Author: sHq_LoGiNz

DENVER, June 5, 2025 /3BL/ — KeyBank has awarded a $300,000 grant to Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise) to help disadvantaged households in Colorado and Utah remain safely, stably and affordably housed through low-income housing options that are healthy and sustainable. 

The KeyBank grant builds on the momentum of Enterprise’s Rocky Mountain Resilience Academy, expanding hands-on support for housing partners in Colorado and Utah to advance their development and organizational goals. It will also help affordable housing providers access new federal, state, and local funding—positioning them to launch projects that reduce carbon emissions and boost community resilience. 

“Enterprise’s mission is to make home and community​​ places of pride, power and belonging, and platforms for resilience and upward mobility for all,” said Chris Picardi, KeyBank Colorado market president. “This mission aligns perfectly with KeyBank’s vision of investing to protect the environment, and we are honored to support this program with our grant.” 

The Rocky Mountain Resilience Academy – initially launched in 2023– offers affordable housing owners and operators access to training, tools, peer learning, technical assistance, and grants needed to achieve their program goals.

“Low-income and historically under-resourced communities are hit hardest by energy burdens and climate events. If we don’t act now to make affordable housing more resilient and energy-efficient, these families will face rising costs and housing instability,” Enterprise VP and Rocky Mountain Market Leader Jennie Rodgers said. “This grant provides affordable housing providers much-needed support to protect the health and wellbeing of their residents and communities.”

About Enterprise Community Partners

Enterprise is a national nonprofit that exists to make a good home possible for the millions of families without one. We support community development organizations on the ground, aggregate and invest capital for impact, advance housing policy at every level of government, and build and manage communities ourselves. Since 1982, we have invested $80.9 billion and created 1 million homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – all to make home and community places of pride, power and belonging. Join us at enterprisecommunity.org.

About KeyCorp
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 $189 billion at March 31, 2025.  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. 

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Nearly 1 in 3 women will experience rape or attempted rape in their lifetime—a heartbreaking statistic that’s even higher among women of color and Indigenous communities, according to the Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW).

This month, the CCAW marked its 20^th anniversary in Dallas, bringing together attendees from all 50 states and three countries. For the 18^th consecutive year, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation® is honored to support this powerful gathering. It’s an event that unites thousands of people on the front lines—first responders, law enforcement, advocates, faith leaders, campus safety officers, nurses, legal professionals, child protective services (CPS) workers, tribal leaders, and more—who are all working together to end violence against women and change that statistic.

“Since 2006, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation’s unwavering support has made it possible for the Conference on Crimes Against Women to provide premier training for professionals addressing violent crimes against women,” said Becky Park, Executive Director of the Conference on Crimes Against Women. “This partnership ensures that frontline responders are equipped with practical tools and strategies they can implement in their communities—ultimately enhancing prevention, improving responses, and driving meaningful change.”

Attendees had access to over 250 comprehensive workshops, case studies and hands-on computer labs taught by experts that addressed important topics from forensic nursing and campus safety to stalking, trafficking and technology-enabled abuse. They learned the latest technology to prevent these crimes, heard stories from diverse voices across the field, shared knowledge and collaborated on strategies to address underlying issues that make women unsafe. Most importantly, they walked away with actionable learnings to truly make a difference in this fight.

One of the most moving moments came during the keynote session, featuring Nichole Schmidt and Tara Petito of the Gabby Petito Foundation. After losing Gabby to intimate partner violence, they turned their grief into action, creating a foundation focused on awareness, prevention, and support for missing persons. Their conversation, moderated by retired police chief Tom Tremblay, deeply resonated with everyone in the room.

“The Conference on Crimes Against Women is vital to ending domestic violence—its impact echoes far beyond Dallas,” said Anne Crews, Board Member of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation. “This work directly supports our mission to create a safer world for women. We are honored to stand alongside an organization that turns awareness into action and brings life-saving resources to individuals, families, and communities everywhere. This is a crisis that affects us all—and together, we are rising to meet it.”

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About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women’s lives. Learn more at marykayglobal.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or follow us on X.

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In 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated that data centers accounted for roughly 1.5 percent of global electricity demand. That number is expected to more than double by 2030, driven largely by the rise in AI infrastructure. To put this into perspective, that increase would be equivalent to Japan’s total electricity consumption today.

How will we meet this rising need for energy — not only from artificial intelligence (AI), but from other digital technologies and the electrification of industries, such as transportation and buildings?

While this challenge may seem daunting, there is reason for optimism. We are seeing numerous innovations and technologies paving the way forward, including advancements in more energy-efficient data centers, breakthroughs in liquid cooling, improved software models, increased energy security, and the exploration of alternative energy sources.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss the future of energy with Mary de Wysocki, SVP and Chief Sustainability Officer at Cisco; Adele Trombetta, SVP & GM, CX EMEA at Cisco; and Christopher Wellise, VP of Sustainability at Equinix, a Cisco customer that provides global digital infrastructure and colocation services. Here are some of the highlights from our conversation.

Q: How are customers adjusting their strategies in response to the energy picture right now?

Adele: Our customers and partners are driving strong demand for AI deployment to unlock its benefits and stay competitive. This trend spans across industries in both the public and private sectors. The pressure is undeniable, but the energy impact of AI, particularly generative AI, is also on our customers’ minds, especially as large language models (LLMs) are being deployed and trained at scale. Many of our customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have net-zero targets, so they need to manage the accelerating adoption of AI carefully. They are approaching this with sustainability in mind, making it a core part of strategy development rather than an afterthought. It’s about adopting AI while simultaneously managing its energy impact.

Mary: Interestingly, perspectives can vary depending on who you’re speaking with — whether it’s customers, partners, or suppliers. A common theme emerging, particularly in light of global dynamics, is resiliency. There is a clear focus on proactive investments to secure the energy needed for the future. It’s also about finding ways to move forward collaboratively and identifying opportunities for co-investment. The priorities are clear: we need growth, resilience, and a more sustainable approach.

Chris: We’re seeing several key themes across the customer landscape. Resiliency and reliability are top priorities, with customers focused on ensuring their applications run smoothly. Regulatory compliance is another major concern, especially in regions like the European Union (EU) with directives such as the EU Energy Efficiency Directive. Another request is for end-to-end solutions that optimize operations across the entire value chain as well as support sustainability reporting and regulatory requirements. As customers adopt hybrid multi-cloud environments, they are keen to optimize energy use across platforms and regions. Finally, partnerships are critical. Customers recognize the need to collaborate with suppliers, energy providers, and others to meet their goals and optimize energy use. For example, in the Cisco-Equinix partnership, 70% of devices connected to the Equinix fabric run on Cisco technology.

Q: We know data centers are the foundation for supporting the AI boom and managing its related energy needs. What are some technological advancements that are happening in the data center?

Mary: Designing products with energy efficiency in mind is a critical first step in delivering business outcomes and addressing sustainability. For example, Cisco’s Silicon One chip is engineered to be both energy-efficient and optimized for AI workloads, enabling customers to reduce power consumption while meeting the growing demands of modern networks and data-intensive applications. In addition to that, a foundational innovation for customers, partners, and suppliers is our Sustainability Data Foundation (SDF). It provides a single source of truth, offering the data needed to manage carbon footprints and progress toward net-zero goals. This information empowers technology leaders with the tools to better manage energy and drive sustainability.

Chris: Designing for efficiency is so important. Since 2021, we have required all new build sites to pursue LEED or an equivalent green building certification to demonstrate adherence to recognized sustainability best practices in design and construction. Data centers, built to last 20 to 30 years, require optimization in both design and operations. Innovation in cooling is especially important because cooling typically accounts for over half of energy consumption. Over 100 Equinix data centers are now enabled with access to liquid cooling technology, such as heat exchangers or direct-to-chip cooling. In the latter, a copper plate, fluid, and closed-loop system remove heat directly from the chip while using chemicals to prevent erosion and bio slimes. From a sustainability perspective, this concentrated heat becomes highly usable. For example, in Helsinki, Finland, heat from data centers warms over 10,000 homes, and during the last Summer Olympics, the aquatic center pools were heated by an Equinix data center. Additionally, AI-powered advanced software can create digital twins to optimize cooling parameters and reduce energy consumption for cooling.

Adele: Cisco’s new products now integrate both sustainability and security into the design process. Customers increasingly want to understand how we deploy, monitor, and optimize technology to address energy consumption, performance, and AI. According to a Gartner study, “By 2030, more than 70% of data centers will monitor sustainability metrics, up from approximately 10% today.” (source: Gartner®). Collaboration within the partner and customer ecosystem is key to modernization and efficient resource use. Coordinating diverse data — ranging from Cisco networking equipment to grid data, weather, location, and IT/OT systems — presents a complex but exciting challenge. With Splunk, we can streamline this process and generate the insights needed for effective information flow and optimization.

Q: How well is the global electricity infrastructure equipped to handle growing electricity demand?

Chris: Our primary challenge lies more in distribution than in supply, and the reasons for this vary by region. In the United States, aging infrastructure and complex policy and regulatory environments plays a role. In Europe, while there is rapid growth in renewable energy, integrating it effectively into the grid remains a challenge. In Asia, the situation is more diverse, with both rapid renewable energy expansion and a continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels. To tackle these issues effectively, it is crucial to address both distribution and supply simultaneously.

Mary: Generative AI requires significant energy, prompting the question: how do we ensure reliable access to the grid? In New York City, I see both opportunity and challenge in the grid. The U.S. grid, built mostly in the ’60s and ’70s, lacks reliability and resilience, with 70% of transmission lines over 25 years old. We see the potential of AI to help address major challenges, but its success depends on modernizing the grid and data centers. Industrial IoT can play a key role in creating smart, more secure grids that maximize available energy, support diverse energy sources and enable predictive maintenance.

Adele: We are partnering with customers eager for digital transformation, including energy companies supporting critical national infrastructure. Leveraging this shift, we are focusing on creating more sustainable solutions and we’re building smart grids that prioritize efficiency. While AI is still in its early stages, ongoing collaboration and partnership with utilities is vital to ensure flexibility and adaptability for their evolving needs.

Interested in learning more about the future of energy and the influence of AI? Join me in person as I lead a discussion about this topic at Cisco Live US in San Diego from June 8-12. The session will take place on Tuesday, June 10 from 2 to 2:30pm PT, and you can register here.

Source: Gartner, [10 Performance Metrics to Improve Data Center Sustainability], [Henrique Cecci, Autumn Stanish], [14 February 2025]

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

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Originally published on April 22nd, 2025 on LinkedIn

A better brew for a better world! Our Rainforest Alliance Certified 100% Colombian coffee, part of Sysco’s One Planet. One Table. assortment, supports social, economic, and environmental sustainability—so you can sip with purpose.

With over 3,500 items across 15 categories, One Planet. One Table. is leading the way in sustainable foodservice. When you choose Sysco, you choose a better future for food. Happy Earth Day!

About Sysco

Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. With more than 76,000 colleagues, the company operates 340 distribution facilities worldwide and serves approximately 730,000 customer locations. For fiscal year 2024 that ended June 29, 2024, the company generated sales of more than $78 billion. Information about our Sustainability program, including Sysco’s 2023 Sustainability Report and 2023 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report, can be found at www.sysco.com.

For more information, visit www.sysco.com or connect with Sysco on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SyscoFoods. For important news and information regarding Sysco, visit the Investor Relations section of the company’s Internet home page at investors.sysco.com, which Sysco plans to use as a primary channel for publishing key information to its investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information. In addition, investors should continue to review our news releases and filings with the SEC. It is possible that the information we disclose through any of these channels of distribution could be deemed to be material information.

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At Gilead, we’re advancing new ways to help end the HIV epidemic by delivering innovative therapies to those who need them most. In our latest episode of The Centrifuge Sessions, Magdeleine Hung, Director of Protein Therapeutics, shares insights on our pioneering work in HIV.

Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The company strives to transform and simplify care for people with life-threatening illnesses around the world. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

Originally published by Gilead Sciences

Xiaoyu Gu| Managing Director—AB CarVal
Deanna Leighton, CFA| Lead Portfolio Manager—Insurance Portfolio Management
Gerry Anderson| Insurance Solutions Specialist

Investment in clean energy infrastructure may tick a lot of boxes for life insurers.

Matching assets to long-term liabilities without compromising on return potential can be a challenge for insurers with long-duration liabilities. Investment in renewable energy infrastructure may provide a clever way to tackle that challenge.

The opportunity set in this arena is expansive. Last year, the world invested almost twice as much in clean energy as it did in fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. Financing is increasingly coming from private capital providers who are able to structure assets that can meet life insurers’ unique needs.

These assets can come with investment-grade ratings from the major ratings agencies, which may increase relative attractiveness on a capital-adjusted yield and spread basis. And maturities in the 20-year range make them a good match for insurers with long-term liabilities.

Other potential benefits include:

• High Return Potential: Assets typically sit on the lowest rung of the investment-grade ratings ladder, which usually means larger spreads and enhanced return potential over similar quality long-term assets, including utility bonds and publicly traded government and corporate debt. Illiquidity premiums also enhance return potential.
• Diversification Benefits: Because these assets tend to have relatively low correlations with similar duration assets, they may offer an effective way to diversify insurers’ portfolios.
• Capital Efficiency: Certain renewable energy infrastructure—particularly in Europe—may warrant a substantial reduction in capital requirements.
• Muted Default History: Defaults on private infrastructure financing have been consistently lower than those on comparable public corporate bonds issued by nonfinancial companies (Display).

Traditionally, banks have provided a healthy share of the financing for renewable energy infrastructure. But projects have grown larger as bank balance sheets have become more constrained, with private credit assuming a larger role.

That’s good news for insurers, because private lenders can pool projects into investment portfolios that may help reduce single-asset risk. For example, a pooled portfolio might include community solar projects across multiple states, all contracted with utilities or other investment-grade offtakers.

Private credit’s flexibility to structure assets in ways that meet insurers’ longer time horizons has also created a steadier source of capital for developers, who would otherwise be forced to rely on shorter-term bank financing. 

US Offers a Broader Opportunity Set

Today, we see the most attractive opportunities in the US—for both US and European insurers. Clean energy is the fastest growing—and least expensive—electricity source in the country, and the market’s sheer size opens up broader investment options.

Renewable power is even more entrenched in Europe’s energy ecosystem, with solar and wind having overtaken fossil fuels, according to Ember, a think tank. But for now, few assets come with similarly insurance-friendly structures and investment-grade credit ratings.

The Tale of Tariffs: Assessing the Risks

US tariffs on a range of imports will affect energy infrastructure opportunities, particularly for projects being planned and waiting on imported equipment. But while China remains the largest single producer of solar panels, the widening of supply chains beyond China in recent years has blunted the impact of tariffs on new construction.

More importantly, the low cost of solar energy in recent years has prompted developers to fast-track projects, creating a healthy inventory of operating plants not subject to tariffs. These are the projects that fit most comfortably into insurance portfolios. They come with investment-grade ratings and can be structured as long-term debt that helps insurers match assets to liabilities.

Overall, we expect little effect on projects expected to come online in 2025, since equipment should already be in the country. Delays may pick up in 2026 from supply chain challenges. Potential changes to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that reduce or eliminate tax credits may also slow momentum.

But we see these as short-term hiccups. Global energy demand is surging. In 2024, it rose by 2.2%, according to the IEA, a significant jump from the 1.3% annual average between 2013 and 2023. This adds up to trillions of dollars of investment per year on an annualized basis. Meeting that demand will require a healthy dose of renewable energy infrastructure, in our view. 

Weighing the Regulatory Considerations

When assessing the opportunity, non-US insurers will have to consider the higher cost of currency hedges when matching US-dollar assets against non-dollar liabilities. This will require reviewing the costs of FX forwards and over-the-counter cross country hedges and how currency volatility will affect those costs.

Regulatory considerations will vary across regions, too. In Europe, insurers should carefully review the rating methodology used—whether internal or external. Also important: determining whether the underlying asset can be classed as “qualifying infrastructure,” which can reduce capital requirements.  Insurers that apply the matching adjustment mechanism will need to review any cash flow prepayment features to ensure compliance with all Matching Adjustment eligibility requirements.

For US-based insurers, most of the opportunity set is rated BBB- and carries a NAIC rating of 2.C, and may be considered as a component of private placement allocations.

Overall, though, we think these assets offer insurers with long liabilities an appealing opportunity to enhance returns on regulatory capital and diversification while reducing the risk of default. Tariffs have little impact on operating portfolios that are a good fit for insurance capital, and demand for power remains strong. We don’t expect that to change.

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.