Month: September 2024

Originally published in American Airlines’ 2023 Sustainability Report

Expanding Our Commitment to Prevent Illegal Trafficking of Wildlife

In 2022, American became the first U.S. airline to join the Transport Taskforce of United for Wildlife, and, in 2023, we continued to implement our commitments outlined in the Buckingham Palace Declaration.

This organization, established by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, is working to protect elephants, rhinos, monkeys, birds, insects, reptiles and other endangered species, including plants, from the illegal wildlife trade that is pushing them toward extinction. This global criminal enterprise is worth an estimated $20 billion annually, with poachers and traffickers trading in a wide variety of endangered wildlife and wildlife body parts, generally for sale as trophies or for purported medicinal uses. Their activities are also linked to money laundering as well as the trafficking of drugs and weapons.

American has pledged to increase awareness among team members regarding the nature, scale and consequences of these activities. In 2023, we began our journey by working to understand our exposure to wildlife trafficking. Through an intensive analysis of our global network and the smuggling routes of animal products, we developed a risk assessment and used it to craft our strategy. It highlights specific regions, routes and hotspots within our network that pose high risks of smuggling.

The global nature of our Cargo operation and its significant presence in areas at risk of wildlife trafficking made it a logical choice for launching this strategy. Cargo served more than 21,000 unique origin and destination pairs in 2023. Highest-volume stations are spread throughout the world, including London, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami and Los Angeles.

We have made wildlife awareness training a requirement for frontline Cargo team members, and over 95% of them completed it in 2023. We began the process of expanding training to other teams as well. We also worked to increase awareness among Cargo team members by distributing informational posters outlining common red flags and trafficking methods for display in more than 40 Cargo stations worldwide.

We also worked closely with our Corporate Security department to develop new channels for reporting suspected trafficking incidents. And to raise awareness, our Living Green Employee Business Resource Group sponsored events on this topic.

Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C., and CARROLLTON, Texas, September 18, 2024 /3BL/ – Discovery Education and LIV Golf today announced a new multi-year partnership, LIV to Learn, that will positively impact half a million students worldwide. This innovative collaboration offers students and educators digital resources that explore STEM, life skills, and career opportunities, while also addressing topics of teamwork and sustainability.

LIV to Learn is a key component of the LIV Golf Potential, Unleashed Impact Strategy which aims to positively impact 5.4 million young people. LIV to Learn unites partners across sectors to increase opportunities for education, employment, and training for young people. Since its founding, LIV Golf has launched numerous programs focused on inspiring a better tomorrow through the game of golf. The pillar programs of Potential, Unleashed – LIV to Learn, LIV Green, Transform the Game, and the Way We LIV – demonstrate a holistic and transformational strategy for impact.

“Inspiring students through the game of golf is a core focus of LIV Golf’s Potential, Unleashed impact and sustainability initiative,” said Greg Norman, the CEO and Commissioner at LIV Golf. “We are proud to partner with Discovery Education to create new ways to make golf more accessible to young people, while developing the important skills and values that play a huge role in the game we love. We believe these tools will help foster a passion for golf and encourage students to reach their potential as we work to inspire the leaders of tomorrow.”

The program includes ready-to-use resources, teacher-led and family activities, and a facilitator guide. LIV to Learn features exclusive content from some of the biggest names in golf, including two-time Masters champion and RangeGoats GC captain Bubba Watson, U.S. Open champion and Cleeks GC captain Martin Kaymer, LIV Golf Wild Card player and former Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim, Cleeks GC star and 2023 DP World Tour Player of the Year Adrian Meronk, and more.

“To partner with such a great organization like Discovery Education is a very exciting moment for our league,” says Watson. “I am honored to play a small role in this and look forward to seeing the global impact we can make together.” 

This week, as part of the program launch during the LIV Golf Dallas Team Championship, local students and educators are visiting Maridoe Golf Club for an opportunity to learn about STEM-related careers at LIV Golf. A series of events for students and educators will include virtual field trip filming, a behind-the-scenes tour of the event operations and broadcast compound, meet and greets with athletes, and fan village tours.

“Our extensive experience with major leagues has strengthened our belief in the power of sports to ignite student curiosity,” said Amy Nakamoto, Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Discovery Education. “We are excited to partner with LIV Golf to channel that curiosity into learning, fostering essential skills to help students thrive in their futures.”

Additional resources will be released in the coming months, including a virtual field trip, digital lesson bundles, and language translations. Learn more about LIV to Learn at livtolearn.discoveryeducation.com or within Discovery Education Experience.

###

About LIV Golf 
The LIV Golf League is the world’s only global golf league featuring 13 teams, a 14-tournament schedule, and many of the world’s best golfers. Launched in 2022, the League was designed to expand the sport on a global level and create new value within the golfing ecosystem while enhancing the game’s societal impact. A landmark investment by LIV Golf also launched The International Series, a set of 10 enhanced events sanctioned by the Asian Tour, with elevated prize funds in world-class destinations, offering a pathway for leading professional and amateur golfers from around the world into the LIV Golf League. Hall of Fame golfer and renowned businessman, Greg Norman, is the League’s first and founding CEO and Commissioner. Only two years into operations and with tournaments across North and Latin Americas, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Europe, LIV Golf remains committed to developing the sport at every level and exposing more people to the positive virtues of the game through its unique blend of intense competition and entertainment. 

LIV Golf is owned and operated by LIV Golf Investments whose vision and mission are centered around making holistic and sustainable investments to enhance the global golf ecosystem and unlock the sport’s untapped worldwide potential.

About Discovery Education 
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, innovative classroom tools, and corporate partnerships, Discovery Education helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 100 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and trusted organizations to empower teachers with leading edtech solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

Contacts 
Grace Maliska 
Discovery Education 
Email: gmaliska@dicoveryed.com

Allen Barrett 
LIV Golf 
Email: media@livgolf.com

Jackson Egen learned the value of basic lab research as a graduate student at UC Berkeley in the 90s while working under the direction of renowned immunologist James Allison.

“Jim emphasized that more impactful cancer immunotherapies could come from a detailed understanding of how the immune system works,” recalls Jackson, who today serves as Vice President of Research Oncology at Gilead.

Not only did James teach fundamentals to future researchers, but he went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2018 for his research that discovered ways to stimulate the immune system to attack and kill cancer cells.

“Since those early days, I’m always thinking about ways to harness the immune system to fight cancer,” says Jackson. In fact, it’s a key component of Gilead’s immuno-oncology strategy. In addition to tapping a person’s own immune system to detect and destroy tumors, the Research Oncology team is working to develop new ways to trigger cancer cells to self-destruct and disrupt the cellular neighborhood around tumors that promote their growth — all with a goal to also help reduce side effects of cancer therapies.

“We know how to stop cancer cells from dividing and we know how to get immune cells to kill tumors. But we can’t always do this without some collateral damage to healthy cells and tissues,” explains Jackson. “That’s the biggest challenge right now, but Gilead has the expertise and aspiration to create therapeutics that have the potential to be effective while limiting toxicity.”

It was Gilead’s proven track record in developing virology medications that was a calling to Jackson when he joined the company in 2021. “The company’s impact on virology drug development is legendary, so when I had the chance to help expand the Research Oncology group at Gilead, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to apply Gilead’s focus on developing transformational medicines to oncology.”

Fast forward to today, where in a case of the student imitating the teacher, Jackson emphasizes to his team the value of understanding the science behind our therapeutic programs learned in James’ lab. “Everything we do within the organization starts at the bench,” he explains. “Our path forward is informed by the data our scientists generate on a daily basis.”

Collaboration is also a key lesson he learned as a postdoctoral researcher in immunology at the National Institutes of Health. There, he had access to a great diversity of science led by the nation’s leading researchers in their respective fields. He explains how that taught him to proactively identify collaborators and the value of working as part of a larger team. These lessons have informed his belief that establishing strong cross-functional collaborations within Gilead and building key research collaborations with external partners is critical to achieving our ambitions in Oncology. Today, he encourages all levels of his team to contribute to company-wide strategy because he believes good ideas come from everyone. It’s also this type of engagement that he feels makes Gilead so unique.

“I love that my colleagues across the organization, regardless of department affiliation or title, are encouraged to generate ideas about what a new therapeutic might look like,” he says adding, “I believe this gives us a competitive advantage.”

Best of all, he’s encouraged by what the future in cancer care looks like and excited about Gilead’s role in innovating.

“Over the past decades we’ve seen great progress toward making cancer a chronic or, in some cases, a curable disease,” Jackson says. “I’m optimistic that this pace of therapeutic discovery will increase and that Gilead and Kite will continue to have an important role in helping bring new life-saving treatments to cancer patients.”

Originally published by Gilead Sciences