Month: May 2024

A diversity of real estate developers is essential for strengthening the housing development ecosystem as a whole and expanding the supply of homes that are affordable. The Growing Diverse Housing Developers (GDHD) program – funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation – provides diverse real estate developers with training, networks, grant capital, and resources needed to grow the capacity of their development firms and expand their affordable housing production. 

In this video, hear from GDHD participants and stakeholders as they discuss the challenges that diverse developers face including access to capital, and talk about the importance of the Growing Diverse Housing Developers Program in providing diverse developers with the capital, networks, and resources needed to be full-fledged housing developers. Affordable housing development firms led by people of color – both nonprofit and for-profit – are highly underrepresented in the housing industry, yet are a critical resource for strengthening the housing development ecosystem as a whole and expanding the supply of homes that are affordable. To increase the supply of homes that are affordable and to support the sustained growth and financial independence of experienced development firms that are led by people of color, the Growing Diverse Housing Developers (GDHD) program was created. GDHD supports real estate diverse developers in geographies nationwide with training, mentorship, and grant funds to help them expand their business and create greater access to affordable housing in their communities. It is implemented by Capital Impact Partners, Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), and Reinvestment Fund through a $30 million grant from Wells Fargo.

Watch the video: https://ow.ly/mMEm50Rmyqr

Bloomberg published its 2023 Impact Report, which outlines how the company continues to address climate change through its operations, philanthropy and collaborations with partners and industry peers. The report also details how Bloomberg integrates sustainable business practices into its operations and decision-making and how it helps to drive progress in the communities where employees and clients live and work.

The report highlights Bloomberg’s latest ESG datasets, tools and research, including products that help firms assess risks and opportunities as the world transitions to a net-zero emissions economy and meet new climate-related regulatory requirements. Bloomberg also outlines its progress toward reaching its validated science-based net-zero emission reduction target by 2040, including the recent signing of an 80 MW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for renewable energy.

“We’re working to increase access to data and information that helps investors and policymakers make informed decisions that both grow the economy and help catalyze investment in a clean energy future.” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “And, through our support of industry initiatives such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, we advanced our work providing resources to financial firms to help them measure and manage emissions across their portfolios.”

Read the full letter here.

A selection of highlights from the 2023 Impact Report include:

Environmental Impact

Reducing emissions in line with a 1.5°C future

Received validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for Bloomberg’s long-term science-based net-zero target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our value chain by 2040Progressed toward our SBTi-validated near-term science-based carbon emissions reduction targets with 21% Scope 1 and 2 reductions and 27% Scope 3 reductionsObtained 62.2% of Bloomberg’s global electricity consumption from renewable sourcesSigned an 80 MW Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)—our largest PPA to date—with clean energy developer Ørsted

Supporting coherent, impactful climate action

Introduced new indices within the Bloomberg Climate Index family including the new Bloomberg Commodity Carbon-Tilted IndexReleased new Bloomberg Terminal tools for analyzing physical risk and net-zero transition riskLaunched new Bloomberg Terminal data and analytical tools to provide a comprehensive view of the nature-related impacts and dependencies in investment portfoliosEnhanced our solutions for disclosure, reporting and analysis against key regulatory frameworksPublished more than 2,500 research publications on the global low carbon transition and commodity markets

Social Impact

Investing in an increasingly diverse workforce

Invested in our leaders, helping them build the skills needed to elevate and model inclusive leadership with the launch of three new inclusive leadership initiativesEstablished a task force to respond to the challenges and needs of our colleagues with disabilitiesCollaborated with more than 20 external organizations, including forming new partnerships to help us identify and hire candidates from underrepresented communitiesLaunched the Bloomberg Veterans Impact Program, which seeks to improve how we recruit, retain and advance veterans’ careers at BloombergLaunched a comprehensive women’s health program in the UK to normalize women’s health in the workplace, break stigma and offer ongoing support

Driving Social Change

Launched a first-of-its-kind data tool to assess the potential impact of a company’s business on any of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)Over 19,000 employees volunteered in their communitiesDelivered over 2.8 million meals and over 79,000 care kits to those in needExpanded cross-regional programs to demystify financial services and encourage women and under-represented communities to consider careers in financeHelped bridge the digital divide through mentoring interactions and by promoting employee-driven funding for open-source softwarePromoted diverse voices in media and the arts through diversifying our news sources and extending programs to strengthen financial journalism

The Impact Report is third-party verified, and has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards specific to our industries and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and it incorporates select content from CDP. The 2023 Impact Report and supplemental reports can be viewed and downloaded at www.bloomberg.com/impact.

About Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

Media Contact
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by Seth Goldman, co-founder of Eat The Change and Just Ice Tea

Two years ago this month I was informed by senior leaders from The Coca-Cola Company (KO) that Honest Tea, the brand I launched out of my house in 1998, would be discontinued. Despite the brand’s success as the world’s first organic and Fair Trade certified bottled tea brand, supply chain disruptions during the pandemic made Honest Tea a victim of Coke’s “Fewer, Bigger Bets” strategy.

But what felt like a huge setback turned out to be a gift, and an interesting lesson in the challenges big corporations have in scaling mission-driven brands.

Within ten days of hearing the news about Honest Tea’s demise, our sense of loss morphed into a determination that Honest Tea’s organic and Fair Trade values were too important – to our farmers (most of whom found out about Honest Tea’s termination from my LinkedIn post) and our customers, to be allowed to disappear. But the biggest piece of inspiration came via an email I received from one of our longtime tea suppliers:

“I am just hearing the news and reading your note on LinkedIn. The story of Honest Tea is very connected to our own, our company, and the gardens and people with whom we work at origin, so the news is definitely a “gut punch,” for us as well. For my father and myself, while the financial consequences are material, the loss of confidence in Organic and Fair Trade agriculture that this decision is likely to engender in the wider community is very saddening and probably more consequential over the long term – especially in terms of lost motivation at origins. We have been so inspired to be part of the journey that you led, and want to try to continue the effort (and fight the suggestion that this was all a failed experiment).”

Find out how Seth and his team moved into action to launch a new rapidly growing brand. Read the article here – https://greenmoney.com/from-honest-to-just-how-coca-colas-fumble-with-honest-tea-turned-into-an-unexpected-gift