Month: March 2025

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 11, 2025 /3BL/ – Discovery Education, the creator of essential K-12 solutions used in classrooms around the world, today announced the availability of its latest free guide for educators. Entitled Expanding Opportunities: How District Leaders Can Champion Career Readiness, this new guide provides school leaders with a comprehensive roadmap to improving students’ career readiness, as well as actionable strategies, exemplars, and solutions for overcoming common obstacles to workforce preparedness.

Traditional academic paths alone are not sufficient to prepare students for the complexities of today’s labor market. In the current era of rapid technological change and evolving workforce demands, educational systems must adapt to better prepare students for varied and demanding career opportunities. To support school systems as they make the needed transitions, Discovery Education’s latest guide offers school leaders:

New insights into the importance of career readinessEmerging strategies for scaling Career and Technical Education initiativesTips for building capacity for high-quality Career and Technical Education through teacher professional developmentNew approaches to connecting classrooms to the workplaceFunding sources for Career and Technical Education initiatives and Work-Based Learning experiences

Educators are encouraged to download their free copy of Expanding Opportunities: How District Leaders Can Champion Career Readiness today.

“School leaders play a crucial role in developing students’ career readiness by building strategic partnerships, securing funding, and ensuring program sustainability,” said Brian Shaw, Discovery Education’s Chief Executive Officer. “Expanding Opportunities: How District Leaders Can Champion Career Readiness empowers district administrators to play a significant role in supporting this important work. I hope educators nationwide will use the strategies contained in this guide to create learning environments that support the development of the skills today’s students need for future success.”

On Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 2:00 PM ET, Discovery Education will host a special virtual event during which it will unveil new enhancements to its suite of digital services supporting the development of the critical skills and knowledge all students need for success. To learn more about this online experience, and to register to attend, visit the event registration page.

For more information about Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources and professional learning solutions, visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

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About Discovery Education 
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art, K-12, digital solutions support learning wherever it takes place. Through award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, innovative classroom tools, and strategic alliances, Discovery Education helps educators deliver powerful learning experiences that engage all students and support 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. Through partnerships with districts, states, and trusted organizations, Discovery Education empowers teachers with essential edtech solutions that inspire curiosity, build confidence, and accelerate learning. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

Contact 
Stephen Wakefield 
Discovery Education 
Phone: 202-316-6615 
Email: swakefield@discoveryed.com

ESG in Action

Measuring the effectiveness of ESG-labeled bonds can be a challenge, particularly with “outcome bonds,” which have specific environmental or social goals but lack standardized assessment criteria. To mitigate risks such as greenwashing, investors need a systematic approach to assessing these bonds. A case study of a rainforest reforestation project illustrates such an approach and highlights the importance of thoroughly evaluating both economic returns and environmental impacts to ensure credible, effective investments.

US$6 trillion
size of ESG-labeled bond marketUS$213 billion
size of blended-finance market1,100
number of blended-finance projects

Authors

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Fixed Income Responsible Investing Research
Kathleen Dumes, CFA| Research Analyst—Responsible Investing Portfolio Solutions and Research

Measuring the effectiveness of ESG-focused bond holdings can be a challenge, as such securities differ in how easily they can be evaluated, and how effectively they meet environmental or social goals. So-called outcome bonds offer well-defined objectives but are not covered by standard industry assessment criteria. Investors, in our view, need a systematic approach to evaluate them.

Fixed-income investors can invest in various securities to achieve positive social and environmental effects while also achieving financial objectives. The opportunities are considerable: the ESG-labeled bond market reached nearly US$6 trillion in size in 2024. But ESG-labeled bonds may differ in the way they are structured and how easily they can be evaluated. A comparison between three such kinds of bonds illustrates this (Display).

One difference lies in the extent to which the use of the bonds’ proceeds is specified. Issuers of green or social bonds can nominate projects they wish to fund, while issuers of sustainability-linked or KPI-linked bonds can be flexible in the use of proceeds, providing they help meet sustainability targets (for example, increasing the use of renewables in an issuer’s energy mix).

Both kinds of bonds can be evaluated according to special principles drawn up by organizations working to enhance the quality and consistency of reporting in environmental finance.

Outcome bonds, the third type of ESG-labeled bonds, are tied to specific projects and have well-defined goals. They typically appeal to investors who focus on a specific theme—reforestation, for example, or healthcare—or who want clear insight into their investment’s impact. But outcome bonds are not covered by specific principles or other standardized evaluation criteria.

This makes them harder to evaluate. As with other forms of sustainable financing, there may be scope for various risks, including greenwashing—the possibility that the beneficiaries of the funding might exaggerate the project’s environmental or social effectiveness. One way to guard against this, in our view, is for investors to evaluate the bonds systematically.

Bondholder Economics Come First

Outcome bonds typically form part of a project-financing package known as blended finance, in which the role of bondholders is augmented by institutional development agencies, such as the World Bank, that provide finance at concessional rates. Other parties to the transaction are more directly involved in managing the project’s environmental or social impacts (Display).

In this example, investors buy bonds issued by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a World Bank entity. The IBRD uses the proceeds to fund eligible sustainable development projects but sets aside some of the cash flows that would normally have been paid as coupons to investors. It pays them instead to a rainforest reforestation project.

This project is managed by the contractor, which forms reforestation partnerships with owners of deforested land. The reforestation results in carbon removal units (CRUs) which are sold to the offtaker—in this case, a US tech company that wants CRUs to offset carbon dioxide emissions caused by the construction of its data-processing centers.

From an investor’s perspective, the transaction needs to be evaluated for economic return and environmental impact. In our view, bondholder economics are a foundational requirement. To our mind, if they don’t make sense (if the expected investment return in the rainforest transaction, for example, is no better than that offered by a regular World Bank bond) the deal should not be considered.

If the economics make sense, investors can focus on the greenwashing or other ESG-related risks. In the rainforest project, this means examining the ability and commitment of the contractor and offtaker to fulfill their respective obligations in creating the CRUs and applying them to offset emissions.

Removal Is Better than Avoidance

Investors can gain a sense of a project’s viability and environmental integrity by examining the agreement between contractor and offtaker. Terms to look for include, for example, the price negotiated for the offtaker, the effectiveness of the emissions mitigation strategy, the project’s effect on its immediate environment and local communities, and how the CRUs will be used (Display).

Each attribute can be assigned a score, based on specialized knowledge of environmental investing (an expertise some investors may have in-house, or that they may need to source from external parties). In this example, the price per ton for the CRUs is lower than the average for carbon allowances in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, but well above prices paid in the voluntary carbon market. This bodes well for the project’s viability and rates a strong score.

Emissions-management strategies are, typically, avoidance (use of technologies that don’t emit greenhouse gases) and removal (partial mitigation of existing emissions). The rainforest CRUs count as removal, which has greater impact than avoidance.

While the durability and community outreach contract provisions rate medium scores, the fact that the offtaker will be retiring and cancelling the CRUs, rather than holding them on the balance sheet for possible future trading, is another positive, contributing to a high overall score.

ESG Track Record Matters

Evaluation of the offtaker should probe widely, in our view, and consider not only the intended use of the CRUs but also the company’s history of bond issuance, its environmental, social and governance (ESG) record and its plans for future emissions reductions. In this case, the offtaker has a high credit rating and ambitious plans to be carbon negative by 2030. By 2050, it aims to have removed more carbon dioxide than it has emitted over its entire history.

Its progress on emissions reduction has been good overall but faces short-term challenges. On Scope 1 and 2 emissions (respectively, those produced internally by the company’s own activities, and those attributable to its choice of external energy sources) the company has performed well. It sources more than 95% of its energy from renewables, and its data center efficiency, or power usage effectiveness, is about 1.18, compared with the global average of 1.5.

The challenges lie in its Scope 3 emissions, which are attributable to suppliers along the value chain. These are difficult for any company to control but, in the offtaker’s case, they increased 42% between 2020 and 2023 because of the rush, sparked by the AI revolution, to build more and bigger data centers. The challenge is compounded by the fact that emissions from steel, cement, aluminum and other construction-related sectors are notoriously hard to abate.

Against these negatives, investors can weigh the likelihood that the surge in data-center construction will be short-lived, together with evidence that the offtaker is proactive in reducing emissions. For example, the rise in its overall emissions between 2020 and 2030, once retired carbon removals are counted, was 29%—still significant, but much lower than the spike in its Scope 3 emissions, and testament to the effectiveness of the company’s carbon-reduction efforts.

This suggests, in our view, that the offtaker is committed to carbon reduction and will use the rainforest project CRUs appropriately.

Systematization Yields Sharper Insights

A systematic approach, applied consistently across outcome-bond opportunities, can enable comparisons. These, in turn, can lead to sharper research insights. Comparisons should be systematic too, in our view. For example, investors can use a matrix to plot the strengths and weaknesses of projects’ contracts and offtakers (Display).

The blended-finance market consisted of more than 1,100 projects in April 2024, worth US$213 billion. As the need for environmental financing continues to evolve, the investors best positioned to benefit, in our view, are those who analyze the risks and opportunities systematically.

References to specific securities discussed are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be considered recommendations by AllianceBernstein L.P.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations, and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams and are subject to change over time.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

Mastercard

Entrepreneurial spirit is high among women in Europe – particularly younger generations – in a bid to pursue their dreams, gain financial independence, improve work-life flexibility, and make a difference in the world.

New research from Mastercard, released ahead of International Women’s Day 2025, reveals four in ten (40%) women in Europe have considered running their own business with appetite from Portuguese (62%), Polish (47%) and Greek (46%) women surpassing the regional average.

As well as formal business ventures, three in ten (30%) women in Europe want to start a side hustle to make money outside of their main job in the next three years, again rising among Gen Z women (52%) and millennials (41%), and 26% of women already have one.

For many European women, the entrepreneurial spirit is inspired by an appetite to earn more money (54%), gain financial independence (49%) and improve work-life flexibility (39%), but motivations differ among generations.

Purpose-led Gen Z

Gen Z women in Europe are most likely to want to start a business to do ‘something good for the world’ (19% vs. 13% millennials, 14% Gen X and 16% Baby Boomers).

Of those who have already started their own business, Gen Z women are significantly more likely to say they did so to pursue their dream (50%) than millennials (39%), Gen X (32%) or Baby Boomers (33%).

Gen Z female founders in Europe are also more likely to say they were motivated by the belief their idea can change lives for the better (20% vs. 16% European women average).

In reflection of this, education and childcare are among the top three sectors that European Gen Z women would like to start a business in, while cosmetics is by far the most popular sector for Gen Z – a trend that isn’t seen among any other generation in Europe. 

Top sectors Gen Z women in Europe would like to start a business in:

Cosmetics (26% vs. 10% European average among women)Childcare (14% vs. 9% European average among women) Education e.g. tutor (13% vs. 10% European average among women) = Online seller (13% vs. 11% European average among women) Food and drink (12% vs. 11% European average among women) = Hospitality and leisure (12% vs. 10% European average among women)

Barriers facing women entrepreneurs

Despite evident appetite for entrepreneurship, the research shows that for many women across Europe, including those who have already started a business, there are still barriers in place.

Women in Europe report lower confidence in general business-related skills compared to men – particularly financial decision making (25% vs. 37% for men), public speaking (25% vs. 32%), and networking (15% vs. 23%).

This sentiment extends into running their own business too. Concerns of risk of failure (31%), lack of financial resource (29%) and lack of experience (28%) are the top barriers cited by women who have not yet started their own business. Women in Europe are also more likely than men to say lack of confidence is a hurdle (21% vs. 18% of men). This gap is particularly noticeable among Gen Z (25% of women vs. 21% of men) and millennials (26% of women vs. 18% of men).

Women who have already founded a business also say they struggle disproportionately with caring responsibilities and work-life balance, with women founders more likely than men to say caring commitments were a challenge when starting their business (15% vs. 11%). Women entrepreneurs are also more likely than men to say they struggle to switch off from work on holidays (48% vs. 42%), find it harder to balance childcare (35% vs. 33%) and skip holidays for business (36% vs. 29%).

Addressing the confidence gap

Training on how to develop a business plan (21%), and more widely available and accessible grants for small businesses (21%), are the top two things that would make women in Europe more confident in starting their own business.

Younger women are also more likely than older generations to feel they’d benefit from a support network, with 30% of Gen Z women saying having a business partner would make them more confident – the number one factor for this generation. Access to a mentor (24%) also scored higher than access to grants (20%) for Gen Z women.

Beatrice Cornacchia, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Europe at Mastercard, said: “This research highlights the remarkable entrepreneurial spirit among women across Europe, particularly within younger generations.

“Despite the progress made by women entrepreneurs, the findings also underscore the challenges that still exist. These barriers emphasize the need to provide them with the support they need to succeed. At Mastercard, we are committed to building an inclusive digital economy and equipping small businesses with the tools and opportunities they need to grow and thrive.”

Across Europe, Mastercard is spearheading initiatives that support entrepreneurs and their business. This includes Mastercard Strive in the EU, which has awarded grants of up to €500k to innovative organizations supporting micro and small business growth across the EU, and Mastercard Strive in the UK which has reached more than one million small UK businesses, more than half of which are led by women.

For more information about Mastercard initiatives to support small businesses see Small & Medium Business Solutions | Mastercard Payment Solutions

Methodology 

The study was commissioned by Mastercard, with fieldwork conducted by independent research agency, Opinium. Between 16th December 2024 – 3rd January 2025, an online quantitative survey was carried out across 41 countries in North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It included: 

42,500 general population (21,000 within Europe)4,300 entrepreneurs / founders (1,830 within Europe) 

The full list of countries surveyed: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, China, Thailand, South Korea, South Africa, Nigeria, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kenya, Egypt, Ukraine, Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Canada, USA. 

Media Contacts
Alexia Morris, Mastercard
alexia.morris@mastercard.com

About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

www.mastercard.com

Originally published by Mastercard

Follow along Mastercard’s journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere.

The Community Outreach Center (COC), in collaboration with KeyBank, recently hosted a free identity theft workshop as a service to the community, aimed at empowering individuals with essential knowledge to protect against identity theft.

Held February 18, at the Community Outreach Center (FedEx Room) in Monsey, N.Y., the workshop welcomed participants who were eager to learn how to safeguard their personal and financial information.

The event provided attendees with valuable insights on how identity theft happens, the warning signs to watch for and simple steps to secure personal information both online and offline. Participants also discovered effective ways to monitor their credit reports and bank statements and received practical guidance on what to do if they ever become victims of identity theft.

“We are proud to have offered this workshop free of charge as part of our commitment to supporting and educating our community,” said Rabbi Hersh Horowitz, executive director, Community Outreach Center. “The workshop was a great success, and the feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. We are already looking to replicate this workshop during evening hours so individuals who work during the day will have the opportunity to attend as well.”

The workshop is part of the Money, Me & Key program, which is designed to provide clients and members of the communities KeyBank serves with the tools and knowledge to help them make the financial moves best in line with their situation and their goals.

“At KeyBank, we believe financial empowerment is key to building stronger communities. Our workshops cover a wide range of topics, from banking basics and how to improve your credit score to buying a car, preventing identity theft and considering home ownership. We’re thankful to have such a great community partner in Community Outreach Center,” said Gary Wawrzycki, branch manager, Pearl River, KeyBank.

About KeyBank 
In 2025, KeyCorp celebrates its bicentennial, marking 200 years of service to clients and communities from Maine to Alaska. To learn more, visit KeyBank Heritage Center. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187 billion at December 31, 2024. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.

About Community Outreach Center 
Community Outreach Center is Rockland County’s (N.Y.) comprehensive resource of guidance, advocacy, hands-on assistance and referrals for a broad range of needs including: social services; affordable and subsidized housing; employment services; senior services; passports, social security cards & documentation; government programs and benefits; and municipal and local government matters. For more information, visit https://coconline.org/.

Client background

This company is a property and casualty insurer primarily focused on the restaurant and bar industry. Originally based in the Midwest, they have a long-standing reputation for strong established relationships in the industry with alliances and owners.

The business challenge

As the insurance organization planned to grow, it recognized that its aging systems, essential for claims management and other core functions, needed an upgrade to support its expansion into new states and to strengthen its presence in existing markets.

With a young workforce and an evolving structure, they also needed to build stronger leadership to ensure the success of the transformation efforts.

The company engaged Baker Tilly to bring a balanced perspective to the transformation efforts.

Strategy and solution

Over five years, Baker Tilly collaborated with the insurer to support both technological transformation and organizational readiness. Key elements of the collaboration included:

Change management and transformation: Developed and deployed a change management methodology, including leadership training and employee engagement strategies. Baker Tilly developed a tailored digital transformation change management methodology that aligned with the organization’s agile framework. This methodology helped the company consider the impacts of the new systems and processes and establish a sustainable approach to transformation.Leadership development: In addition to day-to-day coaching provided to new change leadership (interviewing, onboarding, coaching). Baker Tilly collaboratively built a leadership development program to develop critical skillsets in the next generation of leaders.Balanced vendor governance: Throughout the engagement, Baker Tilly provided strategic guidance to ensure that technology decisions aligned with the company’s long-term needs, balancing technical perspectives with organizational readiness.

Baker Tilly played a crucial role in supporting the program’s launch and ensuring that the foundational elements were in place. The results were evident: the insurer successfully implemented new technologies, laid the foundation for scalable growth and built internal capabilities that continue to drive success. The change management methodology has become an integral part of the organization’s core business operations, and the leadership development program is now managed internally by their HR team.

Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist to learn more!

Chemistry plays a pivotal role in enabling our daily lives and global commerce. For instance, refrigerants help to power the cold chain that supports getting food or medicines to where they need to go, keeps data centers cool so our data keeps flowing, and creates more comfortable climates at home, work, and on the road.

It’s also chemistry that helps enable our next great innovations and technology. For instance, the adoption of low global warming potential (GWP) hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) solutions, such as Opteon™ products, helps to advance climate and decarbonization goals. In fact, the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, enacted in 2020 to minimize the environmental impact of high GWP hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) technology, is accelerating the transition to next-generation HFO technology. Over the next two decades, this transition is estimated to create 150,000 new jobs, increase manufacturing by $39 billion in the U.S., and reduce global temperature rising by 0.5ºC1.

In an exciting development for the future of sustainable cooling technologies, Chemours has announced its role as a Founding Member of the newly established Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH). This innovative Engineering Research Center, led by the University of Kansas (KU) and supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is set to revolutionize the refrigerant industry.

EARTH is designed to tackle the impact of refrigerants on global warming with a mission to develop a transformative, sustainable refrigerant lifecycle that mitigates environmental impacts while enhancing the energy efficiency of HVAC systems. By bringing together industry leaders, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), refrigerant reclaimers, and academic institutions, EARTH aims to drive innovation and create practical solutions that can be implemented on a global scale.

Dr. Chuck Allgood, PhD, a Technology Fellow and recognized leader at Chemours, was appointed as a voting member of EARTH’s Industrial Advisory Board. His involvement signifies Chemours’ commitment to contributing its knowledge and resources to the development of sustainable refrigerant innovation. The advisory board will provide strategic guidance and ensure that the center’s research is aligned with consumers’ needs and is practicable for real-world implementation.

The work conducted at EARTH will have far-reaching implications, potentially setting new standards for refrigerant production and lifecycle management. The center’s efforts to enhance energy efficiency in HVAC systems could lead to significant reductions in energy consumption, further supporting global sustainability goals.

This groundbreaking collaboration marks an exciting chapter in the journey toward sustainable refrigerant solutions, and Chemours is proud to be at the forefront of this essential work.

 

1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): High-GWP refrigerants, https://www.epa.gov/snap, Accessed Feb. 19. (2023).

Velders, G. J. M., Daniel, J. S., Montzka, S. A., Vimont, I., Rigby, M., Krummel, P. B., Muhle, J., O’Doherty, S., Prinn, R. G., Weiss, R. F. & Young, D. Projections of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions and the resulting global warming based on recent trends in observed abundances and current policies. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 22(9), 6087-6101 (2022). DOI:10.5194/acp-22-6087-2022.

Xu, Y., Zaelke, D., Velders, G. J. M. & Ramanathan, V. The role of HFCs in mitigating 21st century climate change. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 13(12), 6083-6089 (2013). DOI:10.5194/acp-13-6083-2013.