Tag: 3BL

Originally published by Taco Bell

This year, Taco Bell extended Digital & Technology apprenticeships to some of its restaurant team members. Called the Yum! Reskilling Academy (YRA), this 12- to 15-month program provides high-quality, on-the-job experience, virtual skills training and a peer community to its participants with the end goal of hiring team members into corporate roles. YRA is a Yum! Unlocking Opportunity Initiative program launched in partnership with the job training organization Multiverse.

Read on to learn one of the stories of a Taco Bell participant: Truman W.

During high school, team member Truman was working at Taco Bell while simultaneously balancing his academics. Shortly after graduating, Yum!’s Reskilling Academy Apprenticeship selected him into its program – no college degree required.

“I walked into the restaurant during my shift one day and found this flyer talking about business- and tech-related jobs,” he said. “I was already planning to pursue something similar, so I decided to apply because the idea of having early access to learnings in a field I want to go into seemed cool. I then got an offer a couple of weeks after.”

Only a few months into the program, Truman is already addressing tech support tickets sent by Taco Bell and its sister brands (KFC, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill) and assisting restaurant teams with Tracks, a tool that helps modernize the restaurant management experience. He even has received that have changed his perspective on the workforce.

“I recently led a priority issue, which was my chance to own a project from start to finish,” he said, “It was interesting because I was used to seeing how a restaurant runs from the inside. So, seeing it from a different perspective while learning the various programs that go into running a successful Taco Bell restaurant was one of the coolest things ever.”

Along with building new technical skills, Truman has taken on a growth mindset and now sees any setbacks as ways to learn and develop.

“So far, I’ve been able to talk to so many positive people who are willing to help me grow!” Truman said. “I was so shy before, and now, I’ve developed the confidence to talk with leaders and people across the departments we work with.”

Truman is most excited about reaching his potential and inspiring others to do the same.

“I want to encourage others to apply to opportunities like this, because it’s rare to see companies take people from their stores and put them in corporate setting,” he said. “I had always dreamed about becoming a software engineer or going into web development, and now, I’m on that track. It’s really good way to advance your career, and I’m grateful for it.”

At Taco Bell, we lead with a people-first mindset because the investments we make in our people are the ones we hold close to our hearts. To check out more opportunities, click here.

Everyone should have access to travel. The Expedia Made to Travel™ Fund supports nonprofits and organizations in pursuing travel equality. To date, the Fund has awarded more than $1.5M in grants to a diverse set of like-minded organizations, all sharing the common goal of removing barriers to travel.

Learn more about the fund, how you can become the next recipient, and stay tuned for more posts about the grantees. 

Vanguard Renewables partners with leading food and beverage companies to recycle food and beverage waste on multi-generational dairy farms across the country to make renewable energy via anaerobic digestion. Vanguard has a long-standing partnership with Barstow’s Longview Farm, a seventh-generation family farm and member-owner of the Cabot Creamery Cooperative, to host one of Vanguard’s Farm Powered® anaerobic digesters.

Barstow’s Longview Farm sends their milk to Cabot Creamery Cooperative to be turned into delicious Cabot butter, and the inedible waste produced as a byproduct of that butter manufacturing is sent back to the anaerobic digester on the farm to become renewable energy and low-carbon farm fertilizer. The Cabot Creamery Cooperative closes this circular loop by purchasing the renewable energy that their waste creates to power the butter plant and help decarbonize their operations. This project churns up a host of benefits for the farm, the community, the cooperative, and the planet.

About Vanguard Renewables 
Vanguard Renewables, based in Weston, Massachusetts, is a national leader in developing food and dairy waste-to-renewable energy projects. The Company owns and operates on-farm anaerobic digester facilities in the northeast and currently operates manure-only digesters in the south and west for Dominion Energy. Vanguard Renewables plans to expand nationwide to more than 150 anaerobic digestion facilities by 2026. Vanguard Renewables is committed to advancing decarbonization by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farms and food waste, generating renewable energy, and supporting regenerative agriculture on partner farms via Farm Powered® anaerobic digestion. Vanguard Renewables is a portfolio company of BlackRock Real Assets. To learn more visit www.vanguardrenewables.com

Originally published on Nielsen Insights

Hispanics represent one-fifth of the U.S. population, but their media engagement can be complex due to the inherent nuances within the community.

Hispanics are streaming trendsetters

Hispanics spend the most media time with television, but their engagement with TV is rooted in what they watch on streaming services.

61% of Hispanics say that streaming is their primary destination for TV viewing.
 Hispanics spend 22% less time with live and time-shifted TV content than the general population.
 Hispanics spend 48.9% of their TV time with streaming content.

Data sources: Nielsen National TV Panel; Streaming Platform Ratings

Building better content experiences

This report breaks down how to enhance channel programming, tailor recommendations and customize user experiences across FAST channels and beyond.

The trust factor: The Latino community’s unique connection with content is driven by trust. 
 The keys to connections: Understand the factors that lend authenticity and affirm credibility. 
 Close the diversity gap: There are perceptions that Latinos feel underrepresented in many of television’s most-watched genres.

The Hispanic audience insights you need: Download the Hispanic audiences in focus report and understand what drives media consumption and trust. 

Download the report here.

The University of Kentucky College of Education, the Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative, Project Tomorrow and four K-12 school districts have collaborated to support enhanced STEAM learning experiences for more than 1,100 K-12 students in the Appalachia region of Kentucky for the past six years. The program, funded by a grant from Qualcomm through its Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ initiative, incorporates mobile devices for students, teachers and pre-service teachers along with high-quality educational content. Students and teachers use tablets and always on, always connected laptops enabled by Qualcomm’s technologies. Understanding the need to build sustainability around effective digital learning practices, this public-private collaboration focuses on helping both practicing and pre-service teachers develop stronger competence with mobile technologies and supporting school and district leaders with capacity-building experiences.

To support these goals, the program convened the first Taking Learning Mobile for All Symposium this spring in Corbin, Kentucky, to share the research findings and stimulate new discussions about how to close the digital divide in Kentucky. Attending the event were K-12 district superintendents, directors of technology, school principals, digital learning coaches from across the Appalachia region and university faculty responsible for preparing future teachers. Through a series of panel discussions, participating teachers and administrators shared their insights about how mobile devices with enhanced Internet connectivity have helped students become more effective learners and develop skills needed to drive their future success. One symposium participant noted the rich panel discussions “validated for me the important role of teachers as designers of effective learning experiences for their students.” University of Kentucky pre-service teachers also shared how they use mobile technology to improve their clinical practice in schools, shaping them into the kinds of tech-savvy teachers they will be when they have their own classrooms and students.

Symposium facilitators, Dr. Lu Young from the University of Kentucky and Dr. Julie Evans from Project Tomorrow, led participants in a workshop exercise to explore new solutions for closing the digital divide for all students in Kentucky. Ranging from state policy considerations to deeper local connections with their students’ families, the ideas generated at the Symposium provided inspiration for follow-up activities. All participants shared their plan to use ideas generated to support more effective learning environments in their schools and communities in the 2023-24 school year.

Originally published on Illumina News Center

In the middle of downtown Toronto, surrounded by major universities and hospitals, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is working to better understand tumor biology and improve cancer care.

“Our goal is to bring a large community of researchers together to solve large, intractable problems in cancer, and drive new areas of oncology to stay at the cutting edge,” says Laszlo Radvanyi, PhD, OICR’s president and scientific director. “We are a unique institute that is designed to be a hub, a facilitator, that brings researchers, clinicians, and institutes all across Ontario together to solve the cancer problem.”

Precision medicine is the key. Radvanyi and his team understand that every patient’s cancer is unique, and to treat each person effectively, they must identify the genetic variations that drive their disease and tailor treatments in response.

“Our goal is to be highly translational,” says Radvanyi. “We want to pick the discoveries and innovations we believe can move into the clinic and can also lead to a new generation of products. We intersect these efforts by also facilitating the application of these innovations by new startup biotech companies in Ontario.”

Discovery and clinical care 
Bernard Lam, PhD, is associate director of OICR’s Translational Genomics Lab, which features a fully equipped genomic sequencing facility, including two recently acquired high-capacity NovaSeq X Plus Systems representing the latest in next-generation sequencing technology. The lab is different from most fundamental discovery facilities because it also offers assays to support patient care through clinical trials.

“We have a clear goal of generating clinically relevant data that can be used in basic research or to inform individualized medicines for patients,” says Lam, whose lab works with several institutions across Ontario. “Our common goal is to get this done in a timely manner at the highest possible quality. We have clinical assays that can be reported back within a few weeks. Patients are waiting for a decision, and we can provide information to help guide their treatment.”

Just across the street from OICR, clinicians at one of OICR’s partner organizations, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC), are urgently looking for new ways to help their patients. Stephanie Lheureux, MD, PhD, is a clinical investigator at PMCC who focuses on gynecologic malignancies. Lheureux relies on OICR for whole-genome and transcriptome data to guide treatment and/or monitor disease progression as part of clinical trials.

“Now we can go deeper, to the molecular level, and really differentiate subgroups of ovarian cancer that we treat differently,” says Lheureux, “and we’re doing the same investigations with uterine and cervical cancers. This changes how we practice and how we treat patients, because the different subtypes of each cancer do not respond the same ways to standard treatments.”

Lheureux is also part of PMCC’s drug development program, which leverages clinical trials to find options beyond standard chemotherapy. Genomic profiling provides a crucial layer of information, identifying variations that spur cell growth or drug resistance.

“OICR is a great collaborator,” Lheureux says. “As we do clinical trials, we often try to understand why patients may respond, or not, to a treatment. Sometimes we don’t know how a specific patient will respond; we have no clinical information to guide us. Having access to genomic sequencing gives us another tool that could give us new insights into why a patient might benefit from a treatment.”

The need for speed 
Genomic information can be useful for clinical care—but only if it arrives quickly. Cancer does not wait. “Molecular profiling can provide additional information, but if the results take too long, that may not be helpful,” Lheureux says. “We need these results in a timely fashion to really guide treatment.”

Fortunately, current Illumina sequencers are fast. Ten years ago, HiSeq took several days to deliver results. Early NovaSeq Systems trimmed that to 48 hours. NovaSeq X Plus takes around 24 hours.

“You can literally come back the next day and your data is ready,” says Lam. “Having two NovaSeq X Pluses in the lab is quite amazing because it’s equivalent to six NovaSeq 6000s. Those capabilities are having an immediate impact on our sequencing capacity.”

These added capabilities could change the economics of genomic sequencing. Often, labs choose to do targeted sequencing. While this approach saves money, it could also leave out important information, such as noncoding regions that may still influence cancer. Less expensive next-generation sequencing could open a whole realm of applications.

“I think we are getting to a time where fully sequencing the whole tumor genome can be used as a companion diagnostic for every patient,” says Lam.

Lam is excited about other features, such as NovaSeq X’s increased capacity and larger flow cells, particularly for population studies. OICR is part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network and will sequence thousands of patient genomes. That data will be combined with other biomarkers and clinical data to drive new decision-making algorithms that could better select therapies.

“There are so many things we can use genomics to study,” says Lam. “We also have projects where patients have inherited genes that drive cancer development, and we can use genomics to help monitor them throughout their lifetime, developing early cancer detection tools so we can catch these tumors fast and intercede. We are getting to the point where every single person in the community can benefit.”

With the goal of inspiring a generation of global innovators and problem solvers to ignite positive global change, Tata Consultancy Services today announced that its 2023-2024 goIT Global Innovator of the Year competition will accept entries from students aged 6 to 17 now through December 31, 2023. This global competition encourages students to develop and submit innovative technology solutions that can help address the world’s challenges in support of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“This competition provides a platform for young minds to showcase their creativity and make a positive impact on the world,” says John DiChiara, TCS global goIT program manager. “It’s a perfect opportunity for them to participate in a global movement to create a more sustainable and inclusive future.”

The goIT Global Innovator of the Year competition is part of TCS’ commitment to engage youth with meaningful computer science projects that encourage them to pursue STEM careers. The program is designed to inspire them to think about global citizenship and potentially position them as future leaders committed to driving sustainable and inclusive solutions.

Like the goIT Monthly Challenge and goIT’s popular in-school programs, the goIT Global Innovator of the Year competition invites individual students or student teams to submit a 1-to-3-minute video pitch, a presentation, or a written proposal describing their ideas and the specific world problem they are addressing. Students can target any of the 17 SDGs which are most important to them or their communities.

Competitions will be held around the world, with finalists from key geographies advancing to the annual goIT Global Innovator of the Year competition in mid2024. All entrants will be honored with a certificate of achievement as they compete for rewards including a chance to bring their concept to life, gift cards, mentoring experiences, speaking opportunities, and more.

Interested students and K-12 educators who plan to manage their classes’ submissions can learn more about this year’s competition from program ambassador Astronaut Nicole Stott — and submit innovations — at on.tcs.com/AMERS-IOTY through December 31, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

ABOUT TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 55 years. Its consulting-led, cognitive powered, portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India’s largest multinational business group, TCS has over 608,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $27.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, and is listed on the BSE and the NSE in India. TCS’ proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit www.tcs.com.

About goIT

TCS’ Go Innovate Together program (goIT) is TCS’ flagship STEM education program. Focusing on digital innovation and career readiness, goIT engages students from diverse backgrounds with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and computer science, design thinking and digital innovation. The program offers an industry-developed, customizable curriculum that teaches students the 21st century skills necessary for a career in technology. Lessons cover topics including design thinking, rapid prototyping, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more. Visit https://tcsempowers.tcsapps.com/amer/goIT for more information.

National Grid was recently recognized by leading economic development industry publication Site Selection Magazine as a 2023 Top Utility in Economic Development, selected from a pool of approximately 3,300 electric utilities from across the country. Of the twenty companies named, National Grid is the only utility to make the list with operations in the Northeast.

Recognized utilities are described as “the cream of the crop when it comes to getting things done on behalf of their communities” and are selected based on criteria that includes “corporate end-user project investment and affiliated job creation.” Selections are made through a combination of independent research and results from a voluntary annual questionnaire centered on programs and incentives that are spurring sustainable growth and cultivating the flow of smart capital and talent.

“National Grid is committed to building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy system for all — and a major part of that commitment is elevating the growth and vitality of the communities where we live and work,” said Arthur Hamlin, Director of Economic Development, National Grid. “We’re powering our local and regional economies with strategic investments and incentive programs that fuel business development, create in-demand jobs, enhance clean energy infrastructure, and provide better opportunities for communities to attract and advance innovation.”

The ranking factors in the Company’s work across its service territories in New York and Massachusetts, with special focus given to its recent contributions in Upstate New York. Since 2003, National Grid’s economic development programs have provided more than $145 million in assistance to its Upstate New York communities, helping to create or retain more than 65,000 jobs and supporting almost $10.5 billion in private and public investment.

The magazine noted National Grid was a key member of the economic development team behind the attraction of Micron Technology’s proposed $100 billion semiconductor facility in Upstate New York, which is expected to create 50,000 jobs over a twenty-year period.

Following the call out in Site Selection Magazine’s September issue, National Grid in recent weeks has continued to demonstrate a commitment to driving economic opportunity in the Northeast by supporting customers and helping them to achieve their goals:

In New York, National Grid is providing nearly $2 million to support a range of economic development projects, including Linde’s clean hydrogen plant in Niagara Falls and Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute’s innovative battery backup pilot program in Buffalo. A separate $500,000 grant helped offset costs at a brand-new, $621 million cheese manufacturing plant in Cattaraugus County.In Massachusetts, the Company announced a $500,000 Small Business Impact Initiative to empower diverse businesses in historically underrepresented communities across the Commonwealth. The three-year program — in partnership with Amplify LatinX, The Asian Business Empowerment Council, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce – aims to support 16 small businesses in its first year.

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.

Media Contacts 
Emily Demarest 
Massachusetts 
(781) 907-3980 
Email

Las Vegas Sands

Sands and Marina Bay Sands awarded the first 49 student recipients from six Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) in the $1 million Sands Hospitality Scholarship Program on Nov. 9. Announced in August 2022, the program aims to nurture hospitality talent and create a healthy pipeline for Singapore’s workforce.

Recipients at the November ceremony represented Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic. The Sands Hospitality Scholarship Program ultimately will benefit more than 100 Singaporean students who are pursuing hospitality or tourism-related courses of study, aiming to nurture hospitality talent, and encourage the country’s brightest students to consider a career in the hospitality industry.

“We are delighted to welcome our pioneer batch of Sands Hospitality Scholarship recipients,” Paul Town, chief operating officer at Marina Bay Sands, said at the ceremony. “The scholarship is a cornerstone of our commitment to Singapore’s vibrant hospitality sector, reflecting our aspiration to set new standards in the world of hospitality. Through engagement events with our scholars, we hope to deepen their passion for the hospitality industry and better prepare them for their future careers.”

As part of the ceremony, students learned about hospitality careers through a fireside chat with Marina Bay Sands’ management representatives including Town; Christine Sheares, vice president of food and beverage; Genevieve Lim, executive director of MICE management; and Shawn Ng, executive director, hotel operations. Students also engaged in an “Ask Us Anything” session in which they were able to interact with representatives from various Marina Bay Sands departments, including hotel operations, food and beverage, MICE and human resources.

“The fireside chat was an incredibly insightful session, providing us with industry and personal perspectives on career advancement from seasoned professionals,” Jolene Loke, a scholarship recipient from the Singapore Institute of Technology, said. “Hearing from veterans in the industry about their passion is a great motivation and encouragement for those of us pursuing a degree in hospitality. It inspires me to work toward making Singapore an even more attractive destination for travelers.”

Beyond these interactions, students enjoyed an exclusive tour of the property’s hotel and attractions, including viewing a newly completed hotel suite, which is part of an ongoing $1 billion reinvestment project. They also visited the iconic SkyPark Observation Deck. Marina Bay Sands designed the tour to give students a glimpse of a luxury hospitality destination.

The Sands Hospitality Scholarship Program is part of the company’s ambition to invest $200 million in workforce development during its 2021-2025 reporting cycle. Last year, Sands contributed $56 million to workforce development initiatives for a cumulative total of $113 million in 2021-2022.

The company will update on its workforce development investment progress in its next environmental, social and governance report scheduled for release in the spring of 2024. In the meantime, read about Sands’ other workforce development programs and efforts to nurture hospitality talent in the 2022 ESG Report here: https://www.sands.com/2022-environmental-social-and-governance-report/

KeyBank announced it has awarded 21 Western Pennsylvania organizations with funding through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program totaling more than $500,000.

Under the program, Pennsylvania allows individuals and businesses to obtain a state tax credit equal to 90% of their Pennsylvania state tax liability for eligible contributions. These contributions must be made either to schools that provide tuition assistance to students from low-income households or to approved Educational Improvement Organizations.

“At KeyBank, we believe in supporting organizations and programs that help students succeed in school and eventually graduate and have access to college and career-building opportunities,” said Vic Laurenza, KeyBank’s Western Pennsylvania Market President. “We appreciate the EITC program and the opportunity to give back to the organizations that are educating the next generation of leaders.”

The funding from Key ranges from $20,000 to $40,000 and have been made to the following community organizations:

Aquinas AcademyCommunity Foundation of Fayette CountyCrossroads FoundationExtra Mile Education FoundationFund for the Advancement of Minorities through Education Inc. (FAMEHoly Family FoundationJunior Achievement of Western PAPittsburgh Jewish Educational Improvement FoundationPoise FoundationThe School at McGuire MemorialWatson InstituteImani Christian AcademyLifesteps, IncThe Neighborhood AcademyWashington County Community FoundationAngel’s Place Inc.Greater Erie Community Action CommitteeVilla Maria Cathedral Preparatory Catholic School SystemDr. Gertrude A. Barber National InstituteWarren-Forest Counties Economic Opportunity CouncilMercyhurst Preparatory School

ABOUT KEYCORP

KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $188 billion at September 30, 2023.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.