Tag: 3BL

PSEG ENERGIZE!

An unusual amount of chatter filled the air at three of PSE&G’s Customer Care centers recently as business customers gathered to have their questions answered and become more familiar with their PSE&G energy partners.

Jamie Kujawski, owner and CEO of Star Energy and a trade ally in energy efficiency programs, said he was excited to attend the Business Connect event in New Brunswick.

It’s a good opportunity to talk to the people behind the scenes … it’s easier to resolve issues when you’re able to meet in person and get to know people in these small forums.”

– Jamie Kujawski (right), owner and CEO of Star Energy and a trade ally in energy efficiency programs.

“It’s a good opportunity to talk to the people behind the scenes,” he said, as he flipped through his notebook of meticulously documented state regulations. “New Jersey has the best energy efficiency program for the customer that I’ve witnessed. It shows the commitment to clean energy.”

Yet Jamie said he had pressing questions about some of the process details before the next energy efficiency program cycle starts in January 2025. He said he was grateful for the personal attention he received and hopes it will help him serve his hotel and restaurant clients even better moving forward.

“It’s easier to resolve issues when you’re able to meet in person and get to know people in these small forums,” Jamie said. “The first 20 minutes were hugely helpful.”

Property Manager Atul Sethi of Paragon Estates said he had two goals in mind when attending the event: Obtain help in better managing his numerous accounts and receive more information on energy efficiency and EV rebates.

He added the event was valuable and met both of his goals.

Business Connect workshops also were held in Hackensack and Trenton and had information on everything from renewable energy to understanding your bill and your smart meter. Special guests included representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“We know our small business customers join us in caring about the communities we serve and our planet. These in-person events offer opportunities to build relationships and get advice about everything from saving energy and saving money through energy efficiency to bill payment options,” said Nicole Swan-Bennett, senior director – Customer Care, who attended all events. “We also took the opportunity to listen to the needs and interests of small business owners in PSE&G’s territory, so that we can better serve them.”

Small businesses seeking more information can start on the PSE&G business and contractors website.

Authored by Heather L. Herc

In today’s healthcare environment, consumers are demanding more from their Health Plans than ever before. Over the past several years, health plans have felt a shift in consumer expectations as the industry’s move towards increased digitization continues to mature. Consumer engagement is no longer optional—it is a critical component for health plans striving to deliver financial outcomes, improve population health and enhance member satisfaction. Building meaningful, personalized engagement strategies that are both effective and sustainable is key to fostering member trust, improving health outcomes and driving long-term success.

Defining consumer engagement in healthcare

Let’s begin with a broad yet practical definition of the health plan consumer. A consumer includes anyone who is currently a member, has been a member in the past, or could become one in the future. This inclusive view drives strategy, helping health plans deliver more personalized, meaningful interactions at every stage.

Consumer engagement is pivotal across multiple functions including sales, marketing, value-based care, risk management, care management and quality improvement. However, engagement strategies that operate independently or with limited integration can lead to oversaturation, misaligned messaging and diminished trust. A unified, consumer-centric strategy is key to standing out in a competitive landscape that increasingly ties reimbursement to strong member satisfaction scores.

1. Acquiring and managing consumer data 

A comprehensive view of consumer data forms the foundation for engagement strategies. Many health plans face gaps in their data infrastructure, such as the absence of a robust identity management system or limited interaction histories. Health plans can address these challenges through developing a plan for:

Data integration: Consolidating information from clinical, operational and consumer sources.Data mastering: Resolving complex identity issues across multiple systems like membership and claims databases, member engagement platforms, care management platforms and EHR systems.Centralized data structures: Building the frameworks necessary to support advanced analytics.Solution evaluation: Conducting a build verses buy analysis to determine whether an in-house or vendor-provided solution best meets your organization’s data management needs. By assembling and managing robust data repositories, health plans can lay the foundations necessary to unlock the insights required to personalize and optimize consumer engagement.

2. Transforming data into actionable insights

Data alone isn’t enough; meaningful engagement requires actionable insights. Health plans often excel claims data but lack behavioral and engagement intelligence. Leveraging advanced capabilities such as predictive analytics allow organizations to anticipate consumer needs, driving impactful interactions across the care continuum. Best practices include:

Consumer segmentation: Developing multidimensional models to group consumers effectively.Attitudinal analytics: Identifying traits like loyalty and health management tendencies.Social determinants modeling: Using data to uncover barriers to care and behavioral drivers.Marketing analytics: Evaluating engagement effectiveness across channels and campaigns.Collaboration with providers: Health plans should leverage insights to work with provider partners to improve overall care coordination to enable members to connect with the right providers at the right time.

These insights empower health plans to build deeper connections with members, enhancing both individual experiences and organizational outcomes.

3. Aligning processes and systems

For consumer engagement strategies to succeed, health plans must integrate their operations into a seamless ecosystem. While many organizations have adopted individual tactics, they often lack the coordination needed for a unified consumer experience. Health plans should bridge these gaps by:

Systems integration: Connecting engagement platforms to analytics systems for real-time functionality.Next best action systems: Enabling systems to recommend personalized, immediate actions based on historical data.Holistic design: Aligning engagement strategies with overarching consumer goals.

This alignment ensures consistent, relevant messaging across all touchpoints, fostering trust and loyalty among consumers.

4. Delivering personalized content

Content personalization is essential for consumer engagement in order to meet the expectations of today’s consumers. Instead of rigid campaigns or ad-hoc materials, health plans should create tailored content to meet specific consumer needs in real-time. Solutions to consider include:

Content management systems: Implementing or designing systems for dynamic content creation.Digital asset integration: Ensuring seamless access to personalized content across engagement systems.Strategic planning: Designing content frameworks that align with consumer engagement goals.Insights from consumer behavior: knowing who your most and least engaged members are, and what is important to them is crucial to developing personalized content.

By delivering the right message at the right time, health plans can build stronger relationships and improve outcomes.

The consumer engagement framework

An effective framework integrates consumer-centric strategy with advanced technology. It is designed to accelerate performance while delivering a seamless, personalized experience. Regardless of the technology platform or vendor relationships, health plans can achieve results through five critical focus areas:

A comprehensive strategy for modern health plans

Effective consumer engagement isn’t just about meeting today’s needs—it’s about anticipating tomorrow’s challenges. Baker Tilly can help health plans build a sustainable, scalable consumer engagement framework that fosters trust, improves health outcomes and drives long-term success.

Baker Tilly’s healthcare consulting practice addresses the unique needs of health plans by combining strategic expertise with technical know-how. From journey mapping to change management, we offer end-to-end support for developing and implementing consumer engagement programs that deliver measurable results.

Connect with a specialist to learn more about our approach and how we can support your organization’s consumer engagement goals at Baker Tilly.

Written by Emma Brownstein | Corporate Communications

Gen Blog | Life@Gen

At Gen, fostering a culture of continuous growth and connection is at the heart of what we do. This commitment shines through in our professional development community, LEADS. Designed to inspire personal and professional development, LEADS brings together employees from diverse backgrounds to network, share knowledge and unlock their full potential.

As Balaji Santhanagopalan, a co-champion of the LEADS community, puts it, “We strive to create a growth mindset among our generators, our employees. We create a platform where people could just come in, network with each other, try to learn from each other and become a better version of themselves.”

Balaji, who has been with Gen for almost four years, joined LEADS shortly after starting at Gen. He credits the community for enhancing both his professional and personal life. “It has opened up a lot of avenues. I’m someone who loves talking to people, interacting with them and learning a thing or two from people I’m conversing with,” he said.

For Bogomil Shopov, being part of LEADS aligns with his belief in lifelong learning. “The world is changing very fast, and if you want to stay current as a person and to stay smart, we need to be able to learn,” he said. As a champion of LEADS for over a year, Bogomil appreciates the community’s role in connecting like-minded individuals who inspire each other to grow. “Meeting people with the same willingness to learn drives me, both personally and professionally,” he said.

Personal and Professional Growth 

LEADS champions like Balaji and Bogomil emphasize the community’s role in fostering connections that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. By bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds, LEADS helps employees understand and embrace different perspectives.

Reflecting on his journey, Balaji says, “Coming under the DEI umbrella within Gen, LEADS has allowed me to get along with people from different cultures, countries and parts of the world.”

Professionally, the opportunities to network, learn and lead have been transformative. As Balaji explains, “The events I’ve been a part of and the ones I’ve organized have been second to none in terms of experience and learning.”

The Future of LEADS 

LEADS continues to grow as a pillar of professional development at Gen, empowering employees to adapt to the rapidly changing world of technology and security. By promoting a culture of shared learning and collaboration, LEADS ensures that every member of the Gen community has the tools to succeed and thrive.

Whether a Gen employee is seeking to develop new skills, connect with colleagues across the globe or contribute to meaningful projects, the LEADS community provides a platform tailored to their success. Designed to foster both personal and professional growth, LEAD offers opportunities to collaborate, learn and stay motivated. As Bogomil explains, “Being part of LEADS helps me stay on top of my job, meet people who want to learn together and stay driven.”

At Gen, LEADS is not just a community—it’s an initiative that embodies our dedication to fostering growth, driving innovation and championing inclusivity.

To learn more about how you can grow with us and be a part of communities like LEADS, explore career opportunities at Gen by visiting our Careers page.

The City of Norman & BioStar Renewables achieved interconnection in 2023 and is producing renewable electricity that is serving the Vernon Campbell Water Treatment Plant and Water Reclamation Facility in Norman, Oklahoma. The 2.27 MW solar project is expected to produce more than 3,000,000 kWh of electricity each year and will displace over 2,126 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year, the equivalent of providing 438 homes with electricity or 271,000 gallons of gasoline consumed for an entire year. The clean energy generated by the solar arrays will reduce the annual kWh required from the local utility company by approximately 30%.

BioStar developed the project, and provided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, as well as ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) services. Implementation of these solar arrays will set the city on a path toward achieving their Net-Zero Carbon goal across city buildings, and marks the beginning of a transition to more balanced energy mixture.

BioStar is working with municipalities across the USA to develop, implement, and maintain renewable energy projects that reduce reliance on the local utility, increase resilience in facility operations, save money, and achieve greenhouse gas emissions goals. If your municipality is considering adopting renewable energy assets, BioStar can help!

Click here for information about this project.

If you are interested in learning more about how BioStar can help you meet your sustainability goals, contact our Chief Commercial Officer, David Smart.

EMERYVILLE, Calif., February 26, 2025 /3BL/ – SCS Global Services is proud to announce its new role as a certification body (CB) for the 2BS (Biomass, Biofuel Sustainability) Certification standard, an essential initiative dedicated to evaluating and verifying the sustainability in the supply chain of biofuels, biomass and biomethane, in compliance with the criteria set by the European Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).

The expansion of 2BS certification coincides with the European Commission’s January 2025 recognition of the 2BS certification’s co-processing procedures, enabling companies to combine renewable materials with traditional fossil-based materials in a process that complies with the RED II directives.

2BS has two distinct sustainability certification schemes against which SCS is approved to audit and certify global companies: 2BSvs, under the RED II, and 2BSXtra, for Food and Feed. The 2BSvs scheme covers agricultural biomass, wastes and residues, materials and renewable energies and covers the entire process from the collection of biomass and other inputs and right up to the processing and production of biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels. The 2BSXtra scheme certifies processed and raw agricultural materials intended for human and animal consumption, focusing on producers that aim to use lower carbon feedstocks.

“We are pleased to offer both 2BS Certifications,” said Erika Bartolomei, SCS Program Manager. “Our team is fully equipped to assess every step of the certification process, from sourcing raw materials to final product processing. Leveraging our expertise, we aim to drive responsible practices and help clients verify compliance with the 2BS certification program efficiently and effectively, worldwide.”

Caroline Aba, Commercial Manager, of 2BS adds, “We are delighted to welcome SCS Global Services as the eighth recognized certification body for this important scheme. SCS’s expertise, commitment to sustainability and years of experience in biofuels will be invaluable in ensuring compliance with the certification’s standards.”

About SCS Global Services

SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development, currently celebrating its 40th year of services. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in climate mitigation, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, consumer products, and more. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, SCS has representatives and affiliate offices throughout the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Africa. Its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to companies, agencies, and advocacy organizations due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a California-chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.

For more information, visit https://www.scsglobalservices.com/services/2bs-certification.

Media Contact

Berliot Bolaños
Sales & Marketing Director, EBC
bbolanos@scsglobalservices.com

Direct Relief has been awarded the 2025 Seoul Peace Prize for its longstanding humanitarian work in delivering medical resources to advance global health and aid communities impacted by disasters and conflicts, the prize committee announced Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

The Seoul Peace Prize, established to commemorate the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, honors individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to world peace and cooperation. The selection process involves approximately 1,300 nominators from South Korea and around the world, including internationally renowned figures from various fields.

“By promptly and efficiently delivering medical supplies, Direct Relief has not only protected lives and ensured psychological stability, but has also instilled hope for a new beginning,” the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation said. “It has demonstrated humanitarianism and made a significant contribution to the advancement of human welfare.”

The Seoul Peace Prize has been awarded every other year since 1990. As the 17th recipient of the prize, Direct Relief joins a distinguished group of laureates including former Czech President and human rights champion Václav Havel, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, renowned economist Muhammad Yunus, and Doctors Without Borders.

“Direct Relief is deeply honored to receive the Seoul Peace Prize,” said Dr. Byron Scott, CEO of Direct Relief. “This recognition affirms our belief that public health is a requirement for societal health. When communities have access to healthcare, they build resilience against the destabilizing forces of disasters, conflict, and poverty.”

Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay.

From its beginnings in 1948—when Estonian immigrant William Zimdin started sending food, clothing, and medicine to post-war Europe—Direct Relief has upheld one defining principle: every individual deserves high-quality health care, no matter their circumstance.

Over the past seven-plus decades, that commitment has guided the organization to become one of the world’s largest humanitarian nonprofits, delivering over $16 billion in medical aid and $350 million in grants to 136 countries and all 50 U.S. states since year 2000.

Mastercard

Most entrepreneurs dream of tapping into the kind of capital, industry connections and sophisticated software that Martin Naor has at his fingertips.

The Uruguayan entrepreneur has certainly benefitted from a full career that took him from managing products and businesses for Microsoft to sitting on company boards, investing in startups and running the Montevideo-based tech firm Infocorp.

Yet launching a new business is always a twisty road, and Naor had his share of unforeseen curves when he started his fintech Bankingly a decade ago.

Bankingly was born from a flash insight. Naor noticed that while major banks were proactively building tech solutions to drive their digital transformation, smaller institutions were struggling to migrate online.

He also understood how transformative digital banking could be for people living Latin America, where one in five adults are still unbanked and many of those who are still spend hours travelling to their bank branch.

So he created a venture to provide smaller banks and credit unions from Argentina to Mexico — and more recently, Kenya and Nigeria — with the software they need to offer digital banking services.

“Everybody wants to sell to the big boys,” says Naor, 53. “We decided the big blue ocean of opportunity was on small and medium-sized financial institutions in emerging markets.”

Rather than start from scratch, he launched Bankingly as a Infocorp spin-off so he could piggyback off the company’s products and experiences and reach the market quickly with a segment-friendly offering of low start-up costs and per-usage charges. 

What he did not foresee was the hesitancy. Back in 2015, many of the smaller banks Naor approached saw little reason to start offering online banking to their customers. They preferred relying solely on tried-and-tested traditional branch banking.

“They were less anxious to digitalize than we expected. My naïve starting point was that if I put an affordable, scalable solution in front of them, they’ll jump at it,” he admits.

He quickly realized he needed to tweak Bankingly’s business model and spend its capital wisely so he could take the time to show banks and credit unions the benefits of digitalization, plus convince regulators its cloud-based systems were secure.

Despite the slow start, financial institutions who started using Bankingly’s apps and platforms soon saw their customers were more likely to deposit their salaries, build up savings and increase their card transactions.

Ten years down the road, Bankingly has 120 clients in 20 countries who use its cloud-based solutions to provide some 4 million customers with digital services from onboarding to payment transactions and loan applications.

More importantly, by giving millions of people across Latin America and in Africa access to accounts from their smartphones, Bankingly is playing a role in significantly helping boost financial inclusion in the region. A 2023 Mastercard survey on financial inclusion in Latin America showed that 79% of adults had a bank account in 2023, as opposed to 52% in a report from 2014.

But just 40% of people outside of major cities and 59% of people from low-income households held bank accounts, according to the same study, so more still needs to be done to broaden access to those who have traditionally been excluded.

For Bankingly, joining Mastercard Start Path, the company’s award-winning startup engagement program, in October will help speed up emerging market digitalization and offers a chance to potentially acquire new clients who can reach those unbanked people, including the ability to offer credit cards to their customers for the first time.

Motivated by the opportunity to open up financial services for more underserved communities and small businesses, Naor hopes Bankingly’s growth will mean more than 5 million people are using its software within two years.

As he firmly believes, “Digital financial services can really change lives.”

Originally published by Mastercard

Follow along Mastercard’s journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere.

Mastercard

Most entrepreneurs dream of tapping into the kind of capital, industry connections and sophisticated software that Martin Naor has at his fingertips.

The Uruguayan entrepreneur has certainly benefitted from a full career that took him from managing products and businesses for Microsoft to sitting on company boards, investing in startups and running the Montevideo-based tech firm Infocorp.

Yet launching a new business is always a twisty road, and Naor had his share of unforeseen curves when he started his fintech Bankingly a decade ago.

Bankingly was born from a flash insight. Naor noticed that while major banks were proactively building tech solutions to drive their digital transformation, smaller institutions were struggling to migrate online.

He also understood how transformative digital banking could be for people living Latin America, where one in five adults are still unbanked and many of those who are still spend hours travelling to their bank branch.

So he created a venture to provide smaller banks and credit unions from Argentina to Mexico — and more recently, Kenya and Nigeria — with the software they need to offer digital banking services.

“Everybody wants to sell to the big boys,” says Naor, 53. “We decided the big blue ocean of opportunity was on small and medium-sized financial institutions in emerging markets.”

Rather than start from scratch, he launched Bankingly as a Infocorp spin-off so he could piggyback off the company’s products and experiences and reach the market quickly with a segment-friendly offering of low start-up costs and per-usage charges. 

What he did not foresee was the hesitancy. Back in 2015, many of the smaller banks Naor approached saw little reason to start offering online banking to their customers. They preferred relying solely on tried-and-tested traditional branch banking.

“They were less anxious to digitalize than we expected. My naïve starting point was that if I put an affordable, scalable solution in front of them, they’ll jump at it,” he admits.

He quickly realized he needed to tweak Bankingly’s business model and spend its capital wisely so he could take the time to show banks and credit unions the benefits of digitalization, plus convince regulators its cloud-based systems were secure.

Despite the slow start, financial institutions who started using Bankingly’s apps and platforms soon saw their customers were more likely to deposit their salaries, build up savings and increase their card transactions.

Ten years down the road, Bankingly has 120 clients in 20 countries who use its cloud-based solutions to provide some 4 million customers with digital services from onboarding to payment transactions and loan applications.

More importantly, by giving millions of people across Latin America and in Africa access to accounts from their smartphones, Bankingly is playing a role in significantly helping boost financial inclusion in the region. A 2023 Mastercard survey on financial inclusion in Latin America showed that 79% of adults had a bank account in 2023, as opposed to 52% in a report from 2014.

But just 40% of people outside of major cities and 59% of people from low-income households held bank accounts, according to the same study, so more still needs to be done to broaden access to those who have traditionally been excluded.

For Bankingly, joining Mastercard Start Path, the company’s award-winning startup engagement program, in October will help speed up emerging market digitalization and offers a chance to potentially acquire new clients who can reach those unbanked people, including the ability to offer credit cards to their customers for the first time.

Motivated by the opportunity to open up financial services for more underserved communities and small businesses, Naor hopes Bankingly’s growth will mean more than 5 million people are using its software within two years.

As he firmly believes, “Digital financial services can really change lives.”

Originally published by Mastercard

Follow along Mastercard’s journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere.

Mastercard

Most entrepreneurs dream of tapping into the kind of capital, industry connections and sophisticated software that Martin Naor has at his fingertips.

The Uruguayan entrepreneur has certainly benefitted from a full career that took him from managing products and businesses for Microsoft to sitting on company boards, investing in startups and running the Montevideo-based tech firm Infocorp.

Yet launching a new business is always a twisty road, and Naor had his share of unforeseen curves when he started his fintech Bankingly a decade ago.

Bankingly was born from a flash insight. Naor noticed that while major banks were proactively building tech solutions to drive their digital transformation, smaller institutions were struggling to migrate online.

He also understood how transformative digital banking could be for people living Latin America, where one in five adults are still unbanked and many of those who are still spend hours travelling to their bank branch.

So he created a venture to provide smaller banks and credit unions from Argentina to Mexico — and more recently, Kenya and Nigeria — with the software they need to offer digital banking services.

“Everybody wants to sell to the big boys,” says Naor, 53. “We decided the big blue ocean of opportunity was on small and medium-sized financial institutions in emerging markets.”

Rather than start from scratch, he launched Bankingly as a Infocorp spin-off so he could piggyback off the company’s products and experiences and reach the market quickly with a segment-friendly offering of low start-up costs and per-usage charges. 

What he did not foresee was the hesitancy. Back in 2015, many of the smaller banks Naor approached saw little reason to start offering online banking to their customers. They preferred relying solely on tried-and-tested traditional branch banking.

“They were less anxious to digitalize than we expected. My naïve starting point was that if I put an affordable, scalable solution in front of them, they’ll jump at it,” he admits.

He quickly realized he needed to tweak Bankingly’s business model and spend its capital wisely so he could take the time to show banks and credit unions the benefits of digitalization, plus convince regulators its cloud-based systems were secure.

Despite the slow start, financial institutions who started using Bankingly’s apps and platforms soon saw their customers were more likely to deposit their salaries, build up savings and increase their card transactions.

Ten years down the road, Bankingly has 120 clients in 20 countries who use its cloud-based solutions to provide some 4 million customers with digital services from onboarding to payment transactions and loan applications.

More importantly, by giving millions of people across Latin America and in Africa access to accounts from their smartphones, Bankingly is playing a role in significantly helping boost financial inclusion in the region. A 2023 Mastercard survey on financial inclusion in Latin America showed that 79% of adults had a bank account in 2023, as opposed to 52% in a report from 2014.

But just 40% of people outside of major cities and 59% of people from low-income households held bank accounts, according to the same study, so more still needs to be done to broaden access to those who have traditionally been excluded.

For Bankingly, joining Mastercard Start Path, the company’s award-winning startup engagement program, in October will help speed up emerging market digitalization and offers a chance to potentially acquire new clients who can reach those unbanked people, including the ability to offer credit cards to their customers for the first time.

Motivated by the opportunity to open up financial services for more underserved communities and small businesses, Naor hopes Bankingly’s growth will mean more than 5 million people are using its software within two years.

As he firmly believes, “Digital financial services can really change lives.”

Originally published by Mastercard

Follow along Mastercard’s journey to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere.

Written by Kimberly Bishop | Corporate Responsibility

Gen Blog | Community

On the second Tuesday of every February, more than 100 countries around the world come together to celebrate Safer Internet Day. This global day of awareness aims to empower everyone to use technology responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively, especially children and young people.

At Gen, Cyber Safety is our focus all year long. Over the past few years, we’ve developed new tools and platforms that address the most common issues that young people face online, from scams to cyberbullying to protecting personal information. We continue to partner with leading nonprofit organizations around the world to provide children, young people and their families with the resources they need to navigate life online with confidence and care.

Empowering Kids and Families to Have The Smart Talk

Norton, one of our trusted Cyber Safety brands, partners with National PTA to offer The Smart Talk, a free resource that helps families have ongoing conversations about how to use the internet responsibly. The platform has grown to more than 12,000 users since launch, and Norton continues to provide technical support, keeping The Smart Talk up to date with the most current information about Cyber Safety best practices. In addition to offering this tool for free online, Norton makes possible grants to local PTAs to host live PTA Connected: The Smart Talk workshops with parents, children and educators.

“The Smart Talk [helped bring] awareness to our families that healthily social media and internet safety is more than just a password,” said one grantee. “This program opened heartfelt, honest conversations and set plans in place to protect one another in an increasingly cyber world.”

Helping Young People Build Digital Skills

Norton also partners with Discovery Education, a global leader in education technology, on My Digital Life, a multi-language platform dedicated to enhancing Cyber Safety for children in grades 3-8. The platform contains lesson plans, videos and interactive tools for teachers, students and parents that outline the best ways students can avoid viruses, detect misinformation, protect their privacy and more. My Digital Life expanded into schools across the U.K. in 2024, bringing its total reach to more than 264,000 students globally. The free website is now translated into Spanish and Arabic with French and German being added later this year. Learn more about this partnership here.

In India, Norton works with Bal Raksha Bharat (BRB), also known as Save the Children – India, to train schoolteachers on how to instill strong digital habits in their students. Over the past year, the program reached more than 10,000 students, parents and educators across 40 schools in Pune, Maharashtra and Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, with tailored lessons for students aged 10-12 and 13-16. Since the program launched in 2021, more than 27,600 children have taken online safety classes, while 1,800 teachers and more than 4,600 parents have also received online safety orientation.

Additionally, we recognize that not all young people experience the internet in the same way. For example, young women face a unique set of challenges when navigating life online, and we believe they should have resources that address these needs.

That’s why we partner with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to offer Surf Smart 2.0, a unique badge-earning program that gives girls and young women aged 5-25 the basics of Cyber Safety and responsible digital decision-making. Between April 2023 and April 2024, WAGGGS estimates that this partnership has reached more than 42,000 girls and young women, including more than 17,800 who earned the Surf Smart 2.0 badge. In total, since its inception, Surf Smart has empowered over 850,000 young people in over 100 countries, providing them with vital tools to help protect themselves online.

We also support The Trevor Project, the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, who have experienced an increased need for the organization’s services in recent months. We provide ongoing support to The Trevor Project’s affirming online community for LGBTQ+ young people. We also co-developed the organization’s Guide to Online Safety for LGBTQ+ Young People, a free digital resource to help queer young people navigate the digital world. The guide was mentioned in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as an example of “What Success Looks Like” in specialty resources for particular communities. 

We hope this year’s Safer Internet Day continues to inspire a better internet for all. These grants were awarded from the Gen Foundation, a corporate advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. For more on our Cyber Safety education and training efforts, visit our latest Social Impact Report.