Month: June 2025

Posted by Action Against Hunger.

By Diana Sharone Tumuhairwe.

When Roger Okuna fled Congo with his wife and four children (ages ten, five, three, and one), life was brutal. They arrived at the Uganda’s Kyangwali refugee settlement in November 2023 and were supplied with blankets, fuel containers, and a few meager provisions. Sadly, a robber took everything, and the family was once again left with nothing. “We didn’t have food to eat,” Roger recounts, the memory still raw. “I once went hungry for three days.”

A pastor in the refugee settlement heard of his plight and offered him 20,000 Uganda shillings ($6) and some food. It kept them going for a few days, but the constant worry about feeding his young family, especially his pregnant wife, took a heavy toll. Roger is hypertensive, and his blood pressure soared. While mornings brought hope and promise for many people, Roger dreaded mornings. “Every time the morning came, I dreaded what the day would hold, what were we going to eat? I preferred the nighttime,” Roger recounted. For six months, he made a living with whatever labor he could find, but the income was barely enough to survive on.

Then, his life turned a corner. Roger and his family were enrolled in the Action Against Hunger’s Fresh Food Program, which supports refugees and households with pregnant and lactating women. The family received monthly Fresh Food Vouchers pre-loaded with 16,5000 Ugandan shillings per family member — about $4.50 each— enabling them to buy meat, fruits, and vegetables from designated vendors. An essential component of the program is nutrition education, which supports families in making informed food choices that prevent malnutrition.

Action Against Hunger also introduced Roger to the Optimized Land Utilization Model (OLUM). This approach encourages efficient land use on small plots. It was new territory for Roger. Back in Congo, he was a commercial farmer with traditional farming methods that he used to cultivate maize and beans on a large scale. The idea of nourishing a family of six using a small plot of land and Action Against Hunger’s cutting-edge technical advice was foreign to him, but he was willing to try.

The OLUM approach transformed Roger’s life. He received seedlings of tomatoes, eggplant, and onions and learned how to maximize his small piece of land to grow nutritious vegetables year-round. He and his family now not only have enough to eat, but they also have surplus produce to sell, earning extra income for other necessities. Over time, Roger built up enough income to participate in a Village Savings and Loans Association.

Roger’s transformation extended beyond farming – he also learned about nutrition and gender equity in Action Against Hunger’s care group. He speaks openly about how his understanding of family and fatherhood has evolved. “I have learned to treat my wife better,” he explains. “I was not a bad man, but I was just ignorant about certain things, especially about pregnant women and caring for children.” He understands the importance of relieving his wife of hard labor during pregnancy. “Before I depended on my wife for labor” Roger confirms. “But now I know that she shouldn’t do certain forms of work while pregnant.” He admits that, culturally, he once believed nurturing children was solely his wife’s role. Now, he understands his integral part in the family and embraces any knowledge that makes him a better father and husband. Roger is now a more intentional parent. “I can now prepare meals for my lastborn, and I see myself as a better-educated father,” he says.

Roger took a series of Action Against Hunger courses on breastfeeding, hygiene and sanitation, and proper nutrition. The more he learned, the more he felt drawn to share information with his community. He signed up to become a care group volunteer and eventually became a “lead father” for other men in his community. Roger found great joy in educating the men and women of his community, witnessing firsthand the positive changes his efforts brought.

Roger is unfazed by the ridicule of other men and the community he sometimes receives. “As long as I am empowered,” he asserts, “I don’t care if people laugh or call me less of a man. As long as I see my family thriving, I keep fighting to provide and be present.” His commitment has won over many members of the community. Thanks to his tireless effort, every household in his neighborhood now has a pit latrine and a handwashing station, remarkable improvements that have reduced open defecation. His neighbors have also embraced simple yet crucial practices like handwashing, recognizing their importance in preventing illness. Small backyard vegetable gardens in every neighborhood homestead further illustrate Roger’s influence. Around the community, these positive impacts have been nicknamed “the Roger effect.”

Neighbors regularly gather at Roger’s homestead, eager to learn more. He welcomes them, enthusiastically sharing his expertise on nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene practices), and the crucial role men play in family health. He has become a beacon of change, transforming his community through one conversation, one demonstration, and one household at a time. He is even building a temporary church on a piece of land near his home, and is an ordained clergyman passionate about changing lives, both physically and spiritually. Once a hungry refugee living in fear of what each morning would bring, Roger Okuna has become a provider, a leader, and an example of resilience and hope.

***

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 21 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across over 55 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

HERSHEY, Pa., June 13, 2025 /3BL/ – The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) released its 2024 Responsible Business Report, providing an update on the company’s progress towards business resilience. The report outlines how the company is implementing responsible and sustainable practices across its value chain, operations and communities.

“At Hershey, our vision of being a Leading Snacking Powerhouse is driven by our unwavering focus on creating moments of goodness for our customers and consumers, the communities where we work and live, and the planet that sustains us all,” said Michele Buck, Chairman, President and CEO of The Hershey Company. “Bringing goodness to the world is what we are built to do, and we’ve been doing it for more than 130 years.”

Building Resilience Throughout the Value Chain

Hershey is working with industry, civil society and government partners to build resilience throughout its value chain.

• Improving farmer livelihoods: The Hershey Income Accelerator Program expanded significantly in 2024, nearly doubling the number of farming families receiving cash incentives to 3,492, measurably reducing poverty, growing income and increasing the number of participants with savings according to an independent study.
• Developing long-term relationships with farming cooperatives: Hershey signed a groundbreaking five-year agreement with nine cocoa-producing cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire aimed at partnering to improve cocoa farming by investing in community-based resources that improve household well-being, preserving the environment and strengthening farm resilience, and enhancing cooperatives’ profitability and entrepreneurial skill building.
• Advancing living wage and income initiatives: Hershey advanced its living wage initiatives through new benchmarking partnerships and leadership roles in developing industry-wide wage mapping tools. These efforts aim to ensure fair wages for workers throughout the supply chain.

Operating Efficiently and Reducing Waste

Environmental stewardship is integral to Hershey’s strategy, from driving operational efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to reducing materials and waste.

• Progress on Science-Based Targets: Hershey has achieved a total reduction of 1.6 million metric tons of carbon vs 2023 and a 33% reduction in forest, land and agriculture emissions from 2018.
• Transition to renewable energy: The company sourced 83% of its electricity from renewable and zero-emission sources.
• Water conservation efforts: Hershey exceeded its goal of reducing absolute water consumption by 20%, against a 2018 baseline, in priority facilities where water is most scarce.
• Material Reduction: As part of its efforts to reduce packaging material, two million pounds of packaging were eliminated in 2024.

Engaging with Communities

Hershey actively supports the well-being and development of the communities where it operates.

• Community Donations: Hershey has contributed more than $130 million in cash and products to community partners focused on education, community economic development, inclusive communities and health and human services where we live and work.
• Employee Volunteerism: Hershey employees volunteered more than 101,000 hours in 2024, supporting various community initiatives. This volunteerism demonstrates the company’s commitment to giving back and making a positive impact.

About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is an industry-leading snacks company with a purpose to make more moments of goodness through its iconic brands. With more than 20,000 remarkable employees worldwide, Hershey delivers delicious, high-quality products across approximately 70 countries, generating over $11.2 billion in annual revenues. The company’s portfolio includes beloved chocolate and confectionery brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, Shaq-a-licious alongside popular salty snacks including SkinnyPop and Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels.

For more than 130 years, Hershey has been committed to operating responsibly and supporting its people and communities. The candy and snack maker’s founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909, and since then, the company has focused on helping children succeed through access to education.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com.

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We have divided our forest carbon stocks into three pools that allow us to track our carbon inventory and to follow and account for stored carbon when timber is harvested. The three pools are: 1) merchantable portions of trees, 2) above ground non-merchantable portions of merchantable trees and pre-merchantable trees, and 3) below ground portions of all trees (excludes soil carbon).

Our forests, on all lands owned at the end of 2024, stored a total of 143 million metric tons of CO₂e in all three pools. Merchantable above ground portions accounted for 91 million metric tons of CO₂e; 28 million metric tons of CO₂e were in pre-merchantable and above ground portions; and 24 million metric tons were in below ground portions of trees.¹

The carbon stored in forest soils accounts for approximately 56% of forest carbon stocks and is a major component of the contribution of forests as a natural climate solution.² Soil carbon pools can be dynamic over long periods of time, but they do not flux in predictable, reportable ways like above ground carbon does in response to annual tree growth and harvest. The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program is continuing to develop methods to accurately measure soil organic carbon (SOC) and include estimates in their reporting.³ Utilizing the most recent regional estimates of SOC measured to a depth of 100 cm, our Idaho soils are storing ~100 million metric tons of CO₂e, our South soils are storing ~166 million metric tons of CO₂e, and our ownership is storing ~67 million metric tons of CO₂e in the understory and dead wood. For our ownership, the combined total tree carbon, soil carbon, and understory and dead wood is ~476 million metric tons of CO₂e and is a result of our lands being maintained in working forest conditions.

Carbon from harvested wood remains in wood and paper products until the end of their use and eventual decay. The rate of decrease in storage is dependent on the specific product end use. Approximately 68% of total tree carbon in a sawlog-sized tree is transported to a sawmill and 55% of that amount is captured in solid wood products, such as lumber and plywood, as a long-lived carbon vault. The total tree carbon that is used for pulp and paper products has a shorter life span. Pulp and paper products have a rate of decay or release that is high initially as products are used, recycled, or disposed of, then the rate slows substantially after initial use because of the portion that is stored in landfills.

When wood-based products are used in place of fossil fuel-intensive products like steel or concrete, there is a permanent benefit to our atmosphere. For example, researchers have found that the CO₂ intensity of lumber production is 50% less than steel and 25% less than that of cement. By building with wood, additional carbon is stored in everyday products and buildings. A wood house will store carbon until it decays or is replaced. If the wood house stands for 108 years, the forest will have regrown two to four cycles resulting in compounding carbon storage. When trees are sustainably harvested, wood continues to store carbon in the thousands of products we use every day, from paper products to lumber. Trees then regrow, repeating the cycle.

The continuing cycle of active forest management, including planting, growing, and harvesting, optimizes a forest’s ability to sequester and store carbon and improves resiliency, maintaining the ability to sequester carbon in the future. The life cycle of managed forests and the production of long-lasting wood products have a significant climate benefit, with relatively low emissions associated with the production of lumber. Over multiple cycles of wood products production and forest renewal, total carbon storage increases.

Footnotes:

1. Carbon removal and storage calculations for 2021-2024 were completed within the Carbon Sub-model in the Fire and Fuels Extension (FFE) of the Forest Vegetation Simulator and utilizing the Jenkins J. C. 2003 National-Scale Biomass Estimators for United States Tree Species.
2. G. M. Domke et al., “Toward Inventory-Based Estimates of Soil Organic Carbon in Forests of the United States,” Ecological Applications 27, no. 4 (April 19, 2017): https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1516
3. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program: https://www.fia.fs.usda.

In the latest blog, Worldly’s Chief Marketing & Content Officer Jay Gaines and Cascale’s VP Communications & Marketing Lee Green share their reflections on the Cascale Forum: Ho Chi Minh City, including all of the honest and probing moments on and off stage. They share insights on the significance of hosting the event in Vietnam, how both organisations collaborated to the success of the event, and what stakeholders can expect in the future.

Read the full blog, titled: From Vietnam: Cascale, Worldly Forge New Partnership Momentum

Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2024 Sustainability Report

Business Aligned People – Centered Strategy

By valuing individuality, we grow together.

At GoDaddy, we are committed to attracting, motivating, and retaining qualified talent from around the world. We strive to foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees can learn, grow, and succeed, driven in part by their ability to understand how their work connects to our business’ objectives and customers’ experience.

A workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve strengthens our innovation, creativity, and competitiveness. The unique perspectives and experiences of our employees enhance our ability to connect with more people and drive greater impact for entrepreneurs globally. As we work to make opportunity more inclusive for all, we remain focused on cultivating an environment where our employees can thrive. We focus on running inclusive recruitment processes to hire qualified talent, compensating our employees fairly based on the work they perform, and cultivating a respectful and supportive company culture.

Our People-Centered Strategy in Action

We realize the value of having a community consisting of many different types of people, to enable employees as individuals, and empower teams to produce better business outcomes. This requires executing inclusive programs and policies across our employee experience lifecycle, including for recruitment, career and professional development, and engagement programs.

We also integrate people-centered priorities in how we operate across our business operations, including approaching our partnerships, investments, policies, and communication with similar thoughtfulness and care. Finally, to help customers feel supported and that their needs and feedback are considered in the products and services we offer them, we work to understand the different types of customers we serve as well as how we can help them individually succeed.

Driven by Accountability

Building an inclusive and equitable workforce requires accountability and transparency. Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Steering Committee, which is composed of senior leaders, plays a key role in fostering an inclusive employee and customer experience by providing feedback, direction, and championship as needed.

As part of our commitment to accountability, we are also focused on transparent disclosures. By regularly analyzing and sharing our workforce representation and pay parity results through public reports, we’re holding ourselves accountable to enable a truly inclusive environment where all can thrive.

Representation Matters

We believe that representation matters because it helps in attracting and retaining the best talent, inspiring innovation, and building great products and services to better serve entrepreneurs everywhere. Our aim is to foster an environment reflective of the diverse perspectives and experiences of our customers and the communities we serve.

Board Composition

Our business and ability to enhance long-term value are supported by our mission to make opportunity more inclusive for all through our work to serve our diverse customer base. Our Board, in conjunction with the Nominating and Governance Committee, seeks qualified individuals to serve as directors who broaden, among other things, the mix of experience, skills, knowledge, personal and professional backgrounds, age, tenure, and diversity of our Board to help serve that mission. For more information on our Board please review our 2025 Proxy Statement on our Investor Relations Financials page or the Frameworks & Metrics section in the Appendix.

Global Gender Diversity¹

In 2024, women represented 30% of GoDaddy’s global workforce and non-binary employees represented 0.2%. Since we started reporting this information in 2015, women employed by GoDaddy has increased by 5 points, and women in leadership positions has increased by approximately 6 points.

All company

• 2024 Women: 30%
• 2023 Women: 30%

Leaders and Directors

• 2024 Women: 31%
• 2023 Women: 32%

Technical roles

• 2024 Women: 22%
• 2023 Women: 21%

Non-tech roles

• 2024 Women: 39%
• 2023 Women: 38%

Non-binary

• 2024 Non-binary: 0.2%
• 2023 Non-binary: 0.3%

U.S. Race & Ethnic Diversity by Role²

GoDaddy’s representation of employees of color in the U.S. is up 6 points since we started reporting this data in 2017. Additionally, the U.S. representation of employees of color in leadership roles is up 9 points and the percentage of people of color in technical versus non-technical roles has increased 11 points since we started reporting this information in 2017.

All company

• 2024 People of Color: 38%
• 2023 People of Color: 38%

Leaders and Directors

• 2024 People of Color: 33%
• 2023 People of Color: 31%

Technical roles

• 2024 People of Color: 42%
• 2023 People of Color: 41%

Non-tech roles

• 2024 People of Color: 33%
• 2023 People of Color: 34%

A Closer Look at U.S. Race & Ethnic Diversity³

Employees who identify as Asian increased by nearly 1 point, while all other groups remained within a couple of tenths of percentage points year-over-year.

We recognize that ethnicity and race are distinct, and we continue to assess our data collection efforts against government reporting agencies and best practices. For more details on our workforce diversity, please refer to the Frameworks & Metrics section.

2024

• 0.7% American Indian
• 17.3% Asian
• 4.5% Black
• 10.2% Hispanic
• 4.4% Multiracial
• 0.5% Pacific Islander
• 4.4% Undeclared
• 57.9% White

2023

• 0.7% American Indian
• 16.4% Asian
• 5.1% Black
• 10.5% Hispanic
• 4.5% Multiracial
• 0.4% Pacific Islander
• 4.4% Undeclared
• 58.1% White

Pay Parity

Our compensation programs and practices are designed to compensate our employees fairly based on the type of work they perform and their performance, and we continue to publicly report our data to demonstrate transparency and accountability to both current and prospective employees.

In 2015, we were one of the first companies to publish pay parity results, and we’re proud to celebrate 10 years of sharing our gender pay data and 8 years of U.S. ethnicity pay data. While our goal is a $1.00-to-$1.00 pay parity target, we consider slight variations—just a few cents on either side of a dollar—to be fair results based on factors such as variable compensation components like bonuses, equity grants, employee performance, and experience.

Pay parity is more than a one-time, check-the-box exercise—it’s an ongoing, rigorous process. In 2024, we continued to partner with a third- party expert to execute a multivariate regression analysis accounting for variables like performance and length of time in a role, which are considered reasonable explanations for differences in pay. This supports our efforts in applying appropriate and accepted methods and standards to our analysis and mitigations.

Gender Compensation Data^4,5

As illustrated in the chart above, GoDaddy-wide, we continue to maintain global gender pay parity, ensuring that people earn the same regardless of their gender. This commitment spans all career levels globally, as we believe true equity involves everyone.

U.S. Race & Ethnicity Compensation Data⁶

Our goal is to ensure people earn the same regardless of race and ethnicity. This data shows that people of color have comparable pay relative to white employees. Differences of a cent or two are due to the analysis being a single point in time data set, which includes total compensation awarded, such as annual bonuses and equity grants, all of which are variable and impacted by employee performance.

A Closer Look at Compensation Data — U.S. Race & Ethnicity⁷

• See chart above

To learn more, read our 2024 Sustainability Report.

About This Report

This GoDaddy 2024 Sustainability Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching corporate mission and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2024. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our website and our annual Sustainability Report. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting ESG@GoDaddy.com.

This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector, and the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please refer to the Frameworks & Metrics section.

¹Categories are not mutually exclusive.

²Categories are not mutually exclusive.

³Due to rounding, totals may not equal 100%.

⁴Categories are not mutually exclusive.

⁵While we continue to track the data for non-binary employees, the sample size is too small to report.

⁶Categories are not mutually exclusive.

⁷While we continue to track the data for American Indians and Pacific Islanders, the sample size is too small to report.

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

Edy Francisco didn’t intend to get into the auto wrapping business. He started out as a car detailer in Omaha, Nebraska, and noticed that several of his customers’ cars had wraps on their vehicles.

“That’s how we got our idea to see if we could do wraps on cars,” said Francisco, who owns Omaha Auto Wraps.

Francisco’s vision – to grow his business by doing more – helped Omaha Auto Wraps have tremendous growth over its five-year history. His business now includes vehicle wrapping for commercial and personal vehicles, custom signs and floors, and screen printing and embroidery for custom T-shirts to outfit teams like construction crews or car dealership employees. That growth came with a need to invest in equipment.

“We were getting more orders for clothing from our customers and our machines weren’t enough to get the job done,” Francisco said. “I was financing my equipment with other [banks] and hadn’t done so well.”

That was until he met Said Morga Cruz, a small business specialist at U.S. Bank. Morga Cruz has helped Francisco purchase multiple pieces of equipment, including an embroidery machine that now can complete six shirts at once instead of the single shirt their previous machine allowed for.

“It was pretty easy deciding on this loan with U.S. Bank, because I was a little worried about how I was going to come up with cash because a major portion of the equipment here was purchased with cash,” Francisco said.

Omaha Auto Wraps now uses U.S. Bank for business checking and a business credit card as well as cash flow management. Morga Cruz also worked with Francisco on additional equipment finance loans as well as a U.S. Bank Quick Loan to help renovate his rented space to fit his business’ needs.

“We are like a dream factory,” Morga Cruz said. “They have ideas, they have a business plan, but sometimes they don’t have the working capital or the connections to make those dreams come true. That’s why I believe banks, like U.S. Bank, are really important because they power human potential.”

It’s not just Francisco that is finding financing solutions with U.S. Bank, but his customers are, too.

“They’ve asked me if I offered financing,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t have anyone to recommend and simply told them no,” but now Morga Cruz is regularly in contact with businesses who come to Omaha Auto Wraps to finance wraps or other needs.

As for Francisco, many of his immediate goals have been checked off – but there’s still one that’s lingering for his business right now.

“My dream, personally, has been met,” Francisco said. “We got our own home, and our business has become settled. My goal now is that we have our own [building].”