The Mediterranean Diet is perennially popular, in large part because of the delicious, plant-forward cuisine of the region. It’s also consistently rated as one of the most healthy eating patterns in the world. There are many significant benefits to this style of eating. It supports heart health and assists with weight management. It also helps fight chronic inflammation in the body, and may even enhance longevity. But here’s something you might not know about the Mediterranean Diet: many of its health impacts are tied to its influence on gut health.
How Is the Mediterranean Diet Good for the Gut?
A healthy gut drives health benefits around the body—not just in the digestive system. And there are several ways that the Mediterranean eating pattern promotes both healthy digestion and gut function.
It Increases Diversity of Gut Microbiota. Trillions of microorganisms live in our digestive systems, and this community is extremely diverse (this is a good thing). Together, these organisms are responsible for physiological processes that influence metabolic and immunological health. The intestinal microbiota even protects the body against invading, dangerous microbes. Several studies have analyzed the Mediterranean eating style on the microbiota. And they show that, although individual responses can vary, following this type of diet promotes a healthy balance of bacteria in the microbiota. The overall effect? Improvement in processes related to gut health, inflammation, obesity and metabolic syndrome, and neurodegenerative diseases. Generally, the more diverse the population of bacteria in the gut, the more able it is to keep you healthy.
It Provides Prebiotics for Gut Bacteria. In most studies, people who follow the Mediterranean diet develop different gut microbiota than those who consume typical Western diets. The contribution of plentiful fiber, roughly 14g per 1000 calories, is likely part of the reason. Some fibers from our food can serve as food for the bacteria in the digestive tract—these are called prebiotic fibers. Prebiotic fibers are prominent in the Mediterranean diet, and in fact, most high-fiber foods contain some prebiotic fibers. In response to the fiber, the bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the colon. The benefits of SCFA production have been widely studied, but there is still lots to learn about these compounds. So far, some of the strongest research shows they likely play beneficial roles in:
Decreasing inflammation and fighting chronic diseases that stem from it
It Supports a Healthy Balance of Gut Bacteria.Probiotics are live bacteria with health benefits. When our digestive tract is populated with adequate numbers of “good” bacteria, the microbiota works well, and our digestive systems hum along with no special attention needed. However, when there aren’t enough “good” bacteria (or when one type dominates), the imbalance—called dysbiosis—can cause a variety of problems. Everything from diarrhea or constipation to more complicated issues like bowel diseases and bacterial infections are more likely when gut bacteria are out of balance. Fermented foods, common in the Mediterranean Diet, are excellent sources of probiotics.
Which Mediterranean Diet Foods Boost Gut Health?
It just so happens that most Mediterranean Diet foods are not just healthy, but good for your gut too! However, eating in the Mediterranean style does vary, since there are a number of countries in the region. This allows you to personalize your Mediterranean eating plan a bit while still maintaining some of the healthy basics. In general, the following foods are on a Mediterranean table every day if you want to emphasize gut-healthy foods:
EHS maturity is less about company size or certifications and more about the ability to manage risk consistently through growth, change, and operational complexity.
Organizations often operate across multiple stages of EHS maturity at once, depending on location, function, and business activity.
Leadership engagement, shared ownership, and actionable data are common indicators of more mature and sustainable EHS programs.
Programs built solely around compliance can become difficult to sustain as organizations expand, acquire new operations, or face evolving regulatory expectations.
Overly complex EHS systems can reduce engagement and weaken implementation, making scalability and practicality just as important as technical rigor.
Incremental, high-impact improvements tied to a long-term vision are often more effective than launching too many global initiatives at once.
For many organizations, Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) efforts begin and sometimes end with regulatory compliance. Regulations define what is required, and programs are built to meet those obligations. While regulatory compliance should always be a central pillar of an EHS program, over time different questions emerge:
Can we sustain this?
Is our management system fit for purpose and built to scale for our organization?
Are we truly doing what is necessary to manage EHS risks within our organization?
These questions mark the transition from compliance to capacity. This transition often occurs as organizations begin to grow, expand locations, experience leadership changes, integrate acquisitions, or simply realize that maintaining EHS performance becomes more difficult as operational complexity increases.
While compliance focuses on simply meeting defined requirements, capacity is about having the structures, capabilities, and ownership in place to manage risk consistently and in a seamless, achievable manner, not only today but also as the organization grows, changes, or faces new challenges.
This greater capacity and readiness for the future are the hallmarks of a mature EHS program. To reach that stage, it is crucial for organizations to recognize where they are now, what is realistic to maintain, and where to focus next.
What EHS Maturity Really Means
EHS maturity is not a function of an organization’s size or global footprint, nor is it a function of how many certifications the company has. A small organization with a well-developed and integrated management system can operate at a high level of maturity, just as a large name-brand global organization may struggle to attain it. Conversely, organizations can appear mature on paper through extensive documentation or certification while still struggling with implementation consistency, ownership, or operational integration.
At its core, EHS maturity reflects an organization’s ability to consistently identify, evaluate, and manage risk not just once, but repeatedly over time. Mature EHS programs demonstrate repeatability, clarity of ownership, and resilience with changing conditions, such as leadership transitions, location additions, operations evolutions, or changes in regulatory expectations and requirements.
In practical terms, maturity shows up in how well EHS processes continue to function when attention shifts elsewhere, priorities compete, or resources tighten.
The 4 Stages of EHS Maturity
While maturity exists on a continuum, it is often helpful to think in terms of a few broad stages:
1. Reactive
EHS activities are driven by incidents, regulatory findings and citations, or external pressure. Efforts tend to be informal and inconsistent, with limited to no structure or forward planning, and are heavily dependent on individual effort rather than structured systems.
2. Compliant
Programs are built to meet base regulatory requirements. Responsibilities are assigned, documentation exists, and audits are completed. The focus is primarily on “checking the box” rather than improving the system, the health and safety of employees and other parties, or the environment.
3. Proactive
The organization is looking at leading indicators, completing a trend analysis of collected EHS metrics/data, and developing proactive prevention strategies to guide decisions. Risks are identified earlier, and corrective actions are prioritized before incidents occur. Operational and business decisions increasingly consider EHS impacts earlier in the process rather than after problems emerge.
4. Integrated
The pinnacle of EHS maturity—a state that many organizations strive for, but few fully attain. In this stage, EHS is seamlessly integrated into how the organization operates. Not as a bolt on, not living alongside operations, not as a blocker or something perceived as unnecessary, but baked into the company culture. Leaders share ownership, employees are engaged and actively participate in EHS, data informs business decisions, and systems are maintained as part of normal operations rather than as a separate initiative.
Organizations do not move through these stages overnight, and many operate across multiple stages at once depending on location, function, or variable operations.
Key Indicators of a Mature EHS Program
As EHS maturity grows, several meaningful shifts tend to occur.
Leadership involvement increases: EHS moves from being viewed as a technical function to a leadership responsibility. Leaders reinforce and embody expectations, allocate resources to ensure success, and participate in top management reviews. Leadership is not simply involved after something goes wrong, but as part of routine operations.
Data becomes actionable: Rather than collecting data solely for reporting, organizations use it to identify patterns, prioritize risks, and guide improvement. Metrics evolve from lagging indicators to tools for decision-making with a strong focus on leading indicators.
Ownership extends beyond EHS: Responsibility for managing risk is not exclusively owned by the EHS function but is shared across operations from employees, supervisors and managers to human resources, security, operational business units and more. There is strong multi-functional EHS governance that is routinely engaged. EHS teams enable, guide, and continuously improve the system, but they are no longer the sole owners of outcomes.
Systems are maintained and continuously improved: Procedures, training, and tools are routinely reviewed and updated, not launched and left to languish. Change management becomes intentional, helping systems remain effective and relevant even as the organization grows and evolves.
Together, these shifts strengthen an organization’s capacity to manage risk without requiring constant intervention or rework and help EHS to succeed naturally rather than as an afterthought.
Why Maturity Matters More Than Perfection
One of the most common pitfalls in EHS programs is over-engineering and over-complicating them. Organizations often develop systems, programs, and processes that look or sound impressive but are difficult to sustain or are simply not user-friendly. Over-engineered systems can create administrative burden, reduce engagement, and ultimately weaken implementation. Focusing on maturity and slow iterative growth instead of perfection helps organizations avoid this trap.
Progress does not require adopting every best practice at once. It requires choosing steps that match the organization’s current capacity while building toward the next level.
How to Improve EHS Maturity: A Practical Approach
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Unless you are an organization with unlimited resources (I have yet to meet this company, and I frequently consult for Fortune 10 companies), prioritize your highest risks and achievable projects that will have the greatest impact. Succeeding at a handful of high-impact initiatives at once is far more meaningful than doing a middling job or—worse—failing to meet the goals of a multitude of initiatives at once. Far too often an organization will get bogged down trying to complete 30 or more global initiatives at once; for most, this is simply untenable.
Ensure that the priorities you are tackling are part of a wider vision and game plan. Each initiative or project should be a purposeful stepping stone to your organization’s end vision. Ensure that this vision is clearly defined as it will differ from organization to organization. The goal of EHS maturity is not to become “best in class” overnight. It is to create forward momentum, strengthening the systems, ownership, and capabilities needed to manage risk consistently over time.
By shifting the focus from compliance alone to sustainable capacity, organizations can build EHS programs that not only meet requirements, but continue to perform as the business grows, changes, and faces new challenges. Looking for help building your EHS programs? Reach out to our team for help today!
During our National Training Conference in Tampa, more than 280 Subaru volunteers assembled over 1,000 pet adoption kits, each filled with toys, treats, Subaru bandanas, and essential supplies to help pets begin their next chapter. These kits were proudly donated to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and are now being distributed to adoption locations on both sides of the bay – supporting families and pets as they find each other.
Showing love to pets in need is a core pillar of the Subaru Love Promise, and we’re grateful to have teammates who lead with heart and purpose wherever we go.
What if the future of surgery didn’t begin in an operating room, but in a fully connected digital sandbox?
Here at Cisco, we’re one step closer to making this vision a reality.
Why we need to rethink healthcare training
Around the world, healthcare systems are facing challenges. There is a global shortage of surgeons and in some regions, there is just one surgeon for every 100,000 people. That shortage is expected to become even more pronounced over time, with an anticipated surgeon shortage of 50,000 by 2050 in the United States.
At the same time, conventional surgical training is costly, time-intensive (requiring at least 13 years of training), and often dependent on real-world operating rooms and live patients.
In a country like Switzerland, home to the world’s second most expensive healthcare system, solutions that increase efficiency and training while improving outcomes aren’t optional; they are essential. With Switzerland’s aging population and rise in chronic diseases, the need for qualified surgeons is only accelerating.
The question becomes pressing: How do we train aspiring surgeons around the globe more effectively without compromising the safety of all involved?
The answer lies at the intersection of connectivity, real-time data collection, and digital innovation.
Introducing Operation Room-X
At Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, Cisco is exploring the art of what’s possible through OR-X, short for “Operation Room X.”
But OR-X isn’t just another surgical hub.
It’s a connected innovation environment designed for surgical training and research, powered behind the scenes by Cisco’s intelligent networking infrastructure.
Through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program, in-kind and financial support helped to create a space where surgeons-in-training could test ideas, validate use cases, and build robust training models, all without compromising patient safety. OR-X includes:
Surgical training: Infrastructure for researchers to bring new innovations into surgical treatment for the first time.
Research & Development: Infrastructure for surgical training, allowing surgeons-in-training to practice in a simulated surgical environment.
Clinical Translation: A platform promoting clinical translation, allowing these innovations to be quickly and safely transferred into clinical practice.
But while the concept of OR-X is visionary, its success depends on something fundamental: reliable, secure connectivity.
The infrastructure behind the innovation
Behind the scenes, Cisco’s data centers and resilient networking infrastructure enable OR-X to function as a flexible experimentation environment.
In the data center, Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) with Nexus components enables efficient configuration, segmentation, and management. For wireless communication, the facility relies on the latest generation of Cisco Access Points using the Wi-Fi 6E standard.
Within the OR-X space, transmitter boxes capture and exchange audio and video streams in real time. This allows surgical procedures, simulations, and experiments to be recorded, analyzed, and shared instantly with researchers and trainees.
The result is a flexible, future-ready infrastructure capable of integrating any device or technology, from certified medical equipment to early-stage prototypes.
In practice, this means surgeons and innovators can test new surgical techniques, explore advanced visualization tools, and experiment with emerging technologies in a safe and controlled environment. The platform also enables performance analysis and cross-disciplinary collaboration, allowing clinicians, researchers, and medical technology developers to evaluate and refine new approaches before they reach clinical settings.
The impact of the infrastructure is clearly reflected in its track record over the past two years. With 255 days of active utilization, the OR-X has facilitated 144 R&D experiments in surgical data science, AI, and robotics, while training 2,195 medical professionals across 108 hands-on courses. Beyond its role in establishing a nationwide orthopedic residency curriculum, the OR-X has become a premier hub for interdisciplinary dialogue, hosting 155 events, such as the Medical Augmented Reality Summer School 2025 and the AI Festival Zurich, and welcoming a total of 2,579 visitors into its cutting-edge ecosystem.
A blueprint for the future of healthcare innovation
This approach for OR-X has the potential to accelerate the development of surgical technologies while also improving training opportunities for future surgeons. This work sets a standard of excellence that other industry verticals can emulate, using Cisco as a benchmark.
It also demonstrates that solving healthcare’s most complex challenges requires more than standalone innovation. It requires collaboration between hospitals, governments, and technology providers, united by a shared digital blueprint.
Cisco technology is helping to power that very collaboration. Across more than 17,000 healthcare organizations worldwide, Cisco is helping healthcare systems modernize infrastructure, connect devices securely, and unlock new possibilities for patient care and surgical training.
At its core, this work is about more than just infrastructure.
It’s about enabling the next generation of surgeons and reducing strain on healthcare systems. It’s about designing a future where connectivity strengthens care without compromising safety.
At Cisco, our Purpose is to Power an Inclusive Future for All. That means ensuring that quality care, and the innovation that sustains it, is within reach for every community.
Energy intelligence, which provides deep visibility into how AI and data infrastructure consume power, is emerging as a critical KPI for enterprises seeking to control rising energy costs, boost efficiency, and scale AI sustainably.
Every Earth Day, the conversation turns to carbon offsets, renewable energy pledges, and sustainability reports. These should be year-round conversations, and for many people, they are. But this year, a more urgent conversation has popped up—one that’s less about optics and more about operational survival: How much power is your AI actually consuming, and do you have a strategy to manage it?
The answer, for most enterprises, is simply, “No,” or “not a good one,” or, “not a clear one.” That’s a big hurdle, given how quickly AI is developing and expanding. Our recent survey of 300 senior executives at companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, produced in partnership with MIT Technology Research, makes the stakes clear: Every single executive surveyed—100%—expects the ability to measure and strategically manage energy consumption to become a core business metric within the next two years. Not a sustainability checkbox. A KPI.
Welcome to the era of energy intelligence.
Prioritizing energy intelligence for sustainable growth
Download the MIT Technology Review & Everpure report on why energy intelligence is becoming a critical business metric in the AI era.
What is energy intelligence—and why does it matter now?
Energy intelligence is the practice of understanding where, when, and why energy is consumed across your data infrastructure—and using that insight to optimize operations, control costs, and plan for growth. It’s the shift from passive monitoring to efficiency by design.
For decades, energy costs were treated as overhead. They got buried in facilities budgets or lumped into cloud bills. As Everpure Chief Technology and Growth Officer Rob Lee puts it: “Finance picked them up, and nobody really noticed.”
AI changed that. Fast.
GPU-dense AI servers consume an order of magnitude more energy than traditional infrastructure. Training large language models requires extraordinary amounts of electricity. And unlike previous technology waves like mobile and cloud, AI is additive. It doesn’t replace existing workloads. It layers on top of them.
For enterprise leaders, energy costs have stopped being a line item. They’re becoming a strategic constraint.
The numbers are moving fast, and most organizations aren’t ready
Our survey found that the AI-driven energy cost surge isn’t just coming, it’s already here:
68% of executives report their organizations have already faced energy cost increases of 10% or more in the past year due to AI and data workloads.
97% expect those costs to keep rising over the next 12 to 18 months—with one in three anticipating growth above 25%.
Meanwhile, only 22% say their organization feels “very prepared” to handle the mounting costs. The majority—61%—describe themselves as only somewhat prepared.
That gap between awareness and readiness is where the risk lives. And for organizations that hit the wall—when a data center runs out of power or a cloud bill spikes unexpectedly—the disruption to AI initiatives can be severe. As Lee notes: “The average enterprise typically only realizes there’s an issue when they run into the brick wall.”
PUE is a starting point, not a strategy
For years, power usage effectiveness (PUE) has been the go-to metric for data center energy efficiency. While it’s a useful benchmark, it’s increasingly insufficient on its own.
PUE measures how efficiently a data center uses energy: total facility power divided by IT equipment power. A PUE of 1.0 would be perfect efficiency; real-world scores typically range from 1.2 to 1.5 or higher. It tells you how much energy is wasted on overhead like cooling, but it doesn’t tell you how efficiently your actual workloads are running or how your storage, compute, and network choices are shaping your energy footprint.
In AI-driven environments, which most environments now are, that granularity matters enormously. Not all workloads are created equal. Not all infrastructure decisions have the same energy consequences. And as Eric Masanet, professor at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, observes: “Data centers are the backbone of the information economy, and yet when it comes to their impacts, we’re somewhat data-starved.”
Industry coalitions are now working toward standardized metrics that go beyond PUE. The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive already requires data centers above a certain size to disclose energy performance data annually. True energy intelligence means moving beyond a single number to a full picture of consumption by workload, system, and layer.
Energy’s ‘FinOps’ moment
If the trajectory feels familiar, that’s because it is.
A decade ago, financial operations (FinOps)—the practice of bringing financial accountability to cloud spending—barely existed as a discipline. Enterprises were running up massive cloud bills with little visibility into what was driving them or how to optimize. Today, FinOps is a standard function at most large organizations, complete with dedicated teams, mature tooling, and executive ownership.
Energy intelligence is following the same arc. “Cloud costs illuminated the need for greater financial acumen as a part of technology selection,” says Lee. “I expect the same thing to happen with energy.”
The parallel runs deep. In FinOps, the most consequential decisions happen when you’re choosing your cloud architecture, not when you’re trying to optimize after the fact. The same logic applies to energy. “Once you’ve selected a technology stack, you can optimize around the edges, but if you’ve picked something just inherently inefficient, there’s only so much you can do to clean that up,” says Lee.
That’s why infrastructure selection is where energy intelligence starts, and why storage is often overlooked in the energy conversation.
Storage platforms: The efficiency multiplier
Compute and cooling dominate the energy conversation in AI infrastructure. Storage tends to be an afterthought, but it shouldn’t be. And now we can safely say, not just “shouldn’t,” but “can’t.”
In AI-driven environments, enormous volumes of structured and unstructured data must be stored, accessed, combined, and moved constantly. At that scale, even small inefficiencies compound quickly. And the choice of storage architecture shapes energy consumption in ways that ripple across the entire data center—from direct power draw to cooling requirements to physical footprint.
Three advances in storage technology are making a measurable difference:
Lower power consumption: The move from spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) to flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs) has dramatically reduced the energy required to store data.
Improved hardware longevity: Flash-based systems can remain in service two to three times longer than their HDD predecessors—meaning fewer replacement cycles, less logistical overhead, and a smaller long-term footprint.
Greater power density: Modern flash systems can store roughly 10 times more data in the same physical footprint as legacy alternatives. Fewer devices, fewer storage controllers, fewer enclosures—and significantly less energy required to power and cool them.
Everpure clients have already seen what this looks like in practice: Virgin Media O2 reported a 98% reduction in storage energy consumption after migrating to all-flash infrastructure. British Telecom saw reductions exceeding 90%. THG Ingenuity cut data center power consumption by 80% with no disruption to business operations.
As Lee describes it, the logic is similar to the transition to LED lightbulbs: A single swap doesn’t move the needle, but when enterprises across industries make the shift, the cumulative effect is transformative.
Energy intelligence as a competitive advantage
It’s tempting to frame energy intelligence as a sustainability story. But that framing undersells it.
The organizations building energy intelligence into their operations now are doing something more strategically important: They’re creating optionality. Every kilowatt saved on storage and cooling is capital that can be redirected into the next wave of AI innovation. Organizations that compute more while consuming less will have more room to scale, lower operating costs, and a structural advantage over competitors still running inefficient legacy infrastructure.
There’s also a resilience dimension. As grid constraints tighten and cloud costs rise, companies with deep visibility into their energy footprint will be better equipped to keep their AI initiatives running—and better positioned to avoid the disruptions that will increasingly hit organizations that waited.
Reputation matters too. “It still matters to people that they’re consuming products and services from an organization that takes sustainability seriously,” says Everpure Field CTO for EMEA Patrick Smith. “A reputational component is probably where energy efficiency stands up best as a competitive advantage.”
The survey data makes the imperative clear:
74% of leaders are already working to optimize existing infrastructure
69% are partnering with energy-efficient cloud and storage providers
More than half are implementing AI workload scheduling and investing in more efficient hardware
But for organizations still early in this journey, the starting point is measurement. You can’t optimize what you can’t see. Building the capability to track energy consumption by workload, by system, and across your full infrastructure stack—including third-party cloud and managed services, where 71% of executives say rising costs originate—is the foundation everything else depends on.
This Earth Day, the most meaningful thing an enterprise can do for the planet is to build the visibility to actually know where its energy is going and possess the infrastructure discipline to do something about it. The AI race is already underway. The organizations that win it won’t just be the ones who compute the most. They’ll be the ones who compute the most efficiently. Energy intelligence isn’t a sustainability initiative. It’s how you stay in the game.
When an osprey pair built a nest atop an energized electrical pole on Petty’s Island in Pennsauken, New Jersey, it created both a safety risk for the birds and a potential reliability concern for customers. The nest and three eggs inside needed to be moved — and quickly.
A collaborative effort
Petty’s Island, located in the Delaware River between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, provides an important habitat for many wildlife species, including nesting ospreys. The effort began when the NJ Natural Lands Trust, which oversees Petty’s Island, contacted us to ask for assistance with relocating a newly constructed osprey nest.
During an initial visit, crews discovered that the osprey pair had already laid eggs. Because federal permits are required to relocate active nests containing eggs, the project team quickly coordinated with USDA Wildlife Services, which issues the necessary federal permits for handling migratory bird nests and eggs, allowing the project to move forward safely and legally.
Within days, PSE&G crews coordinated a plan to safely relocate the nest. Working closely with CITGO — the current owner of Petty’s Island — the project team secured permission to use an existing pole for a new osprey nesting platform. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey provided a nest box kit, which they helped our lineworkers assemble onsite before it was installed on the designated safe pole.
USDA Wildlife Services carefully removed the three eggs from the nest and placed them in an incubator while our crew deconstructed the original nest atop the electric pole. The crew then transferred as much of the original nesting material as possible to the new nesting platform to help maintain familiarity for the osprey pair.
Once the nest was rebuilt, the eggs were carefully returned. The relocation proved to be an immediate success, with the osprey parents returning to sit on the eggs within 15 minutes of the nest reconstruction being completed.
Why do ospreys nest on utility poles?
Ospreys are naturally drawn to elevated structures near waterways, which can sometimes make utility poles attractive — but hazardous — nesting sites.
This successful relocation effort required close coordination and teamwork from many individuals across PSE&G and partner organizations.
Having the opportunity to use our occupational skills to help conserve wildlife was a very unique experience. The crew learned a lot working alongside the USDA as well as the Conserve Wildlife Foundation. The crew members assigned to this job were all avid outdoorsmen, which made it much more special. We will be looking forward to more projects like this in the future.”
— Anthony, chief lineman at PSE&G
Advancing conservation and reliability
Ospreys are one of New Jersey’s great conservation success stories. Once severely impacted by pesticides and habitat loss, the state’s osprey population declined to fewer than 50 nesting pairs in the 1970s.
Through decades of conservation work, habitat protection and installation of elevated nesting platforms, New Jersey’s osprey population has rebounded to more than 800 nesting pairs statewide today. The pairs often nest near waterways like those on Petty’s Island or in the Delaware River Estuary, where we have restored and maintain over 20,000 acres as part of our conservation efforts.
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ is happy to carry on the tradition of working with public utility companies to ensure that avian species continue to thrive. It was partnerships like these that were crucial in the early recovery efforts of ospreys. As they face new threats in a rapidly changing world, ensuring their survival is essential. Our human infrastructure and ospreys can coexist. It just takes a little extra effort.”
— Ben Wurst, osprey biologist at the Conserve Wildlife Foundation
Working together to protect wildlife and reliability
The project highlights how utility companies like ours and conservation organizations can work together to protect wildlife and care for our environment while maintaining electric reliability and public safety. Avian protection programs are an important part of utility environmental stewardship, helping reduce the risk of bird electrocutions, equipment damage and outages while providing safer nesting opportunities for protected species.
Learn more about our environmental stewardship and wildlife conservation efforts across New Jersey at pseg.com/ESG.
Growing up, the images Alexis Nguyen saw of her Asian culture in mainstream media were, “always incorrect,” says Nguyen, now Accounting Senior Manager of Brand Control at Tapestry.
That sense of frustration followed Nguyen into an early career role, where she was often the only person of color in the room. “It was an isolating, lonely experience,” Nguyen recalls.
Today, as co-lead of the Asian Heritage Alliance Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) at Tapestry, Nguyen is rewriting that narrative by being her authentic self at work.
“We actually have the power to showcase how our heritage is conveyed to other people,” she says of AHA, which began in 2021 and has 350+ members throughout North America. “[When we host celebrations and events], choosing the food, decorations, and all those small choices mean something and fill a hole in our hearts.”
For Nguyen, it’s celebrations like Lunar New Year that hold special meaning — but when the office reopened post-pandemic, tracking down a traditional lion dance team willing to perform in-office was no small feat.
“We really wanted to have lion dancers because it’s an integral part of the holiday, and brings so much joy and energy,” Nguyen says. “My co-lead and I pulled off that event and were able to showcase a piece of my heritage and culture that I grew up experiencing. I sent pictures to my family, and they couldn’t believe we had lion dancers at work.”
LOCATION MATTERS
For Adelyn Hopcraft, involvement with AHA began as a goal to build stronger connections to Tapestry’s headquarters in New York City.
“AHA was a perfect opportunity [to do that],” says Hopcraft, Director of Engineering supporting the North American fulfillment center in Jacksonville (JAX), Florida. “It opened a lot of doors.”
What began as a way to expand her network quickly became a purpose to establish an EBRG presence in JAX. “Jacksonville is its own melting pot of cultures,” Hopcraft says. “We should have [participation in] an EBRG here.”
During her first year working with AHA, Hopcraft helped spearhead Asian Heritage Month programming in JAX, which required its own strategy and creativity. With many employees working on varied schedules, activations need thorough planning and often repeating so every employee who wants to participate can participate.
“It’s challenging, but well worth it,” Hopcraft says. “Seeing the appreciation from employees who say, ‘This is from my upbringing. Crazy that it’s here in a workplace,’ keeps me motivated to do more.”
MENTORSHIP + GROWTH
For Kelly Fung, Senior Analyst in Vendor Compliance, joining AHA opened the door to a different kind of fulfillment: the chance to explore passions outside her day-to-day role.
After learning about AHA through a co-worker, Fung subscribed to EBRG updates and soon saw an opening to support the communications pillar.
“I come from a creative background, so it felt like an opportunity to do something creative that wasn’t part of my day-to-day work,” Fung says.
As Fung became more involved, it’s the role of mentoring students in career workshops that’s most meaningful to her.
“Seeing students actively participate gives me a lot of hope,” Fung says. “Being a part of that world they want to get into, and being that adult who can guide them, means a lot. I give them credit for seeking something out and wanting to better themselves.”
GETTING INVOLVED
For all three leaders, one message is clear: participation in AHA isn’t reserved only for senior leaders at Tapestry.
“There can be a perception that in order to be involved, you have to hold a title,” Hopcraft says. “Really, you show up to events, ask how to get involved, and we’ll gladly loop you in.”
“It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment,” Nguyen adds. “Raise your hand if you want to be involved in planning anything.”
“We’re all ears,” Hopcraft adds. “We love creativity and hearing what people want to see. Often, we put those ideas into action.”
At the end of the day, it all comes back to seeing your authentic self represented at work.
“A lot of employees come up to us and say, ‘I never thought I would work somewhere that would host something I grew up experiencing,’” Nguyen says. “It’s rewarding to know that what we’re doing is making people feel included, and that they can be their true selves here.”
WOONSOCKET, R.I., June 4, 2026 /3BL/ – CVS Health® (NYSE: CVS) joined The Diocesan Housing Services Corporation (DHSC) of the Diocese of Camden, The Walters Group, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and community leaders to celebrate the grand opening and building dedication of The Mews at St. Mary, a new 75-unit senior affordable housing property located in Williamstown, New Jersey.
DHSC Executive Director Jamie Reynolds stated, “We are so excited to be able work with our many partners and Our Lady of Peace Parish to re-purpose surplus church property to meet the affordable housing needs of older adults. Blessed Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, ‘Love Begins at Home’ and we remain mindful that first and foremost we are creating warm and safe spaces for our residents to call home.”
Made possible through the development partnership between DHSC and Walters, together with CVS Health’s $9 million investment through R4 Capital, $8 million in HUD 202 Capital Advance funding, $14 million in NJHMFA construction financing and $7 million from NJHMFA’s Affordable Housing Production Fund, the Mews at St. Mary reflects a shared vision of creating sustainable housing for older adults and builds on CVS Health’s long‑standing commitment to creating healthier communities across New Jersey.
“Access to stable, affordable housing is a key driver of health, particularly for older adults,” said Joseph Manger, Chief Executive Officer, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company. “Through our investment in Mews at St. Mary and collaboration with developers and service providers who put their communities first, we are helping expand affordable housing options in New Jersey and ensuring residents have the resources they need to live safely, independently, and with dignity.”
Offering 75 affordable homes serving older adults, Mews at St. Mary will enable its residents to thrive by offering personalized medical, social, and wellness services and support including:
Health education, prevention, and screenings offered by DHSC service coordinators, as well as mental health and social‑emotional support through counseling services from Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden.
Access to New Jersey’s PACE Program through Inspira Health Network’s InspiraLife program and assistance with activities of daily living through Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) and collaboration Our Lady of Peace Parish’s parish nursing program.
Quality‑of‑life support, including resident‑assessment‑driven programming, food insecurity interventions, township‑sponsored bus services, and basic needs assistance.
“We are extremely grateful for our partnership with the Diocesan Housing Services Corporation of the Diocese of Camden,” said Joseph Del Duca, Principal with the Walters Group. “Together with our funding partners, we are proud to open this wonderful new community for local seniors. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Diocese to build quality housing for seniors who need it the most.”
Sixty percent of New Jersey renters aged 65 and older are housing cost-burdened — spending more than 30% of their fixed incomes on housing — making senior affordable housing not just a need, but an urgent necessity. CVS Health’s investment in Mews at St. Mary is the latest example of the company’s on-going commitment to addressing housing insecurity throughout the state
To date, CVS Health has invested more than $40 million in affordable housing across New Jersey, helping to create, preserve and renovate nearly 2,500 affordable housing units. This includes the company’s recent investment of over $12 million in the new construction of Bayfront Promenade in Jersey City, New Jersey. Expected to be completed in the next two years, the property will be home to 74 affordable units for families, alongside 136 market rate units, and is the first phase of a major redevelopment of a former industrial site along the Hackensack River, known as the Bayfront Master Plan.
Additionally, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company, is participating in a collaboration with the State of New Jersey to develop a network of providers addressing housing insecurity as part of the NJ FamilyCare Housing Supports program. The initiative, led by the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS), aims to address the critical need for safe, healthy and affordable housing for under-resourced New Jersey residents.
CVS Health’s holistic approach to improving individual and community health outcomes throughout New Jersey extends beyond its housing initiatives. In fiscal year 2024, CVS Health’s operations generated an estimated $12.5 billion in economic impact in New Jersey, supporting more than 39,000 jobs statewide through direct employment, supply chain activity, and related economic effects. The company also supported approximately $882.1 billion in state and local taxes, helping fund essential public services and infrastructure. In 2024, CVS Health also delivered $10.2 million in community support, complemented by colleagues dedicating over 1,500 volunteer hours.
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About CVS Health
CVS Health is a leading health solutions company simplifying health care one person, one family and one community at a time. As of March 31, 2026, the Company had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 88 million plan members. The Company also serves an estimated more than 37 million people through a broad range of health insurance products and related services. The Company’s integrated model uses personalized, technology driven services to connect people to simply better health, increasing access to quality care, delivering better outcomes, and lowering overall costs.
WOONSOCKET, R.I., June 4, 2026 /3BL/ – CVS Health® (NYSE: CVS) joined The Diocesan Housing Services Corporation (DHSC) of the Diocese of Camden, The Walters Group, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and community leaders to celebrate the grand opening and building dedication of The Mews at St. Mary, a new 75-unit senior affordable housing property located in Williamstown, New Jersey.
DHSC Executive Director Jamie Reynolds stated, “We are so excited to be able work with our many partners and Our Lady of Peace Parish to re-purpose surplus church property to meet the affordable housing needs of older adults. Blessed Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, ‘Love Begins at Home’ and we remain mindful that first and foremost we are creating warm and safe spaces for our residents to call home.”
Made possible through the development partnership between DHSC and Walters, together with CVS Health’s $9 million investment through R4 Capital, $8 million in HUD 202 Capital Advance funding, $14 million in NJHMFA construction financing and $7 million from NJHMFA’s Affordable Housing Production Fund, the Mews at St. Mary reflects a shared vision of creating sustainable housing for older adults and builds on CVS Health’s long‑standing commitment to creating healthier communities across New Jersey.
“Access to stable, affordable housing is a key driver of health, particularly for older adults,” said Joseph Manger, Chief Executive Officer, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company. “Through our investment in Mews at St. Mary and collaboration with developers and service providers who put their communities first, we are helping expand affordable housing options in New Jersey and ensuring residents have the resources they need to live safely, independently, and with dignity.”
Offering 75 affordable homes serving older adults, Mews at St. Mary will enable its residents to thrive by offering personalized medical, social, and wellness services and support including:
Health education, prevention, and screenings offered by DHSC service coordinators, as well as mental health and social‑emotional support through counseling services from Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden.
Access to New Jersey’s PACE Program through Inspira Health Network’s InspiraLife program and assistance with activities of daily living through Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) and collaboration Our Lady of Peace Parish’s parish nursing program.
Quality‑of‑life support, including resident‑assessment‑driven programming, food insecurity interventions, township‑sponsored bus services, and basic needs assistance.
“We are extremely grateful for our partnership with the Diocesan Housing Services Corporation of the Diocese of Camden,” said Joseph Del Duca, Principal with the Walters Group. “Together with our funding partners, we are proud to open this wonderful new community for local seniors. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Diocese to build quality housing for seniors who need it the most.”
Sixty percent of New Jersey renters aged 65 and older are housing cost-burdened — spending more than 30% of their fixed incomes on housing — making senior affordable housing not just a need, but an urgent necessity. CVS Health’s investment in Mews at St. Mary is the latest example of the company’s on-going commitment to addressing housing insecurity throughout the state
To date, CVS Health has invested more than $40 million in affordable housing across New Jersey, helping to create, preserve and renovate nearly 2,500 affordable housing units. This includes the company’s recent investment of over $12 million in the new construction of Bayfront Promenade in Jersey City, New Jersey. Expected to be completed in the next two years, the property will be home to 74 affordable units for families, alongside 136 market rate units, and is the first phase of a major redevelopment of a former industrial site along the Hackensack River, known as the Bayfront Master Plan.
Additionally, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company, is participating in a collaboration with the State of New Jersey to develop a network of providers addressing housing insecurity as part of the NJ FamilyCare Housing Supports program. The initiative, led by the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS), aims to address the critical need for safe, healthy and affordable housing for under-resourced New Jersey residents.
CVS Health’s holistic approach to improving individual and community health outcomes throughout New Jersey extends beyond its housing initiatives. In fiscal year 2024, CVS Health’s operations generated an estimated $12.5 billion in economic impact in New Jersey, supporting more than 39,000 jobs statewide through direct employment, supply chain activity, and related economic effects. The company also supported approximately $882.1 billion in state and local taxes, helping fund essential public services and infrastructure. In 2024, CVS Health also delivered $10.2 million in community support, complemented by colleagues dedicating over 1,500 volunteer hours.
###
About CVS Health
CVS Health is a leading health solutions company simplifying health care one person, one family and one community at a time. As of March 31, 2026, the Company had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 88 million plan members. The Company also serves an estimated more than 37 million people through a broad range of health insurance products and related services. The Company’s integrated model uses personalized, technology driven services to connect people to simply better health, increasing access to quality care, delivering better outcomes, and lowering overall costs.
WOONSOCKET, R.I., June 4, 2026 /3BL/ – CVS Health® (NYSE: CVS) joined The Diocesan Housing Services Corporation (DHSC) of the Diocese of Camden, The Walters Group, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and community leaders to celebrate the grand opening and building dedication of The Mews at St. Mary, a new 75-unit senior affordable housing property located in Williamstown, New Jersey.
DHSC Executive Director Jamie Reynolds stated, “We are so excited to be able work with our many partners and Our Lady of Peace Parish to re-purpose surplus church property to meet the affordable housing needs of older adults. Blessed Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, ‘Love Begins at Home’ and we remain mindful that first and foremost we are creating warm and safe spaces for our residents to call home.”
Made possible through the development partnership between DHSC and Walters, together with CVS Health’s $9 million investment through R4 Capital, $8 million in HUD 202 Capital Advance funding, $14 million in NJHMFA construction financing and $7 million from NJHMFA’s Affordable Housing Production Fund, the Mews at St. Mary reflects a shared vision of creating sustainable housing for older adults and builds on CVS Health’s long‑standing commitment to creating healthier communities across New Jersey.
“Access to stable, affordable housing is a key driver of health, particularly for older adults,” said Joseph Manger, Chief Executive Officer, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company. “Through our investment in Mews at St. Mary and collaboration with developers and service providers who put their communities first, we are helping expand affordable housing options in New Jersey and ensuring residents have the resources they need to live safely, independently, and with dignity.”
Offering 75 affordable homes serving older adults, Mews at St. Mary will enable its residents to thrive by offering personalized medical, social, and wellness services and support including:
Health education, prevention, and screenings offered by DHSC service coordinators, as well as mental health and social‑emotional support through counseling services from Catholic Charities Diocese of Camden.
Access to New Jersey’s PACE Program through Inspira Health Network’s InspiraLife program and assistance with activities of daily living through Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) and collaboration Our Lady of Peace Parish’s parish nursing program.
Quality‑of‑life support, including resident‑assessment‑driven programming, food insecurity interventions, township‑sponsored bus services, and basic needs assistance.
“We are extremely grateful for our partnership with the Diocesan Housing Services Corporation of the Diocese of Camden,” said Joseph Del Duca, Principal with the Walters Group. “Together with our funding partners, we are proud to open this wonderful new community for local seniors. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Diocese to build quality housing for seniors who need it the most.”
Sixty percent of New Jersey renters aged 65 and older are housing cost-burdened — spending more than 30% of their fixed incomes on housing — making senior affordable housing not just a need, but an urgent necessity. CVS Health’s investment in Mews at St. Mary is the latest example of the company’s on-going commitment to addressing housing insecurity throughout the state
To date, CVS Health has invested more than $40 million in affordable housing across New Jersey, helping to create, preserve and renovate nearly 2,500 affordable housing units. This includes the company’s recent investment of over $12 million in the new construction of Bayfront Promenade in Jersey City, New Jersey. Expected to be completed in the next two years, the property will be home to 74 affordable units for families, alongside 136 market rate units, and is the first phase of a major redevelopment of a former industrial site along the Hackensack River, known as the Bayfront Master Plan.
Additionally, Aetna Better Health of New Jersey, a CVS Health company, is participating in a collaboration with the State of New Jersey to develop a network of providers addressing housing insecurity as part of the NJ FamilyCare Housing Supports program. The initiative, led by the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS), aims to address the critical need for safe, healthy and affordable housing for under-resourced New Jersey residents.
CVS Health’s holistic approach to improving individual and community health outcomes throughout New Jersey extends beyond its housing initiatives. In fiscal year 2024, CVS Health’s operations generated an estimated $12.5 billion in economic impact in New Jersey, supporting more than 39,000 jobs statewide through direct employment, supply chain activity, and related economic effects. The company also supported approximately $882.1 billion in state and local taxes, helping fund essential public services and infrastructure. In 2024, CVS Health also delivered $10.2 million in community support, complemented by colleagues dedicating over 1,500 volunteer hours.
###
About CVS Health
CVS Health is a leading health solutions company simplifying health care one person, one family and one community at a time. As of March 31, 2026, the Company had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a leading pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 88 million plan members. The Company also serves an estimated more than 37 million people through a broad range of health insurance products and related services. The Company’s integrated model uses personalized, technology driven services to connect people to simply better health, increasing access to quality care, delivering better outcomes, and lowering overall costs.
