Tag: 3BL

Verizon

In Polk County, the beautiful and rural southeastern corner of Tennessee, internet access for the often isolated communities has been a challenge for residents — including the student body of Polk County schools. That’s why the Verizon Innovative Learning programs in the district, which include Chilhowee Middle School, Copper Basin Elementary School, Copper Basin High School, and Polk County High School, have been so revolutionary.

“The geography in our area does play a huge role in our students’ lives,” says Danielle McClary, Instructional Technology Coach and Verizon Innovative Learning Lab Mentor, of the county’s mountainous and river-crossed terrain. “We have many students who live in pretty isolated areas. They don’t have internet connection and often have spotty cell connection. So that has created barriers for our school and all of our schools in our district.”

Thanks to the Verizon programs, all students now have access to technology, without having to travel significant distances. “Our school has completely transformed,” says McClary. “We went from having virtually no or little access to technology in our classrooms to every student having a device.”

For their part, the students love the technology and the focus on STEM. “We’ve never had anything big at our school like this,” says Kenzie Stamey, an eighth grader at Chilhowee Middle School, of the cutting-edge tech, from VR goggles to 3D printers. “It makes me feel proud of our school because we’re a little school from a little tiny county.”

But it’s not just the impact on their secondary education that the students are thinking about. With exposure to STEM fields, they have radical new ideas for their future studies and careers, too. “A part of our STEM classes is career exploration,” says McClary. “So they are not only doing hands-on projects and learning how to use these devices and programs, but they’re also at the same time researching and learning about careers that have a STEM focus.”

“It opens up more careers for kids who didn’t know they could have those jobs,” says Stamey, who aims to be a physical therapist or an ultrasound tech someday.

One such fellow student in the district is Titus Duckworth, a senior at Copper Basin High School. Without Verizon Innovative Learning, Duckworth would have had little exposure to technology, as it was lacking both at school and at home. He’s now thinking about his future career differently. “STEM classes changed, like, the course of everything,” says Duckworth, “because I’m looking to go to college and study electrical engineering.”

With remote work on the rise and STEM careers expanding in the area, McClary hopes her graduates stay in the community. “Being able to prepare them for jobs that will allow them to be successful but also stay local is extremely important,” she says.

For free education resources including hundreds of free K-12 lessons, immersive learning experiences, and professional development courses aligned to micro-credentials to help educators learn new skills and feel confident integrating technology into the classroom, visit Verizon Innovative Learning HQ. 

“We’ve never had anything big at our school like this. It makes me feel proud of our school because we’re a little school from a little tiny county.”

Kenzie Stamey, student, Chilhowee Middle School

Originally published by Annie Kate on ABC57

Just hours after delivering her sixth State of the State Address, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer kicked off a state tour in Benton Harbor, checking out the Emma Jean Hull Flats on Riverview Drive.

Whitmer is pledging to spend $1.4 billion on nearly 10,000 homes in the Mitten State by the end of the year, the largest investment in housing in Michigan history, she said.

Watch the video here.

Continue reading here

Katherine Neebe, chief sustainability and philanthropy officer at Duke Energy, joins co-host Mandi McReynolds to discuss the company’s commitment to one of the largest clean energy transitions in North America. Mandi and Katherine explore the role of energy companies in ESG, including how to achieve a balanced energy transition while meeting the diverse needs of customers and stakeholders.

Listen Now

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

As a Foundation Ambassador, a Green Bay Packers fan, and leader of the Midwest Ambassador region, Andre Price carries a mantra daily. He believes that “while one person can’t help everyone, we can all help one person, giving them the support they need to pass it on and help someone else.”

Andre joined Maximus about 13 years ago as a Supervisor of the Cook County Child Support Modification Project—which supports the largest urban area in Illinois. Now, as the Project Manager for the Illinois Modification and Employer Related Services, he utilizes skills learned and his passion for giving back to create a meaningful impact as a Foundation ambassador regional co-lead.

Andre first became involved with the Foundation through grantee partner award announcements, where employees can deliver grant award checks directly to the new grantee partners.

“Given the opportunity to donate, vote, and visit future grantee partners has allowed me to impact my community by supporting local nonprofits that serve my community,” he said. “It’s great when you can do things to impact the community; it’s even better when you can impact your community.”

This experience made him curious to learn more about the Foundation and its grantmaking program. In 2021, Andre deepened his impact with the Foundation from ambassador to regional co-lead when manager Nancy Kim recommended getting the Chicago office more engaged with the Foundation.

“My goal was to find more ways to support the Foundation from the local level while finding ways for employees to give back whether they were in-office, remote, or hybrid,” he explained.

Over the years, Andre has been constantly inspired by his work as an ambassador in his community. One of his most fond memories is from a recent school supply drive held with the Chicago office.

“My team and I held a school supply drive to support a classroom at a local Chicago school. After the drive, we delivered the donations, and I have never seen kids so excited for school supplies.” He continued, “Teachers and parents came to tears when we walked in with the boxes of supplies. One teacher said she had never had everything needed for their classroom. As a child of a single parent myself, I was happy that I could pay it forward to help other parents.”

Giving back and paying it forward is essential to Andre, and he finds fulfillment knowing he is trying to help those who may need it most.

“Growing up and throughout my career at Maximus, a lot of people helped me get to where I am, and they didn’t have to do that,” he said. “I do this work to pay it forward to help others like those who helped me.”

Giving back to the communities we serve

The Maximus Foundation is one of the ways Maximus employees are doing something greater together. Established by the Maximus Board of Directors in 2000, the Maximus Foundation is an independent, employee-led, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Employee donors pool their charitable contributions together through the Foundation, double their impact on the grantmaking program through Maximus’ dollar-for-dollar matching pledge, and make their voices heard by nominating and voting for future grantee partners. Though the Foundation focuses its giving strategy on grantmaking, it also helps coordinate corporate-wide humanitarian efforts and empowers employees to donate their time and skills to nonprofits. Their inspired giving and volunteerism help accelerate the missions of nonprofits on the front lines of the communities we serve. Learn more at  maximus.com/foundation.

CARE Women’s Economic Justice team works with corporations globally to integrate social impact into core business practices. The results are improved performance, profitability, positive social outcomes.  Our partnerships support people across global value chains, with an emphasis on women entrepreneurs, factory employees, and farmers. Using our extensive network and local expertise, we design solutions to improve livelihoods, generate jobs, and foster inclusive economic growth. 

Imagine being offered the chance to spend a week in another country meeting new people and helping a nonprofit health care organization – all as part of your day job.

That’s the opportunity Boston Scientific gave 12 employees last year as part of its pilot Social Change Champions program. The mission: to help health care organizations around the world to solve the operational obstacles they face through the transfer of critical skills, rather than through one-off financial or product donations.

“The Social Change Champions program is very much aligned with our focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG); our caring value; and the work we do in the health equity space,” says Wendy Carruthers, executive vice president, Human Resources. “It’s a way we can make an impact in a more sustainable way while providing leadership opportunities for our employees.”

Through its Signature Health Grant program, Boston Scientific offers financial support to boost health care communities in low- and middle-income countries around the world. For the first Social Change Champions program, the company decided to work with a recent Signature Health Grant recipient called Socios en Salud (SES). SES provides health care as well as access to food, transportation, housing and more to people living in poverty.

The mission: to get more patients in Peru the care they need

Twelve North and Latin American employees with experience in fields such as marketing, design, data analysis and public health were chosen to travel to Lima, Peru, for a week. There, they met with SES staff to understand the biggest challenges they were facing as an organization. (Future programs will aim to include employees across Boston Scientific sites globally.)

Ultimately, the Social Change Champions broke into two working groups. The first would help define a profitable growth strategy for SES so they could attract more patients to its healthcare clinic, lab and pharmacy and potentially take on bigger projects to help the local community.

“Their team works very hard every day getting help to patients, which doesn’t allow them to have much time to actually do administrative work,” says Analyn Esquivel, a senior Global Business Services Delivery Manager at Boston Scientific.

The second group tackled the issue of how to get crucial HPV testing to people who couldn’t come to the clinic to be screened by obstetricians – a major concern given the high incidence of cervical cancer in Peru.

“The barriers are immense for some of these women to get to a clinic to get tested,” says Cole Gibas, a senior R&D manager at Boston Scientific. The SES clinic is down a steep mountain from local houses, he notes, and many people cannot afford a vehicle to help them make the trip.

After departing Peru, the Social Change Champions met virtually over nine weeks to develop action plans SES could execute once the program was over. Ultimately, they were able to recommend project management strategies and delineate employees’ job roles more clearly to eliminate time-consuming inefficiencies within the clinic, lab and pharmacy and boost revenue as a result.

They also created FAQs in English and Spanish to educate women on the importance of cervical cancer screening and worked with community health agents beyond the walls of SES to administer these tests to women closer to home.

“Enabling them to go into the community with HPV tests really expands how many patients can benefit,” says Gibas.

Helping the community – and learning important lessons

While the program just concluded at the end of 2023, Santiago Palomino, M.D., head of the Non-Communicable Diseases and Cancer program at SES, has already felt the impact of the Social Change Champions.

“They were a tremendous group,” he says. “My program now has tools to support a better process of detecting cervical cancer. But I’ve also learned as a physician and a program manager how to promote change and be clearer about the objectives I want.”

The Boston Scientific employees who were part of the pilot program were significantly affected by their experience, too.

“I cannot tell you enough how many lessons I learned, including compassion,” says Esquivel. “When we first visited SES, it was shocking to many of us to understand the conditions in which people lived. It was a reality slap. But we kept on going, working together. I’m a better person because of this program.”

Gibas concurs. “We were all thrown into a very challenging situation,” he says. “We had to start from scratch and in the end, we needed every single perspective. We relied on that diversity of thought and opinion and it all worked out in the end.”

Learn more about how Boston Scientific is creating sustainable change around the world through our ESG strategy.

View original content here.

Mondelēz 2022 Snacking Made Right Report

Consumers around the world are increasingly looking for snacks and sustenance that fit into their often busy lifestyles. As we continue evolving our portfolio to accelerate growth, we’re finding new ways to help consumers enjoy any snack, for any snacking occasion, more mindfully.

In our 2022 State of Snacking report, 71% of consumers surveyed said that they snack at least twice a day. The report also confirms consumers are increasingly replacing meals with snacks – for example, 60% of respondents eat a snack for dinner, up from 46% in 2020. Additionally, consumers are increasingly looking for ways to snack more mindfully, while continuing to turn to the trusted brands they count on for great taste.

According to our 2022 report:

68% of survey respondents said they check nutrition labels on snacks before buying them

61% said they take time to portion out snacks before eating them

78% said they take time to savor indulgent snacks

As a snack company dedicated to empowering people to snack right, we wouldn’t have it any other way. To us, the concept of “mindfulness” extends far beyond the satisfaction and pleasure our consumers feel when they taste our delicious snacks. We’re intentional and mindful in the way we design, manufacture, and market our products, too. We’re mindful about choosing the right ingredients, blending them in just the right way, adhering to the high standards of quality and safety, and making it easy for consumers to select the appropriate portions to fit into their busy lifestyles. We’re mindful about helping families all over the world enjoy our snacks more fully.

Our Approach

Evolving our Portfolio

We invite people to enjoy the snack that is right for them – and to rethink the experience of snacking – by continuously evolving our portfolio to satisfy consumers’ changing needs. We are constantly looking to innovate to deliver locally and culturally relevant ingredients and recipes – including new and emerging nutrition trends like gluten-free, vegan and low- or zero-sugar options. We also continue to explore potential acquisitions to expand the breadth and depth of our offerings in functional nutrition, fresh ingredients, and related areas that deliver great taste and better-for-you ingredient profiles.

Championing Mindful Snacking

For years, we have encouraged consumers to practice Mindful Snacking – the application of mindfulness to eating – to help them experience more satisfaction from snacking. We provide consumer-friendly online information explaining Mindful Snacking and how to practice it. To help consumers snack mindfully, we offer a range of portion control snacks, including products sized at <200 calories as well as individually wrapped options. We’re also expanding our portion education tools – both on-pack and online – to further illustrate the size of a standard portion and the number of calories consumed per portion. Additionally, we partner with organizations, including Portion Balance Coalition, British Nutrition Foundation, and Food Drink Europe and CAOBISCO to encourage mindful snacking.

Marketing Responsibly 

We recognize that consumers need simple, straightforward information to help them make the best dietary decisions for themselves and their families. Accordingly, we deploy a mindful approach to the way we promote and advertise our products – taking great care to provide appropriate nutrition labeling across our global portfolio, aligned with all applicable local laws and regulations; providing as much information on key nutrients as space allows; and delivering meaningful information at a glance through frontof-pack (FoP) and calorie labeling on all relevant products. We also work closely with industry peers, consumers, and health authorities to strive for greater harmonization and consistency in food labeling across markets. As a founding member of the International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA), we work with others across the industry to support responsible marketing.

Read more in the Mondelēz 2022 Snacking Made Right Report

DALLAS, Texas, February 1, 2024 /3BL/ – American Airlines, the Dallas Mavericks and Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse were delighted to partner again for the 17th annual Seats for Soldiers, a day full of unforgettable experiences to honor our nation’s heroes. More than 100 service members — wounded, ill and injured service members from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard — enjoyed dinner at Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse, along with courtside seats at the Dallas Mavericks versus Orlando Magic game at American Airlines Center.

The day began with American providing charter transportation between San Antonio and Dallas Fort Worth for Brooke Army Medical Center service members with American’s pilots and flight attendants volunteering their time for the special flight.

“For the past 17 years, Seats for Soldiers has been a special event for the American Airlines team — and one that I am especially proud to be part of as an Army veteran myself,” said David Seymour, American’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are grateful for our team of volunteers and our partners at Nick & Sam’s and the Dallas Mavericks for coming together to honor our nation’s heroes in such a meaningful way each year.”

After arriving at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the group of service members were treated to a three-course dinner at Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse before attending the game. This year’s menu was created by Nick & Sam’s Corporate Chef and Partner Samir Dhurandhar and featured an Allen Brother filet mignon and “Salt n Pepper” Scottish Salmon main dish option with sides. The meal concluded with Dallas Mavericks seven-layer cake and Sweet House vanilla ice cream. The Nick & Sam’s staff volunteered their time to host the group, and the service was provided free of charge to the service members.

“Food feeds the soul. Although we owe them much more than a meal, we are honored to be able to treat the people who protect us. We admire our veterans’ strength and courage and want them to know that we see and appreciate them,” said Nick & Sam’s Majority Owner and Partner Sam Romano, and Corporate Chef and Partner Samir Dhurandhar in a joint statement.

The concept for Seats for Soldiers originated with Dallas Mavericks season ticket holders Neal and Jamie Hawks, who, along with other front-row season ticket holders, have donated their seats year after year to host the wounded service members. For the first time ever, the Dallas Mavericks opened up more of their seats by providing all Club Maverick Members who had tickets to the Jan. 29 game the opportunity to donate their seats to U.S. service members. In collaboration with Vet Tix, the Mavericks were able to provide over 400 additional seats to active duty, veteran/retiree, Gold Star family and surviving spouse military members. This ongoing collaboration has generated over $1.2 million worth of tickets for service members this season. After the game, the service members attended a meet-and-greet session with the Mavericks players and entertainers.

“It is our honor to recognize and celebrate these brave men and women in uniform,” said Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall. “Because of their sacrifice, we are free to enjoy the game we love with the people we love, and we are grateful for their service.”

Case IH, a brand of CNH, recently capitalized on the Agricultural Engineering Innovation Forum at this year’s International Green Week in Berlin. At the Forum, CNH reinforced its role in resolving challenges in agriculture by assisting farmers in boosting productivity and profitability, whilst generating additional value and promoting resource conservation.

“Together with other well-known agritech businesses, we are seeking in-depth dialogue with consumers and decision-makers in politics and institutions at the Farm Experience in Hall 3.2 of International Green Week,” says Marc-Peter Bormann, Managing Director of CNH Deutschland GmbH.

“Agricultural engineering plays a crucial role in promoting resource-efficient, productive, and profitable farming. However, the benefits of agritech extend beyond the agricultural sector, profoundly impacting society. We intend to spotlight this impact by providing concrete examples on this occasion.”

Case IH showcased their technological prowess at the Forum by focusing on their tech that increases efficiency, uses smart sensors and artificial intelligence, and enhances digital connectedness. From their new baler automation system to the Farmall 75C, attending this event is a testament to CNH’s commitment to sustainable products and innovation for the future of farming.

Originally published on Vox. 

In recent years, some leading scholars of hunger and famine have pushed to make it politically and morally untenable to use starvation as a tactic of war or repression. But international standards on hunger have been slow to take shape.

That project has made some progress. In 2018, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2417, in which the members for the first time uniformly condemned the starvation of civilians and the unlawful obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian aid as methods of warfare, and charged the UN’s leadership with carefully monitoring for the emergence of conflict-induced hunger.

“The resolution has not been a game changer, but it has raised the political profile of hunger,” said Michelle Brown, associate director of advocacy at Action Against Hunger.

Click here to continue reading on Vox. 

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 55 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

**

Photo by Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images