Author: sHq_LoGiNz

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

By Katelyn Armas

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your career journey, and what led you to your current role.

Hi, I’m Nate. Like many who have spent decades in the tech industry, my career journey began somewhat by chance. Fresh out of college and uncertain about my next steps, a family member suggested I apply for a role in the Customer Contact Center at GoDaddy. It was a significant improvement over my job at the time, so I decided to take the leap.

I spent several years directly assisting customers, finding immense satisfaction in solving problems and making a tangible impact on their businesses. This daily motivation drove me to grow, and as I sought ways to make a broader impact, I transitioned into leadership within the Contact Center. Leading teams was a rewarding experience, and I enjoyed the challenge of mentoring and empowering others. Over time, I began to see opportunities to drive even greater change, particularly in the tools and systems our teams relied on every day. This realization led me to my current role in Product Management, where I focus on enhancing the tooling that supports our entire Contact Center.

Looking back, my journey has been about embracing challenges and seeking opportunities to create a positive impact. With a mix of curiosity and a willingness to say “yes” to new experiences, I believe this approach has allowed many of us at GoDaddy to advance our careers.

How do you keep yourself motivated and inspired in your work?

Staying motivated is an evolving challenge—what drives you one year might change the next. For me, maintaining motivation comes down to two key factors:

First, a positive attitude and a bias for action. Constantly seeking improvements and witnessing those enhancements take shape make it hard not to stay energized for the next challenge.

Second, the people. The work I do directly impacts colleagues I’ve collaborated with over the years, and knowing that I’m making their jobs easier and more effective keeps me engaged. Seeing the tangible benefits of our efforts—whether it’s a more efficient workflow or a better user experience—is incredibly inspiring.

If you had to describe GoDaddy’s culture in one word, what would it be and why?

Tenacious.

At GoDaddy, the “Go” isn’t just part of our name—it defines how we operate. We are relentless in our pursuit of better solutions, always pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo.

Innovation, improvement, and problem-solving are ingrained in our DNA, and we never settle for “good enough” when we know we can do better.

Once we set a vision, we commit to seeing it through with determination and resilience. Whether it’s developing new products, enhancing customer experiences, or overcoming unexpected challenges, we push forward with purpose. Our tenacity ensures that we don’t just meet expectations—we exceed them, delivering meaningful results for both our customers and teams.

Can you share an example of how you collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless product integrations?

Working on CRM systems means collaborating with teams across the organization on projects ranging from minor enhancements to large-scale implementations. Each project requires input from Engineering, Operations, Customer Support, Product Management, and sometimes Legal and Compliance teams. Successful collaboration starts with clearly defined goals and well-vetted requirements, ensuring all stakeholders are aligned on the desired outcomes. This prevents scope creep and misalignment, helping teams stay focused on delivering value. Equally important is fostering open communication—regular check-ins, shared documentation, and transparent decision-making help identify issues early rather than at the last minute. A robust cross-functional approach ensures each team understands their responsibilities and how their work impacts others, creating a smoother integration process.

Even with thorough planning, unexpected challenges will arise—whether from shifting business priorities, technical limitations, or unforeseen complexities. Adaptability and strong leadership are key to keeping projects on track. A great leader drives progress with a problem-solving mindset, ensuring the team remains focused even when obstacles appear. The ability to pivot, find creative solutions, and maintain forward momentum is what ultimately turns a complex integration into a success. When clear goals, effective communication, and adaptability come together, cross-functional teams can deliver seamless integrations that enhance both business operations as well as the customer experience.

What’s the most challenging yet rewarding thing that you’ve worked on at GoDaddy?

Implementing Salesforce.

Anyone familiar with Salesforce knows how complex and powerful the platform can be. When I first stepped into the implementation process, I had zero experience with Salesforce, yet we were tasked with rolling it out under tight deadlines. This meant simultaneously learning the intricacies of the system while making high-stakes decisions that would eventually impact thousands of employees and, ultimately, our customers.

The challenge wasn’t just about understanding Salesforce itself—it was about translating business needs into a system that could improve efficiency, enhance the customer experience, and empower our teams. We had to navigate countless integration points, customize workflows to align with our specific operational requirements, and ensure a seamless transition without disrupting daily operations. Balancing all of these moving pieces while meeting aggressive timelines required constant problem-solving, adaptability, and cross-functional collaboration.

Despite the initial difficulties, the payoff was absolutely worth it. Seeing the system go live, watching our teams leverage new capabilities, and hearing feedback about how it has made their work easier and more efficient was incredibly rewarding. What once seemed like an overwhelming challenge evolved into a powerful tool that enables our Contact Center to provide better service, streamline operations, and adapt to future needs. This experience reinforced my belief that the biggest challenges often lead to the most meaningful growth.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work, I have a deep passion for storytelling, particularly through writing science fiction. I love crafting new worlds, exploring futuristic concepts, and imagining how technology and human nature might evolve. Writing is both a creative outlet and a way to challenge my own thinking. I’m also an avid reader and enjoy diving into a wide range of genres, from sci-fi and fantasy to history and psychology. There’s something fascinating about exploring different perspectives and ideas, whether through fiction or non-fiction.

When I need to unwind, you’ll often find me watching TV shows or playing video games. I appreciate well-written narratives, whether in a gripping series or an immersive MMO. Video games, in particular, offer a unique blend of storytelling and interactivity that I find incredibly engaging.

Traveling is another passion of mine. I love experiencing new cultures, trying different foods, and stepping outside of my comfort zone to see the world from a fresh perspective. Even if it’s just a weekend getaway, there’s something exciting about exploring new places.

Of course, spending quality time with my family and my dog is a top priority. Whether it’s a casual evening at home or an adventure outdoor, I cherish those moments of connection and relaxation.

Lastly, I have a natural curiosity and a love for learning. Whether it’s picking up a new skill, diving into a documentary, or tinkering with a new technology, I’m always looking for ways to expand my knowledge and challenge myself in new ways.

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

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MARYSVILLE, Ohio, MAy 7, 2025 /3BL/ – To connect more children to gardens and outdoor play, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening awarded grants to 170 community-level programs under the annual GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant initiative.

From spring through fall, the programs will start or expand youth gardens and green spaces. Selections for the 2025 GroMoreGood grant recipients were based upon the learning impact, including factors such as individual program participants, prior funding and socioeconomic reach, among others.

“We are grateful to partner with The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation to support the GroMoreGood Grassroots Grants and bring the transformative power of gardens to communities nationwide,” says Em Shipman, KidsGardening executive director. “This year’s recipients are truly inspiring—restoring gardens after natural disasters, creating inclusive spaces for youth with disabilities and revitalizing community gardens for after-school programs.”

The 2025 recipients span 44 states across the country and anticipate connecting more than 38,000 youth with garden-based learning opportunities. For a full list of GroMoreGood Grassroots grantees, visit GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant Winners.

“This year was notable with the number of unique proposals that reflected the challenges and opportunities many communities are facing,” said Brian Herrington, president of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation. “We’re confident these grantees not only will help foster a growing appreciation for gardens and green spaces, but also create positive experiences grounded in their many environmental, health and wellness benefits.”

Awards were distributed to the winners at the end of March 2025.

About The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation
The mission of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation is to inspire, connect and cultivate a community of purpose. The Foundation is deeply rooted in helping create healthier communities, empower the next generation, and preserve our planet. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that funds non-profit entities that support its core initiatives in the form of grants, endowments and multi-year capital gifts. For more information, visit www.scottsmiraclegrofoundation.org.

About KidsGardening
KidsGardening is a national nonprofit organization creating opportunities for kids to play, learn, and grow through gardening. They provide grants and original educational materials to more than 2.7 million kids across the country. For more information and to support their work, visit www.kidsgardening.org.

For media inquiries: Katherine Dickens Director, ESG and Social Impact
katherine.dickens@scotts.com

Beth Saunders KidsGardening Marketing and Communications Director
beths@kidsgardening.org

View original content here.

MARYSVILLE, Ohio, MAy 7, 2025 /3BL/ – To connect more children to gardens and outdoor play, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening awarded grants to 170 community-level programs under the annual GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant initiative.

From spring through fall, the programs will start or expand youth gardens and green spaces. Selections for the 2025 GroMoreGood grant recipients were based upon the learning impact, including factors such as individual program participants, prior funding and socioeconomic reach, among others.

“We are grateful to partner with The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation to support the GroMoreGood Grassroots Grants and bring the transformative power of gardens to communities nationwide,” says Em Shipman, KidsGardening executive director. “This year’s recipients are truly inspiring—restoring gardens after natural disasters, creating inclusive spaces for youth with disabilities and revitalizing community gardens for after-school programs.”

The 2025 recipients span 44 states across the country and anticipate connecting more than 38,000 youth with garden-based learning opportunities. For a full list of GroMoreGood Grassroots grantees, visit GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant Winners.

“This year was notable with the number of unique proposals that reflected the challenges and opportunities many communities are facing,” said Brian Herrington, president of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation. “We’re confident these grantees not only will help foster a growing appreciation for gardens and green spaces, but also create positive experiences grounded in their many environmental, health and wellness benefits.”

Awards were distributed to the winners at the end of March 2025.

About The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation
The mission of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation is to inspire, connect and cultivate a community of purpose. The Foundation is deeply rooted in helping create healthier communities, empower the next generation, and preserve our planet. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that funds non-profit entities that support its core initiatives in the form of grants, endowments and multi-year capital gifts. For more information, visit www.scottsmiraclegrofoundation.org.

About KidsGardening
KidsGardening is a national nonprofit organization creating opportunities for kids to play, learn, and grow through gardening. They provide grants and original educational materials to more than 2.7 million kids across the country. For more information and to support their work, visit www.kidsgardening.org.

For media inquiries: Katherine Dickens Director, ESG and Social Impact
katherine.dickens@scotts.com

Beth Saunders KidsGardening Marketing and Communications Director
beths@kidsgardening.org

View original content here.

By Catharine Grimes, President of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation

We are in an era of unprecedented medical innovation. Scientists are making remarkable progress to diagnose and treat diseases, bringing new hope to patients across the world. Unfortunately, these breakthroughs fail to reach everyone due to barriers to care.

The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation), an independent charitable organization, is committed to changing that. Building on our legacy of expanding access to healthcare, we’ve launched a new strategic framework to strengthen sustainable health service delivery for regions of the world that are medically underserved and heavily burdened. We have zeroed in on four areas to meet critical needs: Adult Cancers; Pediatric Cancers and Blood Disorders; Excellence in Clinical Trials; and Neuropsychiatry.

As we strive to improve health outcomes, building local healthcare capacity is the foundation of our strategy. We do that by forging partnerships with community-based groups, public institutions, and other local stakeholders. Here is a snapshot of how the BMS Foundation is translating our strategy into lasting impact in each of our focus areas:

1. Accelerating Early Detection of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, but early detection can dramatically improve survival rates. The BMS Foundation’s Multinational Lung Cancer Control Program (MLCCP) builds on over a decade of work in the U.S. to strengthen local healthcare system capacity and scale community-based screening.

The Quality Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening (QUILS) program through the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and the University of Colorado Cancer Center is a testament to the power of this approach. QUILS empowers Kentucky healthcare providers to better evaluate high-risk patients and educates communities about the importance of early detection. In just ten years, QUILS has transformed Kentucky’s lung cancer screening rate from among the lowest nationwide to the second highest, driving a remarkable 10% decline in late-stage diagnoses.

Guided by our success in Kentucky, we recently expanded the program into Mississippi and Nevada. By improving access to lung cancer screenings in these heavily burdened regions, we have an opportunity to transform health outcomes and save lives.

2. Boosting Local Capacity to Combat Pediatric Diseases

The second pillar of the BMS Foundation’s strategy – addressing pediatric cancers and blood disorders – has roots in our decadeslong efforts to support children in sub-Saharan Africa. Alongside partners, we mobilized at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to train tens of thousands of healthcare workers and improve health outcomes.

In 2016, these joint efforts evolved into a new program, Global HOPE, to address staggering mortality rates for pediatric cancer and blood disorders in the region. Since then, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine Global Health, with our support, have trained more than 7,000 healthcare workers – including 35 of the first hematology-oncology specialists on the continent – and provided care to more than 26,000 children.

The next phase of our pediatric work in sub-Saharan Africa will combat another threat: sickle cell disease (SCD), which is responsible for over 500 daily child deaths in the region. Simple life-saving interventions can treat SCD, but access to care is virtually nonexistent in non-urban areas. Leveraging the local infrastructure we have helped build for over 25 years, our new initiative is equipping local health systems and integrating SCD interventions into local primary care systems.

3. Transforming the Clinical Trial Landscape to Improve Health Outcomes

Clinical trials are crucial in enabling new treatment options for patients. To ensure everyone can benefit from therapeutic breakthroughs and to avoid misdiagnosis and mistreatment, it is essential that patients enrolled in these trials be representative of the epidemiology of the disease being studied. However, that is too often not the case.

The BMS Foundation-established Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Awards) is working to address that discrepancy, training the next generation of clinical trialists in high quality clinical trials and community engagement. Through these efforts, the Winn Awards program is working to improve participation in clinical trials to drive better health outcomes for all communities.

4. Opening New Pathways for Critical Mental Health Services

The rate of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) in the U.S. is significantly higher in jail and prison than in the general population, with 44% of people in jail and 37% of incarcerated individuals living with mental illness. Almost half of Americans with SMI and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders have had contact with the criminal justice system.

Mental health diversion programs are a promising alternative to direct patients away from the criminal justice system and toward community-based mental health services. There is tremendous opportunity to expand the capacity of diversion programs across the country – and that’s exactly what the BMS Foundation’s newly launched program area will help facilitate. We will be supporting innovative community-based programs that can open new pathways to care and deliver better health outcomes for people with SMI.

Expanding Access to Care to Improve Global Health

At the BMS Foundation, we believe a healthier world is attainable and achievable. But access to care remains unequal. We must create more sustainable systems of health service delivery to eliminate barriers to care.

As we embark on our next chapter, our evolved strategy is designed to transform how care is delivered for areas that are medically underserved and heavily burdened by disease. Driven by a commitment to create lasting impact in the communities we serve and bolstered by robust partnerships, we are determined to bridge gaps in care and drive positive health outcomes for people in need of support – today and for years to come.

To learn more, visit the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation online.

By Catharine Grimes, President of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation

We are in an era of unprecedented medical innovation. Scientists are making remarkable progress to diagnose and treat diseases, bringing new hope to patients across the world. Unfortunately, these breakthroughs fail to reach everyone due to barriers to care.

The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMS Foundation), an independent charitable organization, is committed to changing that. Building on our legacy of expanding access to healthcare, we’ve launched a new strategic framework to strengthen sustainable health service delivery for regions of the world that are medically underserved and heavily burdened. We have zeroed in on four areas to meet critical needs: Adult Cancers; Pediatric Cancers and Blood Disorders; Excellence in Clinical Trials; and Neuropsychiatry.

As we strive to improve health outcomes, building local healthcare capacity is the foundation of our strategy. We do that by forging partnerships with community-based groups, public institutions, and other local stakeholders. Here is a snapshot of how the BMS Foundation is translating our strategy into lasting impact in each of our focus areas:

1. Accelerating Early Detection of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, but early detection can dramatically improve survival rates. The BMS Foundation’s Multinational Lung Cancer Control Program (MLCCP) builds on over a decade of work in the U.S. to strengthen local healthcare system capacity and scale community-based screening.

The Quality Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening (QUILS) program through the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and the University of Colorado Cancer Center is a testament to the power of this approach. QUILS empowers Kentucky healthcare providers to better evaluate high-risk patients and educates communities about the importance of early detection. In just ten years, QUILS has transformed Kentucky’s lung cancer screening rate from among the lowest nationwide to the second highest, driving a remarkable 10% decline in late-stage diagnoses.

Guided by our success in Kentucky, we recently expanded the program into Mississippi and Nevada. By improving access to lung cancer screenings in these heavily burdened regions, we have an opportunity to transform health outcomes and save lives.

2. Boosting Local Capacity to Combat Pediatric Diseases

The second pillar of the BMS Foundation’s strategy – addressing pediatric cancers and blood disorders – has roots in our decadeslong efforts to support children in sub-Saharan Africa. Alongside partners, we mobilized at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to train tens of thousands of healthcare workers and improve health outcomes.

In 2016, these joint efforts evolved into a new program, Global HOPE, to address staggering mortality rates for pediatric cancer and blood disorders in the region. Since then, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine Global Health, with our support, have trained more than 7,000 healthcare workers – including 35 of the first hematology-oncology specialists on the continent – and provided care to more than 26,000 children.

The next phase of our pediatric work in sub-Saharan Africa will combat another threat: sickle cell disease (SCD), which is responsible for over 500 daily child deaths in the region. Simple life-saving interventions can treat SCD, but access to care is virtually nonexistent in non-urban areas. Leveraging the local infrastructure we have helped build for over 25 years, our new initiative is equipping local health systems and integrating SCD interventions into local primary care systems.

3. Transforming the Clinical Trial Landscape to Improve Health Outcomes

Clinical trials are crucial in enabling new treatment options for patients. To ensure everyone can benefit from therapeutic breakthroughs and to avoid misdiagnosis and mistreatment, it is essential that patients enrolled in these trials be representative of the epidemiology of the disease being studied. However, that is too often not the case.

The BMS Foundation-established Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Awards) is working to address that discrepancy, training the next generation of clinical trialists in high quality clinical trials and community engagement. Through these efforts, the Winn Awards program is working to improve participation in clinical trials to drive better health outcomes for all communities.

4. Opening New Pathways for Critical Mental Health Services

The rate of Serious Mental Illness (SMI) in the U.S. is significantly higher in jail and prison than in the general population, with 44% of people in jail and 37% of incarcerated individuals living with mental illness. Almost half of Americans with SMI and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders have had contact with the criminal justice system.

Mental health diversion programs are a promising alternative to direct patients away from the criminal justice system and toward community-based mental health services. There is tremendous opportunity to expand the capacity of diversion programs across the country – and that’s exactly what the BMS Foundation’s newly launched program area will help facilitate. We will be supporting innovative community-based programs that can open new pathways to care and deliver better health outcomes for people with SMI.

Expanding Access to Care to Improve Global Health

At the BMS Foundation, we believe a healthier world is attainable and achievable. But access to care remains unequal. We must create more sustainable systems of health service delivery to eliminate barriers to care.

As we embark on our next chapter, our evolved strategy is designed to transform how care is delivered for areas that are medically underserved and heavily burdened by disease. Driven by a commitment to create lasting impact in the communities we serve and bolstered by robust partnerships, we are determined to bridge gaps in care and drive positive health outcomes for people in need of support – today and for years to come.

To learn more, visit the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation online.

At the recent Functional Fabric Fair Day 0 Sustainability Workshop in Portland, Joleen Ong, senior director of brand and retailer membership at Cascale, led a session and joined a panel of industry experts to discuss various models of how suppliers and brands can work together to achieve shared sustainability goals. The event brought together sustainability practitioners who presented a pragmatic approach to foundational topics, while providing updated guidance on recent trade developments.

Ong opened the session, “Finding (or not finding) Business Value in Sustainability”. The session continued with a panel discussion moderated by Jill Dumain, founding partner, Fractal CSOs, and included panelists Gerhard Leitner, head of business unit shirting and technics, Getzner Textil AG; Jennifer Ryan, owner, Ryan Imports; and Matthew Guenther, vice president corporate sustainability, TAL Apparel Ltd.

Ong began her presentation by giving an overview of Cascale’s origins and its vision to pre-competitively convene stakeholders across the industry to develop a common approach to measuring sustainability. She highlighted Cascale’s growth in membership and ongoing evolution, and noted its strategic pillars — Combat Climate Change and Support Decent Work for All — as critical to the organization’s vision of a global consumer goods industry that gives back more than it takes to the planet and its people.

After an overview of Cascale’s Higg Index suite of tools, Ong shared how they were developed, in collaboration with members, to help measure and understand sustainability performance and identify areas for improvement. She noted Cascale’s ongoing commitment to evolve the tools, as science improves and industry challenges deepen, to support its members and the wider consumer goods industry.

Ong delved into challenges facing the industry, including audit and assessment fatigue facing organizations as a result of overlapping and redundant audits and data requests, inconsistent audit standards, and difficulties in prioritizing remediation, among others. She shared solutions that could help address these challenges, including consolidating audits, where brands and organizations can collaborate to harmonize audit standards, and reducing the frequency and overlap of audits.

Ong emphasized the need to shift from a traditional audit-driven approach to a due diligence-based strategy for managing supply chain risks. She encouraged brands to adopt smart auditing practices, including the use of predictive analytics during the pre-screening of new manufacturing partners to identify higher-risk areas or known issues. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all audit model, she advocated for a more targeted deployment of audits. Joleen also outlined the benefits of audit convergence, such as clearer corrective action guidance for suppliers, increased wages for workers, and cost savings that can be reinvested into workplace improvements.

In parallel, Ong highlighted how adopting responsible purchasing practices can drive meaningful impact, emphasizing the pivotal role of the Better Buying Institute (BBI) in scaling effective solutions to support these efforts. Cascale recently acquired key assets of Better Buying Institute (BBI) to support its objective of advancing responsible purchasing practices across the consumer goods industry. Ong concluded by sharing insights from BBI’s surveys and the Better Buying Partnership Index (BBPI), emphasizing their importance in advancing responsible purchasing practices and promoting fair, accountable, and socially just supply chains.

At the recent Functional Fabric Fair Day 0 Sustainability Workshop in Portland, Joleen Ong, senior director of brand and retailer membership at Cascale, led a session and joined a panel of industry experts to discuss various models of how suppliers and brands can work together to achieve shared sustainability goals. The event brought together sustainability practitioners who presented a pragmatic approach to foundational topics, while providing updated guidance on recent trade developments.

Ong opened the session, “Finding (or not finding) Business Value in Sustainability”. The session continued with a panel discussion moderated by Jill Dumain, founding partner, Fractal CSOs, and included panelists Gerhard Leitner, head of business unit shirting and technics, Getzner Textil AG; Jennifer Ryan, owner, Ryan Imports; and Matthew Guenther, vice president corporate sustainability, TAL Apparel Ltd.

Ong began her presentation by giving an overview of Cascale’s origins and its vision to pre-competitively convene stakeholders across the industry to develop a common approach to measuring sustainability. She highlighted Cascale’s growth in membership and ongoing evolution, and noted its strategic pillars — Combat Climate Change and Support Decent Work for All — as critical to the organization’s vision of a global consumer goods industry that gives back more than it takes to the planet and its people.

After an overview of Cascale’s Higg Index suite of tools, Ong shared how they were developed, in collaboration with members, to help measure and understand sustainability performance and identify areas for improvement. She noted Cascale’s ongoing commitment to evolve the tools, as science improves and industry challenges deepen, to support its members and the wider consumer goods industry.

Ong delved into challenges facing the industry, including audit and assessment fatigue facing organizations as a result of overlapping and redundant audits and data requests, inconsistent audit standards, and difficulties in prioritizing remediation, among others. She shared solutions that could help address these challenges, including consolidating audits, where brands and organizations can collaborate to harmonize audit standards, and reducing the frequency and overlap of audits.

Ong emphasized the need to shift from a traditional audit-driven approach to a due diligence-based strategy for managing supply chain risks. She encouraged brands to adopt smart auditing practices, including the use of predictive analytics during the pre-screening of new manufacturing partners to identify higher-risk areas or known issues. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all audit model, she advocated for a more targeted deployment of audits. Joleen also outlined the benefits of audit convergence, such as clearer corrective action guidance for suppliers, increased wages for workers, and cost savings that can be reinvested into workplace improvements.

In parallel, Ong highlighted how adopting responsible purchasing practices can drive meaningful impact, emphasizing the pivotal role of the Better Buying Institute (BBI) in scaling effective solutions to support these efforts. Cascale recently acquired key assets of Better Buying Institute (BBI) to support its objective of advancing responsible purchasing practices across the consumer goods industry. Ong concluded by sharing insights from BBI’s surveys and the Better Buying Partnership Index (BBPI), emphasizing their importance in advancing responsible purchasing practices and promoting fair, accountable, and socially just supply chains.