Tag: 3BL

Case IH

Case IH Axial-Flow combines are recognized worldwide for their simplicity, high grain quality, productivity and reliability. The power of the 160 and 250 Series is being presented at the San Nicolás fair.

The powerful machines that are in the 160 Series are at the forefront of technological innovation in harvesting, overcoming the highest challenges of modern agriculture and harvesting high-productivity crops with the highest efficiency on the market. The series offers real automation to producers and contractors, thanks to the Automation system. With this technology, processes can be divided into four harvesting modes that synchronize the production strategy and the performance of the machine in the field, automatically controlling 90% of operations.

New Holland Construction

New Holland Construction will be showcasing the RG170. B EVO motor grader. Its use is essential for the construction and maintenance of rural roads and the leveling of land, optimizing the surface for planting and facilitating drainage. In addition, it contributes to preventing flooding through the construction of canals and terraces. The B Series EVO motor graders offer advanced sustainable technology and maximum efficiency, using 6.7-liter engines, for greater strength and performance, with reduced fuel consumption and lower polluting emissions.

Read more about Case IH at Expoagro here.

Read more about New Holland at Expoagro here.

Originally published by Recurrent Energy

Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. (“Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and a global developer, owner, and operator of solar and energy storage assets, announced today the signing of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Qualcomm Incorporated, a leading-edge AI technology provider innovating to deliver intelligent computing and connectivity solutions.

Qualcomm entered the PPA to source renewable energy from a solar photovoltaic (PV) project developed by Recurrent Energy in Spain. Recurrent Energy plans to retain ownership and operational responsibilities of the plant upon its completion.

The project is expected to deliver significant local benefits by fostering socio-economic development and reduce the region’s environmental footprint. In particular, it is projected to create more than 300 jobs during the construction phase and provide specialized job training to ensure stable, long-term employment opportunities for the local community.

Continue reading here.

NEW ORLEANS, March 13, 2025 /3BL/ – Entergy is helping 17 local environmental organizations protect our natural resources by contributing a total of $1 million in shareholder-funded grants through the company’s Environmental Initiatives Fund.

“We know that protecting natural resources is foundational to helping our communities thrive,” said John Weiss, Entergy’s vice president of sustainability and environmental policy. “For 24 consecutive years, our shareholders have supported the work of community partners who are stewarding our local ecosystems to ensure a brighter future for both the customers we serve and the natural world.”

Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund identifies projects or programs that improve the environment by reducing emissions, protecting natural resources, and restoring wetlands and forests. The fund also supports projects designed to educate Entergy’s customers, employees, communities and owners on the value of natural resources and other environmental improvements.

Recipients of the 2024 Environmental Initiatives Fund grants include:

Lake Hamilton Fire and Rescue to purchase hazardous materials mitigation supplies for emergency response and containment in Lake Hamilton and Lake Catherine, Arkansas ($160,000). 
 Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. to build new enclosures to house education ambassador raptors and add flight cages for conditioning rehabilitated birds for release back to the wild. MWR plans to open the Valery E. Smith Nature Center as a free destination for the public in Coldwater, Mississippi ($72,000). 
 The Nature Conservancy Texas to steward the longleaf pine ecosystem in the 5,673-acre Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary with a focus on wildfire risk prevention, invasive species control, and restoration of native ecosystem function in Kountze, Texas ($50,000). 
 Woodlands Conservancy to restore habitats for migratory birds in Belle Chasse, Louisiana ($37,000). 
 Urban Conservancy to support programming to educate residents about building climate resilience and biodiversity in the Melia and Pines Village neighborhoods of New Orleans, Louisiana ($25,000).

View the complete list of the 2024 grant recipients here.

Since 2001, Entergy shareholders have invested nearly $44 million in environmentally beneficial projects and programs through the Environmental Initiatives Fund. The fund also contributes to Entergy’s leadership role as an advocate for and contributor to solutions to our most critical environmental challenges.

Learn more about Entergy’s Environmental Initiatives Fund on our website.

2025 request for proposals now open

If you or someone you know has a project idea that promotes conservation, energy efficiency or delivers other environmental benefits, encourage them to review the Environmental Initiatives Fund’s 25th request for proposals for funding on our website. Applications are due June 6 no later than midnight Central Time.

About Entergy

Entergy is a Fortune 500 company that powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing in the reliability, resilience and growth of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. Learn more at entergy.com and connect with @Entergy on social media.

Contact

Media inquiries: Cristina del Canto|504-576-4238|mdelcan@entergy.com

What makes a happy adult? If you ask Lyana Vazquez, it starts with a childhood spent in a happy community. As the owner and director of Best Memories Academy, an early learning child care center in East Orlando, she’s built that happy community for hundreds of children over the past 14 years.

“As a child, as an infant, all those memories, when they come together, it creates a healthy adult, a happy adult,” she said. “That’s why you need to create memories with our families and with new friends when you’re little, with your community.”

For that community to last, small businesses like Vazquez’s need to thrive. That often requires skills and experiences that many early learning child care center founders don’t have.

That’s why Robyn Perlman started the Business & Leadership Institute for Early Learning, or BLI, a peer network of early learning child care owners and operators across Florida. Through classes developed by successful entrepreneurs in the industry and Wells Fargo business experts, BLI prepares small business owners to invest in their businesses and their skill sets.

BLI emphasizes mentorship by pairing graduates and new students. Some of the program’s biggest impacts come when seasoned small business owners share the mistakes they’ve learned from.

While Vazquez has spent 30 years caring for children professionally, she said at times overworking has made her enjoy the work less. Now, she’s a BLI mentor passing on a lesson of self-care to other students who are juggling how to grow their business while managing day-to-day operations.

“As a business owner, sometimes you wear so many hats that you forget about yourself,” Vazquez said. “I’m a businesswoman, but I’m still a person. I have to take care of myself so I can help others take care of themselves.”

‘These entrepreneurs are building support systems’

Much of BLI’s work is possible thanks to a decade-long collaboration with Wells Fargo meant to address the business literacy gap in the early learning child care industry.

The providers that BLI works with run their early learning child care program out of their own home or a property in a low- to moderate-income community and may not have any formal business training or even think of what they do as a business.

Because of this, these entrepreneurs may not understand budgeting, how to price their services, or the costs and risks of a lease or property purchase. They also deal with considerable challenges. Many providers take low or no salaries, enjoy few workplace benefits, or mortgage their homes to pay for business cash shortfalls, Perlman said. After decades of teaching or caregiving, they may have little means to show for it.

Over the last decade, Wells Fargo has provided more than $950,000 in philanthropic funding to BLI and has been a key partner in developing BLI’s programming, The Business & Leadership Institute for Early Learning Master Class Series. But the collaboration doesn’t end there. Wells Fargo professionals like Elke Bojes, a district branch senior manager, are on the ground to teach sessions and work with entrepreneurs.

“The program is here to provide financial literacy, but what I quickly learn as the program starts is that these entrepreneurs are building support systems,” she said. “What’s built here is community. It’s a family. It’s a payback mentality to show support, to pay it forward, to show others that it can be done.”

Perlman sees the vision of BLI going further than financial literacy. Their work develops a cycle that connects entrepreneurs, businesses, and families, creating a positive economic impact on low-income communities. When these business owners do well, the people around them do, too.

“The outcome we’re looking for is to [help small businesses] create enough revenue and profits in order to fuel the programming and outcomes that are necessary for children and their families to be successful,” she said.

Teaching the next generation of business owners

In the third grade, Jacqia Carter wrote in a school assignment that she’d run a preschool when she was older. Today, she owns and manages two.

“As an adult … we continue our day-to-day without pausing and stopping to think. Working with children, they make you stop. They make everything slow down. They ask questions about everything. That’s very rewarding to me,” she said.

That lifelong dream required more than a calling. At 28, Carter invested every dollar she had saved to buy a property for her first school, the Carter Academy. After that, she didn’t have much of a plan, but she made it work. Later, when she joined BLI, Carter learned the importance of having a business plan with lease payments, payroll, and much more detail.

“One of the most impactful things I took from BLI is to run the numbers. Don’t just make moves, and don’t run your business on a thought or idea,” she said.

After graduating from BLI in 2019, Carter was able to grow her business and open a second school. Carter is now a mentor, not only to other founders like herself but to her daughter Jacqua’Jah, who she hopes will be her school’s next director.

With what she’s learned, Carter can continue to support the West Little River neighborhood of Miami where she grew up and chose to open her schools.

“Working in this community makes me happy,” she said. “Having the privilege of serving this community allows me to fight harder to find support and to create relationships so that we can provide resources to our families.”

March 14th is Pi Day, the one day each year when math nerds everywhere trade their calculators for forks and celebrate π (pi) the tastiest way possible with actual pie. As a math nerd whose work encompasses food and the environment, I’ve decided to mark the occasion by calculating the environmental footprint of a single slice of key lime pie. Maybe two slices… purely in the name of science, of course.

The way we typically calculate an environmental footprint is to look at the impact of each ingredient and process involved. Let’s start with the ingredients for the crust and the pie:

1.5 cups Graham cracker crumbs 1/3 cup sugar6 tablespoons butter5 egg yolks (assuming each egg is 2 oz)14 oz sweetened condensed milk½ cup key lime juice (I always use fresh lime juice, about 4 squeezed limes)

We have a couple of challenges right away. Graham crackers and sweetened condensed milk are both products with multiple ingredients. To simplify, I will assume that the graham crackers are mostly wheat flour and that the sweetened condensed milk takes double that amount of milk plus a half cup of sugar. I also didn’t have butter as one of the ingredients in the database I searched, so I assumed it takes 20L of milk to make 1 kg of butter. Our base ingredients are then listed below with impact data per kg of the product (or per L for the milk). The environmental impact information comes from Poore & Nemecek’s (2018) paper in Science. The mean is listed along with the  5% and 95% confidence intervals in parentheses.

 Land (m2yr/kg)Water (L/kg)GHG (kgCO2e/kg)Flour (bread)3.9 (1, 10)648 (2, 3369)1.6 (0.7, 3.1)Sugar2 (1.1, 3.5)620 (7, 3567)  3.2 (0.6, 5.6)Milk9 (0.8, 32.2)  628 (19, 2664)2.8 (1.3, 7.1)Limes (citrus fruit)0.9 (0.3, 1.8)83 (0, 245)0.4 (0, 0.7)Eggs6.3 (4.3, 8.8)578 (139, 1033)4.6 (2.8, 8.5)

Since our only major process in this instance is preheating the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and baking for 15 minutes, we can assume there is no land or water footprint, just a greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint from the electricity usage.

Note that for the eggs, if we assume we toss the egg white, all the impact of the whole egg needs to be assigned to the yolk; if we assume the yolk is about half the weight, that means the impact doubles. For our purposes, we use the rest of the egg for future cooking, so we only count the half of each egg that we use.

Now, we multiply the amount of each ingredient by its impact. For mean land impact, we have:

1.5 cups flour * 0.2 kg / cup * 3.9 m2yr/kg + (0.3 cups + 0.5 cups) sugar * 0.2 kg / cup * 2 m2yr/kg + (28 oz milk + 3oz butter * 20L milk / kg butter) * 0.028 kg / oz * 9 m2yr/kg + 4oz lime * 0.028 kg / oz * 0.9 m2yr/kg + 5 oz egg * 0.028 kg / oz * 6.3 m2yr/kg = 25 m2yr on average. If we lucked out and had the 5% lowest impact ingredients, it would be only 3 (or more than 80, if we had the 5% worst impact ingredients) This means that the land area used to produce this pie would need about 25 square meters in cultivation for a year.

We can repeat the same process for the water footprint. In this case, we’d get 1931 L (!) on average for my whole pie, with 68 on the low end and 8318 on the high. Put another way: the difference in volume between low, mean, or high-end water consumption could range from 9 cups worth of coffee to 240 cups all the way to 1,000+ cups.  

For GHG, the ingredients alone are 8.6 (mean) kgCO2e, with half that if we had the lowest 5% impacts and double it for the highest 5%. But we also need to add in the energy for baking. We’ll assume we have a 3kW oven and we’re cooking for 25 minutes (10 to preheat and 15 minutes of cooking) so about 1.5kWh total. If we’re on a coal grid, this is about 1kg of CO2e per kWh, while a renewable grid would be about 0.2kgCO2e/kWh. Where I live in Massachusetts, natural gas is the most common fuel, so we’ll assume an emissions factor of about 0.2kgCO2e/kWh.

So, we have an additional 0.3kg from the baking process.

Now, I bet you thought I was going to cheat and not actually use pi, the mathematical constant that relates the circle’s radius to its circumference, in any of my calculations. Let’s assume I cut a 3-inch slice (at the edge). The circumference of my 9-inch pie is 9”*3.14… or about 28.3”.  Three inches of this is about 11% of my pie. So, my single piece is (for an average ingredients’ impact) about 3m2yr of land, 200 L of water, and 1 kgCO2e.

Those values are big enough to feel real — a land surface area roughly equivalent to a typical dining room table, a 20-minute shower, and enough CO2 to weigh more than two cans of soda in your hands… But what do they all mean? Should I feel good or bad about my slice of pie? 

In truth, it’s very difficult to know with any certainty what the real footprint is, or how to reduce it. It would be one thing if my slice could be sourced from the best practices. But even the companies who make these ingredients often don’t know which farms their products came from, much less the footprint from those farms. So how can they, and by extension, we, make better choices? There are choices I can make, of course — perhaps substituting a (typically) higher-impact ingredient with a (typically) lower impact ingredient and sending a market signal that environmental performance is important to me. I can also make sure I’m not wasting ingredients or the food I make, so I don’t drive needless resource use. But these aren’t solving the core issue: that in producing all foods, we must use dramatically fewer resources — and quickly.

 In the end, I figured my best bet was to raise the issue for lots of smart, motivated people (that’s you, readers!) so we can come up with solutions together at scale. First nerd to crack the code gets a free slice of pie. 

Strategic energy management (SEM) programs have become an integral part of the suite of offerings that utility energy efficiency portfolios provide. Through the use of SEM, businesses and organizations are provided with tools and resources to implement energy management best practices and achieve energy performance targets — with a goal of integrating a focus on energy management into standard daily practice and an organizational culture.

A critical part of any SEM program is an experienced and knowledgeable SEM coach. SEM coaches encourage operational changes and guide customers through the process of identifying opportunities and estimating savings. By showing the cost to keep a certain machine, line, or facility operating, employees often have much better solutions and are excited to implement them — they just need to see how big the impact is.

Leidos energy expert Dustin Schneider provides his view on how SEM can benefit a utility looking to implement best practices with their customers.

How do you communicate the benefits of energy management to utility customers?

Find out what benefits resonate with customers — lower energy costs, improved energy efficiency, lower carbon emissions, greater control over energy consumption, regulatory compliance, enhanced sustainability, and improved facility performance — and frame discussions with this in mind. I provide a few logical steps and actions to get things going.

Often, it’s a small catalyst that’s needed to get a program moving. For example, a lighting upgrade provides noticeable improvement — upgrading from a dimly lit space to a bright and inviting space that also uses less than half of the energy is popular. Another example is compressed air leak repair, which reduces waste and allows a system to operate closer to the original intent. Facility teams can then perform maintenance at regular intervals instead of waiting for an emergency.

While the cost savings are often a primary motivation, customers are also looking for ways to develop a business case to justify projects that improve their business — for example, improving their site, safety, the product, or their work experience. These are the types of projects that improve employee morale and save energy, which creates internal energy champions for future projects.

What contributes to a customer’s success in sustaining energy savings generated through SEM?

People. It’s all about having people who are invested in the energy management processes and focused on building an energy savings culture in their organization. Part of my job as an SEM coach is to encourage people to be a part of an organization’s energy team, particularly those with roles that have a natural tie to energy management such as facility managers, schedulers, and operators. I provide information for them to see the possibilities of efficiency in a different way and tools and training for them to be successful. More perspectives at the table will uncover more opportunities and drive success.

It takes a special person who wants to go above and beyond and champion energy efficiency efforts. The energy champion at a site helps communicate the program to management and facilitates the energy team meetings.

It’s also key to have engaged leadership and employees — that’s who sets the tone and performs the work on a daily basis. Energy management is a structure that encourages good decision making implemented by management and executed by engaged employees. Having semi-annual check-ins with management provides a business case for the value being created by implementing energy efficiency projects.

What makes Leidos’ approach to SEM unique?

Flexibility. We don’t prescribe a path, but rather apply certain parts of SEM to different organizations where it will bring the most benefit. Each facility — whether industrial, commercial, or institutional — is unique and run by staff members with a range of skillsets and motivations. Leidos works hard to understand each individual customer and their specific needs and develops solutions that are tailored to their organization.

Our team of SEM experts understand the challenges that customers face and have experience in implementing and adapting SEM across a wide range of sectors. We draw on knowledge of project opportunities that may exist within a certain industry as a starting point. From there, we collaborate with the customer, explore the best path forward, and help them implement the recommendations and projects.

Dustin Schneider is an SEM Coach with Leidos. He has more than 15 years of experience in the energy efficiency industry, working on several utility programs across the country. Within these utility programs, Dustin provides coaching and expertise in building energy management processes that drive consistent and continuous energy performance improvement.

NEW YORK, March 13, 2025 /3BL/ – The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority for advancing healthy buildings, organizations and communities, today announced the winners of the 2024 IWBI Community Awards. This year, we celebrate dozens of outstanding leaders from IWBI’s WELL Faculty and WELL Accredited Professional (WELL AP) community who are being recognized for their impassioned leadership and advocacy.

WELL Faculty and WELL APs—a community of nearly 28,000 people in 133 countries who have obtained or are working toward the professional credential denoting expertise in WELL—have worked hand-in-hand with organizations pursuing IWBI’s achievements under the WELL Standard, including pursuit of WELL Certification, WELL ratings and applying WELL at scale, now collectively spanning nearly 6 billion square feet across 136 countries. The 2024 award winners are providing organizations with people-first solutions to meet the rising demand for health.

Among this year’s esteemed recipients, IWBI honors four innovators breaking new ground in emerging markets, six Changemakers driving market transformation and two revolutionary Educators of the Year. This year’s winning roster also includes Rising Stars making waves, fearless Trailblazers pushing boundaries and visionary leaders advancing the Next Frontier of Design. A long-time healthy building leader who has made innumerable contributions to the movement will receive IWBI’s inaugural Legacy Award. These honorees are not just making an impact—they are transforming their fields and shaping the future.

“This year’s Community Award winners are truly remarkable. Each of these leaders has made profound contributions to the healthy building movement and advancing our shared vision for people-first places and flourishing organizations. Hailing from 15 countries, our honorees have contributed massively to the explosive demand for WELL spaces worldwide,” said IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon. “We are honored to work alongside these amazing individuals and so very grateful for their dedication and impassioned efforts.”

The IWBI Individual Award winners are as follows:

Annalise Dum – WELL AP of the YearGiovanni Cossu – Regional Leader Award (Asia)Lisa James-Holmes – Regional Leader Award (Oceania)Chun Wai (Curtis) Chan – Regional Leader Award (China)Sohrab Yazdani – Regional Leader Award (Americas)Ömer Dome – Regional Leader Award (Europe)Giuliano Camerini; Wojciech Tworek; Will Procter; Ken Fong; Kirara Washida; Mark Klein; Rebecca Rice; Abigail Sirevaag; Casey Cullenwoods; Sophie Hemmings; Wai Long (Leo) Chou; Shouzhang (Anson) Wang – Adoption of WELL AwardRyan Nagal; Abdul Mooed Chaudhary; Ulises Trevino; Deng Yao (Dean) Tsao; Sitanshu Singhdeo – Emerging Market AwardLiam Bates; Melinda Mandla; Deepa Sathiaram; Lauren Spudowski; Lisa MacVicar; Tiexin Chen – Changemaker AwardBahar Armaghani, Christhina Candido – Educators of the Year AwardJorge Rodríguez Fernández – Performance Testing Agent of the Year AwardBrigitte Solís Wolffson – Super Project Admin AwardMelody Ratliff; Karinna Carrillo; Keyi (Oliver) Yao; Carson Alsop; Priyanka Rajgadkar; Yua Okazaki – Rising Star AwardJohnathan Hamel – WELL Forum Influencer AwardRobin Mellon; Kellie Ballew; Lissa Engle; Julia Lebiocka; Shweta Dixit; Aline Schroth Beuther; Michael Bohn; Alessandro Bisagni; Anjanette Green; Bo (Weber) Wang; Xiaoming Xiao – Trailblazer AwardCara Coogan; Stefano Tronci; Emily Busam; Filomena Beshara; Naree Phinyawatana; Sarah Angne Alfaro – Next Frontier of Design AwardTracy Backus – WELL Legacy Award

Tracy Backus recently retired from Teknion after spending over 25 years championing sustainability, workplace well-being and the connection between the built environment and human health. A WELL AP, WELL Faculty and former Director of Sustainable Programs, she has been a driving force in WELL and LEED strategies, educating industry leaders and shaping a more sustainable future. Her passion for strategic thinking, environmental advocacy and healthy design has left a lasting impact, making her a deserving recipient of the first ever WELL Legacy Award.

One of the most prestigious honors each year, the 2024 WELL AP of the Year, is awarded to Annalise Dum, the North America Sustainable Building Practices Lead at JLL. A leader in sustainable real estate, Dum is responsible for driving JLL’s North American ESG sales efforts and has long championed the WELL movement, overseeing more than 100 projects and 16 million square feet of certified space. As a Senior Sustainability Project Manager, she leads building certification initiatives and provides strategic guidance to help clients align their commercial real estate portfolios with their broader business objectives.

What some of our award recipients are saying:

“Being recognized as Educator of the Year (Faculty) by IWBI fills me with heartfelt pride and gratitude. This honor not only acknowledges our passion for creating people-first spaces at the University of Florida and beyond, but it also celebrates our commitment to nurturing and empowering future generations,” said Bahar Armaghani, Director and Instructional Associate Professor, University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning. “Our work—especially through the innovative WELL HBCU Pilot Practicum in partnership with IWBI—reflects a deep dedication to education. Together, we’re paving the way for a healthier, more sustainable and vibrant future filled with possibility.”

“Winning the Educator of the Year award is a reflection of the value placed on applied research and authentic learning environments,” said Christhina Candido, Professor and Director of Sustainable and Healthy Environments Lab, University of Melbourne. “To me, it underscores the importance of these elements, which have always been central to IWBI’s approach in collaborating with academia.”

Each of these award-winning individuals will be recognized during WELL 2025, a series of more than 20 global events hosted in cities around the world.

For more information about WELL, please visit www.wellcertified.com.

About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first places for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Coworking Rated, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

Media contact: media@wellcertified.com

View original content here.

By Candace Higginbotham

“He’s not like us,” said Leroy Abrahams, Regions head of Community Engagement, as he began his opening remarks at the Regions Bank History in Motion celebration.

“For most of us, success in life requires intense focus on one discipline and, if we’re fortunate, excelling in that capacity. But retired Lt. Gen. A.C. Roper is the Bo Jackson of service. He knows law enforcement; he knows national security and he knows ministry.

“He does more before 9 a.m. than most of us will do all day!”

For the past 16 years, Regions Bank has recognized Black History Month with its History in Motion event, which honors distinguished leaders with ties to the company’s home state of Alabama. The award recognizes contributions these individuals have made to our communities and our nation.

During the recent celebration Abrahams, along with more than 200 family members, friends, elected officials, community and religious leaders and corporate executives, gathered at Regions Center in Birmingham to honor the life and career of retired Lt Gen. A.C. Roper, the first African American in the Army Reserve’s 116-year history to achieve the three-star rank.

As Abrahams mentioned, national security isn’t Roper’s only specialty. He also spent 33 years in law enforcement, including serving as Chief of Police in Birmingham for 10 years. Abrahams noted that Roper’s commitment went beyond service – it was “knowing” his field. Roper earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Alabama, graduated from the FBI National Academy and the FBI National Executive institute, served as adjunct professor of Criminal Justice and has been an executive board member of the FBI joint terrorism task force.

Roper’s history-making 42-year military career includes even more impressive academic and service credentials, including earning a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and serving in prestigious positions such as Vice Commander of the American Element of the North America Aerospace Defense Command, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Northern Command, and Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve.

His grandfather would be so proud. 
Leroy Abrahams, Regions head of Community Engagement

Roper deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His numerous awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Combat Action Badge, among others.

He retired in 2024 as the Deputy Commander of U.S. Northern Command, overseeing homeland defense and disaster response. In a video tribute, Roper reflected on several meaningful milestones of his life, including achieving the three-star rank. “I can’t think of anything better than defending this homeland that’s so precious to us,” he said.

“His grandfather would be so proud,” Abrahams said, explaining that Corporal William Roper served in the 366th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division in World War I. He deployed to France in a segregated Army unit known as Buffalo Soldiers and fought in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign of 1918.

“Cpl. Roper and the other 380,000 Black service members fought valiantly to restore freedoms for the French that these service members didn’t enjoy in America at that time,” Abrahams said.

Roper shared that his grandfather, as well as the grandmother who raised him, instilled from an early age a commitment to excellence and the discipline to achieve great things. The outcome of those early life lessons became clearer as History in Motion guests learned more about his personal life and his motivation for leadership.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin described Roper as “a servant leader, a man of passion and purpose” and credited him for “creating a fairer, safer and more united Birmingham” during his time as police chief.

Those attributes prompted the mayor to tap Roper last year as an advisor for a commission tasked with identifying ways to reduce violent crime in the city. Roper and the committee recently produced a comprehensive report outlining key recommendations, which according to Woodfin, the city immediately began implementing.

I’ve accomplished much, but there’s so much more to do. 
A.C. Roper, Retired Lt. General

Roper accepted the History in Motion award with the humility, gratitude and grace one would expect. “We don’t serve for recognition,” he began. “I’ve accomplished much, but there’s so much more to do.”

Roper recalled his high school memory book, where he recorded what he wanted to accomplish in his life. He wrote that he wanted to be a police officer, wanted to join the military and wanted to marry “a sweet, pretty women who understands me.”

He didn’t realize then that he was writing his own roadmap. “You can set the course for your life,” he said. “Then, it’s just a matter of making the right decisions to get there.”

A critical juncture in his journey was meeting Edith, his wife of 40 years. According to Roper, his police and military careers were a team effort, and she has been instrumental in all the career decisions and achievements.

“My family is my ‘why’” he said. “I often lean on a Gale Sayers quote: God is first, family is second and I am third. That’s my mantra.”

Last May, Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell spoke on the House Floor to honor Roper for his miliary service and law enforcement career.

“Throughout his exemplary career, Lieutenant General Roper moved quickly up the ranks and broke down barriers for African Americans serving in the armed forces,” Sewell said. “I got to know Lieutenant General Roper during his time as the Chief of Police for the Birmingham Police Department. I was immediately impressed by his firm yet compassionate leadership style that commanded the respect of his fellow officers and endeared him to the Birmingham community.

“Lieutenant General Roper’s reputation has always been one of great purpose and great passion. He is an honorable man, guided by an abiding faith in God and a love of country.”

Roper’s commitment to servant leadership continues today as he and Edith launched Rest in Grace Ministries. Roper also works as a consultant and will be publishing a book on leadership in the coming months.

Though he’s proud of his accomplishments and the people he’s inspired during two remarkable careers, Roper is most looking forward to what he calls “Chapter 3” of his life. And this chapter – filled with coaching, mentoring and empowering others to achieve balanced living, impactful leadership and a lasting legacy – may indeed be his best yet.

Legacy is something he’s often asked about. “People think legacy is something that’s left behind after a person passes away,” Roper said. “But I say you’re living your legacy every day.”

Next week, The Energy Professionals Association (TEPA) is bringing together the nation’s top thought leaders, policymakers, and professionals in retail energy—and BioStar’s CCO, David Smart, will be there!

With major discussions on PJM’s capacity shake-up, 24/7 carbon-free energy, and AI’s impact on energy demand, this is the perfect opportunity to connect and discuss the future of retail energy, with the brightest in the industry.

March 20, 2025The Notary Hotel, PhiladelphiaNetworking & Happy Hour to follow! 
 Want to discuss industry trends, market strategies, or partnership opportunities? Schedule a time to chat with David while you’re there! http://calendly.com/davidosmart

#TEPA2025 #TEPAPhilly #RetailEnergy #CleanEnergy #EnergyInnovation #PJM #CarbonFreeFuture #AIandEnergy #EnergyNetworking

This article is authored by Deidra Parrish Williams, Global Corporate Citizenship Leader at Trane Technologies.

As a global climate innovator, we don’t just consider the environmental side of sustainability. We have a much broader, more inclusive view of what sustainability really means. Sustainable communities provide opportunity for all. That’s why so much of our work is devoted to fostering access to resources and opportunity for people, both within our organization and in the community at large: Opportunity for All is a pillar of our 2030 Sustainability Commitments.

My role as global corporate citizenship leader is to broker and build relationships in our community. I help to connect us to change makers, thought leaders, organizations and spheres of influence in the communities where we live and work. To me, corporate citizenship really is about making sure that we, as a company, are an active, integrated and relevant citizen of our society.

Sustainable Futures, the strategy behind our relationship-building and corporate citizenship, is focused on the next generation of learners and leaders. By creating and promoting access to STEM-related education and sustainability career pathways, we are investing in their futures – and ours.

Investing in the future through meaningful partnerships

A big part of what we hope to do through corporate citizenship is reframe the way people think about STEM, sustainability and the careers connected to it. We need to help young people understand how relevant these fields are – and to be able to see themselves in them. As we look to bring future innovators along and into our industry, we’ve got to help them see what the future looks like. 

That’s why we focus on building meaningful partnerships that connect our resources and volunteers with young learners. We carefully consider these relationships, viewing them as extensions and enablers of our strategy. We ensure our partner organizations specialize in STEM education and support the communities we aim to reach. Additionally, we seek partners in areas where we have a significant number of employees, enabling our team members to engage and provide support.

One such relationship is with Digi-Bridge, a North Carolina-based organization that supports students in exploring and building interest and persistence in STEM/STEAM education, careers and digital tools in direct partnership with schools and community partners.

With a mission of sparking interest in STEAM learning, and ensuring students have access, opportunities and skills to succeed in a rapidly changing world, Digi-Bridge has reached over 20,000 students in grades K-8 since 2013. They focus on teacher training, ongoing access to resources and industry experts, and out-of-school programming via their signature STEAMLabs and STEAMKits.

We were pleased to host Alyssa Sharpe, CEO of Digi-Bridge on the Healthy Spaces podcast last summer.

Beginning with the end in mind

To make their work more meaningful and relevant, Digi-Bridge involves students from the very beginning. “We are a community-organizing organization, which means we start from the ground up,” says Digi-Bridge CEO Alyssa Sharpe. “We really make sure that we are talking to our students. We have focus groups. We ask, ‘What do you care about? What do you want to learn? How do you want to learn?’ Making sure that the student is present in our design and our delivery is absolutely essential to creating curriculum and learning experiences that are going to be highly impactful for students.”

Digi-Bridge has embraced digital skills as the pathway to success across all fields. “We all know technology is shaping our world faster than anything else,” continues Alyssa. “If you want to go into medicine, or you want to go into engineering, or even finance, you have to have technology skills.” As with all of their programming, students shape the content and delivery. “Artificial intelligence is right on the horizon,” cites Alyssa, “and school districts don’t really know what to do with it yet. So we’re talking to our students about what excites them about AI.”

Teachers as innovators

The other key demographic that Digi-Bridge uplifts and involves throughout its work is classroom teachers. “We’re really fortunate that we get to work with amazing educators – and they’re not hard to find. Most teachers are very innovative because they have to make a lot out of a little, whether that’s supplies or curriculum. We like to find teachers that are really at the cutting edge of blending best practice teaching strategies with content that’s more fresh, more innovative, more cutting edge. We build their capacity. We give them access to content that Digi-Bridge creates with industry professionals.”

Teachers are already invested in our future generations, Alyssa explains. “We’re just providing the resources, tools, trainings, and professional development so that they can not only impact the kids in their classroom today, but the thousands of kids they will impact over their tenure as a teacher.” 

Imagining the future of environmental stewardship

Young people care about climate issues, says Alyssa. They just need a bridge to help them see themselves as the leaders of today – and tomorrow – who can make a difference. “When we poll both our teachers and our students about what they want to teach and what they care about learning, climate innovation is one that always comes to the top of mind because they care about where we live and how we live. It’s a topic that’s near and dear to a lot of people’s hearts.”

Operating with sustainability at the forefront is about making investments in the future: The future of our organization, our society and our planet. The Trane Technologies Foundation is proud to have recently awarded Digi-Bridge a $290,000 grant to support and expand their STEAMLab and Robotics programs. Together, we can reach and inspire even more students and future climate innovators.

To learn more about how Trane Technologies is helping build the next generation of climate innovators, listen to the Sustainable Futures episode of the Healthy Spaces podcast.