Tag: 3BL

Boston – The Renewable Thermal Collaborative recently released a case study on the first-of-its-kind partnership between AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables to enable the delivery of renewable natural gas (RNG) to all of AstraZeneca’s sites in the United States by 2026. The partnership will enable as much as 650,000 million British thermal units (MMBTu) per year of RNG to be used across AstraZeneca’s U.S. sites, equivalent to the energy required to heat more than 17,800 U.S. homes a year by 2026.

The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) serves as the leading coalition for organizations committed to scaling up renewable heating and cooling at their facilities and dramatically cutting carbon emissions. Vanguard Renewables is a US leader in organics to renewable energy. AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines used by millions of patients worldwide.

Project Overview

AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in the UK, is partnering with Vanguard Renewables, a U.S.-based developer, owner, and operator of farm-based anaerobic digestion projects, through an agreement to procure renewable natural gas (RNG) for AstraZeneca’s U.S. facilities for the next 15 years or more. This is one of the largest business-to-business RNG purchases in the North American voluntary market to date.

Under the agreement, three new-build, on-farm anaerobic digesters operated by Vanguard Renewables will supply 650,000 MMBtu/year of RNG to meet nearly all of AstraZeneca’s gas demand at its U.S. research and manufacturing sites by the end of 2026. While the three new dedicated anaerobic digesters are under construction, RNG delivery is already underway; in June 2023, AstraZeneca’s Newark Campus in Delaware began sourcing RNG from one of Vanguard Renewables’ facilities in Vermont with delivery via common carrier gas pipelines.

RNG, or biomethane, is pipeline-quality gas produced by capturing and upgrading the methane released by decomposing organic matter, including food waste, dairy manure, biomass, and more. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG): Capturing methane to produce RNG prevents what would otherwise be harmful atmospheric methane emissions.

Procuring RNG from Vanguard Renewables supports AstraZeneca’s transition to 100% renewable energy, a key element of the company’s flagship Ambition Zero Carbon strategy. Through Ambition Zero Carbon, which is focused on delivering deep decarbonization by halving the company’s entire value chain footprint by 2030 and becoming science-based net zero by 2045 at the latest, AstraZeneca is on track to reduce GHG emissions from its global operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 98% by 2026.

“Vanguard Renewables enabled us to accelerate our sustainability journey, and it’s exciting to be on the front edge of innovation here.”

– Andy Wirths Senior Vice President, Supply Americas, AstraZeneca

“We want to demonstrate at scale the voluntary pathway of decarbonization through RNG utilization. This is a company-wide initiative from a progressive company that has made a commitment from top to bottom to decarbonize.”

– John Hanselman Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Vanguard Renewables

Project Origination

To meet the targets set in 2020 by the Ambition Zero Carbon strategy, AstraZeneca considered a variety of renewable thermal decarbonization strategies, including electrification and renewable fuels, and evaluated factors including deployment and operating costs, implementation complexity, scalability, and climate impact. AstraZeneca determined that RNG was the most feasible option to decarbonize its U.S. footprint. With a large natural gas-fueled asset base across its U.S. medicine research and manufacturing facilities, AstraZeneca saw significant value in using RNG as a renewable replacement for fossil natural gas and avoiding expensive production disruptions and the need to replace or retrofit its entire boiler portfolio. Following this decision, AstraZeneca established a clear objective and timeline to acquire RNG by the end of 2026.

In 2020, AstraZeneca’s procurement team issued a Request for Information (RFI) to RNG providers, and then selected multiple respondents, including Vanguard Renewables, to bid in a Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

AstraZeneca detailed clear criteria in the RFP to ensure the RNG agreement would meet its financial and sustainability requirements. Financially, AstraZeneca sought a long-term contract to ensure a reliable RNG supply and future RNG price certainty. On sustainability, AstraZeneca specifically sought solutions that emphasized environmental benefits through the additionality of new RNG production, geographic proximity of the new anaerobic digesters to AstraZeneca’s sites, and traceability of the environmental attributes associated with the RNG.

Getting to Yes

After AstraZeneca selected Vanguard Renewables through the RFP, the companies initiated a joint due diligence process, using open dialogue to better understand the proposed approach to RNG delivery. AstraZeneca’s senior leadership visited an on-farm anaerobic digestion facility to understand how Vanguard Renewables develops projects that capture methane emissions, improve farm operations, and provide a diversified revenue stream to family-owned farms.

“There’s a very common vision set by their CEO and senior leadership that’s communicated really well throughout the organization. I think it’s really interesting as an outsider—we intersect so many different layers of AstraZeneca at the plant and the research facilities—and what’s intriguing to us is the consistency of message and vision within AstraZeneca, which I think is part of the way that they’ve been able to move so well through this process.”

– John Hanselman Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Vanguard Renewables

AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables established a project governance group with delegates from both companies to work through contractual considerations, including those related to GHG emissions accounting and RNG traceability. Because AstraZeneca emphasized the geographic proximity of the RNG production and consumption as a key sustainability attribute, the farm siting team at Vanguard Renewables became involved in linking specific farms to AstraZeneca’s research and manufacturing facilities.

Over time, AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables found that the governance group played a pivotal role in the successful collaboration between the companies, and they will look to the group moving forward to maintain the relationship, monitor contract performance, and support quarterly and annual environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting requirements.

The RNG contract structure is similar to a power purchase agreement (PPA) for renewable electricity. Under the contract, Vanguard Renewables covers the capital costs of constructing the digesters and AstraZeneca pays a fixed price (per MMBtu) for RNG deliveries with an agreed-upon escalator over the 15-year term. The contract also includes a five- year extension option, and provisions to manage a range of considerations and risks, including volumetric guarantees to ensure that Vanguard Renewables delivers the volumes that AstraZeneca requires and long-term price stability to protect against fuel price volatility. AstraZeneca’s long- term off-take commitment also provided Vanguard Renewables with the revenue certainty needed to move the new-build projects forward.

The companies approached GHG emissions accounting and carbon intensity evaluation through multiple frameworks, including: the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model; the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (revised edition); and the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) standard. Vanguard Renewables conducted the GHG emissions analysis of a prototypical on-farm digester producing RNG across each of the selected frameworks and found that carbon intensity ranged from -15 to -120 gCO2e/MJ. Carbon intensity is a measure of the lifecycle GHG emissions of a fuel per unit of energy; producing RNG using waste that would otherwise emit methane to the atmosphere results in a negative carbon intensity. Through this GHG emissions accounting and carbon intensity evaluation, AstraZeneca validated its strategy of partnering with Vanguard Renewables to build new digesters and produce new RNG as a pathway to achieve its ambitious decarbonization targets.

In accordance with AstraZeneca’s sustainability criteria for RNG traceability, Vanguard Renewables will inject RNG from the new digesters into common carrier gas pipelines, matching AstraZeneca’s U.S. gas consumption on a one to one energy basis (MMBtu) as tracked by a gas marketer. AstraZeneca will then purchase and retain all the environmental attributes associated with the RNG to reduce its Scope 1 emissions. The M-RETS platform will be used to independently verify and track the generation and retirement of renewable thermal certificates. AstraZeneca’s energy usage data is subject to an annual, independent third-party assurance process to review and validate data and confirm that claims relating to the supply of RNG can be substantiated.

“Now that this partnership has been created, my hope is that for the next company striving to decarbonize, it will be much easier. Part of our ambition for AstraZeneca is that we pave the way for others to follow. Hopefully it’s easier for others now that this pathway is defined.”

– Andy Wirths Senior Vice President, Supply Americas, AstraZeneca

Key Outcomes

It took AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables two and a half years from the RFI and initial conversations to execute the contract and initiate RNG delivery from one of Vanguard Renewables’ facilities in Vermont. While the learning required for this first-of-a-kind agreement made the process more challenging than executing a standard purchase order, the companies approached contract negotiations with transparency, collaboration, and an emphasis on shared values. As Vanguard Renewables prepares three new dedicated on-farm anaerobic digestion facilities to supply RNG to AstraZeneca before the end of 2026, the governance group will continue to meet and communicate progress on the anaerobic digestion facilities, RNG delivery, and emissions impacts. Building on this collaboration, AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables announced a planned expanded collaboration in November 2023 to significantly increase the productivity of RNG generation and enhance the RNG supply chain.

AstraZeneca’s use of RNG in the U.S. will further enable the company’s transition to 100% renewable energy for heat and power. By working with small family-owned farms that are proximate to AstraZeneca’s facilities to capture food waste and dairy manure, Vanguard Renewables is providing a reliable and diversified revenue stream to family farms, improving food waste and manure handling to protect the local environment, and preventing atmospheric methane emissions.

Lessons Learned

Internal organizational support is essential. Buy-in and value alignment within AstraZeneca to support decarbonization efforts proved critical in the contracting process. AstraZeneca established a clear goal, pathway, and timeline for RNG procurement. Senior leadership communicated this vision throughout the company, so employees were excited about and unified by this global sustainability ambition. Projects are more likely to be successful when buyers have defined and communicated the objective before beginning procurement.Buyer-seller partnerships help overcome barriers. AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables worked to overcome challenges in the procurement process through transparency and collaboration, which proved critical to project success. The companies formed a governance group during the contracting process to enhance their collaboration and have decided to maintain that group moving forward to continuously monitor project outcomes.Robust sustainability criteria create positive climate impacts. AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables focused on climate impact from the outset, shaping this procurement to ensure that it creates new renewable gas production capacity, prevents atmospheric methane emissions, and reduces AstraZeneca’s Scope 1 emissions.Transparency in GHG emissions accounting is critical. As the Greenhouse Gas Protocol updates its guidance for RNG emissions accounting, AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables are working to comprehensively document the environmental attributes and impacts of this procurement, and have evaluated the carbon impacts of the projects using multiple methodologies. AstraZeneca and Vanguard Renewables have been willing to share this experience with other stakeholders to provide a model for how commercial and industrial users can evaluate and deploy RNG as an impactful decarbonization solution.

“There’s a very common vision set by their CEO and senior leadership that’s communicated really well throughout the organization. I think it’s really interesting as an outsider—we intersect so many different layers of AstraZeneca at the plant and the research facilities—and what’s intriguing to us is the consistency of message and vision within AstraZeneca, which I think is part of the way that they’ve been able to move so well through this process.”

– John Hanselman Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Vanguard Renewables

RTC Information: Next Steps for Interested Buyers

Buyers interested in learning more about renewable thermal should:

Read more case studies from the RTC to learn how energy users and solutions providers are deploying renewable thermal fuels and technologies.

Find a list of solutions providers through the RTC’s Partner Locator.

Join the RTC to participate in Working Group meetings, learn about thermal decarbonization strategies from other renewable thermal buyers, and connect with solutions providers. Contact the RTC’s Membership Director, Perry Hodgkins Jones (perry@dgardiner.com) to learn more.See more information on the applications and market potential for RNG in the Renewable Thermal Vision Report.

Kimberly-Clark has received the 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Kimberly-Clark has been recognized for six consecutive years and nine times overall and is one of only 3 honorees in the Consumer Products industry. In 2024, 136 honorees were recognized spanning 20 countries and 44 industries.

“At Kimberly-Clark, we’re committed to making a positive impact through the products we make, the workplaces we create and the communities we serve,” said Mike Hsu, Chairman and CEO at Kimberly-Clark. “We’re honored to be recognized once again by Ethisphere. The continued recognition reflects our commitment to doing business the right way as we fulfill our purpose of Better Care for a Better World.”

“It’s always inspiring to recognize the World’s Most Ethical Companies®. Through the rigorous review process, we see the dedication of these organizations to continually improving their ethics, compliance, and governance practices to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair. “Companies that elevate best-in-class cultures of ethics and integrity set a standard for corporate citizenship for their peers and competitors to follow. Congratulations to Kimberly-Clark for achieving this honor and demonstrating that strong ethics is good business.”

Methodology & Scoring

The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. That data undergoes further qualitative analysis by our panel of experts who spend thousands of hours vetting and evaluating each year’s group of applicants. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class ethics and compliance practices from organizations across industries and from around the world.

Honorees 

To view the full list of this year’s honorees, please visit the World’s Most Ethical Companies website, at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

Kimberly-Clark has received the 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Kimberly-Clark has been recognized for six consecutive years and nine times overall and is one of only 3 honorees in the Consumer Products industry. In 2024, 136 honorees were recognized spanning 20 countries and 44 industries.

“At Kimberly-Clark, we’re committed to making a positive impact through the products we make, the workplaces we create and the communities we serve,” said Mike Hsu, Chairman and CEO at Kimberly-Clark. “We’re honored to be recognized once again by Ethisphere. The continued recognition reflects our commitment to doing business the right way as we fulfill our purpose of Better Care for a Better World.”

“It’s always inspiring to recognize the World’s Most Ethical Companies®. Through the rigorous review process, we see the dedication of these organizations to continually improving their ethics, compliance, and governance practices to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair. “Companies that elevate best-in-class cultures of ethics and integrity set a standard for corporate citizenship for their peers and competitors to follow. Congratulations to Kimberly-Clark for achieving this honor and demonstrating that strong ethics is good business.”

Methodology & Scoring

The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. That data undergoes further qualitative analysis by our panel of experts who spend thousands of hours vetting and evaluating each year’s group of applicants. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class ethics and compliance practices from organizations across industries and from around the world.

Honorees 

To view the full list of this year’s honorees, please visit the World’s Most Ethical Companies website, at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

Once again, CNH has been recognized as among the 10 largest applicants in Brazil of invention patents in 2023. The company ranks as sixth amongst these 10, in a survey released by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI), registering a total of 40 filings throughout the year. This marks CNH as a leader in patent investments – committed to sustainability, innovation, and productivity.

According to the innovation survey of the newspaper Valor Econômico, in 2022, CNH was the private company that filed the most patents in Brazil, resting at the number one spot. Overall, the company has more than 1,600 active patents in the country and about 14,000 worldwide. “CNH’s culture of innovation has been worked on for more than ten years and we have reaped results. Far beyond machines, we sell technological solutions to deliver the best for our customers and for the market,” says Artur Schaal, CNH’s intellectual property manager for Latin America.

As another testament to CNH’s investment in innovation, in 2023, CNH was also elected by the Valor Innovation Award as the most innovative in the Automotive and Large Vehicles Sector and the tenth most innovative in Brazil.

These recognitions demarcate CNH as a leader not just in innovation and patent investments, but as a company truly committed at its core to sustainability and productivity in Brazil, and across the globe.

Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author, joins co-host Mandi McReynolds to discuss the role of business in society, including stakeholder capitalism, employee engagement, and measuring impact with data and technology. Listen in as they explore how ESG fits within the bigger picture of driving societal progress and achieving long-term value creation for all stakeholders.

Listen Now

Looking for more? Subscribe to the ESG Talk podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, and YouTube.

Kimberly-Clark and integrated energy solutions company, Energy Partners (EP), have signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to install one of the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to the terms of the agreement, EP will install a 2.2MW rooftop system at Kimberly Clark’s Epping manufacturing site of well-known brands Huggies® and Kotex®.

Once the project is completed, the rooftop system at Epping facility will allow an annual energy production of 3,478 MWh per year which will save over 3,130 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year[1], equivalent to powering 1,030 median residential homes in the country every year[2]

Collaboration

Charl du Plessis, General Manager of EP Power, confirms that the design of the system was developed in close collaboration with Kimberly-Clark’s local and international engineers and project managers to ensure compliance with regulatory and design specifications.

“The new rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will enhance Kimberly-Clark’s capacity to manage electricity consumption, whilst also enabling them to substantially increase their renewables penetration. This is especially exciting to us, and we are proud to be part of the Kimberly-Clark journey to meeting their 2030 sustainability goals,” says du Plessis.

Steven Hayes, General Manager of Kimberly-Clark Sub-Saharan Africa says, “We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and this project will contribute toward helping us meet our 2030 goal to reduce total emissions by 50% compared to 2015 globally. The installation of this rooftop solar photovoltaic system and partnership with Energy Partners is a significant step toward achieving our renewable energy targets, and we are proud to be part of the solution in creating a more sustainable future for South Africa.”

[1] Emission Factor in 2023 from IEA and in SOFI = 0.9 kg/kwh

[2] www.worlddata.info

MetLife

NEW YORK, March 1, 2024 /3BL/ – MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) and the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, are pleased to announce that the application window for the 2024 startup cohort of the Cleantech to Market (C2M) accelerator program is open until March 10. Startups from across the country will be chosen to represent the most promising climate tech innovations and paired with interdisciplinary graduate student teams to receive free commercialization support. At the end of the semester, the student teams present recommendations and compete for MetLife Climate Solutions Awards, which are intended to further support the growth of the winning solutions.

This will be the third year MetLife is involved with the C2M accelerator program. As part of MetLife’s support, employee volunteers lend their business development and management expertise to help students advance the business plans and strategies of their assigned startups. The program is directly aligned with MetLife’s initiative to contribute $5 million to drive climate-related partnerships and solutions.

“At MetLife, we recognize that working toward a resilient environment requires collective action from multiple stakeholders,” said MetLife Vice President, Global Sustainability and Climate Lead, Josh Wiener. “By partnering with the Haas School of Business on the C2M accelerator program, we’re helping bring together MetLife employees, startups and students to advance innovative climate solutions.”

MetLife has a longstanding history of embracing technology and cultivating a culture of innovation. The C2M accelerator program embodies this spirit and gives MetLife employees insight into technology advancements across industries, including low-carbon energy, green chemistry, and water technologies.

“MetLife’s involvement in C2M has expanded our support for current and future climate tech leaders participating in the program,” said Brian Steel, director of the C2M program since 2012. “We look forward to welcoming this year’s cohort of students and startups and connecting them with the skills and expertise of MetLife employees later this year.”

Founded by students in 2008, C2M has paired more than 200 researchers and entrepreneurs with graduate student teams. The majority of technologies C2M teams have supported have become startups, which have collectively raised more than $500 million in disclosed funding and employ approximately 400 people.

To learn more about MetLife’s commitment to sustainability, visit MetLife.com/Sustainability. For more information about the C2M accelerator program, and the application for startups, visit haas.berkeley.edu/c2m/.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help individual and institutional customers build a more confident future. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

Contacts:

Olivia Janicelli 
(212) 578-3547 
olivia.janicelli@metlife.com

AUSTIN, Minn., March 1, 2024 /3BL/ – Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, announced Katie Clark has been appointed to the role of senior vice president and chief communications officer.

In this role, Clark will oversee the company’s global communications, including external media relations, internal communications, global impact communications and corporate reputation. Clark will report directly to Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods.

“I am delighted Katie is joining us at Hormel Foods. She is an impressive leader with well-rounded communications experience across several industries, and her perspective will be an asset to our company,” Snee said. “I look forward to working closely with her to continue our company’s journey to make a difference for our customers, team members, consumers, shareholders and the communities where we live and work.”

Clark brings more than two decades of communications experience from various industries, including CPG, retail and healthcare. Recently, she was named a 2024 “Top Woman in Communications” by Ragan Communications and PR Daily.

About Katie Clark

Prior to joining Hormel Foods, Clark served as vice president of communications for Mattress Firm, the nation’s largest mattress retailer with more than 2,300 stores across the United States. She joined the company in 2020, leading internal communications, public relations, media relations, crisis and issues management, executive communications and social impact.

Before joining Mattress Firm, Clark spent seven years at PepsiCo in various leadership roles spanning both internal and external communications. Her last role at PepsiCo was director of communications for PepsiCo Beverages North America, a $21 billion beverage business. In that role, she led external communications, including corporate reputation, issues management, proactive and reactive earned media and thought leadership. She also served as director of global internal communications, director of public relations for the Tropicana brand and senior manager of internal and executive communications for the Quaker Oats brand. Before joining PepsiCo, Clark spent a decade at Blue Cross and Blue Shield in communications and marketing roles.

Clark earned her master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Virginia Tech.

GRI made a significant impact at GreenBiz’24 with its thought-provoking workshop on sustainability in the agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing sectors. The event, which included a dynamic panel discussion moderated by Forum for the Future, provided a platform for experts from Tyson Foods, General Mills, BSR, AgroAmerica, and the Accountability Framework initiative (Afi), to delve into the critical role of sustainability reporting in addressing the challenges faced by these sectors.

Agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing play pivotal roles in global food security and economic development, employing over 2.5 billion people worldwide. However, these sectors can also cause significant issues, including biodiversity loss, all the while contributing to climate change and exploitive labor practices. Recognizing the multifaceted impact of agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing activities, GRI has been at the forefront of developing comprehensive sustainability reporting standards tailored specifically for these industries. The GRI 13 Sector Standard on Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fishing, in effect for reporting as of January 1st 2024, stands as a groundbreaking standard, setting clear expectations for organizations to disclose their shared and distinct impacts within the sectors.

During the workshop, Andres Machado, Standards Relations at GRI North America, emphasized the interconnectedness of agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing production with biodiversity, soils, and ecosystems. Machado highlighted that implementing sustainable practices across these sectors is essential for ensuring food security and promoting global development.

Reflecting on the benefits of GRI 13 Sector Standard, Javier Aguirre, Chief Sustainability Officer at Agroamerica, emphasized its transparency and commitment to sustainable production. “Tools such as GRI 13 offer immense benefits. Our commitment extends beyond mere responsibility; we strive for transparency, aiming to contribute to sustainable production efforts,” he remarked.

Dr. Sally Uren, CEO of Forum for the Future, delivered impactful closing remarks, encapsulating the essence of the discussion in one word: DATA. Emphasizing the principles of effective reporting, she underscored the critical importance of data, alignment, trust, and accountability in driving meaningful change within sustainability practices.

The event provided a unique platform for industry stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions, explore challenges, and learn about the latest developments in sustainability reporting, including the launch of GRI 101: Biodiversity Standard 2024 and revisions to Energy and Climate Change Standards.

The workshop yielded pivotal insights into sustainable practices within agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing sectors, culminating in the following key points:

Urgency of sustainability in Agriculture, Aquaculture, and Fishing: the event highlighted the critical importance of addressing sustainability challenges in the sectors, considering their significant impact on food security, biodiversity, and livelihoods.Collaboration and partnership opportunities: panelists highlighted opportunities for collaboration, emphasizing that no single company can address sustainability challenges alone. Collaboration among stakeholders and leveraging of multiple standards and frameworks are crucial for driving progress.Accountability and trust: participants underscored the importance of building trust within the value chain and among stakeholders in order to foster sustainable practices.

Each year, the Baker Tilly Foundation provides grants of $10,000 to not-for-profits nominated by Baker Tilly team members. Learn more about two organizations that received Baker Tilly Wishes grants this year.

A greenhouse for Milwaukeeans 

Situated on a busy thoroughfare on the north side of Milwaukee is Hope Street, a sanctuary for those struggling with addiction and homelessness. The organization fulfills its mission of being a “greenhouse” for people by providing subsidized housing, fellowship and education. To better serve its residents and the surrounding neighborhood, Hope Street also operates Shechem, a pay-what-you-can community center offering a gym, café, classrooms and more.

Jackie Magennis, Baker Tilly Vantagen account specialist, prepares homemade meals and leads educational programs for Hope Street residents each week.

“Whenever I enter Hope Street, a sense of calm and togetherness washes over me,” Jackie said. “Because of how often I visit, I see the residents as family.”

Jackie has witnessed how a safe place like Hope Street can be transformative. While attending the funeral of one of Hope Street’s previous residents, a family member shared with Jackie a message of gratitude.

“Her words were, ‘Hope Street saved my son,’” Jackie said. “She thanked me and explained how Hope Street helped her son rekindle their relationship.”

The $10,000 Baker Tilly Wishes grant will add to Hope Street’s Acorn Fund, which helps cover membership fees for its residents.

Ending the poverty cycle in Salt Lake County

Marketing Associate Sidney Bruner’s advice for finding new places to volunteer? Google it.

That’s how she found Circles Salt Lake, a community-funded initiative to help families achieve financial stability. After volunteering as a tutor and Special Olympics swim coach in Columbus, Ohio, Sidney moved to Salt Lake City and sought a new avenue to pursue her passion for stewardship. Circles Salt Lake was exactly what she was looking for.

“I love connecting with our community – we have a weekly dinner where we share what’s new and good in our lives. It’s such a positive and welcoming experience,” Sidney said.

A holistic approach for families

Circles’ approach to helping families lift themselves out of poverty starts with building social capital. Each participant is paired with an ally that provides them with access to networks, resources and opportunities. Mentorship, courses on financial literacy, and connections to resources like transportation, healthcare and job opportunities are offered to parents, while children learn about emotional intelligence, goal setting, communication, art and science.

As a youth programming volunteer, Sidney enjoys watching children flourish through weekly activities.

“My favorite moment was when we had a snowball fight with rolled-up socks in the classroom – everyone was laughing and having fun,” Sidney said. “Laughter is a huge part of childhood, and I’m glad I can add joy to these kids’ lives.”

The $10,000 grant will help the organization expand its reach further across Salt Lake County.

Find the full list of recipients here.