Month: September 2024

Promoting equal opportunities for women is part of our broader work to build a more inclusive culture, and this requires intentional effort and continuous change. Our approach to improving the representation of women involves providing mentorship, training, and programs specifically tailored to address the unique challenges they face in our industry.

In 2023, we launched Advancing Women in Tech (AWT), a comprehensive learning experience designed to empower, retain, and support AMD women in technical careers. Research shows that many women leave the engineering workforce after about 4 to 10 years because they feel their employer is not investing in them, a sense of isolation due to the lack of a network of peers, and not knowing how to navigate a path forward in their career.i To help address these challenges, our AWT program targets AMD women at the Senior Engineer and Member of Technical Staff (MTS) levels.

The program includes sessions on career development, presentation skills, filing a patent, networking, and addressing the confidence gap. The AWT team travels to AMD sites and holds these workshops locally. Our Creative Studio filmed panel sessions with senior executive and technical women at AMD to allow every participant to learn from the same leaders, regardless of their location. Each section of content opens with one of these recorded panels. The program is extremely interactive, and participants come away enabled to better navigate the unique challenges of women in technical careers, with an expanded network of women and tools to enable them to advance in their careers.

In 2023, we held six programs, in San Jose, California, Markham, Canada, and Austin, Texas. We review feedback from participants and adjust content for constant improvement, which has led to the program evolving over time. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are expanding our offerings for 2024. We visited our Hyderabad site in February 2024 and hosted two well-received and impactful sessions. Looking forward, we will revisit the sites from 2023, expand with two additional sites, and offer alumni events for past participants.

Read more at https://www.amd.com/en/corporate/corporate-responsibility/diversity-belonging-inclusion.html.

Originally published in AMD 2023-24 Corporate Responsibility Report. 
 

i “Understanding Generation Z in the workplace,” Deloitte, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/understanding-generation-z-in-the-workplace.html (accessed May 15, 2024).

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

From working in sales in Mexico to being in construction in the Kansas City area, every job Jose Barrios has held has propelled him closer to his dream of opening his own restaurant.

“If you don’t have a dream, you don’t have a purpose,” said Barrios, who, with his wife, owns Royal Biscuit, a breakfast hotspot in Blue Springs, Missouri. “I visited a couple of different banks, but they didn’t guide me. They just told me, ‘You need this’ and that’s it.”

That’s where Jessica Jordan came in, prepared to support Barrios and provide options as he grew his business. Barrios was one of Jordan’s first customers as branch manager at the U.S. Bank Blue Springs North location outside of Kansas City. Over the years, Jordan and her team helped Barrios with everything from consumer checking accounts for Barrios’ employees to planning the expansion of his business.

“I was looking for a building to create another Royal Biscuit,” Barrios said. “Instead, I got the opportunity to buy a creamery. So, I was like, ‘Why not?’ It’s something new, and it’s supporting community.”

Barrios purchased Odessa Creamery, about 30 minutes from Royal Biscuit, which dishes up ice cream cones and hamburgers in Odessa. Prior to Barrios purchasing the business, the creamery had been open for more than 50 years.

“We were his very first stop to get his new business account set up, as well as establish credit card processing for the creamery through U.S. Bank’s Elavon,” Jordan said. “He has this saying that he makes friends, not customers. That’s how we feel every time that he walks into the building. We are not only his bankers, but we are his friends here to help them every step of the way.”

To get where he is today, Barrios pointed at his past and the people who have supported him. For years, he worked two jobs – starting at 5 a.m. and ending at 10 p.m. Fast food and construction, as well as working at a breakfast and Mexican restaurant, were on his resumé before taking the plunge and opening Royal Biscuit.

“I really love being able to support business owners like Jose,” said Steve Sickmeyer, the Small Business Banking specialist who works with Barrios. “Having that opportunity to watch the business grow, you get to see the community begin to flourish. You get to see people get energized and get to come together to bring unity in our communities.”

Barrios’ drive to grow his businesses is ongoing, he said, and he is actively looking to open a second Royal Biscuit location.

“(U.S. Bank) helped me to keep growing,” Barrios said. “You can’t do anything by yourself. It takes a community of support to find success, to take care of people and to make dreams real.”

September 19, 2024 /3BL/ – Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed the first of two bill packages aimed at restricting the ability of investors to act on climate risk. This legislation would harm the nation’s capital market system by limiting the consideration of financially relevant information and putting retirement security at risk.

Ceres issued the following statement on the two bill packages:

“If passed and signed into law, these bills would impede shareholders’ engagement with the companies they own, limit visibility into corporate decision-making, place strict regulations and monitoring efforts on investors, jeopardize economic returns, and weaken the foundation of a strong free market. It is not the role of government to limit how financial professionals make decisions as they seek to maximize long-term shareholder value and returns.

“We have already seen severe economic consequences of restrictive investment policies in many states across the nation. When major banks in Texas could no longer finance the state’s public debt due to the restrictions placed on state investment policies, it resulted in more than $300 million in additional interest on municipal bonds in just the first eight months the law was in place. And in Oklahoma, municipalities are facing additional borrow costs due to the passage and implementation of anti-ESG legislation, raising borrowing costs for Oklahoma and creating hundreds of millions in additional expenses.

“The legislation up for debate this week in the U.S. House would do even more widespread damage. Policies that restrict investors and companies from considering all risk factors encroach on the free market, defy responsible business, and put Americans’ retirement savings at risk.” 

The House is expected to vote today on the second bill package, which would restrict the authority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to compel critical disclosures and oversee the shareholder democracy process. If enacted, the bill would dramatically shift the balance of power away from investors and towards corporate management, restricting transparency and inhibiting shareholder engagement.

About Freedom to Invest 

Freedom to Invest launched in 2023 to mobilize investment and business voices to defend against state and federal policies designed to undermine responsible business and financial investment practices. Hundreds of anti-ESG bills have been defeated in the last two years, including state legislation that would ban certain asset managers from working in states, make it a felony to use responsible investing principles, and upend municipal bond markets. For more information, visit www.freedomtoinvest.org.

About Ceres 

Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and sustainable world. United under a shared vision, our powerful networks of investors and companies are proving sustainability is the bottom line—changing markets and sectors from the inside out. For more information, visit ceres.org.

As an Operations Support Supervisor for CertainTeed Architectural in Plymouth, WI, Willie Hodges can’t say enough about his inspiring career journey at Saint-Gobain, and the family he’s made along the way.

Saint-Gobain is an industry leader with thousands of talented team members who are dedicated to one unified purpose: Making the World a Better Home. With more than 145 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada, there are so many robust and fulfilling career opportunities available. You’ll have the opportunity to work with colleagues from a wide range of businesses, cultures, and experiences.

Discover your career at Saint-Gobain North America here

Watch the Saint-Gobain video series Success in the Making 

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€47.9 billion in sales in 2023 
160,000 employees, locations in 76 countries 
Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050