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Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2024 Sustainability Report

By Aman Bhutani 
Chief Executive Officer, GoDaddy

A Message From Our CEO

Our mission to empower entrepreneurs everywhere, making opportunity more inclusive for all is the driving force that brings us together. GoDaddy’s customers are microbusiness owners and most of them have fewer than 10 employees. According to our Venture Forward research, more than half of them are solopreneurs, both business owners and employees themselves. They are resilient and inspiring, making a difference for their families, with approximately one in three contributing 51% or more to their household income. In the U.S., they also elevate their local communities by adding seven jobs per microbusiness entrepreneur at the county level.

Customers & Communities 

We support our customers and foster inclusive entrepreneurship with innovative technology and best-in-class, human-centered guidance. In 2024, we took innovation for our customers to new heights with GoDaddy Airo^®. GoDaddy Airo helps our customers using AI technology to, with just a few prompts, find unique names for their businesses, automatically create website options, email addresses, social posts, and much more. It has never been easier for GoDaddy customers to get started with their ideas or grow their businesses. And, when our customers need help, our Guides are there to provide personalized guidance. In 2024, our team engaged with customers through nearly 12 million inbound contacts, striving to help them at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.

People & Culture

At GoDaddy, we are very proud of our employees, their hard work, and execution, and I am confident in the opportunity in front of us, our talent, and our drive for continuous improvement. The GoDaddy Leadership Team is a dedicated group of leaders with unique expertise, points of view, and from different countries of origin, helping us effectively serve our customers globally. As a Leadership Team, we’re focused on providing our employees with opportunities to learn and develop in their careers to achieve their full potential.

GoDaddy also has a remarkable track record of paying people fairly based on the work that they perform regardless of who they are. 2024 marks GoDaddy’s tenth-consecutive year of sharing our gender pay data, and the eighth-consecutive year of ethnicity pay data in the U.S. As our business grows globally and our workforce also expands globally, we continue to prioritize fair employee compensation and invest in a workforce that reflects the various communities we serve.

Responsible Governance & Operations

Our integrated GoDaddy Software Platform drives innovation and growth for both our customers and us. We work to optimize AI, machine learning, monetization, experimentation, data collection, and storage using public and private cloud services to improve the velocity of our business and find savings opportunities. We’re committed to using AI responsibly and ethically, ensuring it advances our mission to empower entrepreneurs everywhere while creating meaningful value for their businesses. Our AI and Machine Learning Governance Council plays a key role in overseeing our use of AI, ensuring proper guardrails are in place for responsible and ethical AI use.

Environmental Impact

We set a new scope 1 and 2 emissions (market-based) reduction target
to reduce emissions by 90% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline after surpassing our initial target two years ahead of schedule. We believe that operating our business responsibly and complying with applicable laws while minimizing the environmental impact of our operations and supply chain is good for our customers, our business, and the planet.

With sustainability embedded in our strategy and aligned with our operations, our goal is to continue to make progress on our sustainability journey. Through innovation and discipline, GoDaddy team members will continue to create value for our customers, shareholders, employees, and communities.

To learn more, read our 2024 Sustainability Report.

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About This Report

This GoDaddy 2024 Sustainability Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching corporate mission and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2024. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our website and our annual Sustainability Report. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting ESG@GoDaddy.com.

This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector, and the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please refer to the Frameworks & Metrics section.

Saint-Gobain’s Energy Management System Implementation Program has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Better Plants Program for enhancing energy usage and management by training more than 80 individuals, belonging to 14 different business units through training sessions across four sites in the United States. As a component of the DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative, the Better Plants program partners with top manufacturers and water and wastewater treatment organizations to enhance their competitiveness by increasing energy efficiency.

With a purpose of Making the World a Better Home and mission to be the leaders in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain developed and piloted an Energy Management System (EnMS) program across four sites in Faribault, Minnesota, Denver, Colorado, Little Rock, Arkansas and Portage, Wisconsin. Through this work, 82 individuals were trained to support the company’s sustainability goals through enhanced energy management knowledge, giving sites more detailed insights into specific energy usage beyond regular utility billing. The collaboration with the company’s process sustainability specialists, and the mobilization of engineers from Saint-Gobain’s innovative Essential of Manufacturing engineering development training program have been crucial in the success of this implementation, which is expected to be scaled further in 2025 and beyond.

“We are honored to be recognized with a 2025 Better Practice award by the U.S. Department of Energy in its Better Plants Program. This recognition shows, once again, our commitment to being leaders in light and sustainable construction and the importance we attach to becoming more energy efficient,” said Dennis Wilson, Vice President – ESG and General Manager of Circular Economy Solutions for Saint-Gobain North America. “I sincerely thank our Essentials of Manufacturing engineers, process sustainability specialists, and all the teams in our plants for their hard work that has made this pilot, a great success.”

This achievement is the latest Saint-Gobain North America has accomplished in recent months for its commitment to innovation in manufacturing:

• In April, Saint-Gobain announced that it was recognized as finalist for three 2025 Manufacturing Leadership Awards by the National Association of Manufacturers for its Circular Economy Solutions team, its ONE PRECISION ASSEMBLIES™ by CertainTeed, and CisLee Trost, Project Engineer for CertainTeed;
• In December, Saint-Gobain announced that it had achieved significant carbon emissions reductions in its Oxford, North Carolina roofing facility. Those reductions have been made possible through organizational changes and a data-led approach.
• In November, Saint-Gobain announced that its roofing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, had achieved 49% waste reduction with enhanced recycling practices and the implementation of key measures to prevent cross-contamination.

With over 160 manufacturing locations in the United States and Canada, every current and future member of the company’s team plays a vital role in achieving its sustainability goals. A current list of job openings at all Saint-Gobain locations can be found on the company’s career website.

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group, celebrating its 360th anniversary in 2025, remains more committed than ever to its purpose “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€46.6 billion in sales in 2024
161,000 employees, locations in 80 countries
Committed to achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050

For more information about Saint-Gobain, visit www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain

MEDIA CONTACTS
Peter Clark
(+1) 603 513-8513

Last Month, Paramount Global once again coordinated with the Partnership for New York City on Career Discovery Week. Career Discovery Week is part of NYC Public Schools Student Pathways, an expansion of career-connected learning that provides work-based learning opportunities and career exposure. More than 85 of the city’s major employers joined forces this year to help build a bridge from the city’s classrooms to the world of business. This year, Paramount partnered with students from Robert Goddard High School and Information Technology High School in Queens for a day full of career-focused workshops and employee-led sessions.

The morning kicked off at Paramount’s Times Square headquarters with a Paramount company overview presentation for the students showcasing the massive portfolio of brands and platforms. From there, Harold Anderson, Coordinator for Paramount’s Social Responsibility team, moderated a powerhouse executive Career Path Panel + Q&A featuring:

• Ashley Priest – Vice President of Corporate Communications, CBS & Paramount International Markets
• Regan Forman – Vice President of Global Franchise Strategy, Paramount Consumer Products and Experiences
• Colleen Reilly – Director Line Producer, Paramount Creative & Strategy
• Luke Kwon – Senior Financial Analyst, Paramount Tech Finance

— all of whom shared hugely inspirational advice and profound insights from their career!

The day culminated with two immersive creative workshops aimed at providing an opportunity to get immersed in different parts of the content creation cycle. The students began with a mobile content making workshop which tasked them with

creating short content reels using their mobile devices. The workshop was facilitated by Reel Works, a non-profit that mentors and empowers underserved NYC youth to share their stories through filmmaking, thus creating a springboard to successful careers in media and beyond. The students proceeded with a storytelling workshop utilizing storyboards to create a 30-second advertisement spot for Paramount using giant animation-inspired storyboard templates. Each team presented their work at the end of the activity, and the ideas shared were incredibly creative brand collaborations featuring their favorite characters from shows like SpongeBob and South Park.

The teachers and students at both schools expressed great appreciation for the opportunity. The teachers were impressed by how confidently the students presented their storyboards and engaged in insightful conversations with multiple Paramount teams. Dimitri McKetney, CTE Program Director at Robert Goddard High School, shared “The opportunity was truly inspiring. It was clear from [the students] engagement during the visit, after the visit, and even upon walking in and seeing their school’s name in bright lights on Broadway, that they learned a great deal and came away with a deeper understanding of the careers and opportunities within Paramount.”

Paramount looks forward to furthering our commitment to unleashing the power of content for good to inspire change. Our partnership with Career Discovery Week continues to serve as a great reminder of this commitment.

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Whether they build policy or code, companies or communities, the 400 leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for the 2025 Global Inclusive Growth Summit all shared a mission – to explore new ways to grow opportunities and build resilience for all.

“No one has a monopoly on good ideas,” said Shamina Singh, the founder and president of Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth, which hosted the annual gathering. “By taking pieces of everything from everywhere — mashing up the best ideas from the social sector leaders, private business, artists, futurists and historians — we arrive at answers, we show up, and then we move to action.”

Here are some of the insights shared over the course of the day, from the business case for inclusive growth to the need to fortify trust in the digital economy in the age of AI to the value of authenticity.

“These business models that Mastercard has is built on relatively small transactions but engaged many times by many tens or hundreds of millions of people. These are the business models that are owning the future. And so we should stop looking there and saying, ‘Oh, poverty, yuck,’ and start saying, look at those billions of emerging consumers and trillions of transactions. And as a result, trillions of dollars that can be made and the number of lives that can be changed.”

— Andy Kuper, founder and chief executive officer, LeapFrog Investments, on how to meet the demands of an economy being transformed by digitization.

“The beauty of this inflection point we’re in is that you have a willingness across an ecosystem to take the history, longevity and consistency of financial markets, marry it with modern-day tech and really get the best of both worlds. The scale and ubiquity and cross-border nature of the work that’s already been done to create our financial infrastructure can take a nascent currency and turn it on fire.”

— Linda Kirkpatrick, Americas president, Mastercard, on harnessing the potential of — and building trust in — digital assets and blockchain.

“Probably the number one question I get is, ‘What in the world can you do with $2,500 in the United States of America? You can start a business. We have 240,000 stories of people who’ve been able to have financial, not just stability, but mobility.”

— Andrea Jung, president and chief executive officer of Grameen America, challenging the belief that financial returns and social impact are mutually exclusive.

“It’s teaching them how to manage cyber risk like they would any other risk to their business … They can have an educated conversation with their accountant on their finances, but as soon as you start to talk to them about their use of technology, or you say the dreaded cyber word, then sometimes they can kind of glaze over. So we really hold their hand and walk them through it and help them work on a plan so that they’re resilient when something bad does happen.”

— Lisa Plaggemier, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, on helping small businesses protect themselves from the growing risk of cyberattacks. A new Mastercard study shows that 46% of small businesses surveyed have experienced a cyberattack on their current business, and nearly one in five that suffered an attack then filed for bankruptcy or closed their business.

The summit included the Mastercard Strive marketplace, which showcases micro and small businesses developing innovative digital and data-first solutions to help catalyze inclusive growth.

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, right, talks with Alissa “Dr. Jay” Abdullah, left, Mastercard’s deputy chief security officer, and Valdecy Urquiza, secretary general of INTERPOL, not pictured, about closing the cybersecurity divide.

Content creator Pat Smith, right, CEO of Pat Smith Enterprises, discusses the potential of the creator economy with summit co-host Ade Adepitan, left, and Christen Nino De Guzman, not pictured, CEO and founder of Clara for Creators.

“We’re putting ideas into action,” said Jon Huntsman, Mastercard’s vice chair and president, Strategic Growth. He interviewed Dina Powell McCormick, the vice chairman of BDT & MSD Partners and former U.S. deputy national security advisor, on the power of mentorship as well as James Mwangi, Group MD and CEO of Equity Group Holdings, on the digital finance revolution in Africa.

A conversation on rebuilding trust and designing a digital future rooted in agency, connection and shared purpose featured Kat Duffy, left, senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy for CFR, Frank McCourt, center, executive chairman, McCourt Global, and founder, Project Liberty, and Eli Pariser, co-director of New_Public.

Summit co-host Andréa Vieira, left, founder and CEO of nailsaloon, spoke with Jenny Just, right, co-founder and managing partner of PEAK6 Investments, on how Just’s poker expertise lends itself to lessons in managing risk, making bold bets and playing the long game.

The summit included the Mastercard Strive marketplace, which showcases micro and small businesses developing innovative digital and data-first solutions to help catalyze inclusive growth.

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, right, talks with Alissa “Dr. Jay” Abdullah, left, Mastercard’s deputy chief security officer, and Valdecy Urquiza, secretary general of INTERPOL, not pictured, about closing the cybersecurity divide.

Content creator Pat Smith, right, CEO of Pat Smith Enterprises, discusses the potential of the creator economy with summit co-host Ade Adepitan, left, and Christen Nino De Guzman, not pictured, CEO and founder of Clara for Creators.

“We’re putting ideas into action,” said Jon Huntsman, Mastercard’s vice chair and president, Strategic Growth. He interviewed Dina Powell McCormick, the vice chairman of BDT & MSD Partners and former U.S. deputy national security advisor, on the power of mentorship as well as James Mwangi, Group MD and CEO of Equity Group Holdings, on the digital finance revolution in Africa.

A conversation on rebuilding trust and designing a digital future rooted in agency, connection and shared purpose featured Kat Duffy, left, senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy for CFR, Frank McCourt, center, executive chairman, McCourt Global, and founder, Project Liberty, and Eli Pariser, co-director of New_Public.

Summit co-host Andréa Vieira, left, founder and CEO of nailsaloon, spoke with Jenny Just, right, co-founder and managing partner of PEAK6 Investments, on how Just’s poker expertise lends itself to lessons in managing risk, making bold bets and playing the long game.

The summit included the Mastercard Strive marketplace, which showcases micro and small businesses developing innovative digital and data-first solutions to help catalyze inclusive growth.

“We see so much of the internet’s data. We’re able to run it through our own machine learning systems, where our own AI tools are now identifying cybersecurity threats that no human had identified before, and that means that we’re going to be able to stop the bad guys more effectively … At the end of the day, whoever has the most data wins in the age of AI, and the good guys have more data than the bad guys.”

— Matthew Prince, co-founder and chief executive officer, Cloudflare, on why he’s optimistic about AI’s power as a shield in cybersecurity.

“Guardrails and governance are seen as dirty words, but I truly believe that it is absolutely essential to make all the use cases you’re talking about real. And so at the core of responsibility is trust. So when you think about all these amazing applications, whether it’s in agriculture or whether it’s in productivity, at the end of the day, we need to get to a place where not only humans can trust artificial intelligence, but with agentic AI, you can actually make sure that the AI agents are trusting other AI agents.”

— Navrina Singh, CEO and founder of Credo AI, on building AI systems that are transparent, equitable and aligned with human values.

“One of the biggest problems with the circular economy is people assume it’s about waste and trash, but actually it’s about upstream design, and how do we build [that] into the design of our products and our systems and the ways we think and our mindsets? And this is where AI is actually really useful right now, to retrain our workforce. How do we think about the second and third and fourth life of a product when we’re building it?”

— Danielle Holly, executive lead, North America, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, on building long-term business value through regenerative practices. For more on the circular economy, read the Mastercard Economic Institute’s new report on how secondhand clothing is gaining market share.

“When you’re looking at social media, it can be so intimidating, because now people are doing highly produced videos, and y’all, there’s a filter for everything, right? And so I don’t want people to be intimidated by that … I’d say, use what you got. I guarantee you there’s something that you have that somebody else needs.”

— Pat Smith, CEO, Pat Smith Enterprises, on the rise of the creator economy and how it is democratizing influence. 

“Good CEOs promote skepticism. They appreciate the people who challenge them, who ask hard questions, who you know don’t necessarily agree with an idea and explain why they don’t. Cynicism is corrosive. Cynicism is not that I disagree with what you’re doing, but I don’t trust your motives … Part of the way you build resilience is you earn trust, and you do it with authenticity.”

— Rich Lesser, global chair, Boston Consulting Group, on the evolution of leadership in a fast-changing world.

Originally published by Mastercard

Follow the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth’s journey by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Keep an eye out for content from the Summit: https://globalinclusivegrowthsummit.com/.

The Chemours Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings, Better Plants Initiative with the 2025 Better Project Award for its innovative project at the Corpus Christi manufacturing site. This award highlights Chemours’s advanced analytical and processing approach to enable steam condensate return, which significantly increased energy and water efficiency, minimizing waste and operating costs.

Project Background and Objectives

Chemours Corpus Christi site produces Opteon™ YF (R-1234yf), a sustainable, non-ozone depleting, low global warming potential refrigerant used in cars, homes, hospitals, and throughout the cold chain. The site is located in Ingleside, Texas, a community currently facing a stage 3 drought. To minimize water and energy use, Chemours initiated a project to return condensed steam (condensate) back to the steam cogeneration operations.

Given the water-stressed conditions in South Texas, this initiative is particularly impactful. The project aimed to ensure the quality of the condensate through advanced analytical equipment and monitoring, enabling safe return to the cogeneration unit and achieving significant financial and energy savings.

Approach and Implementation

The project began with the installation of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyzers to monitor condensate return quality. These analyzers provided real-time measurements of condensate quality, validated against manually collected samples. After successful trials, additional transmitters were installed in late 2023, allowing Chemours to significantly increase the amount of condensate returned and ultimately reused.

Since the project launch, the condensate return increased by nearly 40%—from 17.6% to 57.5%—translating to an annual savings of over 70 million gallons of water and $520,000. The initiative also resulted in substantial energy savings, estimated at 134,000 MMBTU/year, a reduction of over 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) annually. The initiative serves as a proof-of-concept that can be replicated across other facilities.

Sustained Impact

Chemours’s success at the Corpus Christi site underscores its dedication to environmental stewardship and operational excellence. By leveraging advanced technology and fostering strong partnerships, Chemours is paving the way for a more sustainable future.

For more information about Chemours and its sustainability initiatives, visit chemours.com/sustainability.

During National Volunteer Month, our Maximus Ohio Work Experience Program team fed Cleveland and Cuyahoga County community members through two employee-driven initiatives.

First up was a grab-and-go lunch distribution. Our team made sandwiches and assembled bag lunches and then shared them with visitors to the Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services office. Within an hour, all 100 lunches were shared!

Career Mentor Supervisor Darryl Hill shared, “It was a special sight to experience the gratitude expressed by those who received a lunch and to see my teammates in service to our community. And guess what? We’re not done!”

The Maximus team’s next stop was the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a Maximus Foundation grantee that serves more than 424,000 people annually. The area’s need for nutritious food remains high, and our employees were ready to volunteer.

At the Maximus Ohio Work Experience Program, we proudly partner with Cuyahoga Job and Family Services to provide employment and training services that help community members reach new heights through long-term employment.

Our team is known for its dedication to helping people on their paths to self-sufficiency and giving back to the community. This time last year, they gathered at the Cleveland Kids Book Bank to sort 300 books for libraries and childcare centers that serve local children in need. 

Since 1995, Maximus has remained committed to improving the lives of Ohioans who engage with federal, state, and local government programs. To learn more about how Maximus supports the communities where we work, visit maximus.com/corporate-responsibility.

CASE Construction Equipment, CNH‘s construction brand, is appearing at Agrishow this week.

CASE are present alongside sister brand, Case IH. The highlights are the 721E sugarcane loader, the 850M compact crawler tractor and the CX35D mini excavator, a recent launch of the brand. The entire CASE portfolio produced in Brazil has telemetry capabilities.

With 100% connected machines, it allows the machines to perform predictive maintenance, identify imminent problems or failures, optimize fuel consumption, analyze the performance of operations, and schedule tasks efficiently, resulting in greater productivity and reduced machine downtime.

myCASE Construction is the brand’s platform that brings all this information together. The tool can be accessed from any device with an internet connection. Customers can monitor their entire fleet in real time, in addition to having direct contact with the dealer network and the factory.

Located at the Contagem plant in Brazil, the CASE SiteConnect Center is a support center, with a team of specialists prepared to ensure quick responses, a differentiated experience and efficient delivery of operations.

A powerful storm system swept across Pennsylvania overnight, bringing damaging winds with speeds over 80 mph, large hail and heavy rainfall. The severe weather caused widespread power outages that are affecting nearly half a million residents, particularly in the Pittsburgh area, and utility providers are working now to restore those areas.

Network Update

T-Mobile’s network in the Pittsburgh area has overlapping coverage, pre-installed backup power at key sites and redundant backhaul routes that are helping to maintain connectivity in the area. Also, our AI-powered Self-Organizing Network (SON) continues to dynamically reroute traffic and optimize performance in real-time to preserve connectivity wherever possible. However, in places where commercial power is down and towers cannot operate as a result of that, some areas have had minor service impacts. Where needed, our network engineering crews are deploying portable generators, refueling generators and deploying SatCOLTs (Satellite Cell on Light Trucks) and additional equipment.

First Responder & Agency Support

T-Mobile is actively coordinating with first responders and local and state agencies, including the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), Emergency Operations Centers for Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh, and power providers including Duquesne Light Company to address urgent and ongoing needs.

We will continue to monitor conditions and share updates as the situation evolves. Please visit T-Mobile Emergency Response. Follow @TMobileNews on X for the latest updates.

Stay safe, Pittsburgh.

We are energized from last week’s Smart Energy Decisions Net Zero Forum in Lost Pines!

A big thank you to the SED team for putting on such a well-organized, insightful, and engaging event. From thoughtful roundtables to spontaneous coffee chats, we connected with some truly impressive individuals on the front line of the energy transition representing some titans of industry with substantial operational, growth, and sustainability (all of which are related!) goals.

These conversations are what move the needle of action and inspire innovation. We’re proud to be part of that momentum.

Ready to accelerate your energy and sustainability strategies? Join us in Hollywood, Florida June 16 – 18 for the upcoming SED Forum Summer 2025— an exceptional opportunity for energy leaders to connect, collaborate, and learn.

This event brings together a curated group of qualified energy solution providers for private, one-on-one meetings tailored to your specific needs. Attendees will also gain valuable insights from peers who have successfully executed renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies across a range of industries.

Whether you’re exploring your next clean energy investment or scaling existing initiatives, SED Forum Summer 2025 offers a focused, high-impact environment to advance your goals.

Learn more at SEDRenewableEnergyForum.com

IWBI Signature Interview Series: Q&A with the global bank’s Head of Real Estate on how its holistic approach integrates people-first strategies into its real estate roadmap

Multinational companies are uniquely positioned to advance and scale health and well-being across their global footprint. One standout example is Standard Chartered, which is leading by example through its widescale adoption of the WELL Building Standard (WELL) by way of WELL Certifications, as well as WELL ratings. The Bank is bringing health-focused strategies to its buildings and business practices to support both colleagues and clients around the world. With more than 800 locations across 53 markets totaling 8.5 million square feet of occupied space, Standard Chartered serves as a model for people-first workplaces, no matter where employees are based.

To date, Standard Chartered has achieved the WELL Health-Safety Rating across 158 global locations and the WELL Equity Rating for nine offices spanning Mumbai, Singapore, Lusaka, Hanoi, Taiwan, Dubai, and Warsaw. This leading global financial institution continues to break new grounds in advancing health and well-being, as demonstrated by its recent achievement of the first-ever WELL Equity Rating in Africa for its head office in Lusaka, Zambia, as well as earning the first WELL Certified designation in Vietnam for its Capitol Tower in Hanoi. These accolades reinforce the bank’s strong track record of leadership in well-being.

By applying WELL’s people-first strategies across its organisation via the WELL at scale pathway, Standard Chartered is deploying science-backed global well-being strategies and solutions across the organisation and its workplaces. Through evidence-based design and operational protocols and management policies in WELL, the bank is able to support both physical and mental health of its stakeholders. The WELL at scale approach also provides a framework for the bank to chart progress across some of its broader corporate strategies, particularly in social sustainability.

To bring the story to life, Jack Noonan, Senior Vice President at the International WELL Building Institute Asia Pacific, sits down and talks with Shelley Boland, Global Head of Corporate Real Estate & Services at Standard Chartered. In this conversation, Shelley shares how Standard Chartered is putting people at the centre of its global real estate strategy, and reflects on the milestones, insights and impact achieved along the way.

Q: What are the key factors that drove Standard Chartered to adopt the WELL at scale approach?

A: At Standard Chartered, our commitment to employee and client health, safety, and well-being is integral to our strategic focus on serving our global clients, who expect consistent, high standards wherever they engage with us. The WELL at scale approach has been an invaluable tool in helping us deliver people-first places across our portfolio. It ensures we consistently upkeep high-quality built environments. This is crucial for colleagues and clients who engage with us across multiple regions, knowing that their health and well-being are always prioritised.

Second, WELL at scale aligns with our broader workplace investment strategy, which includes a $1.5 billion commitment to supporting the Bank’s wealth management strategy over five years. Part of this investment focuses on creating indoor environments that support both client experience and colleague well-being, enhancing productivity and helping us reach our growth goals in this segment.

Finally, our WELL journey is fully aligned with our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives. Investing in health and well-being not only enhances our employee satisfaction and performance, it also strengthens our ESG outcomes. Engaging WELL at scale reinforces our commitment to excellence and helps us deliver on the expectations of our clients while standing out in competitive markets through the validation by the globally recognised WELL Standard.

Q: While implementing the WELL strategies across the enterprise, what worked best to help achieve your goals?

A: Supporting talent attraction and retention is fundamental to our goal of sustainable high performance and building organizational resilience. Offering market-leading benefits, people-first policies, and aligning our workplace design and operations focusing on health promotion, ill health prevention rather than cure through the recommendations from the WELL framework have all been critical to our success.

I think clarity of purpose and how the program supports our real estate strategy is also important. We ensure our three major workplace partners – Cushman & Wakefield, JLL, and Turner & Townsend – feel as invested in this program as we are. We aim to build high performing workplaces, and we’ve found that strong leadership sponsorship, a clearly defined work plan with aligned teams, and celebrating our achievements along the way have all helped bring this vision to life.

Q: Are there lessons you learned that can help shape the future approach to well-being?

A: While we have made meaningful progress in creating workplaces that support the well-being of our colleagues at Standard Chartered, we recognise that there is still more we can do to improve employee experience and enable everyone to bring their best self to work.

The WELL Building Standard encompasses various concepts – Air, Water, Nourishment, Movement, Light, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community – to create holistic environments, and we aim to bring as many of the features as possible into our own design and operational policies.

For example, we conduct annual indoor air quality testing across our premises. Building on this, we are now exploring the use of air quality sensors in select offices to enable daily monitoring of key parameters. Studies show that indoor air quality directly impacts workplace productivity. In particular, one study looked at how creative thinking changes with different indoor environmental conditions. It showed that for every 100-ppm increase in CO2, the participants showed 3 – 11% decrease in the creativity involved for office tasks. This is just one example showing that maintaining high indoor air quality is crucial to supporting employee performance.

Another area of focus is promoting mental well-being in line with the WELL Mind concept. We collaborate with our HR partners and have recently launched an enhanced Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) called Unmind. The programme is focused on prevention as well as cure. It offers free and confidential support, enabling employees to connect virtually with a coach, counsellor or psychotherapist of choice. It also includes a 24/7 helpline providing immediate access to mental health, legal or financial support and a range of resources to help line managers support their teams.

We believe that employee experience is shaped by their relationship with line managers. Therefore, we introduced Unmind Manager, which provides resources to help managers handle difficult conversations, support their teams through changes, and build mental health literacy.

Looking ahead, neurodiversity is an area where we want to improve. Flexible working has numerous benefits but can also present challenges for neurodivergent team members if workplaces are not designed to accommodate sensory sensitivities. Here, even small improvements, such as better signage and wayfinding, or providing enough space for quiet work, and ways for colleagues to personalise their sensory preferences, can make a big difference for those with neurodivergent needs.

Q: Can you cite some local stories which speak to regional characteristics and innovative steps your team took to achieve certain WELL strategies?

A: Our recent Gold level WELL Certification for our Capitol Head Office in Hanoi, Vietnam is a great example. Achieving the first WELL Certification in the country shows our commitment to fostering positive environments where employees feel supported and energized.

As the first of its kind in the country, our project in Hanoi required a multi-disciplinary collaboration between our landlord, project management, design, and HR teams, setting a new benchmark for healthy, sustainable workplaces in Vietnam. Some of the key features of this groundbreaking certification include:

• Advanced indoor air quality management through real-time monitoring systems to promote optimal health outcomes for occupants, something we are now considering for other locations as well;
• Comprehensive water quality systems that provide purified water to encourage hydration;
• Human-centric design integrating natural elements such as generous daylight exposure across the office from large windows and open floor plans and indoor garden areas with soft natural lighting to promote employee well-being, satisfaction, and productivity.
• Biophilic designs that thoughtfully connect occupants with nature.

To catch up on new WELL ratings, certifications, and renewals, we appointed a WELL at scale Lead through our recent partnership with Cushman and Wakefield. The goal was to drive efficiency, improve cooperation, and enable our teams to focus on activities that deliver value to our colleague and clients.

Q: How do your employees and top leadership respond to the people-first approach you took by leveraging WELL, and what can we expect from Standard Chartered moving forward?

A: Our people-centered goals are a key enabler of the Bank’s performance and employee well-being. We are confident that our efforts are perceived positively. We recently included our achievements in our annual Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Impact Report 2024. The report underscores our commitment to building a culture of inclusion as a key enabler for how we execute our business strategy, which is to connect our cross-border and affluent clients to a network offering unique access to sustainable growth opportunities and returns across the markets in which we operate.

Since 2018, our internal Annual Employee Engagement survey has demonstrated a +5.14 ppt overall increase in our inclusion index (currently 82.08 per cent), with notable improvement of +3 ppt ability to choose a reasonable balance between personal and work life (currently 78.0 per cent).

We have a unique role to play as a sustainability steward in corporate real estate. This year, our goal is to expand our WELL Equity Rating to another 11 main buildings, bringing the total to 20, encompassing approximately 50% of our colleagues.

We also aim to have our new Marina offices in Chennai, India, WELL and LEED certified at the Platinum level – a first across our footprint and a bold statement about sustainable banking infrastructure in 2025 and beyond. At Marina, we’re integrating systems that not only minimise energy use but also optimise it in real-time. Our building will adapt its lighting and cooling based on actual usage patterns. We’re also harvesting rainwater, maximising natural light, and creating green spaces that double as carbon sinks and wellness zones.

Our WELL journey over the years reflects our commitment to building a brand that prioritizes sustainability and well-being. As we look ahead, we remain committed to scaling the impact of WELL across our global portfolio — fostering healthier environments, supporting our people, and advancing our role as a purpose-driven organization.

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