Users can buy refill cartridges and recycle the containers when finished with them. Consumers can feel good knowing their purchase supports the circular economy. The lipstick’s primary packaging is made from 100% certified recycled content* using Eastman’s molecular recycling technologies. The new design is also compatible with standard decoration options, delivering a glossy outer finish, perfect color compatibility and exceptional durability.

When designing with Cristal Renew, brands can choose up to 100% certified recycled content packaging. This helps keep plastic waste out of landfills or incinerators. Part of the Eastman Cristal™ One family of resins, Cristal One Renew EN059 is compatible with the PET recycling stream.

“Reducing the environmental impact of our products is at the heart of Axilone’s vocation,” said Reynald Trochel, Innovation Director at Axilone. “Through our partnership with Eastman, and with this mono-material lipstick made with Cristal Renew with 100% certified recycled content, we can simultaneously enhance their recyclability and reinforce the flows of the circular economy with a refillable package.”

Together, we’re making sustainable beauty packaging a reality.

*Certified recycled content is allocated using ISCC mass balance.

Congratulations to Franklin Templeton’s Margaret King, who was recognized by Junior Achievement of Northern California (JA) as a 2024 Volunteer of the Year. The award recognizes efforts to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

Junior Achievement is a key global charity partner of Franklin Templeton. Employee volunteers help deliver JA curriculum to provide innovative, hands-on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy education to students.

King, along with other volunteers and educators, was honored at the JA Virtual Hall of Fame event in April.

This is how Margaret describes her experience with the organization:

I’m excited to be involved with Junior Achievement because it provides an opportunity to educate and inspire the next generation of financial and technology leaders. Being able to share my experience and help shape young minds, foster financial literacy, and empower students to make informed career decisions and financial goals is a tremendous opportunity. JA is a great community service medium for experiential learnings for aspiring high school students who are looking at meaningful careers in making an impact on brighter financial outcomes for all. It’s inspiring to see young talent interested in the fintech industry. 

Franklin Templeton extends its sincere thanks to Margaret and other employee volunteers for sharing their time and talents with their communities. 

About Junior Achievement of Northern California

Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Locally, JA connects students, educators, and business professionals together to build quality partnerships that empower young people to own their economic success by becoming financially literate, workforce ready, and equipped with entrepreneurial skills. Each year, JA serves 90,000 students agency-wide in experiential, hands-on learning that enable them to connect their studies in school to real-world business and industry. After participating in JA, students see first-hand how academic success can prepare them for a fruitful and meaningful future. Learn more at norcal.ja.org

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is an international investment management firm with subsidiaries that operates as Franklin Templeton serving clients in more than 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s goal is to help clients achieve better outcomes through expertise in investment management, wealth management, and technology solutions. Thanks to its specialized investment managers, the company has developed expertise in all major asset classes on a global scale – including equities, fixed income, alternative solutions and custom multi-asset solutions. With offices in over 30 countries and over 1,500 investment professionals, the California-based firm has over 75 years of investment experience and over $1.6 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2024. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Congratulations to Franklin Templeton’s Margaret King, who was recognized by Junior Achievement of Northern California (JA) as a 2024 Volunteer of the Year. The award recognizes efforts to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

Junior Achievement is a key global charity partner of Franklin Templeton. Employee volunteers help deliver JA curriculum to provide innovative, hands-on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy education to students.

King, along with other volunteers and educators, was honored at the JA Virtual Hall of Fame event in April.

This is how Margaret describes her experience with the organization:

I’m excited to be involved with Junior Achievement because it provides an opportunity to educate and inspire the next generation of financial and technology leaders. Being able to share my experience and help shape young minds, foster financial literacy, and empower students to make informed career decisions and financial goals is a tremendous opportunity. JA is a great community service medium for experiential learnings for aspiring high school students who are looking at meaningful careers in making an impact on brighter financial outcomes for all. It’s inspiring to see young talent interested in the fintech industry. 

Franklin Templeton extends its sincere thanks to Margaret and other employee volunteers for sharing their time and talents with their communities. 

About Junior Achievement of Northern California

Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Locally, JA connects students, educators, and business professionals together to build quality partnerships that empower young people to own their economic success by becoming financially literate, workforce ready, and equipped with entrepreneurial skills. Each year, JA serves 90,000 students agency-wide in experiential, hands-on learning that enable them to connect their studies in school to real-world business and industry. After participating in JA, students see first-hand how academic success can prepare them for a fruitful and meaningful future. Learn more at norcal.ja.org

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is an international investment management firm with subsidiaries that operates as Franklin Templeton serving clients in more than 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s goal is to help clients achieve better outcomes through expertise in investment management, wealth management, and technology solutions. Thanks to its specialized investment managers, the company has developed expertise in all major asset classes on a global scale – including equities, fixed income, alternative solutions and custom multi-asset solutions. With offices in over 30 countries and over 1,500 investment professionals, the California-based firm has over 75 years of investment experience and over $1.6 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2024. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Written by Kimberly Bishop Corporate Responsibility

Gen Blog | People & Impact

More than 500 Gen team members from ten countries came together in April for our first ever Global Volunteer Week, five full days of service that positively impacted people in communities around the world. This week-long volunteering campaign grew out of the success of our inaugural Global Volunteer Day, held in 2023.

This year, from April 8-12, team members at 14 sites across three continents took part in virtual and in-person opportunities that spanned a wide range of impact areas, including using skills to mentor diverse students, applying Cyber Safety knowledge to support seniors and families, delivering resources to underserved groups, protecting our environment and more.

Gen team members logged more than 1,300 service hours in just one week, giving of their skills, time and energy to the people in our communities who need them most and continuing to demonstrate the culture of giving that informs our operations year-round.

Promoting Cyber Safety for All Ages

Gen team members in Dublin, Prague and Mountain View created digital literacy educational materials for seniors, parents, children and young people, providing necessary skills for people of all ages to stay safe online. Employees also met virtually with job seekers from all over the world to offer career advice and guidance.

Giving Students the Resources They Need

Throughout Global Volunteer Week, our teams were heavily invested in helping the educators and schools in our communities continue their critical work. More than 630 kits, cards and resources were created by volunteers and distributed to support students, teachers, homeless individuals, foster youth, at-risk families and sick children all around the globe, including:

In Tempe, employees partnered with ACCEL and Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona to mentor students with disabilities and assembled college care packages for young people about to enter the next phase of their academic careers.The Plano site partnered with Bikes for Goodness Sake and Foster Love to assemble bicycles for children in the community and birthday boxes for children in the Texas foster care system.Team members in Belgrade, Serbia, and Chennai, India, created school supply kits for students in care homes and schools, providing necessary tools to help further their education.

Additionally, Gen worked with Story Pirates, an organization that encourages children in under-resourced communities to express themselves creatively, to create a website where employees from all over the world could read children’s stories and give positive feedback.

Beautifying Our Communities

Environmental service opportunities were among our most popular this year, with ten events dedicated to opportunities to clean up local parks, neighborhoods, community gardens and more:

Mountain View employees built native bee houses, learned about local pollinators and staffed a farm shift at the Veggielution community farm in San Jose.Team members in Prague, London, Bucharest and Tettnang, Germany, participated in neighborhood clean ups and community gardens.The Pune, India, and Brno, Czech Republic, sites planted trees in their communities.Dublin team members volunteered with OWLS, a children’s nature charity, to create an engaging woodland space for after school programming.Employees in Chennai worked with Bhumi to beautify a local school and increase green cover by making 2,000+ sustainable seed balls that will be planted across Chennai.

Reaching Out to People in Need

Additional projects served some of the world’s most vulnerable communities:

In Prague and Brno, employees took part in Missing Maps, a project from the Red Cross that maps areas where humanitarian organizations can help people who live at risk of disasters and crises.In Toronto, volunteers packed wellness kits for people experiencing homelessness.In Prague, team members cleaned Palata, a nearby home for the visually impaired.Tokyo team members learned more about the experiences of refugees and ways to offer support with Refugee Empowerment International.

Virtually, employees worked with Africa Food for Thought to make heartfelt cards for children from under-resourced communities.

Check out the video above to see all the cities that were able to make a difference during our first Global Volunteer Week.

Written by Kimberly Bishop Corporate Responsibility

Gen Blog | People & Impact

More than 500 Gen team members from ten countries came together in April for our first ever Global Volunteer Week, five full days of service that positively impacted people in communities around the world. This week-long volunteering campaign grew out of the success of our inaugural Global Volunteer Day, held in 2023.

This year, from April 8-12, team members at 14 sites across three continents took part in virtual and in-person opportunities that spanned a wide range of impact areas, including using skills to mentor diverse students, applying Cyber Safety knowledge to support seniors and families, delivering resources to underserved groups, protecting our environment and more.

Gen team members logged more than 1,300 service hours in just one week, giving of their skills, time and energy to the people in our communities who need them most and continuing to demonstrate the culture of giving that informs our operations year-round.

Promoting Cyber Safety for All Ages

Gen team members in Dublin, Prague and Mountain View created digital literacy educational materials for seniors, parents, children and young people, providing necessary skills for people of all ages to stay safe online. Employees also met virtually with job seekers from all over the world to offer career advice and guidance.

Giving Students the Resources They Need

Throughout Global Volunteer Week, our teams were heavily invested in helping the educators and schools in our communities continue their critical work. More than 630 kits, cards and resources were created by volunteers and distributed to support students, teachers, homeless individuals, foster youth, at-risk families and sick children all around the globe, including:

In Tempe, employees partnered with ACCEL and Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona to mentor students with disabilities and assembled college care packages for young people about to enter the next phase of their academic careers.The Plano site partnered with Bikes for Goodness Sake and Foster Love to assemble bicycles for children in the community and birthday boxes for children in the Texas foster care system.Team members in Belgrade, Serbia, and Chennai, India, created school supply kits for students in care homes and schools, providing necessary tools to help further their education.

Additionally, Gen worked with Story Pirates, an organization that encourages children in under-resourced communities to express themselves creatively, to create a website where employees from all over the world could read children’s stories and give positive feedback.

Beautifying Our Communities

Environmental service opportunities were among our most popular this year, with ten events dedicated to opportunities to clean up local parks, neighborhoods, community gardens and more:

Mountain View employees built native bee houses, learned about local pollinators and staffed a farm shift at the Veggielution community farm in San Jose.Team members in Prague, London, Bucharest and Tettnang, Germany, participated in neighborhood clean ups and community gardens.The Pune, India, and Brno, Czech Republic, sites planted trees in their communities.Dublin team members volunteered with OWLS, a children’s nature charity, to create an engaging woodland space for after school programming.Employees in Chennai worked with Bhumi to beautify a local school and increase green cover by making 2,000+ sustainable seed balls that will be planted across Chennai.

Reaching Out to People in Need

Additional projects served some of the world’s most vulnerable communities:

In Prague and Brno, employees took part in Missing Maps, a project from the Red Cross that maps areas where humanitarian organizations can help people who live at risk of disasters and crises.In Toronto, volunteers packed wellness kits for people experiencing homelessness.In Prague, team members cleaned Palata, a nearby home for the visually impaired.Tokyo team members learned more about the experiences of refugees and ways to offer support with Refugee Empowerment International.

Virtually, employees worked with Africa Food for Thought to make heartfelt cards for children from under-resourced communities.

Check out the video above to see all the cities that were able to make a difference during our first Global Volunteer Week.

Pepco | The Source

This year we celebrated our first annual Innovator of the Year Awards, where we had the privilege of recognizing our top innovators across Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco who have gone to great lengths to ensure safe and reliable energy service to our customers. Throughout 2023, they developed groundbreaking solutions to streamline our operations and innovated new and improved ways to deliver a more positive and personalized customer experience.

Please join us in congratulating our fellow team members who are driving the innovations that pave the way for a cleaner, brighter, and more equitable future!

Audience Favorite Edison Place – Pepco

Automating the Import of TSO’s Outside World to Model to ADMS Project

Brian Strojny, Manager Operations Support

Kushal Patel, Service Analyst IT

and John McGarrity, Section Engineer

At Pepco, we use a variety of tools to help operators maintain situational awareness to help match real-world conditions and provide accurate solutions. The “Automating the Import of TSO’s Outside World to Model to ADMS” improved our tools, seamlessly integrating an external network model to enhance Pepco’s state estimation and contingency analysis. The project was like completing a puzzle – stitching missing pieces from the broader network directly into our system. As a result, it helps to prepare operators for unexpected events, and the automation both minimizes errors and increases efficiency.

Audience Favorite – Delmarva Power

Centralized Regulatory Resource Center

Jeffery Shalaway, Senior Rate Analyst and William Brooks, Former

The “Centralized Regulatory Resource Center” is a one-stop shop for teams to find resources, track projects, and access important information. The system which also features a visual tracking system to showcase progress of goals, has improved employee engagement and helps Delmarva Power team members work better together.

Audience Favorite ARO – Atlantic City Electric

Intern Playbook Project

Shelly Weckerly, Manager Project Control

Ruda Nighot, Project Cost Analyst

Jordan Burgess, Project Cost Analyst

Gabriel Gaines, Associate Project Cost Analyst

Jamie Wilson, Manager Project Controls

Steve Hambleton, Manager Project Controls

Elizabeth Tewolde, Manager Project Controls

Matt Silberstein, Senior Project Cost Analyst

and Dawson Green, Senior Project Control Estimator

This innovative group of individuals created the “Intern Playbook” to give interns a real-world project, not just busywork. It helps interns, who we see as the future energy leaders, to understand the big picture of department goals, see how different parts of the team collaborate, and make work a fun and valuable experience. As a result, intern satisfaction was rated high, and all 2023 intern offers in this department were accepted. In addition to providing value to the next generation of energy workers, this system proved successful in helping current team members work efficiently and feel more included.

Innovation Lead Ambassador of the Year – Pepco Holdings

Mohammad Shariati, Manager Project Controls & Rabia Durrani, Senior Business Analyst

This year, we had such a strong group of innovation sponsors across the organization that we decided to award two Innovation Lead Ambassadors of the Year!

Mohammad Shariati: Passion is the first word that comes to mind with Mohammad. He truly exemplifies passion for innovation, building a team of innovation ambassadors, coaching others, creating informative flyers, and even developing his own system to track progress on new ideas – all in 2023! His dedication is admirable and played a big role in moving our company forward last year.

Rabia Durrani: Rabia is all about finding ways to work smarter, not harder. In 2023, she led an ideation session with 25 participants, generating 35 ideas to tackle challenges and find ways to streamline processes, utilize resources efficiently, and improve training for skill development.

With a keen focus on finding ways to improve workflows and services, Rabia leads by example and uses innovation to drive meaningful change throughout our organization.

Innovator of the Year – Pepco Holdings

Jeffrey Alex Shalaway, Senior Rate Analyst

Jeff is a true innovator, using his creativity to develop new ideas to improve our processes so that we can better serve our customers. Last year, he took the initiative to develop a comprehensive dashboard to track work and information for his teams. Since its inception, this dashboard has proven especially helpful for new employees, making it much easier for everyone to collaborate and ultimately helping us build a better, brighter future for the regions we serve.

Innovation Trailblazer – Pepco Holdings

Christopher Friel, Senior Business Program Manager

Chris is our 2023 Innovation Trailblazer because of his unwavering dedication to testing innovations that streamline our operations. Despite setbacks, he learns from failures, adapts, and adjusts accordingly to make sure we’re moving in the right direction. Notably, he assisted in an overhaul of our billing system for charging electric vehicles at company-owned stations. Thanks to his innovation, we’ve successfully streamlined billing processes and enabled accurate reporting for our teams.

Rising Star of Innovation – Pepco Holdings

Braden Hause, General Engineer

Braden fosters collaboration in the workplace to transform groundbreaking ideas into a reality. With a knack for strategic planning, Braden moves swiftly to gather the right stakeholders to ensure projects cross the finish line.

Innovation Visionary – Pepco Holdings

Brian W. Miles, Senior Methods Specialist

A longtime innovator, Brian made a big impact in 2023 by adding a layer of protection to a commonly used tool for our employees, preventing workplace injuries as a result. That’s not all – Brian also worked across Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco to trial a new device for our substation equipment, making tasks safer, easier, and more accurate for our operations.

Innovation Maestro – Pepco Holdings

Scott Chubb, Senior Business Analyst

Scott didn’t hesitate when tasked with solving a decade-long challenge for another department. He gathered scattered data from multiple systems into a comprehensive dashboard, allowing teams to measure performance and track progress seamlessly. While technically a “side project”, his innovation played a huge role in boosting productivity, accountability, and efficiency in the workplace.

Innovation Excellence – Pepco Holdings

Fault Current Indicator Documentation App Project

Hafiz Osama, General Engineer

Cory Buxton, Manager Distribution Automation

Robert Spelman, Senior Manager Construction and Maintenance

Danielle Powell, Supervisor Underground

Cody Tran, Engineer

Adeel Khawaja, Associate Engineer

Joseph Zappacosta, Senior Data Scientist

John Beachell, Manager Data Analytics

The Innovation Excellence award goes to a team of out-of-the-box thinkers who recognized the need for a more digitized system. With this project, they replaced paper sheets and manual data entry with an app. Now, teams can scan device barcodes in the field and add necessary information seamlessly, reducing errors and saving time.

Pepco | The Source

This year we celebrated our first annual Innovator of the Year Awards, where we had the privilege of recognizing our top innovators across Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco who have gone to great lengths to ensure safe and reliable energy service to our customers. Throughout 2023, they developed groundbreaking solutions to streamline our operations and innovated new and improved ways to deliver a more positive and personalized customer experience.

Please join us in congratulating our fellow team members who are driving the innovations that pave the way for a cleaner, brighter, and more equitable future!

Audience Favorite Edison Place – Pepco

Automating the Import of TSO’s Outside World to Model to ADMS Project

Brian Strojny, Manager Operations Support

Kushal Patel, Service Analyst IT

and John McGarrity, Section Engineer

At Pepco, we use a variety of tools to help operators maintain situational awareness to help match real-world conditions and provide accurate solutions. The “Automating the Import of TSO’s Outside World to Model to ADMS” improved our tools, seamlessly integrating an external network model to enhance Pepco’s state estimation and contingency analysis. The project was like completing a puzzle – stitching missing pieces from the broader network directly into our system. As a result, it helps to prepare operators for unexpected events, and the automation both minimizes errors and increases efficiency.

Audience Favorite – Delmarva Power

Centralized Regulatory Resource Center

Jeffery Shalaway, Senior Rate Analyst and William Brooks, Former

The “Centralized Regulatory Resource Center” is a one-stop shop for teams to find resources, track projects, and access important information. The system which also features a visual tracking system to showcase progress of goals, has improved employee engagement and helps Delmarva Power team members work better together.

Audience Favorite ARO – Atlantic City Electric

Intern Playbook Project

Shelly Weckerly, Manager Project Control

Ruda Nighot, Project Cost Analyst

Jordan Burgess, Project Cost Analyst

Gabriel Gaines, Associate Project Cost Analyst

Jamie Wilson, Manager Project Controls

Steve Hambleton, Manager Project Controls

Elizabeth Tewolde, Manager Project Controls

Matt Silberstein, Senior Project Cost Analyst

and Dawson Green, Senior Project Control Estimator

This innovative group of individuals created the “Intern Playbook” to give interns a real-world project, not just busywork. It helps interns, who we see as the future energy leaders, to understand the big picture of department goals, see how different parts of the team collaborate, and make work a fun and valuable experience. As a result, intern satisfaction was rated high, and all 2023 intern offers in this department were accepted. In addition to providing value to the next generation of energy workers, this system proved successful in helping current team members work efficiently and feel more included.

Innovation Lead Ambassador of the Year – Pepco Holdings

Mohammad Shariati, Manager Project Controls & Rabia Durrani, Senior Business Analyst

This year, we had such a strong group of innovation sponsors across the organization that we decided to award two Innovation Lead Ambassadors of the Year!

Mohammad Shariati: Passion is the first word that comes to mind with Mohammad. He truly exemplifies passion for innovation, building a team of innovation ambassadors, coaching others, creating informative flyers, and even developing his own system to track progress on new ideas – all in 2023! His dedication is admirable and played a big role in moving our company forward last year.

Rabia Durrani: Rabia is all about finding ways to work smarter, not harder. In 2023, she led an ideation session with 25 participants, generating 35 ideas to tackle challenges and find ways to streamline processes, utilize resources efficiently, and improve training for skill development.

With a keen focus on finding ways to improve workflows and services, Rabia leads by example and uses innovation to drive meaningful change throughout our organization.

Innovator of the Year – Pepco Holdings

Jeffrey Alex Shalaway, Senior Rate Analyst

Jeff is a true innovator, using his creativity to develop new ideas to improve our processes so that we can better serve our customers. Last year, he took the initiative to develop a comprehensive dashboard to track work and information for his teams. Since its inception, this dashboard has proven especially helpful for new employees, making it much easier for everyone to collaborate and ultimately helping us build a better, brighter future for the regions we serve.

Innovation Trailblazer – Pepco Holdings

Christopher Friel, Senior Business Program Manager

Chris is our 2023 Innovation Trailblazer because of his unwavering dedication to testing innovations that streamline our operations. Despite setbacks, he learns from failures, adapts, and adjusts accordingly to make sure we’re moving in the right direction. Notably, he assisted in an overhaul of our billing system for charging electric vehicles at company-owned stations. Thanks to his innovation, we’ve successfully streamlined billing processes and enabled accurate reporting for our teams.

Rising Star of Innovation – Pepco Holdings

Braden Hause, General Engineer

Braden fosters collaboration in the workplace to transform groundbreaking ideas into a reality. With a knack for strategic planning, Braden moves swiftly to gather the right stakeholders to ensure projects cross the finish line.

Innovation Visionary – Pepco Holdings

Brian W. Miles, Senior Methods Specialist

A longtime innovator, Brian made a big impact in 2023 by adding a layer of protection to a commonly used tool for our employees, preventing workplace injuries as a result. That’s not all – Brian also worked across Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco to trial a new device for our substation equipment, making tasks safer, easier, and more accurate for our operations.

Innovation Maestro – Pepco Holdings

Scott Chubb, Senior Business Analyst

Scott didn’t hesitate when tasked with solving a decade-long challenge for another department. He gathered scattered data from multiple systems into a comprehensive dashboard, allowing teams to measure performance and track progress seamlessly. While technically a “side project”, his innovation played a huge role in boosting productivity, accountability, and efficiency in the workplace.

Innovation Excellence – Pepco Holdings

Fault Current Indicator Documentation App Project

Hafiz Osama, General Engineer

Cory Buxton, Manager Distribution Automation

Robert Spelman, Senior Manager Construction and Maintenance

Danielle Powell, Supervisor Underground

Cody Tran, Engineer

Adeel Khawaja, Associate Engineer

Joseph Zappacosta, Senior Data Scientist

John Beachell, Manager Data Analytics

The Innovation Excellence award goes to a team of out-of-the-box thinkers who recognized the need for a more digitized system. With this project, they replaced paper sheets and manual data entry with an app. Now, teams can scan device barcodes in the field and add necessary information seamlessly, reducing errors and saving time.

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey, here at GoDaddy.

My name is Abbey. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada and came to the U.S. to complete my undergraduate and master’s degrees. I’ve always been passionate about the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG)* issues and business, so I pursued my degrees in directly related fields. After grad school, I worked in ESG Consulting in New York City and then subsequently moved out to the Bay Area to work on ESG within a company. I have since worked for a few tech companies in ESG roles that focus on ESG strategy, reporting, and investor engagement, and greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate strategy.

At GoDaddy, I’m responsible for driving forward our voluntary and mandatory ESG reporting strategy, GHG emissions and climate-related work, and other strategic ESG projects. I love collaborating and working with teammates from across the globe to help grow and scale ESG within the company.

Can you share more about the work your team has done to reduce GHG emissions?

At GoDaddy, we believe everyone has a critical role to play in addressing the climate crisis.

In early 2022, the Corporate Sustainability** & ESG team worked cross-functionally to set our first GHG emissions reduction target. We focused our goal and efforts on our greatest areas of impact and influence, such as our data centers and corporate real estate. These teams are responsible for driving our emissions reductions and made amazing progress through footprint optimization, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

We are proud to have achieved our goal to reduce our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50% from a 2019 baseline at of the end of 2023!

What are you most proud of, regarding GoDaddy’s ESG progress from this past year?

We’ve made so much progress in the last year! I’m particularly proud of the work the Corporate Sustainability & ESG team, whose collaborative efforts with various teams throughout the organization have greatly improved our sustainability reporting processes and controls. With increasing expectations and emerging regulations, the efficiency, accuracy, and quality of our reporting is paramount.

What are GoDaddy’s key focuses regarding ESG in 2024 and beyond?

In 2024, our objective is to enhance our ESG prioritization assessment in line with evolving regulations. We intend to undertake a robust analysis, utilizing a current state assessment and value chain mapping, while incorporating internal and external stakeholder perspectives. This comprehensive approach will provide us with an updated understanding of GoDaddy’s ESG-related impacts and potential related risks and opportunities.

Additionally, while we’re proud of our success in achieving our GHG emissions goal, we know we still have more work to do. Moving forward, we hope to develop new and thoughtful plans that push us to reduce our environmental impact even further.

How do you feel that the organization supports you in your work?

ESG work is inherently collaborative and cross-functional. To address most priorities across the company and drive progress, we must partner with teams across the organization. Since joining GoDaddy, I’ve been so encouraged by leaders and team members with their support and excitement as we navigate our next steps in our company’s ESG journey.

You can view GoDaddy’s latest Sustainability Report here, which was published on April 25, 2024.

*Environmental , Social, Governance
How a company is managing its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities to create shared value for our company and our stakeholders.

**Sustainability
All of a company’s efforts to reduce its impact on the world around it (people and planet).

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

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Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey, here at GoDaddy.

My name is Abbey. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada and came to the U.S. to complete my undergraduate and master’s degrees. I’ve always been passionate about the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG)* issues and business, so I pursued my degrees in directly related fields. After grad school, I worked in ESG Consulting in New York City and then subsequently moved out to the Bay Area to work on ESG within a company. I have since worked for a few tech companies in ESG roles that focus on ESG strategy, reporting, and investor engagement, and greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate strategy.

At GoDaddy, I’m responsible for driving forward our voluntary and mandatory ESG reporting strategy, GHG emissions and climate-related work, and other strategic ESG projects. I love collaborating and working with teammates from across the globe to help grow and scale ESG within the company.

Can you share more about the work your team has done to reduce GHG emissions?

At GoDaddy, we believe everyone has a critical role to play in addressing the climate crisis.

In early 2022, the Corporate Sustainability** & ESG team worked cross-functionally to set our first GHG emissions reduction target. We focused our goal and efforts on our greatest areas of impact and influence, such as our data centers and corporate real estate. These teams are responsible for driving our emissions reductions and made amazing progress through footprint optimization, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

We are proud to have achieved our goal to reduce our scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50% from a 2019 baseline at of the end of 2023!

What are you most proud of, regarding GoDaddy’s ESG progress from this past year?

We’ve made so much progress in the last year! I’m particularly proud of the work the Corporate Sustainability & ESG team, whose collaborative efforts with various teams throughout the organization have greatly improved our sustainability reporting processes and controls. With increasing expectations and emerging regulations, the efficiency, accuracy, and quality of our reporting is paramount.

What are GoDaddy’s key focuses regarding ESG in 2024 and beyond?

In 2024, our objective is to enhance our ESG prioritization assessment in line with evolving regulations. We intend to undertake a robust analysis, utilizing a current state assessment and value chain mapping, while incorporating internal and external stakeholder perspectives. This comprehensive approach will provide us with an updated understanding of GoDaddy’s ESG-related impacts and potential related risks and opportunities.

Additionally, while we’re proud of our success in achieving our GHG emissions goal, we know we still have more work to do. Moving forward, we hope to develop new and thoughtful plans that push us to reduce our environmental impact even further.

How do you feel that the organization supports you in your work?

ESG work is inherently collaborative and cross-functional. To address most priorities across the company and drive progress, we must partner with teams across the organization. Since joining GoDaddy, I’ve been so encouraged by leaders and team members with their support and excitement as we navigate our next steps in our company’s ESG journey.

You can view GoDaddy’s latest Sustainability Report here, which was published on April 25, 2024.

*Environmental , Social, Governance
How a company is managing its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities to create shared value for our company and our stakeholders.

**Sustainability
All of a company’s efforts to reduce its impact on the world around it (people and planet).

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

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