Tag: 3BL

NEW YORK, April 11, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Tapestry, Inc. (NYSE: TPR), the leading New York-based house of iconic accessories and lifestyle brands consisting of Coach, kate spade and Stuart Weitzman, today announced it has become a Network Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an international charity that develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy. In addition, as a member of the Foundation’s Fashion Initiative Advisory Board, Tapestry brings to the table a commitment to a circular future, innovative capabilities powering circular business models led by its brands, as well as technical and practical experience in creating products that are crafted to last.

“Circularity is critical to building a more sustainable and resilient fashion industry. At Tapestry, our brands are contributing to a future that is both beautiful and responsible, and we look forward to collaborating with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Network and Fashion Initiative Advisory Board to continue to tackle pressing climate challenges and generate even more momentum behind the circular economy,” said Logan Duran, Vice President, ESG and Sustainability.

Tapestry recognizes the importance of transitioning to a circular economy based on three key principles, all driven by design: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and regenerating nature. By joining the Foundation’s Network, Tapestry is building on its brands’ commitment to innovating and scaling circular business models, including Coach (Re)Loved, the brand’s global circular ecosystem of unique Coach programs in repair, refurbishment, upcycling, recycling and customer trade-in designed to give pre-loved and damaged Coach products a second life, keeping them in use and out of landfills. The program, which since its April 2021 launch has (re)loved more than 20,000 items, is now available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and China. Additionally, kate spade new york recently launched a partnership with thredUP to enable its customers to shop pre-loved styles and trade in products as part of the brand’s first steps to build a more circular future.

Education and training of the current and next generation of design talent in the principles of a circular economy is also a crucial element in making fashion circular. In 2022, Tapestry held its inaugural Circular Design Workshop to encourage designers at Coach and kate spade new york to learn about the principles of circular design and explore how products can flow through circular business models. In 2022, Coach also launched its Coach (Re)Loved Craftsperson Apprenticeship Program, as well as its CFDA x Coach Dream It Real Circular Design Scholarship, awarded to 15 design students. Both training programs help create new generations of designers and craftspeople who are equipped with the skills and passion to drive change toward circularity.

In its Fiscal Year 2022 Corporate Responsibility report, Tapestry highlighted several other sustainability initiatives, including the announcement of submitting new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets for validation by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the recent roll-out of new environmentally preferred material targets focused on increasing the sourcing of materials made from organic, regenerative and recycled inputs across the business.

“A circular economy for fashion creates better products and services for customers, contributes to a resilient and thriving fashion industry, and regenerates the environment. Together we can make fashion circular and help tackle the root causes of global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. We are pleased to welcome Tapestry as a Network Partner and look forward to facilitating collaboration opportunities with other Network organisations and supporting the company on its circular economy journey.” Joe Murphy, Executive Lead, Network, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Through its Network, the Foundation works with some of the world’s leading organizations, with transformative potential, to demonstrate what is possible through circular economy strategy, goal-setting and implementation. The circular economy is built on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.

The Foundation’s Fashion Initiative seeks to drive the transition towards a circular economy for fashion to create a resilient and thriving industry. This will involve reimagining how materials are sourced, produced, and consumed, with a focus on reducing waste and circulating products and materials to keep them in use.

In partnership with the Foundation, Tapestry and its brands are working to accelerate the transition to a circular economy through collaboration and innovation within the industry. As the impacts of climate change become more prominent, and in anticipation of the climate challenges of tomorrow, Tapestry is working to create a more responsible business model today. To learn more about how Tapestry is weaving together its business ambitions with its commitments to find a path to a more sustainable future, visit https://www.tapestry.com/responsibility/our-planet/.

 

About Tapestry, Inc.

Our global house of brands unites the magic of Coach, kate spade new york and Stuart Weitzman. Each of our brands are unique and independent, while sharing a commitment to innovation and authenticity defined by distinctive products and differentiated customer experiences across channels and geographies. We use our collective strengths to move our customers and empower our communities, to make the fashion industry more sustainable, and to build a company that’s equitable, inclusive, and diverse. Individually, our brands are iconic. Together, we can stretch what’s possible. To learn more about Tapestry, please visit www.tapestry.com. The Company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TPR.

Follow and connect with Tapestry on LinkedIn and Instagram or visit our newsroom. To build your future at Tapestry, find our latest job opportunities on our careers page.

About The Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is an international charity that develops and promotes the circular economy in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It works with its Network of private and public sector decision-makers, as well as academia, to build capacity, explore collaborative opportunities, and design and develop circular economy initiatives and solutions. Increasingly based on renewable energy, a circular economy is driven by design to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature, to create resilience and prosperity for business, the environment, and society.

Originally published on SD2

By Allison Harden

The 2022 SD2 and Illumina Corporate Foundation STEM Educator Awards have been awarded to local San Diego educators Hannah Nakamoto, a chemistry and physics teacher at Kearny High School, and Mario Patiño, a middle and high school science teacher at the Preuss School at UCSD. Both winners are thrilled to further inspire and empower their students with the award.

Hannah Nakamoto, Kearny High School

Hannah is very grateful for the award because it will allow her to take a much-needed break this summer.

“The award is significant for me because, I think it’s about 50% of teachers quit after their first five years of teaching due to burnout,” Hannah shares.

Currently in her sixth year, she’s noticed many colleagues leaving education or planning to leave due to burnout. She’s struggled with it herself. She’s worked an average of 3 to 6 weeks over the past 5 summers teaching summer school so she can make ends meet and pay her bills. Thanks to the award, she won’t have to this summer.

“I am really trying to find that balance between serving my students and taking care of myself,” she continues. “I myself am a resource, and if I burn out, that defeats the purpose of everything I want to do for my students.”

As a young female minority STEM teacher of Japanese-Hawaiian and Mexican heritage, Hannah is no stranger to the struggles her underrepresented students are facing, and she’s determined to continue to empower them on their journey.

Growing up, she didn’t have many people in her life encouraging her to pursue her interest in science. It wasn’t until her community college teachers showed her that science was something attainable, something she could do, that she believed a STEM career was possible. Because of their encouragement, she went on to major in Chemistry at UCSD and earn her master’s degree in education thereafter.

“Before then, I saw science and STEM education as something I wasn’t supposed to do because of the way I look,” Hannah reflects. “I’m non-white, I’m young, I’m short…I’m all the things you’re not supposed to be in a position of power.”

She hopes to lead by example to her students by showing them that if she can do it, so can they.

“I look like the people I’m serving and that’s why got into teaching STEM,” Hannah says.

In addition to better serving her students, Hannah is excited about building a stronger connection with Illumina through the award and bringing guest speakers to her classes to share about the many career paths available to them.

“I’m excited to become familiar with the folks at Illumina and what they’re doing because it aligns with what my students want to do in the future,” she says.

When she’s not in the classroom, Hannah keeps busy dancing hula and running the salsa club and knitting club at Kearney.

Mario Patiño, Preuss School

Mario has always been passionate about science. The child of immigrants, he was the first one in his family to attend college. However, his passion for science and STEM education began long before then.

“As a child, I always had an interest in science. My mother and the matriarchs of the family had a natural gift of practicing science from a cultural lens,” shares Mario.

“They inspired my passion for STEM early,” he remembers. “Doing science was not only part of daily chores or coursework in school, but it was also my source of entertainment. I used to make forts out of chaparral, chase rabbits in the canyon, and heal my wounds with medicinal plants. STEM has always fostered my creativity and curiosity to explore our world and beyond.”

A 20-year science education veteran, Mario currently teaches sixth-grade university prep science, seventh-grade advanced science, and twelfth-grade AP Environmental Science. However, by no means does he consider himself an ‘expert.’

“I have lived my entire career in the ‘learn-unlearn-relearn’ cycle,” Mario explains.

Part of this learning cycle meant going where life took him and exploring a new career path in Hawaii as a biology technician at a federal agency. Before that, he “was happy as a lab rat” working as a research associate at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies developing novel molecular and therapeutic products.

The Hawaii role, however, is what sparked his passion for teaching.

“That job led me to an opportunity to teach science at a famous Hawaiian private school,” shares Mario.

“I developed my passion for sharing my love of science by cultivating learning environments which were culturally centered, arts-focused, and inspired by innovative engineering and design.”

Taking this passion into everything he does in the classroom today, Mario hopes to use the proceeds of the Illumina SD2 award to start the first Urban Agriculture Program at his school and stimulate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and technology) learning through a biodiversity, sustainability, and food security lens.

In his free time, he enjoys mountain biking, long beach walks/hikes, and playing the to’ere drum.

About the award

The Illumina Foundation SD2 STEM Educators Award aims to provide financial support for underrepresented educators currently teaching junior high or high school STEM classes in the San Diego County region. We are looking to support innovative educators who want to invest in their students and create a lasting impact. Two winners are chosen each year and receive $5,000.

To learn more about Illumina’s commitment to Empowering Communities and Inspiring the Next Generation, click here.

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today, Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture™ announced that Farmers Business Network (FBN®), a global AgTech platform and farmer-to-farmer network, has become their newest Qualified Data Management Partner (QDMP), integrating the sustainability metrics of the Fieldprint Platform™ into their program. This partnership provides a new one-stop-shop for farmers to evaluate profitability, productivity and sustainability options for their operation.

Integration is made possible through Field to Market’s Fieldprint Application Programming Interface, which connects sustainability metrics and algorithms from the Fieldprint Platform directly into FBN’s software solutions, enabling farmers to assess the environmental performance of their management practices against regional, state and national benchmarks for Field to Market’s eight sustainability metrics.

FBN is a global farmer-to-farmer network and independent AgTech platform whose mission is to power the prosperity of family farmers around the world while working toward a sustainable future. Its Farmers First® promise has attracted over 55,000 members to the network with a common goal of maximizing their farm’s profit potential. FBN has set out to redefine value and convenience for farmers by helping to reduce the cost of production and maximize the value of their crops.

FBN’s Gradable platform was launched by FBN in September 2020 and provides new technology that facilitates grain transactions between producers and commercial buyers, and also provides services that facilitate the scoring, sourcing, and pricing of Low-Carbon Grain. Gradable fully integrates with FBN farmer-facing technology as well as commercial buyer grain accounting systems, and has attracted billions of bushels to the platform. Gradable not only strengthens the relationship between grain buyers and sellers, but also enables comprehensive environmental transparency and supports a market for premium, environmentally-scored grain.

“We are proud to be recognized as a Qualified Data Management Partner with Field to Market,” says Steele Lorenz, Head of Sustainable Business at FBN. “Through this integration, we’re expanding our innovative sustainability solutions, providing more value to the farmers and commercial agriculture businesses that use our software.”

With this integration, farmers can document and demonstrate their sustainability performance using the common measurement framework offered by the Fieldprint Platform, an outcomes-based and metrics-driven sustainability measurement platform that is supported by over 170 organizations across the agricultural value chain.

As demand from downstream companies continues to grow, FBN anticipates enrolling millions of acres in the next few years, with thousands of growers participating in Field to Market Continuous Improvement Projects.

“Field to Market envisions a technology landscape that offers farmers robust sustainability analytics in the platform of their choice, and this partnership helps bring that vision to life,” says Field to Market Vice President of Science and Technology Paul Hishmeh. “We’re excited to see and incorporate FBN’s innovative approaches in using remote sensed data products for smart inputs and data validation.”

“We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with FBN and further support farmers in making informed sustainability decisions on their operation,” says Field to Market President Scott Herndon.

CONTACT: 
Keith Chapman, media@farmersbusinessnetwork.com 
Katrina Stacey, kstacey@fieldtomarket.org

About Field to Market: 

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture™ brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, feed, beverage, restaurant and retail companies; conservation groups; universities and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber and fuel production. Field to Market is comprised of over 170 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with members employing more than 5 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.5 trillion. To learn more, visit: www.fieldtomarket.org.

About FBN:

Farmers Business Network® (FBN®) is an independent AgTech platform and farmer-to-farmer network with a mission to power the prosperity of family farmers around the world while working towards a sustainable future. Its Farmers First® promise has attracted over 55,000 members to the network with a common goal of helping farmers maximize their farm’s profit potential with data and technology enabled direct-to farmer commerce, community and sustainability offerings.

FBN has set out to redefine value and convenience for farmers by helping reduce the cost of production and maximize the value of their crops. The FBN network has grown to cover more than 117 million acres of member farms in the US and Canada. Blending the best of Midwestern agricultural roots and Silicon Valley technology, the company has principal offices in San Carlos, CA, Chicago, IL, Sioux Falls, SD and a Canadian Headquarters in High River, Alberta with significant warehouse and logistics, remote and field employees across the US and Canada. To learn more, visit: www.fbn.com.

“Farmers Business Network”, “FBN”, and “FBN Direct” are registered trademarks or service marks of Farmer’s Business Network, Inc.

Originally posted on LinkedIn

Standardization is hard. Why? Because overcoming resistance to change is hard. Which means communication is key as you grow your Knowledge and Process Management programs.

Many organizations, especially growing ones, recognize the need for standardization and the benefits it brings: consistency, efficiency, and the space for innovation. Consistency ensures repeatable products, service, and customer / client experience. Standard documented processes enable new team members to get up to speed quickly and others use their time more efficiently. Teams avoid “reinventing the wheel” and can spend their time focused on the activities that bring greatest value and drive innovation.

Understand Resistance

Recognizing the need and knowing the benefits is not enough. We need to also recognize and seek to understand the hurdles and barriers to adoption of standard processes. This requires listening, empathy, time, and patience. Change does not happen over-night and we need to bring those impacted along on the journey.

Engage Teams

Imagine someone on your team has been doing this work for over 20 years. Tap on them to support development of those standard processes as a great opportunity to capture their knowledge and improve the process in an avenue that cascades throughout the business. Someone else might be concerned about “process for the sake of process.” Discuss with them ways to ensure processes don’t get bogged down with unnecessary approvals. Inevitably you’ll hear frustration that someone just wants to keep doing it their way. Encourage them to try and follow the standard process and then provide feedback on what worked or didn’t work for them. This continuous cycle draws them in, ensures their voice is heard, and makes them part of the change.

Continuously Communicate

Standardization requires a continuous improvement mindset and 2-way communication to address challenges. Consider how the standard processes are communicated. A common pitfall is assuming that everyone knows or remembers the benefits of this standardization. Every communication medium should reiterate the benefits and what the individual and company can gain. By ensuring you are providing an avenue for feedback and responding in a timely manner, teams stay engaged. Being open-minded, thoughtful in communication, and responsive to concerns will support teams along the standardization change journey.

CRB’s Knowledge Services Team, along with some partners, will be sharing thoughts on methods that are helping us build a foundation of capabilities that can give businesses an edge. Our journey has been focused on the human element. This focus on community and connection encourages learning and sharing and allows a business to use its collective knowledge in more meaningful ways.

Follow CRBknows to see more from our series. Is your business on a standardization journey? What challenges are you facing? How are you overcoming the hurdles? 

Two accomplished Franklin Templeton leaders— President and CEO Jenny Johnson; Sonal Desai, CIO, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income—were selected for Barron’s fourth annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.

The list honors women who have achieved positions of prominence in the financial services industry and are helping to shape its future. The list, chosen by a panel of Barron’s writers and editors, is based on external and internal nominations, and includes executives at major U.S. companies, investment managers and securities analysts, and public servants and policy makers . All are based in the U.S.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Johnson and Desai have been named to the list, having been selected each year since the list was introduced in 2020. Franklin Templeton did not provide compensation to Barron’s for the ranking.

View the full 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance feature here.

Sonal Desai

CIO, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income

View profile.

Jenny Johnson

President and CEO, Franklin Templeton

View profile.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 155 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With offices in more than 30 countries and approximately 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of February 28, 2023. For more information, please visit franklinresources.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 10, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today Bath & Body Works announces its inclusion on Newsweek’s list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America.

In collaboration with market research partner Statista, the publication identified companies based on a sample of approximately 25,000 U.S. residents. Respondents rated companies on three touchpoints of trust: customer trust, investor trust and employee trust; including if they believed individual companies treated their customers fairly, treated their employees fairly and would be good long-term investments.

“We’re honored to be recognized as one of the most trustworthy companies in America,” says Gina Boswell, Bath & Body Works CEO. “Our values guide how we deliver fragrance to the world and ensure we have a positive impact on our associates, customers and shareholders in a way that makes us proud. Our inclusion on this list is a testament to our team’s passion and drive, which inspires us to continue bringing better, brighter ways of doing business.”

In addition to making Newsweek’s list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America, Bath & Body Works recently has been recognized in several other ways including:

America’s Best Workplaces for Women by NewsweekAmerica’s Greatest Workplaces for LGBTQ+ by NewsweekDiversity in Business Award by Columbus Business FirstForbes List of America’s Best Large EmployersA Diversity First Top 50 Company by the Diversity Research Institute

For more information about Bath & Body Works, visit bbwinc.com.

ABOUT BATH & BODY WORKS
Home of America’s Favorite Fragrances®, Bath & Body Works is a global leader in personal care and home fragrance, including the top-selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap. Powered by agility and innovation, the company’s predominantly U.S.-based supply chain enables the company to deliver quality, on-trend luxuries at affordable prices. Bath & Body Works serves and delights customers however and wherever they want to shop, from welcoming, in-store experiences at more than 1,800 company-operated Bath & Body Works locations in the U.S. and Canada and more than 425 international franchised locations to an online storefront at BathandBodyWorks.com.

For more information, please contact:

Bath & Body Works, Inc.: 
Media Relations 
Emmy Beach 
Communications@bbw.com

Corporations have a historic opportunity to invest in equitable place-based development through a wave of new federal programs.

Over the last year, Congress has passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act, which provide a recently unprecedented level of funding for local economic development. In FSG’s work with corporations and foundations, we have seen a flurry of conversation about this influx of investment, accompanied by collective worry and uncertainty about how the funds will be utilized.

In our latest piece, we share how companies can help ensure that these programs reach their full potential. We provide initial considerations for three key stakeholder groups:

Local cross-sector collaboratives and convenersCorporationsNational and regional foundations

Our goal is to spark greater dialogue amongst stakeholders and learn alongside partners who are working actively to ensure that this historic level of funding advances equity and opportunity.

< Read the full article >

About FSG 
FSG is a global, nonprofit consulting firm that partners with foundations and corporations to create equitable systems change. Through customized consulting services, innovative thought leadership, and learning communities, we’re working to create a world where everyone can live up to their full potential.

Learn more at www.fsg.org.

April 11, 2023 /3BL Media/ – As part of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids is offering competitive grants, up to $150,000 per SFA, to small and/or rural SFAs to support efforts to improve the nutritional quality of their school meals. The grant application is now available at www.healthymealsincentives.org.

Small and/or rural SFAs participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program in the contiguous United States, Hawaii, Alaska, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the United States Virgin Islands and who serve food to K-12 students are eligible to apply. The grant application portal will close on May 26, 2023, with applications due no later than 5:00 pm EST. Learn more and apply at www.healthymealsincentives.org.

“Action for Healthy Kids is excited to partner with USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and school food authorities to lift up and support innovative school nutrition practices that ensure that our nation’s students have access to nutritious meals,” said Rob Bisceglie, CEO of Action for Healthy Kids.

Action for Healthy Kids will also help facilitate sharing of best practices across the country and recognize SFAs for their efforts to improve school meals through the Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Awards program beginning later this year.

“USDA is excited about the collaboration with Action for Healthy Kids to support and share innovative practices that will empower schools to continue serving delicious, healthy meals, and give students a healthy start. We look forward to this partnership and lifting up the great work being done by nutrition professionals throughout the country,” said FNS Administrator Cindy Long, USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

ABOUT ACTION FOR HEALTHY KIDS

Action for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by bringing together and mobilizing educators, families, and other key stakeholders to help children lead healthy lives. Through its core programming and family-school partnerships, Action for Healthy Kids has impacted more than 20 million children in 55,000 schools nationwide to address systemic challenges in underserved communities. To learn more about its growing network of volunteers and champions, visit: https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/.

ABOUT USDA’S FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of more than 15 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/ and follow @USDANutrition.

By: Niki Kapsambelis

To see Anita Abu Bakar from the outside was to see the picture of confidence: a self-described extrovert, she was surrounded by friends, a onetime school leader who grew into a woman who loved her work as an investment banker in her native Malaysia. She was happily married and the mother of two small children.

But to see her from that angle was to get only half the picture.

Inside, she spent years struggling with her mental health, starting in her childhood. As an adult, she would be diagnosed with a panic disorder and mild to moderate depression. But growing up, she didn’t quite understand what was happening, so she lived with the dichotomy between her two worlds – the happy exterior and the painful interior – for years.

Until one day, she couldn’t.

Nine years ago, the struggle finally caught up with her – and caught her off guard.

“I lost functionality in life. I could no longer work. I couldn’t take care of my kids. I couldn’t function as a normal human being,” Anita recalled. “And that really hit me hard, because everything became beyond my control.”

She fell into what she described as “a deep and dark hole.” The psychological pain was excruciating. She felt as though her brain was trying to kill her, and she – the capable woman so many people admired – had no idea where to turn. She could not understand what was happening to her.

Anita’s experience echoes a worldwide trend. According to the World Health Organization, in 2019, one in every eight people, or 970 million people worldwide were living with a mental disorder, with anxiety and depressive disorders being the most common. Since 2019, rates of these conditions increased by 25% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. (For additional information on the global burden of mental health disorders, visit our report, Creating an Integrated Approach to Noncommunicable Diseases, on page 19.)

Yet despite their growing prevalence, the stigma of mental health disorders persists. Anita cited stigma as a factor in her own crisis: “You feel really ashamed. You feel very embarrassed with what you’re going through, and there was a lot of fear attached to it.” (Anita shared additional thoughts on the role of stigma in mental health in Viatris’ Listen Well podcast.)

It was her gynecologist, a trusted health care provider for 10 years, in whom Anita finally confided.

“The first thing I said to her was, ‘I’m not crazy,’” Anita recalled. “And then she said, ‘Of course you’re not.”

The doctor also told Anita there was a 99% chance she would recover – a statement that created hope in a time of fear and confusion.

The gynecologist’s compassion and reassurance were fundamental to Anita’s eventual recovery. She referred Anita to a psychiatrist, and because Anita believed she could return to a functional and fulfilling life, she was better able to participate in that journey.

Today, Anita is an internationally recognized advocate for mental health and social issues. She is the founder and president of the Mental Illness Awareness & Support Association (MIASA), which champions the recovery model and human rights-based approach to addressing mental health.

In her work, she encourages health care providers to discuss stigma and its accompanying fear with their patients to empower them as they begin to recover.

“For me, it’s always about working together in that process, in that journey, and it improves recovery outcome tremendously if that (conversation) happens from the very beginning,” she noted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness about mental health struggles, but Anita worries that the momentum is fading, even though more people struggle now than ever before due to factors such as isolation, financial uncertainties and loss of jobs and loved ones. She pointed out that the World Health Organization has highlighted an urgent need worldwide to transform access to mental health care.

Training primary care providers in effective coping mechanisms and strategies, as well as offering mental health screens at primary care sites, could go a long way toward helping people who are struggling, she noted.

Likewise, reducing stigma and providing peer support are critical to helping people recover, Anita said. MIASA’s programming offers an array of peer-led support activities, a process that creates hope.

“For me and for the millions of people that are struggling, that’s what they need: they need hope,” she said. “And they need you to trust them that you can recover and thrive in this journey, and that is indeed, for me, the most powerful thing.”

Expanding Awareness Through Public-Private Partnerships

One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the involvement of the private sector in partnerships designed to increase access to mental health resources and increase awareness, says Anita Abu Bakar, founder and chief executive officer of the Mental Illness Awareness & Support Association (MIASA).

Viatris is proud to partner with Anita on several initiatives, including:

The Listen Well podcastThe Metrodora Awards, of which she is a recipient

“Viatris came in so confident of us, so supportive of our effort,” Anita said. “It was truly humbling that an organization like Viatris would want to support us and the cause that we are advocating and fighting for.”

The wildlife monitoring program at our MacKay River oil sands site continues to show an incredible amount of biodiversity in the area.

Roberto Torres, a Senior Environmental Advisor at Suncor’s MacKay River site, loves his job— he has turned a childhood passion for nature and animals into a long career creating sustainable habitats for animals near our operations. Roberto has helped lead a wildlife monitoring program which includes setting up 27 cameras around the site. The programs and pictures continue to show the incredible diversity and breadth of animals we have including: moose, lynx, whitetail deer, black bears, martens, fishers, squirrels, coyotes, wolves, spruce grouse and many others.

“The importance of the monitoring program is to ensure we minimize impact on animals from our activity,” says Roberto, who has been with Suncor since 2009. “And as you can see from the photos, we continue to see great diversity around our sites and we hope to see more diversity with continued monitoring.”

Roberto knows what we’re seeing from the cameras is important, but he says it’s the attitude of the people on site that is the most important for wildlife conservation. He shared a story of workers coming to work on the HVAC system on the roof of a main operations building at site. As the workers climbed up to the roof, they noticed an owl quickly flying away as they approached. Surprised to see an owl, the workers started looking around to see if they could find where the owl had come from. They found a plastic box that had been left on the roof from previous work. In the box, there were two baby owlets.

The workers immediately flagged off the location to avoid any further disturbance and notified Roberto to ask for any other advice. Fish and Wildlife was notified and Roberto, with the support of the operations team, continued to monitor the location for three months until the owlets were old enough to fly on their own. It’s a great example of our purpose “caring for each other and the Earth”.

“We’re surrounded by natural habitat, so we need to care for what we have,” says Roberto. “The nature of our business means we do have to disturb some land. But with the team and their care for the environment around them — it’s why we continue to see such great wildlife diversity around our sites.”

Suncor continues to grow and expand the wildlife monitoring programs at our sites to ensure we are minimizing the impact we have on the land around our operations. Click here to read more environment related stories from Suncor.