Tag: 3BL

June 15, 2023 /3BL Media/ – What: Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s (CECP) 11th CEO Investor Forum focused on climate will be held November 14-15, 2023. CEOs will share Integrated Long-Term Plans including key forward-looking metrics specifically on their company’s future growth, strategy, and risk, three to five years out with institutional investors and companies. 

Why: To meet the needs of institutional investors looking for companies forward-looking strategies on climate, including material financial, as well as non-financial, metrics around sustainability efforts and risks.

Who: The audience of leading institutional investors will see Integrated Long-Term Plan presentations delivered by, but not limited to:

Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens USACalvin Butler, CEO, ExelonMark Schneider, CEO, Nestle

Additional speakers include:

Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP Nili Gilbert, Vice Chairwoman, Carbon DirectLeo E. Strine, Jr. Of Counsel in the Corporate Department, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Moses Choi, Director, RBC Capital Markets, Sustainable Finance Group

Where: Convene, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY

When: November 14 (hybrid) & November 15 (online only), 2023

How: Investors and media can register for free and watch in person or virtually. Those interested can register here. 

Editors’ Note: speakers are available for interviews before and after the sessions, on site or virtually.

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CECP Media Contact:
Katie Leasor
kleasor@cecp.co

KOHLER, Wis., June 15, 2023 /3BL Media/ – The Creator’s Journey presented by Kohler during Milan Design Week featured the iconic brand partnering with four contemporary female artists from four different countries to create a limited-edition global collection of 12 new Artist Editions products for the bathroom. The company also highlighted a breathtaking aerial sculpture by prominent creator and Arts/Industry alum Janet Echelman, and a user-controlled design experience at Palazzo del Senato during Fuorisalone in Milan.

As part of Kohler’s 150th anniversary celebration, the global design leader partnered with four artists, each recognized for their boundary-breaking artistic practices. The talented creators were provided carte blanche to bring their visual expressions to Kohler’s products – the Numi 2.0 smart toilet, Brazn sink, and Brazn bathtub. Each product within the collection was offered in a quantity of 150, honoring Kohler’s anniversary year.

Ananda Nahú (Brazil), widely recognized for her vibrant murals – KOHLER Artist Editions Flora TropicalZiling Wang (China), known for her innovative use of paint, in particular a paint she invented that can be removed from a canvas and seen in three dimensions – KOHLER Artist Editions A World on StringsPushpa Kumari (India), whose intricate line paintings have redefined India’s Mithila tradition – KOHLER Artist Editions AranyaElle (United States), started with graffiti and now includes large scale projects in her global portfolio – KOHLER Artist Editions Falling Gently

“Kohler is dedicated to creating a space for the cross-section of artistry and craftsmanship in our industry,” says Laura Kohler, Chief Sustainability and Diversity Officer for Kohler Co. “This new Artist Editions collection celebrates women of exceptional talent and diverse backgrounds.”

Kohler’s Artist Editions products date back nearly four decades and bring beauty to everyday rituals – pushing boundaries of decorative processes and material sets, helping consumers express personal style in their spaces. Inspired by marrying visual art with manufacturing craftsmanship, Artist Editions sinks, bathtubs, and toilets are adorned with beautiful textures, intricate patterns, abstract illustrations, and picturesque landscapes. The offering also showcases Kohler’s innovative use of specialty glazes and noble materials.

Artist Janet Echelman presents Noli Timere at Palazzo del Senato

Suspended overhead was a monumental aerial sculpture entitled Noli Timere by acclaimed American sculptor and artist, Janet Echelman. She participated in Kohler’s Arts/Industry residency program more than two decades ago. Echelman also partnered with Kohler on an Artist Editions vessel sink entitled 18.02 that honors the dynamic nature of water (on display in Kohler’s exhibition).

Visitors to Kohler’s installation also embarked on their own “Creator” journey inside an immersive digital experience that allowed them to bring art to life through their movements in space. As colors, patterns and shapes surround guests in the Creator room, they had the chance to become artists themselves, manipulating the creative overlay on Kohler’s Numi smart toilet.

About Kohler Co. 
Founded in 1873, Kohler Co. is a global leader in the design, innovation and manufacture of kitchen and bath products; luxury cabinetry, tile and lighting; engines, generators, and clean energy solutions; and owner/operator of two, five-star hospitality and golf resort destinations in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St. Andrews, Scotland. Kohler’s Whistling Straits golf course hosted the 43rd Ryder Cup in 2021. The company also develops solutions to address pressing issues, such as clean water and sanitation, for underserved communities around the world to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations.

For more details, please visit kohlercompany.com.

RESOURCES

About the Artists

Janet Echelman 
Janet Echelman sculpts at the scale of buildings and city blocks. Echelman’s work defies categorization, as it intersects Sculpture, Architecture, Urban Design, Material Science, Structural & Aeronautical Engineering, and Computer Science. Using unlikely materials from atomized water particles to engineered fiber fifteen times stronger than steel, Echelman combines ancient craft with computational design software to create artworks that have become focal points for urban life on five continents, from Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai, and Santiago, to Beijing, Boston, New York and London. She graduated from Harvard College, before completing separate graduate programs in Painting and in Psychology. A recipient of an honorary Doctorate from Tufts University, Echelman has taught at MIT, Harvard and Princeton Universities. Her TED talk “Taking Imagination Seriously” has been translated into 35 languages with more than two million views. For more information, please visit echelman.com/.

Elle is considered one of the world’s top street artists. Having started out as a graffiti artist, Elle’s work has been exhibited in the prestigious Saatchi Gallery in London, Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, and as a two-hundred-foot-tall projection onto the facade of the New Museum in New York. Her artwork has been published in dozens of books on street art and in global publications such as ELLE France and Vogue Australia. Elle has collaborated with and painted for various international brands including Reebok, Nike, Under Armour, Ralph Lauren, Samsung, and Toyota, among others. In 2020, Elle was commissioned by IntoAction to create a four-story high tribute painting to Ruth Bader Ginsberg in New York’s Lower East Side. She has a forthcoming commissioned project in Amsterdam at the STRAAT Museum. For more information, please visit ellestreetart.com/.

Pushpa Kumari visualizes a world energized by culture, heritage, observation, and intuitive sensitivity using only a pen and ink on paper. Throughout her life and career, Kumari has challenged India’s traditional cultural norms, choosing instead to focus on her craft. As a result, Pushpa has been able to develop a distinguished body of work, both in concept and expression, from her contemporaries. Kumari’s influences are purely Indian, drawing inspiration from religious and social lore. Despite being rooted in Indian tradition, her work has universal appeal and has reached an international audience. In 2016, her work was included in the prestigious Eighth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art. She has also participated in several museum exhibitions in the United Kingdom, including “Telling Tales,” a 2013 show at the National Museums Liverpool.

Ananda Nahú is a painter, muralist, and visual artist. Her style is distinguished by visual multiculturalism, making re-readings of artistic movements and bringing painting techniques of the past to the present. Nahú’s works present a strong cultural anthropological study of the human being, rescuing art history from the most diverse nationalities, and transforming old currents of thought for the artistic needs of today. Throughout her painting career, Nahú has actively participated in social-artistic projects at the United Nations, the European Union, and New York’s City Hall, among others. Nahú was a guest artist in advertising campaigns for multinational brands such as Nike, Gucci, and Bloomberg. In 2015, she was published by CNN Style and Phaidon as one of the most influential artists in Brazil. In 2016, Nahú broke records in the United States when she painted the largest mural in the state of Ohio, funded by the Cleveland Foundation. For more information, please visit anahu.com/.

Wang Ziling explores how humans perceive the structure of their external surroundings by reforming the spatial form of painting. Wang has invented a hardened acrylic paint that allows for the material to be suspended inside the frame without adhering to the canvas. The resulting “continuous painting” can be used to link floating images between two or three paintings, uniquely requiring viewers fill in the missing information within the extending images. Wang graduated with an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, University of the Arts, London, and BA in painting from the Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Her works have been exhibited and collected by several museums, including Today Art Museum (Beijing), Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou), and Copelouzos Family Art Museum (Athens). She completed an artist residency at the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art (Manchester). For more information, please visit wangziling.co.uk/.

GRI is proud to stand with one of its founding members, CERES, in their effort to protect the ‘Freedom to Invest‘. This campaign was launched in response to legislatives efforts within the United States to restrict climate and sustainability considerations in investment opportunities and banking practices. GRI remains dedicated to supporting this crucial undertaking and advocates for a future where economic growth goes hand in hand with social and environmental progress.

Under the banner of the ‘Freedom to Invest’ initiative, hundreds of leaders from the private and public sectors are united in conveying a clear message to policymakers: protect the freedom to invest responsibly. Supporters of this campaign firmly assert that comprehensive analysis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors is essential to build profitable businesses, investment portfolios, and ensure long-term shareholder value. Restrictive policies that hinder this responsible decision-making approach defy the principles of sound investing and business practices.

According to Eelco van der Enden, CEO of GRI: “The increasing politicization of ESG in the United States is unfortunate and potentially harmful to business. When a balanced viewpoint is taken, it is clear that sustainability considerations are a key aspect of how asset managers fulfil their fiduciary duties towards investors and other stakeholders.” 

There is a growing understanding that ESG-related risks can have significant value enhancing and destructive effects. This interdependency makes evident that in the long term ‘you cannot run a successful business in a dysfunctional society’. Regardless of whether risks stem from ESG or other topics, they need to be understood, disclosed, and managed because risks are inseparable from returns.

GRI stands behind this important initiative aimed at safeguarding the ‘Freedom to Invest.’ We urge lawmakers to uphold the ability for investors to factor in climate and sustainability considerations, enabling them to fulfill their fiduciary duties responsibly, make well-informed decisions and safeguard the interests of all stakeholders. We extend an invitation to other organizations to join us in endorsing this campaign.

To commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month, Quest Diagnostics Foundation grantee Experience Camps hosted several events for young people working through grief, including a Grief Town Hall, in conjunction with the YMCA of Central Maryland, and several Playing Through Grief events at area schools and community centers.

In these workshops, the grief specialists at Experience Camps share with participants what to know about grief, how to show up for someone who is grieving, how to support youth, and what it means to create a grief-smart culture in their community.

Play is one of the most critical elements of positive childhood development and can take a back seat to more adult responsibilities and feelings when tragedy strikes. As a result, grieving children can be left lacking in fundamental building blocks of growth. Giving them permission to be kids again—to sing at the top of their lungs, to focus their entire beings on the score of a game, and to explore the boundless freedom of unstructured time—can reignite their childhoods.

Dedicated to exploring this concept, Experience Camps is a nonprofit organization that transforms the lives of grieving children through summer camp programs and innovative, year-round initiatives. Funding from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation as part of the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative is helping Experience Camps establish summer programs in the Baltimore area in coordination with other community leaders. The one-week, overnight summer camps for children who have experienced the death of a sibling, parent, or primary caregiver aims to empower campers with the necessary coping skills to move forward with their lives.

“We are so proud to work with Experience Camps,” said Michael Floyd, Senior Director and Leader, Q4HE. “Their initiatives to help support children dealing with grief are so important. Their work has already made an impact in many communities, and we look forward to supporting this summer’s camps in Baltimore to bring their expertise to more children in need.”

“Receiving support from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation has helped our program expand to touch more lives in Baltimore,” said Sara Deren, CEO of Experience Camps. “Quest has been a great collaborator in furthering our mission of helping children who have experienced the unimaginable to feel joy and hope again.”

To learn more about Quest for Health Equity, visit our website at www.QuestForHealthEquity.com.

Cummins

For over a year, global power technology leader Cummins Inc. and The Nature Conservancy have collaborated on projects aimed at reducing pollution entering rivers and streams in the Mississippi River Basin.

One unique project came about last month when Cummins employees gathered at the Cummins Seymour Engine Plant in Indiana and built nesting boxes for the endangered Hellbender Salamanders.

“I do like how this project is unique and different and takes a new approach to environmental endeavors,” said Scott Saum, Program Manager for Cummins Water Works, the company effort to address the global water crisis. “It’s very unlike our traditional tree planting, litter pickups, and invasive species removals.”

The Mississippi River Basin encompasses 31 states and is the world’s third-largest drainage basin. When complete, Purdue University will place the nesting boxes in the basin, specifically Southern Indiana’s Blue River.

Hellbenders, like many amphibians, breathe through their porous skin, making them extremely vulnerable to water pollution. That is why they are only found in water that is clear, clean and well-oxygenated with large rocks scattered on the bottom. Sedimentation can also fill in the spaces they occupy under large slabs of bedrock, which is why they have disappeared from many of their former river homes.

The pollutants Cummins Water Works and The Nature Conservancy are partnering to reduce include nutrient pollution (nitrogen and phosphorus), as well as soils and sediment. Hellbenders, the largest salamander in North America, do not filter water. However, they are a good indicator of stream health, water quality and a river’s ecology.

The nesting boxes will provide the salamanders a safe place to lay their eggs. They will also allow researchers to monitor their growth and development, as the top of each box is equipped with a camera port to capture activity.

Through Cummins’ Seymour Engine Plant’s Day of Caring initiative, 24 volunteers worked over two days to cut and form chicken wire and mesh into the nest box shape, secure with zip ties, pack the concrete into place and construct the nest box lids. Also present, providing supervision and guidance, were Joe Schmees, TNC Representative, and Nick Burgmeier, Agriculture Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist, Purdue University.

“We were able to complete 18 boxes, which is phenomenal,” said Jordan Grawe, event lead and Cummins Air Handling Team Leader. “I’m very proud to have been involved in this project with my colleagues. At the end of the day, you feel like you have done something very positive for your community and are making an impact in the world.”

Hellbenders have been known to grow up to 29 inches long, though most will average about 12-15 inches. They are an endangered species in Indiana, and historical records indicate the Hellbender once populated Fourteen Mile Creek, Little Blue River, Whitewater River, Silver Creek, Indian Creek, the Ohio River and the Wabash River.

Today, the Hellbender’s singular habitat in Indiana is the clean and clear Blue River of Southern Indiana. The lack of younger populations of this species in locations where they live has become a growing concern. The work of Cummins volunteers and its community partners in creating a protected habitat for this special creature helps address that concern.

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2023 /3BL Media/ – The World Environment Center announced today that President & CEO Glenn Prickett will step down in September to take a new role the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

“I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together at WEC,” said Prickett. “While I am sad to leave the staff team, I am confident that the organization will continue to drive positive change in the world of business and sustainability.”

Since Prickett joined WEC in 2019, even during the global pandemic, the organization bolstered the climate and sustainability initiatives of its global member companies and built the capacity of small entrepreneurs in the green and blue economies in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. WEC awarded its annual Gold Medal Award for Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development to Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, AB InBev, and Jacobs.

WEC’s Board of Directors, under the leadership of Chair Emilio Tenuta, Ecolab’s Chief Sustainability Officer, and Vice Chair Eunice Heath, CRH’s Chief Sustainability Officer, has formed a search committee to select the next CEO of WEC.

“We are grateful for Glenn’s service and dedication to WEC,” said Tenuta. “He built the team and put the organization on a path to real impact at a challenging time. We look forward to selecting a talented leader to continue the work and lead WEC to even greater impact.”

Prickett will serve as WEC’s CEO through the end of August. He will support the WEC board as they search for the next CEO and work closely with WEC’s staff, members, and partners to ensure the health and forward momentum of the organization’s programs after his departure.

In September, Prickett and his family will move to Portland, Maine where he will be CEO of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), a non-governmental organization that develops collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges.

“I am excited to take on a new challenge with GMRI,” said Prickett. “The Gulf of Maine is a rapidly warming ocean ecosystem, and GMRI’s work to find effective solutions for climate change and sustainable development has much to offer the world. I know the WEC team will drive our mission forward with unwavering dedication. I look forward to seeing WEC’s growth and impact in the years ahead.

Contact:  
Smitha Konduri 
Press@wec.org

Everstream Analytics and Medtronic have been named winners of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s 2023 Top Supply Chain Projects Award. The award recognizes Everstream’s UFLPA Risk Solution created to help companies uncover risk and demonstrate compliance with current and emerging forced labor requirements such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

The UFLPA Risk Solution is powered by Everstream Discover, the only automated multi-tier visibility solution fully integrated with an end-to-end supply chain risk management platform. Discover aggregates billions of transactions and records across thousands of data sets and sources, analyzing material flow and supplier relationships to uncover risk. Everstream customers can utilize insights from these analytics to evaluate and predict supplier risk within forced labor regions.

“It’s an honor to be recognized for the important work Everstream is doing to address forced labor in the supply chain,” said Julie Gerdeman, Chief Executive Officer, Everstream Analytics. “Discover and our UFLPA solution solve the difficult challenge of uncovering forced labor risk hidden deep in complex supplier networks. We’re helping clients find and address these abhorrent business practices to deliver on our promise of building more resilient, responsible, and sustainable supply chains worldwide.”

To date, Everstream has evaluated forced labor risk at hundreds of thousands of suppliers, including those used by Medtronic, whose Mission is to alleviate pain, restore health and extend life.

“Medtronic is committed to doing everything we can to uncover and mitigate supply chain risks related to human rights,” said Joe Robinson, VP Enterprise Risk and Continuity of Medtronic. “Everstream was able to look across our extended value chain for forced labor risks and produce valuable insights that enable us to understand our risk profile, monitor for potential future human rights violations, and deliver on our Mission while maintaining good citizenship as a company.”

The full list of Top Supply Chain Projects winners can be found at https://sdce.me/av7r0h and more information on supply chain responsibility at Medtronic can be found in the 2022 Integrated Performance Report.

Originally published in T-Mobile’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Over the last few years, the Un-carrier has continued to reach new heights and break down new barriers, each year building on the last as our scale and reach has grown. And as we’ve continued to grow and pursue our mission to be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world, we have done so with purpose.

The power of our network technology positively impacts the lives of customers across the country as it connects people to social, educational, and economic opportunities and enables businesses to implement innovative and sustainable technology solutions. That’s why, when it comes to corporate responsibility at T-Mobile, it’s not simply about doing the right thing, it’s about doing our thing—leveraging our network, scale, and resources to be an even greater force for good in wireless and the world we live in.

This work is not only foundational to our business, it’s important to many of our stakeholders—including our customers, employees, shareholders. Over the past several years there has been a substantial shift in how people are making decisions about the companies they work for, buy from and invest in. Today 80% of consumers and employees say they’re more likely to buy from or work for companies that share their values across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) categories. And the majority of investors want companies to enhance their ESG reporting to inform their long-term decisions as they increasingly see strong corporate responsibility practices as integral to a strong and resilient business.

T-Mobile takes a strategic approach to corporate responsibility, placing focus and investments on areas where we can drive the greatest impact through our operations, technology, and our people. As a company that provides digital connectivity, we work to empower as many people as possible with the tools and access to succeed in today’s digital world. We are also relentless in creating genuine, positive opportunities within our walls and in our communities through our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. And we constantly look to leverage our technology, partnerships, and resources to support solutions that prioritize our planet as we continue to take bold steps to create a more sustainable future for all.

Underpinning this work is our focus on continuously investing in responsible business practices enabling us to realize our ambitions by doing things the right way—always—with integrity, transparent reporting, and strong corporate governance practices. This is how we continue to build trust and foster meaningful engagement with our customers, employees, community partners and shareholders, allowing us to keep our finger on the pulse of what issues matter most to them.

In the new era of Un-carrier, we’re more committed than ever to getting it right and connecting with purpose. We’ll continue to evolve and strengthen our corporate responsibility efforts to meet the moment, remaining responsive to stakeholder needs, emerging regulations, and industry trends. We’ll also bring our unstoppable spirit to drive positive change and progress across our strategic areas of opportunity and impact. We look forward to creating a connected world where everyone can thrive while serving as an even greater force for good.

Learn more in T-Mobile’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

If your business is struggling to find people with the right digital skills, you are not alone. At the launch of the European Year of Skills 2023 — an initiative focused on promoting upskilling and reskilling for individuals to support company innovation and competitiveness — the European Commission told us that 77% of EU organizations report difficulties in finding workers with the necessary skills.

The Commission also confirmed what many businesses have known for some time: four in 10 adults in Europe lack basic digital competence, including a third of people currently in employment. The number with advanced digital skills (just 26% of adults between 16 and 74) is even more troubling.

There is no doubt that digital is revolutionizing societies, businesses and economies, yet we have a skills gap that threatens to hold us back. Strong technological abilities are now, more than ever, key to an individual’s success in the workplace, as well as to economic growth and societal development.

This isn’t just a European problem. The OECD reports that the cost, relevance and quality of training has led to low take-up in countries everywhere. Barriers to lifelong learning and limited investment are slowing down efforts to close the gap. That’s why the Commission’s efforts to break down those barriers are very welcome, as is its goal that by 2030 80% of EU adults have basic digital skills and 20 million will be employed as ICT specialists.

But it is also important that the tech industry steps up and engages with the issue. Tech companies should be partnering with local governments and educational institutions to encourage more people to take advantage of digital training and upskilling opportunities. After all, this is our area of expertise, and we have a good idea of what skills are needed now—and what will be needed in the future.

Our goals for 2030

At VMware, our commitment to closing the skills gap—and making digital transformation more accessible for all—is encapsulated in our 2030 Agenda, a program for building a more sustainable, equitable and secure future. Our commitment to equity is about creating a future that is accessible, inclusive and just for everyone and closing the digital skills gap is a key part of it.

Our goal is to help more than 15 million people around the world acquire the digital skills they need by 2030. We believe that public-private partnerships are essential to democratizing access to digital skills, and to achieving this at scale. Through these partnerships we can improve skills in key areas such as cloud computing, application modernization, data center virtualization, end-user computing, networking and security—all essential for mastering important technologies like cloud, mobile, IoT and AI.

As part of our role in closing the skills gap, we have developed specific programs for people already in work or looking for work (VMware Learning), and for students at upper-secondary schools, community colleges, technical colleges and universities (VMware IT Academy).

VMware Learning

As part of the VMware Learning program, we help individuals acquire IT skills through our VMware Authorized Training Center (VATC) partners. The collaboration between these partners and government entities enables us to provide the latest training, resources and upskilling opportunities so that individuals and their employers get the cloud-smart skills they need.

Together we have designed courses and programs to help people succeed in today’s workplace and to achieve industry-recognised VMware certifications. Our learning partners provide essential language support, local schedules and local instructors to boost success rates.

For example, we have developed a program with the continuing-education specialists at ExperTeach in Frankfurt, Germany. ExperTeach offers VMware authorized training courses which align to our certifications. Examples include ‘VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization 2023 (VCP-DCV)’ which validates candidate skills with a VMware vSphere infrastructure that can accelerate the transformation to cloud computing and ‘VMware Certified Professional – VMware Cloud 2023 (VCP-VMC)’ which validates a person’s ability to connect and migrate to a VMware Cloud solution.

We have supported ExperTeach to ensure it is certified by Germany’s Accreditation and Licensing Ordinance on Employment Promotion (AZAV). This is of great importance as AZAV approval means that students can be eligible for funding from the Federal Employment Agency and, for jobseekers, AZAV can reimburse the full cost of the VMware training course. As a result of the financial subsidies this new government program provides, ExpertTeach can help even more people gain VMware certifications, improving their employability and increasing the competitiveness of the companies they work for.

Similarly, in France, we have established VATC partners like Atlas, a state-authorized skills operator (OPCO) that supports vocational training. Because Atlas works with more than 100,000 companies including micro-enterprises and SMEs, we can extend our reach and ensure more businesses develop in-house cloud and virtualization skills they need to succeed in the digital economy.

VMware IT Academy

We operate VMware IT Academy across EMEA and worldwide, collaborating with government agencies, industry partners, educational institutions and community organizations. Together we provide students with high-quality learning certification opportunities and hands-on lab experiences with VMware technologies. VMware provides free curriculum and materials, with the goal of helping students understand VMware technology and jump-start their software careers.

In 2022, through VMware IT Academy, we worked with 608 academies in Europe and contributed more than €25 million in kind to European education. It’s all about a collaborative, learn-anywhere environment to help more students start their learning journey, build on foundational skills and earn industry-recognized certifications. We’re creating a pipeline of diverse talent and potential leaders who will address the digital talent shortage, leading to positive change around the world.

As part of this program, we have made an official pledge to give all EU-accredited academic institutions, research centers and non-profits access to our academic resources and to make a direct contribution to reduce the digital skills gap in Europe.

More than certifications

It really is time to bridge the gap between good intentions and decisive action. We know that companies look for the kinds of certifications VMware offers when they are hiring workers for today’s in-demand and high-paying IT jobs.

But there is something bigger at play here too. We believe that a commitment to upskilling people is an acknowledgement that the world around us is changing. With the right digital skills, people can respond to new circumstances. They can influence, participate and lead change in the direction they choose. And they can make sure that big technological forces like cloud, AI, ML and digitalization are no longer just abstract concepts imposed upon a population—but are recognized as the source of good jobs, better life quality and greater security for the future.

Find out more at VMware Learning and VMware IT Academy.

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As a leading global supplier of ARVs used to prevent and treat HIV, we have a strong legacy of supporting people living with HIV. In 2022, we provided access to high-quality and affordable ARVs to more than 100 countries. More than 30% of adults and more than 65% of children being treated for HIV in our Emerging Markets segment in 2022 used a Viatris product.1

It is estimated that more than 38 million people are living with HIV globally, and children are especially vulnerable. Two in five children living with HIV worldwide do not know they are infected, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving ARV treatment due to a lack of access to care in lower- and middle-income countries where the disease is most prevalent, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Global progress toward eradicating HIV/AIDS has been threatened in recent years due to the COVID pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis which have caused disruptions to care, fewer resources and an increase in virus transmission.2

Our goal is to provide ARV therapy equivalent to a total of 30 million patients, including more than 2 million children living with HIV/AIDS, between 2022 and the end of 2025. In 2022, we made progress toward our goal by providing treatments for approximately 8 million patients, including almost 600,000 children.

Our work includes helping to prevent HIV infections, increasing diagnosis and treatment and providing healthcare solutions. We also are working on local manufacturing initiatives with partners to transfer technology to expand access where it is most needed.

In 2022, we continued our partnership with ViiV Healthcare and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to develop a dispersible tablet formulation of abacavir/lamivudine/ dolutegravir fixed-dose combination, which will reduce the pill burden in pediatric populations. We also advanced work on a dual oral pill for HIV and pregnancy prevention in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.

While most people living with HIV reside in low- and middleincome countries, reliable access to affordable treatment for HIV is also a critical need in high-income countries. We are focused on meeting the needs of people living with HIV, wherever they are. In 2022, we applied in Italy for authorization and reimbursement for PrEP, a medicine taken by those at risk for HIV to prevent infection, making it available in the country for the first time. Additionally, we were awarded multi-year tenders in New Zealand for several HIV ARVs, including PrEP, which significantly increased Viatris’ contribution to expanding access to these treatments.

As part of our strategy to expand access to ARV treatments, we are working with international organizations for pooled procurement, engaging in licensing agreements with originator pharmaceutical companies and the Medicines Patent Pool and participating in government tenders. We have been able to supply treatments at more affordable prices, including gradually reducing the pricing of the fixed-dose combination medication tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir (TLD) with an average selling price approximately 17% lower in 2022, compared to the previous year. We provide a single price for all applicable countries supplied via leading global procurement mechanisms, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the U.S. PEPFAR Program.

Viatris has seven licensing agreements with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for HIV – including PrEP – hepatitis C and COVID-19. For ARV and infectious disease products, Viatris also has license agreements with Gilead, MSD, TB Alliance and Otsuka.

In 2022, in South Africa, the country home to the most people living with HIV, we launched multiple ARV products to continue expanding access to treatment designed to improve patient outcomes. These launches increase patient access to affordable, high-quality generics including Kavideza, which offers a simplified tablet regimen of abacavir, lamivudine, and dolutegravir to help reduce complexity of treatment for patients.

We have more than 700 registrations of infectious disease products, including ARVs, across low- and middle-income countries. We consistently file our ARV treatments with the U.S. FDA and the WHO Prequalification pathways to enable procurement by the PEPFAR, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, as well as other international agencies. Still many countries require local registration in addition to these global approvals. To meet this need, we have steadily been filing for local market authorizations of our ARV products based on country guidelines across all key high-burden HIV countries.

Responding to HIV Challenges Amplified by the COVID Pandemic 

The COVID pandemic continues to affect HIV care. Because of COVID-related closures of health facilities, fewer new patients were being identified and put on treatment. Viatris makes available HIV Self Tests to increase access to testing and identify more patients who can be put on treatment. Redeployment of staff to provide COVID relief created restrictions in access to healthcare, so Viatris quickly worked to provide multi-month ARV packs so patients have ongoing access to treatment.

Sources

1Excludes the U.S., EU and other developed markets. Also excludes Russia, China and Mexico, where we do not commercialize ARVs.

2UNAIDS Fact Sheet

View the full 2022 Sustainability Report here.