Tag: 3BL

Since its inception in 2009, Go Innovate Together has reached over 300,000 students in 48 countries, helping them develop skills to thrive in the global digital economyTo celebrate these milestones, Tata Consultancy Services has announced new, next-generation technology learning initiatives, especially for marginalized communities 

MUMBAI and NEW YORK, December 9, 2024 /3BL/ – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, has enabled more than 300,000 students under the age of 18 across 48 countries with digital skills through 15 years of its flagship Go Innovate Together (goITTM) program. To mark the milestone, and goIT’s longevity, TCS has launched initiatives to train youth, especially from marginalized communities, in next-generation technologies, including AI, Gen AI and machine learning, to help them meet the requirements of the global digital economy.

goIT, a free digital innovation and career readiness program, was designed to help bridge the skills gap in science and technology fields and to inspire youth interest in technology. It brings industry and TCS experts together to offer training in mobile app design, microprocessors, IoT, and AI & ML. In addition, the program enhances student understanding of human and environmental sustainability issues by encouraging projects that support the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Balaji Ganapathy, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, TCS, said, “We celebrate the power of student changemakers transforming their communities by using 21st century skills and digital technologies to solve real world problems. It is the perfect way to honor a program that has been helping the youth strengthen their economic futures and establish an innovative edge. My greatest joy is to see over 50% girls and 70% minority students emerge empowered, bridging the equity gaps that are prevalent globally. Their innovative journey using tech like App Design, Cyber, AI, and IoT gives us the belief that we can expand access to such opportunities to every corner of the world.”

goIT was launched in 2009 when a group of TCS associates in Cincinnati, Ohio recognized that there were more available positions in tech than there were qualified candidates. What started as a summer camp experience teaching a few dozen students in the Cincinnati area to learn how to code robots has since grown into a prominent skilling initiative benefiting youth across the world.

Over the past 15 years, program leaders built a meaningful and continuously improving curriculum and delivered it with the support of TCS’ employee volunteers who gave over 74,000 hours to helping bring the program to life around the world. The goIT program offers a variety of options for interested individuals or school districts. The program’s oldest and most widely adopted program, goIT Live, brings innovation directly into classrooms or extra-curricular programs. Other offerings include the goIT Monthly Challenge, goIT Online, goIT Work Experience which gives participants the opportunity to learn from industry professionals. In each, participating students develop concepts for tech-for-good solutions supporting SDGs ranging from health and equality to poverty and climate action.

Peter Singh, Executive Officer, IT Services and Chief Technology Officer, Toronto District School Board, said, “We’ve been partnering with goIT since 2014, together building a strong system for curriculum delivery and developing the best practices that ensure the program thrives. Our students love goIT and we love the way it develops their digital literacy and their capabilities as thinkers and presenters. Their response to the program is a constant reminder of why I chose a career in education and why I come to work every day.”

TCS’ corporate social responsibility initiatives, including goIT, Ignite My Future, BridgeIT, Literacy as a Service and Youth Employment Program, have benefited 7.1 million people around the world. These initiatives are designed to focus on K-12 education, literacy to livelihood, employment through skilling, digital entrepreneurship, healthcare, digital inclusion, water, climate and sustainability.

Learn more about goIT at https://on.tcs.com/goIT-AMERS.

About TCS’ goIT Program
TCS’ Go Innovate Together program (goIT) is TCS’ flagship STEM education program. Focusing on digital innovation and career readiness, goIT engages students from diverse backgrounds with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and computer science, design thinking and digital innovation. The program offers an industry-developed, customizable curriculum that teaches students the 21st century skills necessary for a career in technology. Lessons cover topics including design thinking, rapid prototyping, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more. For more information, visit https://on.tcs.com/goIT-AMERS.

About Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 56 years. Its consulting-led, cognitive powered, portfolio of business, technology and engineering services and solutions is delivered through its unique Location Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence in software development.

A part of the Tata group, India’s largest multinational business group, TCS has over 612,700 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $29 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, and is listed on the BSE and the NSE in India. TCS’ proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For more information, visit www.tcs.com.

An astute young person once said that while youth make up 25% of the population, they represent 100% of the future. This insight resonates when considering the challenges businesses face in developing the necessary skills for a sustainable, digitally transformed future. Empowering young people is crucial, not only for their own growth but for addressing critical challenges, such as climate resilience, and preparing them to lead in a rapidly evolving world.

The global skills and opportunity gap is a recurring topic at landmark events such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and UN General Assembly and Climate Week in New York. This was no different at the UN Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

That’s because today’s youth are the leaders, innovators, and problem-solvers of tomorrow. However, as these gaps remain, it’s important to accelerate active engagement and enhance collaboration across sectors. Ensuring that young people are adequately prepared to enter and excel in the workforce is an investment in their future and a strategic imperative for businesses and societies worldwide. Without adequate learning pathways, young people risk unemployment and businesses may struggle to compete in the burgeoning green and digital economies due to a widening talent shortage.

Human Capital and Youth Day

For this reason, November 18 has been designated as the COP29 theme day for Human Capital Development for Climate Resilience. The initiative underscores that addressing climate change requires a holistic approach supported by healthier, better educated, and adequately skilled young people.

SAP is powering equitable access to economic opportunity, education and employment, and the circular economy

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The Human Capital Day serves as a reminder that tackling climate change requires societal transformation – and there is no better time than now. A key component of this shift is ensuring access to quality education and skill development opportunities for youth that lead to tangible employment opportunities. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), global youth unemployment was 13% in 2023, with many young people facing limited prospects for stable and decent work. At the same time, the World Economic Forum found that 44% of businesses report difficulties in finding talent with the right skills to fill jobs.

At SAP, we believe in our responsibility to support the next generation of professionals and users with our best-in-class digital learning. We fully support the COP29 agenda for human capital and are actively involved with the global community of governments, financial institutions, and private sector entities.

SAP Education and Employment Programs

SAP has several programs and partnerships to help tackle the deepening mismatch between the supply of young job seekers and the demand for skilled talent. These initiatives focus on human capital development and provide valuable educational opportunities for youth:

SAP and UNICEF’s partnership in support of Generation Unlimited develops innovative solutions to global skilling challenges to help young people transition to earning. The goal is to generate inclusive opportunities for underserved young people worldwide, preparing them for decent work with the skills needed in the market. The program helps equip youth with essential skills and builds on UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU) signature program, the Youth Agency Marketplace (YOMA), a platform developed by young Africans to tackle labor market challenges. To date, the partnership reached more than 600,000 youth with foundational and digital skills that help young people unlock opportunities in the changing global economy.SAP Educate to Employ is one of the learn-to-earn pathways on YOMA designed by SAP to equip youth with essential competencies for the digital economy. Implemented by a local social enterprise in South Africa called UMUZI, the free program focuses on developing skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values to help prepare and bring candidates into employment within the SAP ecosystem. More than 1,000 learners completed one or more foundational skills courses, while 165 learners completed over 550 hours of critical skills development training and earned an SAP technology consultant professional certificate. The next step is to secure meaningful employment opportunities within the SAP ecosystem and beyond.The SAP University Alliances program includes over 2,700 members in more than 100 countries. It enables academia to educate the next generation on using intelligent AI-enabled technology, engage at SAP events, build industry partnerships, and prepare graduates for the SAP ecosystem. SAP University Alliances initiatives aim to empower youth to work in digitized enterprises, shape their futures, and have a meaningful impact on the world. During COP29, SAP will engage with students and faculty members from local university partners in Baku. Planned activities include an on-campus, gamified learning experience with a focus on sustainability, dialogue on learning and skills for sustainable youth development, and student visits to SAP’s booth in the Green Zone.

To further amplify youth empowerment, SAP actively collaborates with leading youth organizations. Through these partnerships, SAP brings young voices to the forefront of decision-making, fostering intergenerational collaboration and innovative solutions to pressing global challenges.

We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) is a non-profit organization that empowers youth and brings them to decision-making tables to share ideas and innovative solutions for global problems. For instance, at COP29, WAFF, in partnership with Care About Climate and Groundswell, launched the Universal NDC Youth Clause campaign – a global call to action for governments to integrate youth voices into their updated climate plans due in February 2025. By adopting this clause, governments pledge to work collaboratively with young people to achieve ambitious climate goals.The SAP and World Scouting partnership examines the critical role that youth-led initiatives play in advancing environmental sustainability. It provides opportunities to share insights on successful youth-driven projects and discuss challenges and the support needed to scale efforts. The engagement is based on the premise that young people are at the forefront of environmental activism and are leveraging technology, creativity, and community engagement to make tangible impacts amid unprecedented environmental challenges.

As the world grapples with urgent challenges like climate change and digital transformation, SAP believes that investing in youth and human development has never been more crucial. SAP’s contribution to building a sustainable future through initiatives that equip young people with job-ready skills underscores the importance of a whole-of-society approach.

By collaborating with global multistakeholder partners and empowering the next generation, we can help bridge the talent gap, foster climate resilience, and ensure that today’s youth are prepared to lead us into a more sustainable and inclusive future.

NEW YORK, December 4, 2024 /3BL/ – For the seventeenth year in a row, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has been selected as a national charity partner in the Subaru Share the Love® Event to help support thousands of animals in need across the country. From November 21, 2024, through January 2, 2025, Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle, purchased or leased, to the customer’s choice of participating local and national charities, including the ASPCA*.

Since the partnership’s inception in 2008, Subaru has donated more than $38 million to the ASPCA, which has helped support the rescue, care, and adoption of more than 134,000 animals nationwide.

“We’re grateful to Subaru for their long-standing support of the ASPCA and their dedication to the well-being of shelter pets across the country. Partnering with a corporation with shared values, like Subaru, empowers us to find new ways to help animals in need across the country,” said Matt Bershadker, President & CEO of the ASPCA. “With help from Subaru, we are able to reach many more pets and their owners. Together, we’ve helped more than 134,000 animals in the U.S., and we look forward to furthering our collective impact through the 2024 Subaru Share the Love Event.”

The funding received from the 2023 Subaru Share the Love Event helped support ASPCA facilities across the country, including the ASPCA Cruelty Recovery Center in Columbus, Ohio, and the ASPCA Community Veterinary Clinics in New York City and Miami. The ASPCA Cruelty Recovery Center is a permanent facility dedicated to the recovery of some of the country’s most vulnerable animals, including those rescued from large-scale animal cruelty situations such as hoarding, animal fighting, and puppy mills, as well as emergency situations like hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires. The ASPCA Community Veterinary Clinics provide basic and preventative veterinary services to underserved pet owners, helping to make veterinary care more affordable and accessible nationwide and improve the health and welfare of dogs and cats.

Most recently, in response to the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene, Subaru supported the ASPCA’s emergency sheltering efforts in Conover, North Carolina, which includes caring for displaced homeless and stray animals in need of temporary housing as the surrounding community continues to recover.

For more information about the ASPCA’s participation in the Subaru Share the Love Event, please visit aspca.org/sharethelove.

*Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased from November 21, 2024, through January 2, 2025, to four national charities designated by the purchaser or lessee. The four national charities will receive a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 each. All donations made by Subaru of America, Inc. Pre-approved Hometown Charities may be selected for donation depending on retailer participation. For every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased during the campaign period, participating retailers will donate a minimum of $50 in total to their registered Hometown Charities. Purchasers/lessees must make their charity designations by January 10, 2025. See your local Subaru retailer for details or visit subaru.com/share.

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About the ASPCA® 
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first animal welfare organization to be established in North America and today serves as the nation’s leading voice for vulnerable and victimized animals. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with more than two million supporters nationwide, the ASPCA is committed to preventing cruelty to dogs, cats, equines, and farm animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA assists animals in need through on-the-ground disaster and cruelty interventions, behavioral rehabilitation, animal placement, legal and legislative advocacy, and the advancement of the sheltering and veterinary community through research, training, and resources. For more information, visit www.ASPCA.org, and follow the ASPCA on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.

We are excited to announce that Cisco is now publishing life cycle assessments (LCAs) for some of our hardware products.

LCAs estimate a product’s environmental impact associated with its production, transport, use, and end-of-life. An LCA takes multiple environmental impact categories into account, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water consumption, resource depletion and others, and evaluates all stages of a product’s life cycle using an inventory of relevant environmental inputs.

The LCA reports are publicly available on cisco.com to provide transparent environmental impact information about Cisco products to our customers, partners, and other stakeholders.

For products we assess, we publish a detailed report and a two-page summary outlining high-level results of the product’s GHG emissions.

Product LCA reports provide many benefits, including:

Giving customers visibility into the environmental impact of the products they purchase from CiscoSupporting customers in calculating the overall environmental impact and GHG emissions of their IT infrastructureInforming Cisco product design decisions by identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption, optimize resource use and reduce wasteEnabling Cisco to identify component-level hotspots and help prioritize how to address those high impact areasAddressing product ecolabel requirementsUsing the findings to implement best practices in Cisco’s Circular Design Principles.

Our team in the Cisco Chief Sustainability Office is partnering with colleagues in Cisco’s Supply Chain organization and product business units to produce these reports. We plan to continue to publish the reports on cisco.com as they become available.

Our hope is that the LCAs illustrate a product’s impact on the environment, providing valuable insights to help Cisco teams design products with sustainability in mind and increase visibility on product environmental impacts for Cisco and our customers.

While many technology companies publish LCAs, Cisco is one of the first to produce them for networking equipment, such as Catalyst switches.

You can find information about our LCA methodology in our published reports. We intend to continue refining our methodology, assess our products, and publish the results to facilitate continued transparency. We also plan to leverage the LCAs as we track our progress toward our goal to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2040.

The LCA reports are publicly available on cisco.com to provide transparent environmental impact information about Cisco products to our customers, partners, and other stakeholders.

View original content here.

Cascale team member Hanna Griesbeck Garcia, manager of stakeholder engagement and project manager of TIWW, recently moderated The Industry We Want (TIWW) Deep Dive webinar that focused on unpacking challenges related to stagnating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the garment industry. The discussion centered around climate vulnerabilities impacting workers and supply chains, including extreme flooding and rising temperatures, and the importance of increasing climate adaptation efforts across the value chain. Panelists explored the economic and human cost of action and how industry-wide collaboration can drive meaningful change.

TIWW, an initiative convened by Fair Wear, the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and Cascale, “envisages a garment and footwear industry that realizes its full potential to ensure dignity for workers in decent jobs, thriving businesses along the supply chain, and a positive impact on the planet.” In addition to Griesbeck Garcia, the webinar featured Brian Wakamo, research support specialist at the Global Labor Institute at Cornell University ILR School, and Prakash Menakel Philip, global director of strategy and impact at Cotton Connect.

Griesbeck Garcia gave an overview of TIWW’s history and detailed the development of three industry-wide metrics – greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, wages, and purchasing practices – to annually measure progress and drive action across the garment and footwear sector. She shared a snapshot of TIWW’s dashboard and explained how it synthesizes feedback and data from over 1,400 suppliers across 63 countries. She highlighted this year’s GHG scores, noting varied progress across the garment sector, with improvements in some areas and stagnation in others.

Griesbeck Garcia referenced insights from 2022 data provided by Cascale, Worldly, Textile Exchange, and Apparel Impact Institute (aii), which showed that emissions from the garment sector stood at 0.879 gigatons of CO2e. She noted that the Tier 2 stage was the biggest contributor, accounting for over 50 percent of the industry’s total emissions. Comparatively, the raw material stage contributed 21 percent, intermediate processing 15 percent, and finished product manufacturing 9 percent. Garcia emphasized the data showed a stagnating decrease in emissions, primarily due to efficiency improvements within the value chain being offset by a rise in material demand and an increase in fiber volumes.

Highlighting the impact of the climate crisis on regions crucial to the garment sector, Griesbeck Garcia asserted that to remain within the 1.5℃ climate target, the sector must achieve a 45 percent reduction by 2030 (based on a 2019 baseline year) and carbon neutrality by 2050. Griesbeck Garcia noted that the 1 percent decrease between the first and third cycles of the GHG emissions metric was a clear indication of the industry’s limited progress in reducing global warming.

Griesbeck Garcia asserted that the garment industry’s current mitigation efforts have failed to recognize the impacts of the climate crisis on workers and their communities. She called on stakeholders across the value chain to work towards a shared vision to build trust and enable collective action. Finally, she noted the need for industry-wide collaboration to support a power shift and systems change across the value chain, emphasizing that this is only possible if stakeholders come together to share successful and scalable solutions that amplify reach and effectiveness.

TIWW will be hosting its final Deep Dive of 2024, which will focus on the living wages metric. The panel will discuss how to tackle barriers to achieving living wages for workers along the value chain. It will explore the critical role of data and social dialogue in closing the wage gap, as well as the importance of worker involvement in shaping solutions. You can register here to join the discussion.

Originally published in Mary Kay’s 2024 Sustainability Report

For Mary Kay, it’s mission critical: we’ve been accelerating our digital innovation efforts to unleash the full potential of women entrepreneurs. From revolutionizing Mary Kay’s Independent Beauty Consultants’ (IBCs) businesses and their customers’ experience to pioneering gender equality research in algorithms and artificial intelligence – inclusive digital upskilling is the keystone of tech transformation for a sustainable future.

DIGITAL INNOVATION AT MARY KAY

We have launched innovative digital tools, and award-winning apps featuring augmented reality (AR) to connect the Independent Beauty Consultants (IBCs) with their customers in more effective and seamless ways. We’re improving the brand experience not only for the IBCs but also for their customers around the world.

The Mary Kay InTouch® mobile platform provides millions of IBCs around the world with 24-hour access to information and services to effectively manage their Mary Kay business.In Europe, our award-winning Link & Learn is an integrated, education platform comprising a robust learning curriculum IBCs can access anytime anywhere.Mary Kay® Skin Analyzer is a tool that brings skin care and technology together at one’s fingertips to help customers create a customized skin care routine.The newly launched Mary Kay Interactive Catalog brings catalogs to life with easy product ordering, GIFs and videos, shareable wish lists, instant augmented reality makeovers to apply makeup trends and color products for real life application and more.

Recognition: In 2023, Mary Kay earned an ASTRA AWARD in the category “Continuous Education and Upskilling,” by SELDIA, the European Direct Selling Association. The award recognizes our commitment to developing, training, and upskilling the community of employees, the IBCs as well as women entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs around the world.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AWARD

EQUALITY RESEARCH IN AI

Addressing potential gender bias in new technologies and working to ensure that AI technology is designed to foster equality is another path for Mary Kay to demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity as core to our mission of enriching women’s lives.

In 2020, Mary Kay partnered with the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) to pioneer a new field of research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and to advocate for an “equality by design” approach.

The initiative culminated with the launch of a new set of legal standards in October 2023 – The Principles on Equality by Design in Algorithmic Decision-Making, developed by the ERT in consultation with international experts.

Did you know:

37% of women worldwide do not have access to the internet.

Source: International Telecommunication Union. Facts and Figures 2022 – The gender digital divide (itu.int)

CINCINNATI, December 9, 2024 /3BL/ – Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS) published its Fiscal Year 2024 Community Impact Report, which includes information and data about the company’s philanthropic initiatives that it supported during the last fiscal year through Cintas Cares.

The FY’24 Community Impact Report covers the company’s fiscal year from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

>> FY’24 Cintas Community Impact Report

Cintas Cares is the umbrella under which Cintas engages with its local communities in addition to charitable and philanthropic organizations. It provides a broader platform for the company’s employee-partners to make an impact in the communities it serves.

“At Cintas, our philanthropic initiatives are at the heart of who we are. They reflect our dedication to making a positive impact in the communities we serve,” said Todd Schneider, Cintas President and CEO. “The Community Impact Report is not just a document; it’s a testament to our commitment to a Shared Drive for Better and working together as partners for a better tomorrow.”

Each year, Cintas employee-partners throughout North America participate in enterprise-wide programs and fundraisers and offer additional support to local organizations doing good in their local communities. This includes monetary donations, in-kind donations, and active fundraising for key charitable and not-for-profit organizations.

Highlights outlined in the report include:

Over four million articles of clothing have been donated by Cintas employee-partners during our 20-year partnership with Matthew 25: Ministries.Cintas employee-partners helped raise $111,208 to directly support families of fallen firefighters through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb events.Cintas employee-partners raised $106,000 for the American Cancer Society in FY’24, a 28% increase over the past year.Since 2016, Cintas has certified more than 1 million people in the American Heart Association’s lifesaving first aid and CPR programs, including a free-to-the-public program with the Cincinnati Bengals, in which 500 participants were trained in life-saving skills.The Cintas Partner Assistance Fund awarded more than $233,000 in assistance to employee-partners impacted by natural disasters and personal hardships.

For more information about Cintas’ Philanthropic activities, visit cintas.com/community-impact.

About Cintas Corporation

Cintas Corporation helps more than one million businesses of all types and sizes get Ready™ to open their doors with confidence every day by providing products and services that help keep their customers’ facilities and employees clean, safe, and looking their best. With offerings including uniforms, mats, mops, towels, restroom supplies, workplace water services, first aid and safety products, eye-wash stations, safety training, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems and alarm service, Cintas helps customers get Ready for the Workday®. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas is a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.

On this episode of Healthy Outcomes, Baker Tilly’s host Mark Ross interviews Dr. Kate Goodrich, Chief Medical Officer at Humana. Together, they discuss the transformative potential of value-based care, specifically senior-focused healthcare innovation, and more.

Topics of discussion include:

The differences between senior-focused value-based care and the traditional fee-for-service modelHow senior-focused primary care improves patient outcomes and provider satisfactionThe ways that specific brands are leading senior-focused primary care innovation innovative chargeEncouraging results from Humana’s partnership with Harvard University in studying senior-focused primary care modelsHow investing more in primary care leads to cost savingsThe benefits to a team-based care approach focused on seniors, and how this approach can mitigate physician burnout

Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist to hear more about the healthcare team.

Covia proudly recognizes National Miners Day. On this occasion, Covia pays tribute to current and former miners, whose work is the first step in creating critical materials and everyday products that the world relies on. We acknowledge their invaluable skills, unwavering dedication, and relentless efforts, and honor their steadfast commitment to safety and well-being. on this day, please join me in recognizing your fellow team member with a simple “thank you”.

It’s said, “If it can’t be grown, it must be mined.” Many people are unaware of what it takes to mine and process the raw minerals that are essential in the products they use. It’s hard work, and today we celebrate and thank the Covia team members who are experts in responsible and safe mining practices. Their work is the starting point for innovation in materials science—and in the manufacture of countless valuable products. Please join us in recognizing their contributions!

Victoria’s Secret & Co. recently received a Silver Award in the Sustainability, Environment, & Climate Category for the Fourth Annual Anthem Awards thanks to a unique collaboration with four Alabama cotton family farms. In addition, VS&Co also received a Bronze Award for the launch of its 2023 Adaptive Collection in the category of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, they’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities.

In 2023, VS&Co embarked on a first-of-its-kind initiative to purchase cotton directly from four Alabama family farms – one Black-owned, and three women-owned. This marks a significant departure from traditional supply chain models in the fashion industry, which typically relies on intermediaries to ship, process, and sell in bulk. Rather, this direct and transparent relationship with cotton partners eliminates intermediaries, so farmers receive all of the proceeds from their crops which in turn supports their land, livelihoods, families, and communities for future generations.

In October 2023, VS&Co announced the launch of VS & PINK Adaptive, our first-ever collection of intimates for women with disabilities. We’re incredibly honored to have launched the Adaptive Collection by closely partnering with industry experts and changemakers, including the Runway of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works toward a future of inclusion.

“This is a really proud moment for our company,” said Melinda “Mel” McAfee, Chief Human Resources and Legal Officer, VS&Co. “These initiatives give us the opportunity to support women in meaningful ways through innovative programs that are making a positive impact in the world.”

The Fourth Annual Anthem Awards was the most competitive season yet with more than 2,300 entries submitted from 34 countries worldwide. Anthem winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences judges.

For more information and to see all the winners, visit anthemawards.com. To learn more about these projects, review our 2024 Women’s Impact Report here.