Tag: 3BL

Originally published on principal.com

When McKenzie Kerry graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a leadership position in a financial services company was very much on her mind. A business management major, Kerry had long sought out extra opportunities and activities, such as DECA, a leadership prep group for high schoolers and college students. “It was my thing in high school. I competed for three years and was president,” Kerry says. “I knew when I graduated, I wanted to find a leadership development program.”

Lots of familiar corporate names entered the post-college job search in her hometown of Charlotte. Then she happened upon a LinkedIn job posting for Principal Financial Group®. “I had never heard of Principal,” Kerry says. “But I did some research and liked what I saw.”

That feeling, along with insights from key people along the way, helped Kerry navigate the Principal® interview, job offer, and eventual relocation halfway across the country to Des Moines. “There was a connection I felt with people I had already met, and the culture felt different,” she says. “I knew I didn’t want to miss out on it.”

As Principal has discovered, nurturing those connections helps support diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, not just in communities and with customers, but also with employees. Those connections are multifaceted: support for Black-owned businesses, measurement of leadership representation, and celebrations old and new, such as the designation of Juneteenth as a Principal holiday.

DEI: From global to local

DEI isn’t a goal with an end point: It’s always on. Principal is continuing the work to increase diversity while making strides in areas such as gender. For example, women first received a seat on the board at Principal in 1980, and a Black woman joined the board two decades ago. Today, 46% of the management team are women.

At Principal, inclusion translates into a work environment that’s:

based on integrity, respect, trust, and belonging,attracts and retains diverse talent, increases employee engagement, and develops the next generation of leaders, andis flexible so employees can integrate life and work.

Lofty goals indeed, but how do we know we’re making progress? Measurements can help.

Inclusion: The Global People 2022 inclusion index, a measurement of authenticity and feeling valued among other factors, of 82% exceeds the goal of 80%.Leadership: 62% of Board of Director members are diverse in their gender, race, or national origin.Business support: In 2021, Principal committed to doubling the diverse small and midsize businesses it supports by 2025. In just its second year, we met 68% of the stated goal.Global employment: Currently, women make up 54% of the Principal global workforce; 16% in the United States are people of color.Outside recognitions: Principal was recognized as best place to work for LGBTQ+ Equality on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index by the Human Rights Commission Foundation.

Those high-level initiatives become actionable in a variety of ways, including engaging employees through employee resource groups. Internally, the Principal African American/Black employee resource group (AABERG) hosted a virtual discussion reflecting on the history of Juneteenth and sharing practical steps to commemorate the meaning of the day.

The origin of Juneteenth

When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863,1 the Southern states still under control of successionists scoffed.

Over the next two years, state by state, however, Union forces had an opportunity to put force behind law— except in Texas. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that enslaved people in Texas would learn that they too, had gained their freedom.2

Since 1979, Texas has celebrated the anniversary of that momentous day as Juneteenth. In 2021, it became a federal holiday. That same year, Principal marked Juneteenth as an official corporate holiday, and to celebrate the occasion, the Juneteenth flag flew above the headquarters in Des Moines as employees and community members commemorated the day together.

Principal® Foundation also funds a number of external initiatives such a grant to the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, which helps entrepreneurs and small business owners improve personal finances, and 1863 Ventures, a national business development non-profit for entrepreneurs that have been historically marginalized.

Nationally, Black individuals3 and specifically Black women4 are becoming first-time entrepreneurs and business owners at one of the fastest rates in the country. Buying from these businesses on, before, and after Juneteenth helps.

Dannie Patrick, another transplant to Des Moines and global inclusion specialist, has volunteered at a past local Juneteenth event. “At Principal, we know that simply observing Juneteenth as a holiday is not enough for our employees. They want to be involved and actively volunteer to make an impact within the communities we serve,” Patrick says.

“Volunteering at Juneteenth Neighbor’s Day is so important to me because it gives me and others the opportunity to see ourselves reflected back in the mirror, which happens less frequently here in Iowa,” Patrick says. “It’s empowering and helps me keep going. Having an employer that acknowledges and supports that is why I am proud to say I’m a Principal employee.”

Candid conversations for a more inclusive future

During Kerry’s formal interviews, “the tone was much different than other companies—very conversational and friendly,” Kerry says. “Everyone gave me the impression they wanted what was best for me. Principal did a great job during the process of making sure I was interviewed by people of color who work here, so we were able to talk about diversity and leadership.”

Kerry started in April 2021 as a leadership development program associate. The early career program rotates associates in months-long assignments across Principal, helping them develop skills for an eventual placement as a leader with direct reports. Kerry relocated to Des Moines in September 2021, leaving behind family and her hometown. There have been challenges. There have been connections. There is still more work to be done.

Fellow employees have helped her acclimate to Des Moines—hard in any situation, harder still when moving to a state that isn’t as diverse as the community you’ve left behind. “It’s taken adjusting, but there are great things this time in my life has to offer,” Kerry says.

That includes competing in Miss Iowa and placing third; Kerry had never competed in a pageant before. It’s also taking advantage of the doors that the leadership development program opens—and working to open more doors for others. “I’ve had people advocate for me, and I want that for everyone,” Kerry says. “Hopefully some of the candid conversations we’ve had can make sure that we can continue to increase and then keep diversity in Iowa.”

Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. (“Principal® Foundation”) is a duly recognized 501(c)(3) entity focused on providing philanthropic support to programs that build financial security in the communities where Principal Financial Group, Inc. (“Principal”) operates. While Principal Foundation receives funding from Principal, Principal Foundation is a distinct, independent, charitable entity. Principal Foundation does not practice any form of investment advisory services and is not authorized to do so. © 2023 Principal Foundation.

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1 National Archives

2 UC Denver

3 Bloomberg

4 USA Facts

On Monday we commemorate Juneteenth – also known as Freedom Day – the anniversary of the freeing of the last enslaved Black Americans, which took place on June 19th, 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It is also a day to reflect on the impact – both short and long term– of slavery, systemic racism and discrimination on our communities and how we can be part of a more equitable future.

Alkermes’ U.S. offices will be closed on Juneteenth (Monday June 19th) and we are encouraging our employees to take time out to learn about, reflect on and celebrate the critical contributions of Black Americans to our country.

Diversity, inclusion and belonging (DIB) is an important aspect of our culture and critical to our ongoing success. We embrace these values at Alkermes by integrating DIB into every aspect of our organization. We aim to create a culture that allows individuals to embrace their identities, where our people can show up with authenticity – knowing that their unique perspectives will be appreciated. We believe our differences make us stronger, generating new ideas that enhance what and how we deliver as an organization on behalf of the patients and communities we serve.

This month’s Juneteenth celebration is an opportunity to acknowledge how far we’ve come while recognizing the work ahead to build a more equitable and inclusive world. Learn more, courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture here: https://nmaahc.si.edu/juneteenth

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn

Huge thank you to all the volunteers in our Las Vegas Office!

Our teammates showed up for the Las Vegas community in a big way! From the support of our DraftKings S.E.R.V.E.S. program, together we successfully built 50 beds for Las Vegas families in need and did it in record time! The Sleep in Heavenly Peace leaders said that DraftKings volunteers have been their best volunteers to date. DraftKings S.E.R.V.E.S. is a program dedicated to serving our teammates, our customers, and those in pursuit of innovation everywhere. We are happy to support great initiatives like this and love seeing team members get together for a good cause! @shpbeds

Smart, strategic choices – like how Regions and Pinnacle Group have worked together – can make the difference.

A company rooted in purpose and founded on an apartment living room floor more than 25 years ago is now a top talent sourcing enterprise and key player in helping Regions grow a talented and diverse managed workforce.

In some ways, 2020 seems like decades ago. A pandemic, remote work, supply chain issues – it was certainly a challenging year.

At Regions Bank, with hundreds of contract or alternate staffing openings, the challenges were complicated by a management system that looked more spreadsheet than digital. 134 spreadsheets, to be exact.

Today, those spreadsheets are gone. They’ve been replaced by a powerful tracking and management software – Beeline – and a strong business collaborator – Pinnacle Group. These have helped improve the efficiency and processes around the company’s contingent workforce.

The improvements have helped Regions recognize more than $1 million in expense savings. Competition among the company’s contingent labor workforce providers has increased, contract staff are better prepared when they begin, and the quality of the workers has vastly improved.

But the “success” part of this success story isn’t simply in the results; it’s in how those results were realized. It’s a story that shows what can be accomplished when small, diverse businesses have a level playing field to succeed.

Making a “Beeline” From Manual Spreadsheets

In business parlance, companies like to refer to “problems” as “opportunities.”

But if you asked Antonio Howard, Regions HR Technology Manager, or Julie Jarecki, Regions Procurement Manager, it would be difficult to categorize a system to manage the company’s contract and offshore workforce that had almost no automation, no significant usable data and no company-wide reporting as an “opportunity.”

We made a strategic business decision to contract with a technology company – Beeline – to help Regions automate and better manage our offshore and contract workforce. Julie Jarecki, Regions Procurement Manager

“We were literally keeping up with our contract worker requisitions, access authorizations, spend and more on spreadsheets,” Howard said. “We were also not doing enough to competitively source contract workers. We had a few companies that we typically used, but the whole process was manual.”

An opportunity indeed.

“We made a strategic business decision to contract with a technology company – Beeline – to help Regions automate and better manage our offshore and contract workforce,” said Jarecki. “Beeline could offer us much of what we needed.”

Technically, Beeline is a software-as-a-service company. Its expertise is in providing software that helps companies manage non-traditional workforces, such as contract, offshore or similar. They are one of the largest providers of this type of technology.

They provide the tool.

“But we knew that we needed more than Beeline,” Howard added. “It doesn’t provide the people or the analysis. It manages the processes, not the soul.”

The Opportunities You Don’t Know You Have

Beeline helped improve the day-to-day management of Regions’ contingent workforce needs, tracking spend more effectively and managing credentialing and onboarding. At the same time, there were some real opportunities:

To better manage overall contingent worker expensesTo ensure a greater focus on diversity in contingent workersTo reduce time spent finding and placing contingent workersTo encourage more competition between vendors

Enter Pinnacle Group.

“I could talk for hours,” said Jarecki. “Pinnacle has helped Regions move from an inefficient, spreadsheet-based methodology for managing our contract workforce to one that helps ensure we are getting the best workers at a fair price, while working toward our goals for diversity.”

Here are just a few examples of how Pinnacle Group and Beeline are making an impact:

The process and time needed for onboarding contract workers (credentialing, access approval and more) has been reduced, in some cases by up to 40%.Automated systems now alert managers and others about contract worker departures or renewals, and have greatly improved recordkeeping and accuracy around identity and access managementNearly one-quarter of the contingent positions filled in 2022 were filled with diverse workers, up more than 75 percent over the previous year.

Helping companies reach those types of goals isn’t just something Pinnacle Group did for Regions. It goes back to the company’s roots and its purpose.

The Pinnacle Group Story

Nearly 27 years ago, Nina Vaca was a young entrepreneur with big dreams. She sat on her apartment living room floor and drew up the beginnings of a business plan that would plant the seeds for what is today one of the nation’s premier managed service providers (MSPs) and contingent staffing companies, and the largest Latina-owned one.

“We focus on intelligent growth,” Vaca said. “What that means is we don’t do business with just anyone. We’ve been very focused on picking captains of industry, companies that we can grow with for decades. That’s been our strategy. We like to go deep and wide into the companies we serve.”

Growing up the daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants, she watched the entrepreneurial spirit in her parents and learned. Her father’s key to success was looking for opportunity where others didn’t.

Two years out of college, she started Pinnacle. 27 years later, Vaca is an advocate and role model for women-owned businesses and the Hispanic community.

The walls of Pinnacle Group’s Dallas headquarters are lined with awards the company has won and profiles on the company and Vaca, based on the success they’ve enjoyed with their clients. But the real story on those pages is all about service and ensuring inclusive prosperity for the people they place and the companies they serve.

“We’re delighted that we get to serve some of the largest companies in the nation, including Regions Bank,” she said. “We’re so proud to have helped co-author the company’s contingent labor program, one of the best in their sector.”

Adding Soul to Powerful Technology

“The goal at the outset was for visibility into Regions’ contractor workforce,” said Michael Keiper, SVP of Strategic Services at Pinnacle Group. “What we thrive on are environments that are brand new to build the services and infrastructure our clients need.”

Managers and executives now have more access to data and assurance that they are getting qualified workers at a fair price, while also ensuring a level playing field for everyone.

“The reporting that is available to us now in Beeline is incredible,” said Benji Barnett, Regions Financial Manager. “This is a level of detail for staff augmentation that we have not had access to in the past. It now enables and enhances our ability to manage, analyze and forecast for human capital with precision. In addition, the customer service from Pinnacle is top notch.”

Results matter. And we’ve been able to structure the program in a way that pays for itself – still getting a better product and diverse and talented workers for a fair price. Tiffany Lovelace, head of Supplier Diversity at Regions

According to Tiffany Lovelace, head of Supplier Diversity at Regions, Pinnacle Group and Beeline not only paved the way for the program to become more efficient, they also created a pathway to ensure that the teamwork continues.

“Results matter,” Lovelace added. “And we’ve been able to structure the program in a way that pays for itself – still getting a better product and diverse and talented workers for a fair price.”

“By clearly understanding Regions’ goals and pain points, we’ve been able to partner with them and with Beeline to boost visibility into Regions’ diverse supply base, increase the participation of diverse suppliers in the program and create the opportunity for Regions to procure the best, most transformational talent in the market,” said Vaca. “A winning solution for all involved.”

Kelly Ifill, a former math teacher with an MBA from Columbia Business School, was determined to make banking work for Black entrepreneurs. Working in venture capital after business school, she’d seen how difficult it is for Black entrepreneurs to raise capital, so she built Guava to provide access and financing to Black-owned small businesses across the country.

At the start of her career as a humanitarian with the UN and the Peace Corps, Elizabeth Gore saw the disparities, particularly for women, to start and grow a business. She was incredibly passionate about creating a scalable solution to support small business owners, and together with her co-founder Carolyn Rodz, they built Hello Alice to bring equitable access to capital to aspiring entrepreneurs.

And on the outskirts of Mexico City, store owner Magdalena Padilla Medina learned the ropes of digital payments from a mentor she calls her “angel.” “I was not looking for her, but she came and helped me a lot. … It was just a matter of giving me a little push.”

Women entrepreneurs face unique barriers to success, from challenges in obtaining funding to inadequate access to basic financial services and tools, but a world that works better for women creates limitless possibilities for us all. That’s why Mastercard is committed to building an inclusive digital economy where everyone prospers and providing these women-owned small businesses with solutions that can help them grow and thrive.

A global commitment to financial inclusion for individuals and small businesses

Guided by the conviction that the company can do well as a business by doing good in the world, Mastercard has embraced financial inclusion for individuals and small businesses as both a philanthropic pursuit and a fundamental tenet of its business strategy.

In 2020, Mastercard redoubled its commitment to financial inclusion as a pathway to broad-based prosperity, including a specific focus on providing 25 million women entrepreneurs with solutions that can help them grow their businesses. By harnessing technology, philanthropy and its network of partners, the company has reached 25 million women entrepreneurs, with more work and support to continue, as noted in its latest ESG Report.

“We are committed to helping women-owned businesses surmount the obstacles that prevent them from attaining optimal growth, such as limited access to financing, lack of support networks and the gender gap in business,” said Jane Prokop, executive vice president, Small and Medium Enterprises at Mastercard. “From small business card offerings, microcredit, and payment services to grant funding, mentorship, and training, we’re harnessing a full range of solutions to help empower women who are powering economies around the world.”

“Our commitments to financial inclusion are core to our business strategy, and we know that doing what we do best as a company can change lives for the better,” said Shamina Singh, founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. “Supporting women entrepreneurs is smart because they pay it back and pay it forward. We’ll keep learning about the unique challenges they face and continue to apply those insights to meet their needs with solutions that help them reach their potential.”

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In underserved and under-resourced communities across the globe, from the U.S. to Rwanda, our company is helping patients at risk for and living with cancer access the care they need to stay well and lead fulfilling lives.

We have a global-to-local approach, where we support programs and initiatives that help advance health equity directly in communities around the world by addressing barriers that people may face when accessing high-quality, equitable health care.

Advancing patient-centered cancer care in every community

Our company collaborates with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to address high disparities in cancer care. In the U.S, we partnered with ACS on its Get Screened Initiative, which encourages people to schedule regular cancer screening tests. Through this initiative:

~497K vulnerable community members enabled to be screened in 2021 and 2022 combined

~11,200 incidences of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer found

We’re also helping the ACS bring its expertise in patient navigation to resource-limited settings in sub-Saharan Africa as well as develop a toolkit to help low- and middle-income countries adopt navigation programs as part of delivering comprehensive cancer care.

Our global partnerships at work

In addition, we’ve partnered with City Cancer Challenge to implement a Patient Navigation Program in Kigali, Rwanda. With our support, City Cancer Challenge has trained nurses to become patient navigators. They help patients understand health information more easily, identify and assess cancer care gaps and barriers, help to accelerate the path to health care options, and mitigate the risk of patients falling out of the care continuum.

Olivier Habimana, a cancer patient navigator with City Cancer Challenge, said he witnessed first-hand how this program has given his team the ability to effectively communicate, share and exchange information so that vital data can be used for the benefit of cancer patients.

“Before the implementation of this project, patients faced all sorts of challenges. If they were referred to a hospital for cancer care, sometimes they’d go to the wrong hospital, while others missed their follow-up visits.”

– Olivier Habimana

The Patient Navigation Program has created an impact in the east African country:

1,220+ patients supported by the program

Building on our legacy for high-quality, equitable care now and in the future

We continue to forge new partnerships to help reach underserved and under-resourced communities. This includes:

Partnering to improve access to cancer care to under-served communities in Georgia.Supporting solutions like MedHaul that can help to address transportation barriers to accessing care.Providing access to educational and advocacy resources on the unique challenges faced by Black women 
diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).Working with Go Further, a partnership that aims to reduce cervical cancer incidence in HIV positive women in eight African countries with the highest rates of HIV prevalence and cervical cancer deaths in the world.

“Building on our foundational principles of innovation and putting patients first, we’re committed to discovering new ways of enabling access to high-quality, equitable cancer care,” said Carmen Villar, vice president of social business innovation. “I couldn’t be more proud to be one of many in this effort.”

Learn more about Merck’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) approach by visiting merck.com/company-overview/esg

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Leidos jumped to No. 115 on Forbes’ sixth-annual ranking of America’s Best Employers for Diversity, climbing 372 places from its previous spot.

The company ranks No. 10 in the IT, Internet, Software & Services industry category.

Why you should know: Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is an integral part of our business at Leidos.

Methodology: The rankings are based on survey data from more than 45,000 workers at companies with at least 1,000 employees. Respondents were asked to rate their company and others on well they embrace diversity of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, LGBTQ+ equality and general diversity.

Leidos’ steep climb reflects many renewed efforts by the company to embrace and celebrate DEI:

Maureen Waterston, Leidos Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), is especially proud that the company earns consistently high marks on diversity and inclusion in its annual Employee Engagement Survey. Waterston said results from this year’s survey show Leidos exceeds benchmarks across many categories including diversity and inclusion.Tashi Carper, Leidos Director of DEI, said Leidos offers many educational and employee resources to help advance inclusive culture, and has recently increased efforts to ensure its HR policies and practices promote diversity.Leaders participate in an Inclusive Learning Program to promote the continued immersion of inclusion within the Leidos culture.Leidos launched an internal name pronunciation tool which is easily accessible to all employees.

From the sources:

“Our objective is a culture that attracts a vast array of the best talent, values diversity of experiences and embraces different perspectives in pursuit of the innovative ideas that power our competitive advantage,” Waterston said. “When you really think about it, diversity is the one thing we all have in common. It’s going to take the effort and contributions of every member of our workforce to build and sustain an inclusive workspace. I look forward to continuing on this remarkable journey at Leidos.”“At Leidos, we are striving for inclusion and equity excellence,” Carper said. “It cannot be the sole burden of a faithful few to achieve this. It is going to take all of us, treating everyone as they wish to be treated, and ensuring equitable treatment in our decisions and practices. Every day.”

It’s the latest in a long line of prominent recognitions for Leidos, which was also recently named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute for the sixth consecutive year, one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune and one of America’s Best Large Employers by Forbes.

Please contact the Leidos media relations team for more information.

Related:

Leidos is No. 2 on Forbes’ Best Employers for Veterans 2022Leidos is one of America’s best employers for new gradsLeidos is a top employer for workers with disabilitiesAll Leidos rankings & awards

Author
Brandon Buckner, Sr. Editor
Brandon is a writer based in the Washington, D.C. area. He loves to cover emerging technology and its power to improve society.

The Town of Superior Fire Department has acquired a new cutting-edge tool—in the most literal sense of the word.

The volunteer-run fire department recently retired a nearly three-decade-old piece of equipment used to respond to auto accidents and extricate people in emergency situations, replacing it with a new battery-powered tool that can get the job done—whenever the time calls.

“In 2022 we responded to more than 400 calls, our highest ever since being in operation,” says fire department Chief Darryl Fiegle. “We needed to upgrade to a more reliable system for our extrication needs, and this new combi tool offers a lot more efficiency and portability.”

Fiegle has acted as fire chief for nearly a decade, but his involvement with the station started in 1999.

“I’ve seen the station go through a lot of change and growth in terms of our manpower and building space, but it was high time for us to replace a tool like this that provides such crucial assistance in our rescue efforts.”

The Town of Superior Fire Department, with a volunteer force of 27 firefighters, serves more than 2,600 residents in a 107-square-mile area, with a substation located in the Village of Oliver. The new combi tool lives at the Oliver location and is shared between all stations.

At Enbridge, safety is more than a core value—it’s the very foundation of our business. Combining 2022 and 2023 Safe Community First Responder Program grants from Enbridge, of $5,000 and $7,500 respectively, Town of Superior FD was able to purchase the Hurst battery-powered combi tool.

Wisconsin has more than 500 fire departments throughout the state, with the majority of them being fully run by volunteers. Chief Fiegle says it’s essential that his station and others continue to increase visibility among communities to encourage membership.

“Our station’s members range in ages from 17 to 62 years old,” says Fiegle. “They do a fantastic job—we host all sorts of events like pancake breakfasts and fire prevention courses for the benefit of community members.”

The promotional efforts and community engagement also serve to remind residents that they are there and at the ready in times of need. While the rate of emergency responses over the past decade has increased by more than 150%, Chief Fiegle points to a number of reasons such as an aging population and pandemic-era lifestyles of working from home leading to more complex and frequent calls.

No matter the reason for a call, increased training and improved equipment ensures the fire department is able to respond effectively.

“We’re trying to be the ones out front leading the way.”

Clorox’s ESG goals are integrated into our IGNITE strategy because we believe they drive growth and create positive value for our brands, people and communities. We’ve focused on where we can make the biggest impact — Clean World, Healthy Lives and Thriving Communities — and have 20 public-facing goals in these areas. 

In this next installment of our “Steps to … ” series and in recognition of World Refill Day, we’re reflecting on the ways Clorox is working to create a more sustainable future for all. We spoke with Alexis Limberakis, senior director of sustainability, about the company’s progress against our goals and how we’re leveraging new technologies and programs to reduce plastic and other material waste across our business. 

Reducing plastic and other waste in packaging is a huge priority for Clorox. Why is there a special focus in this area?

To live our purpose, we recognize the importance of being good stewards of Earth’s finite resources and the footprint associated with the materials used throughout each of our product’s lifecycles. We’re a consumer packaged goods company, so it’s only natural that the biggest and most consistent challenges (and opportunities!) we face are reducing the environmental impact of the materials we use to get our products to consumers safely and efficiently.

That’s why we prioritize packaging as a key focus area within our IGNITE strategy, backed by our commitments, to achieve:

50% combined reduction in virgin plastic and fiber packaging by 2030.100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.Double post-consumer recycled plastic in packaging by 2030 (+50% by 2025).

As is the case with all of our ESG commitments, these goals are integrated into our IGNITE strategy as they have far-reaching benefits both for the environment and for our business. Setting an aggressive waste reduction agenda inspires breakthrough innovation and can lead to cost savings if we can reduce the amount of materials required to delight and meet the evolving needs of our consumers.

Plastic waste coming from the consumer packaged goods industry is a considerable sustainability hurdle to tackle. How does Clorox approach this challenge across its brand portfolio, and what are some of the solutions?

As a company whose products can be found in about nine out of 10 U.S. households, Clorox is always looking for ways to minimize waste when we formulate, manufacture and package our products to lessen the impact of what’s left behind after our consumers are done using them.

Reduce the amount of material used to package products as much as we can by compacting and concentrating formulas. 
In 2020, our Clorox Bleach brand began producing a 25% more concentrated formula, which eliminated roughly 15 million pounds of plastic and 7.4 million pounds of paper from shipping annually.Reduce waste by substituting virgin materials for PCR plastic or fiber. For products with properties that limit our ability to reduce packaging, our R&D teams ensure that the use of PCR materials does not impact product integrity or the safety of our consumers. Burt’s Bees Rescue Lip Balm, for instance, is packaged in a hybrid tube made with bioresin from upcycled potatoes and PCR content.Reduce the amount of packaging that is thrown away by leveraging reusable packaging solutions. 
The Clorox Multi-Purpose Refillable Cleaner uses concentrated pods and bottles that can be refilled up to 30 times and uses 80% less plastic.Improve end of life of our packaging by making it recyclable, reusable, or compostable. We recently added perforations for easy removal of the labels on all Clorox spray bottles (which are themselves recyclable), which has the potential to unlock the recyclability of approximately 21 million pounds of plastic every year.

Outside of products, what are other ways Clorox reduces its waste?

In addition to making continued progress toward our packaging goals, Clorox has also committed to achieve zero waste to landfill in 100% of our global facilities by 2030, with our plants targeted to meet this goal by 2025.

We’re proud to report that by the end of 2022, 79% of our manufacturing plants and 48% of our global facilities have achieved ZWtL. This progress is remarkable considering there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this work, as each site faces unique challenges and access to local partners that can take years to remedy.

From our Glad plant in Rogers, Arkansas, to our Clorox plant in Conghua, China, all of our facilities must first incorporate a zero-waste mindset. Minimizing waste stems from our operations and working with suppliers to understand what materials can be recycled or repurposed. For waste that is generated, we strive to reuse, recycle or compost those materials by establishing more comprehensive disposal practices and partnering with local recycling partners. Finally, as a last resort, we send minimal amounts of our most challenging waste to be converted to energy.

How is Clorox partnering across its value chain and/or working with other organizations to harness new solutions to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing recycling market?

We face a number of industrywide challenges as we advance our waste reduction goals — among them, the availability of suitable recycled materials that will not compromise the integrity of our products, different recyclability standards across municipalities and gaps in broader industry transformation to allow for scalable sustainability solutions.

We recognize that meaningful progress will require continued collaboration with retail partners, suppliers and industry peers to help us adopt new sustainable manufacturing practices, shift consumer behavior and improve access to materials that meet our consumers’ needs. Over the years we’ve joined forces with a number of peers and advocacy groups to pursue just that:

We are a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, pledging to take a more active role in finding solutions that reduce plastic waste in our products and packaging.In 2020, we became one of the first activators of the U.S. Plastics Pact, a collaborative effort to build a circular economy for plastic packaging in the U.S.We’ve participated in TerraCycle’s Loop Pilot Program, a sustainable shopping platform that enables consumers to purchase products in durable, reusable packaging.Burt’s Bees partners with The Sustainability Consortium and a working group of academics, corporations and NGOs with the goal of exploring new solutions to make small-format packaging more recyclable.

What advice would you give other businesses that are just beginning their sustainability journey?

Whether sustainability is already a core part of your operations or you’re in the early days of mitigating your organization’s environmental impact, here are just a few tips we’ve learned over the years that can help organizations at any stage of their waste reduction journey:

Get to know your waste footprint. Take the time to audit and understand how much waste your organization produces and where it comes from. This blueprint is the first step toward identifying opportunities to engage the three Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle — across your operations and value chain. For some, this could be something hands-on like a dumpster dive at your facilities to assess waste and explore where there’s room to streamline. For others, this could be completing a recyclability assessment of your products and packaging to inform your innovation strategy.Set and track progress against measurable targets. Create transparent and consistent ways of tracking your commitments to keep your employees, external stakeholders and consumer base informed about your progress. Don’t be discouraged if some goals take more time to achieve — most commitments take several years to reach, especially when taking steps to ensure their long-term maintenance and success.Evangelize, encourage and enable behavior change. Don’t underestimate the importance of instilling a zero-waste mindset across your entire organization. Meaningfully reducing your organization’s waste footprint must be a conscious effort with buy-in at every level of your company. Establishing programs and infrastructure to help employees recycle in the workplace is a great place to start. More importantly, however, is empowering your leaders to take the time to examine the policies, operations and pain points within their lines of business and play an active role in implementing scalable changes.

Our ESG commitment is driven by our purpose to champion people to be well and thrive every single day. Learn more about our ESG goals here. Want to make a positive impact on the world? Learn about Clorox careers here. 

Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2022 Sustainability Report

Content Safety

We target harmful content while creating space for varying ideas.

We believe that freedom of expression and the diversity of ideas are fundamental aspects of healthy societies and economies. We also recognize that digital organizations have a responsibility to properly respond to harmful content. As such, we take complaints and feedback from our stakeholders seriously. Receiving feedback doesn’t just foster trust between GoDaddy and our customers and users. It also allows us to improve our products and services.

We outline our content safety philosophy in our Trust Center, with specific policies identified in our Universal Terms of Service (UTOS).

Examples of harmful content that violate our policies and UTOS include promoting, encouraging or engaging in violence or any illegal activity, such as the exploitation of children, the promotion of terrorism, the sale of prescription medicine without a valid prescription or any fraudulent activity. This is not an exhaustive list, and to ensure we address new challenges in this sector, we periodically review our UTOS and policies.

When our dedicated Content Safety team receives a complaint, they review it carefully to determine whether it violates GoDaddy’s policies and/or UTOS. If a violation is found, the team determines the appropriate response, which may include suspension, termination or other actions, as needed. Last year, our dedicated Content Safety team received nearly 16,000 complaints. The average response time for a complaint was 38 hours.

In 2022, we achieved a significant content safety milestone by transitioning to a new internal 
tool that enables greater insights into statistics and trends. We also made a dedicated effort to streamline and improve our content input stream and content safety process.

About This Report 
Unless otherwise noted, the GoDaddy 2022 Sustainability Report outlines our environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, activities, progress, metrics and performance for the fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2022. This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector.

GoDaddy is committed to regular, transparent communication about our sustainability progress, and to that end, we will share updates on an ongoing basis through our website and will continue to publish an annual Sustainability Report.

To learn more, please read our 2022 Sustainability Report.