Month: August 2026
Recognition programs often celebrate results. The most meaningful ones recognize how those results are achieved.
That is what makes Rashid Dadashi’s selection to Leaders in Sport’s 2026 Leaders Under 40 Class noteworthy. The honor acknowledges a new generation of sports business professionals who are redefining leadership through innovation, collaboration and long-term relationship building.
As Vice President of Global Partnerships at AEG, Dadashi has helped drive significant sponsorship growth across some of Southern California’s most recognized sports and entertainment properties, including the LA Galaxy, Dignity Health Sports Park, Crypto.com Arena, L.A. LIVE and the LA Kings. His work centers on creating strategic partnerships that connect brands with fans in authentic ways while supporting business growth across AEG’s portfolio.
Since joining AEG in 2015, Dadashi has advanced through the organization by consistently delivering results and embracing new challenges. His career progression from ticket sales to executive leadership reflects a broader trend across the sports industry, where high performing professionals are increasingly recognized not only for revenue generation but also for their ability to foster innovation and create value for partners and stakeholders.
That approach has translated into measurable success. Since 2022, Dadashi has generated more than $50 million in contractually obligated income and helped contribute to record sponsorship growth for the LA Galaxy. In 2025, both the LA Galaxy and Dignity Health Sports Park achieved record setting sponsorship revenue years, highlighting the growing importance of strategic partnerships in today’s sports landscape.
As the business of sports continues to evolve, leaders who can bridge commercial objectives with meaningful fan engagement are becoming increasingly valuable. Recognition such as Leaders in Sport’s Under 40 program shines a spotlight on professionals who are helping shape that future through creativity, collaboration and a commitment to excellence.
One button for all your media
Previously, contributors had to navigate separate buttons for different media types. Now, everything lives behind one integrated button — images, video, audio, and embeds included.
- Access all accepted media types from a single area
- See file types, sizes, and sources before you upload
- Reuse existing assets without re-uploading them
Why it matters
“A strong image is what keeps your readers engaged throughout your story.”
Here’s the case for prioritizing your inline media:
- Compelling media gives your story a chance to stand out in a crowded feed
- Sharp, well-chosen media signals credibility and professionalism
- The right media drives higher click-through and read rates
In short: inline media selection is a strategic decision, not a decorative afterthought — and it’s exactly why we’re rolling this update out network-wide.
Try it today — log in and look for the new media button in the editor’s toolbar.
In case you missed it:
Originally published on Aflac Newsroom
For families facing pediatric cancer, the ringing of the bell marks something extraordinary: the end of treatment.
The sound itself may only fill a hospital hallway, heard by parents wiping away tears, siblings cheering, nurses applauding and physicians smiling beside a child who has fought so hard to reach that moment. But the meaning of that bell travels much farther than its echo.
Hundreds — even thousands — of miles away, people are celebrating that victory, too.
Whenever a child completes treatment and rings the bell at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Aflac employees across the country receive a notification when they sign in to the employee intranet. A simple message appears on their screen announcing that another young patient has reached this milestone.
For just a few moments, work pauses.
A business analyst in Connecticut smiles before opening the day’s first spreadsheet. A claims specialist in Columbus, Georgia, shares the news with nearby colleagues. An account manager in New York, resolution specialist in Nebraska or consultant in Columbia, South Carolina, hundreds of miles from the hospital, quietly celebrate a child they’ve instantly grown affection for, yet will likely never meet.
For a company whose purpose is rooted in helping children with cancer and blood disorders, these notifications are much more than updates. They are reminders of why the work matters.
“This makes my day every time I see it and reinforces the reasons why I love my job and doing what we do,” said Jamie Howard, Group Partner Platform manager at Aflac.
Kristen Helgesen of Employer Services feels the same. As a cancer survivor herself, each notification carries special meaning.
“Especially kids who should never know the horror of cancer,” she said.
Behind every bell is a story.
It’s the story of a child who endured countless appointments, chemotherapy treatments, procedures and long days in the hospital. It’s the story of parents who learned to carry
hope and fear at the same time. It’s the story of physicians, nurses, child life specialists and countless caregivers who walked beside a family through every difficult step.
They are stories Aflac employees and sales agents have come to care about deeply.
Many have volunteered at hospitals, assembled comfort items, participated in fundraising events, supported programs through payroll or regular giving and met young patients whose courage has stayed with them long after the visit ended. Over time, pediatric cancer becomes more than a cause. It becomes personal.
So when a bell rings, employees know a child is walking out of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center with a future that feels a little brighter than it did before.
They also know not every journey ends with the ringing of a bell. That reality is never far away, and it makes every celebration even more meaningful.
Each notification includes only a few words on a computer screen.
But behind those words is a child who found the strength to keep going, a family beginning to exhale and a community of people — inside the hospital and far beyond its walls — celebrating together.
The bell may ring in Atlanta, but its hope echoes through every corner of Aflac, reminding employees that every effort, every volunteer hour, every donation and every day of work is part of something much bigger.
Because every ring is more than the end of treatment.
It’s the sound of hope fulfilled — and a reminder of why Aflac stands with children and families every step of the way
Aflac includes Aflac and/or Aflac New York and/or Continental American Insurance Company and /or Continental American Life Insurance Company.
Aflac | Aflac NY | WWHQ | 1932 Wynnton Road | Columbus, GA 31999
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EXP 7/27
Coats® (LSE: COA) is a world-leading Tier 2 manufacturer and trusted partner for the apparel and footwear industries.
The company delivers essential materials, components, and software solutions that help its customers grow, compete, and win. Present in more than 50 countries and with a complex global supply chain, Coats has embedded sustainability into its business strategy — recognizing that consistent measurement and collaboration are essential to reducing environmental impacts and supporting long-term growth. Details in this case study are derived from Coats’ 2025 Sustainability Report and a Cascale “Source of Good” podcast interview with Chris Dearing, vice president of sustainability.
“The Higg FEM gives us a consistent, externally validated format for communicating environmental performance at facility level, providing greater transparency and credibility for the brands and Tier 1 customers we supply,” Dearing said.
Key Takeaways
- Coats is using the Higg FEM to drive consistent, transparent environmental performance measurement across its global facilities.
- After efficiency gains led to a plateau in emissions reduction, Coats pivoted to structural interventions like onsite solar and renewable energy, resulting in a >50 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2019 levels.
- Coats has extended the Higg FEM framework to its strategic suppliers to promote standardized data collection and collaborative decarbonization.
- Circularity is a growing focus, with Coats incorporating recycled content into products like T2T Epic™ thread and Rhenoprint™ footwear components.
Beyond Efficiency
Early in Coats’ decarbonization journey, the company made meaningful progress through energy efficiency improvements — optimizing boiler operations, reducing heat loss, optimizing compressed air systems, and tightening energy management across its global manufacturing network. Over time, however, Coats’ internal sustainability data showed that Scope 1 and 2 emissions were beginning to plateau. The efficiency gains that had supported the company’s early progress were no longer enough to sustain momentum toward its science-based targets.
Analysis from Coats’ in-house sustainability platform, which manages data from more than 60 business units, helped the company identify where progress had slowed and where more structural interventions were required. These included onsite solar generation, renewable electricity sourcing, and fuel-switching projects designed to reduce reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources.
Building on this internal analysis, the Higg FEM, which is governed by Cascale and delivered through Worldly’s global technology platform, provided Coats with a recognized and externally validated framework for communicating facility-level performance consistently to brands and Tier 1 customers. This strengthened transparency, comparability and confidence in the company’s environmental performance.
The results were significant. By 2025, Coats had reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by more than 50 percent from a 2019 baseline — a direct outcome of using consistent data to guide strategic decision-making.
As Dearing explained, “The Higg FEM gave us a consistent way to measure environmental performance across our sites. Once we had that foundation, we could start engaging suppliers using the same framework.”
Extending Measurement Across the Value Chain
As Coats strengthened environmental performance within its own operations, the company recognized that achieving its longer-term climate ambitions would require the same rigor further up the value chain — where a significant proportion of environmental impacts occur.
Coats expanded Higg FEM to strategic suppliers, giving both Coats and its suppliers a shared methodology for measuring facility-level environmental performance. The initiative supports Coats’ Supplier Decarbonisation Programme by helping suppliers understand their own emissions profiles, establish carbon inventories, and identify practical reduction opportunities. With a common framework in place, conversations between Coats and its suppliers can focus on improvement rather than on reconciling different measurement approaches.
This collaborative approach reflects a broader shift in how Coats approaches sustainability — from measuring direct operational impacts to driving improvements throughout the value chain.
Embedding Circularity Into Product Innovation
Coats is also applying sustainability principles to product innovation, with circularity becoming an increasingly important focus.
The company has developed sewing threads containing recycled content and has launched its T2T Epic™ and T2T Gramax™ 100% recycled polyester threads, made from post-industrial and post-consumer textile waste to support textile-to-textile circularity. Rather than viewing recycled materials as a niche offering, Coats is working to incorporate circular principles into product development across multiple business segments.
Following its acquisition of Texon and Rhenoflex, Coats has expanded these efforts into structural footwear components and premium accessories.
Coats has also developed Rhenoprint™ RP Flow and RP Wave toe-box components, incorporating recycled content and more circular manufacturing approaches. Used in footwear applications such as toe puffs and heel counters, the product demonstrates how circular design principles can be applied to components that have traditionally relied on virgin materials — supporting customers’ own sustainability objectives while reducing waste across the value chain.
A Foundation for What Comes Next
Coats’ experience illustrates how standardized environmental data creates a foundation for sustained progress — moving from early efficiency gains to structural decarbonization, and from internal performance improvement to supply chain engagement.
By using Higg FEM across its own operations and extending it to strategic suppliers, Coats has built a common language for sustainability performance that supports continuous improvement, strengthens supplier relationships, and enables more credible progress toward its SBTi-validated near-term and net-zero targets.
Comcast recently joined community partners at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) to host two unique experiences honoring service members and military families.
On July 22, more than 700 people attended a free “Minions & Monsters” Watch Party at Carey Theater. A week later, nearly 300 service members and their families gathered at the Camp Lewis USO Center for a Hunt.Fish.Feed. Heroes Lunch.
“Service members and military families give so much, often in ways most people never see,” said Mona Dexter, Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast. “Sometimes support comes through a major initiative, and sometimes it’s something as simple as a movie, a meal, and a few hours together.”
“What matters is reminding those who serve and their families that their community sees them, appreciates them, and stands with them.”
Mona Dexter
Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs,
Comcast
A Free Afternoon at the Movies
Comcast hosted the “Minions & Monsters” Watch Party in partnership with the Armed Services YMCA and Lollipop Theater Network. The event featured three free movie screenings, snacks, giveaways, and photo opportunities.
Volunteers from all three organizations welcomed families, supported check-in, and helped make the experience easy and enjoyable from the moment the doors opened through the final credits.
For one military spouse, hosting the event at JBLM removed barriers that would otherwise have made a family trip to the movies impossible.
“Thank you for bringing this movie here and letting us in for free,” she said. “I don’t drive, my husband is deployed, and with three kids, taking the whole family to a movie theater is impossible.”
Serving Up Appreciation
On July 29, Comcast partnered with Sportsman Channel and USO Northwest to bring Hunt.Fish.Feed. to JBLM for the first time.
Created by Sportsman Channel, Hunt.Fish.Feed. uses wild game and fish to prepare meals for communities across the country. The program combines outdoor traditions, culinary creativity, and community service.
At JBLM, Chef Paul Comes and the Hunt.Fish.Feed. culinary team worked alongside Comcast volunteers to prepare and serve venison tacos, street corn salad, Southwest coleslaw, and fresh fruit salad.
“As a U.S. Marine Veteran, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our employee volunteers for stepping up to support service members and military families at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Events like the Hunt.Fish.Feed. Heroes Lunch are a meaningful reminder that service comes in many forms, whether in uniform or through giving your time to serve others,” said Roy Novosel, Vice President, Engineering & Technical Operations, Comcast Pacific Northwest. “I also want to thank the USO Northwest and Sportsman Channel for their outstanding partnership and shared commitment to honoring those who serve.”
“Together, we created an event that brought people together, strengthened community connections, and showed our appreciation for the sacrifices made by service members and military families every day.”
Roy Novosel
Vice President,
Engineering & Technical Operations
Comcast Pacific Northwest
Comcast’s commitment to the military community began with our founder, U.S. Navy veteran Ralph Roberts. We’re proud to support service members, veterans, and military families year-round through exclusive Xfinity member benefits, career opportunities for military-connected talent, investments in trusted nonprofit partners, and employee-led service across the country.
Learn more about our commitment to the military community and explore exclusive offers here.