Tag: 3BL

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Predictions of the artificial intelligence boom from just two years ago were prone to extremes: On one hand, there were rose-color-tinged tales of AI solving every problem, and on the other, dystopian visions of a world ruled by robots. Both seem to have crashed into reality.

At the third annual Impact Data Summit hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth at the company’s Tech Hub in Manhattan, “pragmatic optimism” and “idealistic realism” were the watchwords.

Held during United Nations Week, the summit drew leaders from across politics, multilateral organizations, academia, nonprofits and the tech world to share insights on how to use technology and data for good. Discussions ranged from narrowing the data inequality gap to cultivating future data talent to responsible regulation. The day was laced with real-world examples of inclusive AI in action and how public-private partnerships can accelerate impact.

For example, an initiative called DISHA, or Data Insights for Social Humanitarian Action, brings together technologists, academics, philanthropists and other partners to scale AI products. DISHA, led by the U.N. Global Pulse innovation lab, recently unveiled a new product that identifies damaged buildings from satellite images following a disaster event six times faster than on-the-ground experts, said Katya Klinova, who leads data and AI efforts for the lab.

“Humanitarians need this analysis as soon as possible,” she said. “Every hour can mean the difference between lives saved and lost, and these projects only become possible when, across many organizations, people work as one team.”

In Rwanda, global AI consultancy Sand Technologies wanted to pilot a “clinic in a box” — a way of harnessing AI in rural areas to supercharge diagnostics, said founder and CEO Fred Swaniker.

Today, Swaniker said, the health ministry can see how many babies were born on a given day and where disease is flaring by district. “It’s shifted the entire healthcare system from being reactive and expensive to be more predictive and preventative — and at large scale.”

Here are four takeaways on how to harness AI and data science responsibly, inclusively and in ways that will benefit the most people:

01 
People facing the challenge need to be part of the solution

A recent report revealed that AI will add $15.7 trillion to the global economy, said Gayan Peiris, an advisor for data, technology and AI to the U.N. Development Programme. However, only 10% will benefit from it, he said: “We need to ensure we build a future where our global south is not just users of AI, they are part of this.”

In India, Manu Chopra co-founded the AI nonprofit Karya, which pays its Indian workers, many of them women, far above the minimum wage to train AI systems. One project employed 30,000 low-income women across six language groups, and the resulting AI model was “less misogynistic, it’s more intentional,” he said. “It serves our communities better.”

It’s particularly important to listen to and support young people, because the stakes are highest for them. Rumman Chowdhury is U.S. Science Envoy for artificial intelligence and the co-founder and CEO of Humane Intelligence, and she discussed a recent visit to the South Pacific, where she met with young tech entrepreneurs who were developing AI-powered solutions to address the region’s challenges with rising sea levels.

“One young woman was pitching a hydroponics AI startup that actually was already yielding cheaper and more bioavailable vegetables,” Chowdhury says. “So they are the ones that are tackling the big problems, because the big problems overwhelmingly face them.”

02 
Innovation doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel

“Is that an AI-shaped problem?” is a question Sam Miller’s colleagues would often ask. Miller is the director of Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator, and she said some challenges just aren’t relevant to AI.

Swaniker agreed. Just because generative AI is new and exciting doesn’t mean it’s right for the job, he said. “People have suddenly forgotten that AI has been around for 40 years, and there’s a lot of other tools before large language models. Large language models are almost like a hammer looking for a nail … Start with the problem, not the technology.”

That was echoed later in the day by Caitlin Augustin, the vice president of products and programs at Datakind, which uses data science and AI to improve the capabilities, reach and scale of social impact organizations. “That is the key to making AI, to making any solution available to all – you have to build it in the context that it will be used,” she said. Don’t build a complex model for an organization with connectivity issues. Don’t build a tool for the desktop if your clients are all mobile phone users. “You have to invest in solving the problem, and build the solution to match the context it will be used in.”

03 
Responsible regulation builds trust

You wouldn’t want to board a plane if there were no safety rules in place, said Caroline Louveaux, Mastercard’s chief privacy and data responsibility officer. “Good regulation can benefit everyone,” she said, adding that it can boost trust and provide legal certainty, and should be aimed at areas that present real risk to people, like hiring and health care. Standardizing regulations globally is equally important: “AI does not have any borders, so we need to have consistency as much as possible,” she said.

What else is missing from the discussions about ethical AI? Standardized measurements and benchmarking and a strong audit and certification ecosystem, said Navrina Singh, the CEO and founder of Credo AI, a startup that builds software that provides oversight and accountability of AI systems. “There’s amazing new governance structures that companies are putting in place, but as you look inside the hood, you see all these measurements are missing.”

In a separate panel on global coordination of data standards, Dana Imad Hamzah, the assistant undersecretary of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ministry of Sustainable Development, pointed to the work her country is doing to understand the data they have and how to ensure it’s accurate, accessible and fit to deliver valuable insights.

“There’s such need for someone to take on ownership and coordination of standard-setting and consistent approaches,” said Payal Dalal, the executive vice president of global programs for the Center for Inclusive Growth, who led the panel. “It sounds like in Bahrain, you’ve got a blueprint and a template that many other governments can follow so that we can really harness the power of data.”

04 
Despite geopolitical changes, cooperation is necessary for inclusive AI

“It’s instructive to look at the lessons learned,” said Jon Huntsman, Mastercard’s vice chairman and president for Strategic Growth. “What has [technology] done for humanity? Where has it misfired? What governing structures have been good versus less good? Let history be our guide … The inclusive nature of what we’re embarking on must be part of it. The divisions globally are too profound.”

Carme Artigas Brugal, the co-chair of the U.N.’s co-chair AI Advisory Body, echoed his remarks. “We can compete for market share. We can compete for technology leadership, but we cannot compete for safety, and we cannot compete for human rights.”

We are only beginning to realize the societal impacts of technology, from mental health changes to shifts in the workplace, and that requires a sophisticated understanding of technology’s implications and a global dialogue about the benefits of AI and how they can be shared, particularly in Africa, said Amandeep Singh Gill, the U.N. Secretary-General’s envoy on technology. “By investing there, we can make sure we get our AI future right.”

Originally published by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Follow the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth’s journey to advance equitable and sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion around the world by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

United Supermarkets, a division of Albertsons Companies, and Mrs Baird’s have kicked off the beginning of the Teachers on the Rise program for the twelfth year, an effort by the two companies to recognize local teachers nominated for their work by their students.

Every month during the school year, three teachers across Texas are recognized — one from an elementary school, one from a middle school/junior high, and one from a high school. Each winning teacher will receive a $100 gift card from United Supermarkets, a $100 American Express gift card from Tyler’s Barbeque in Amarillo, a $100 Amazon gift card courtesy of Horse Creek Boutique in Spearman and a gift basket full of Mrs Baird’s goodies. Each student who nominates a winning teacher will also win a $50 American Express gift card from Mrs Baird’s.

At the end of the year, all winning teachers are invited to a banquet where they will have the opportunity to win dozens of door prizes in addition to a $1,000 grand prize.

“We are so excited to once again bring recognition to teachers across the Panhandle for the amazing work they do with the children in our communities,” said Abie Rampy, Director of Public Relations for United Supermarkets. “We know teachers constantly go above and beyond for children. This is just a small way to show them how much we appreciate them.”

“Mrs Baird’s is proud to continue our partnership with United Supermarkets for our twelfth year for Teachers On The Rise,” said Shane Sumrow, representative for Mrs Baird’s. “Both companies were founded in Texas more than a century ago and honoring teachers is a way to give back to our communities who have given so much to us over the years.”

The entry website can be found here: www.MrsBTeacher.com.

See original article at The United Family and read more about Albertsons Companies and our Recipe for Change on our website.

As previously seen on the CSRHub blog. 

We considered many names for our site—in fact we spent our first year and a half under a different name—EkoHub. We liked “Eko” — coming from the Greek word Oikos, related to economy, ecology, and “home” or social concerns. From the beginning, we believed the word “Hub” reflected our desire to be at the center of the sustainability area, providing knowledge, harmony, and consensus among the hundreds of experts judging the ESG performance of companies. 

We bought the web URL for ESGHub in 2007, and considered putting “ESG” (Environment, Social, Governance) ahead of hub. 

However, we chose CSR, the term used for Corporate Social Responsibility, because our mission is to help corporations become more responsible for integrating sustainability into their core values and performance. We also wanted to make sure our community understood that we were bringing many frameworks together through our consensus “Big Data” algorithm to help companies and the world move forward toward sustainability. 

We considered separating our name into two parts and calling ourselves “CSR Hub”. But, we wanted to indicate that we were taking an integrative and holistic approach to sustainability, by including all types of stakeholders in our system. We debated which letters to capitalize. We felt that all parts of corporate social responsibility were equal, so we capitalized “C,” “S,” and “R.” We put our part—the “Hub”—with 
only an initial capital, so that people wouldn’t think our name rhymes with “shrub!” 

As my mom said about one of our cats, she’d answer to any name, as long she got fed! We’ll respond even if you call us EkoHub, ESGHub, or CSR Hub…but our formal name of CSRHub has served us well, over the past 16 years!

Bahar Gidwani is CTO and Co-founder of CSRHub. He has built and run large technology-based businesses for many years. Bahar holds a CFA, worked on Wall Street with Kidder, Peabody, and with McKinsey & Co. Bahar has consulted to a number of major companies and currently serves on the board of several software and Web companies. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy. He plays bridge, races sailboats, and is based in New York City.

About CSRHub

CSRHub offers the most comprehensive global set of Consensus ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ratings, information, and tools. CSRHub’s business intelligence system measures the ESG business impact that drives corporate and investor sustainability decisions. Founded in 2007, CSRHub covers 55,000 public and private companies, and provides ESG performance scores on over 35,000 companies from 135 industries in 210 countries. Our Big Data platform uses algorithms to aggregate, normalize and weight ESG metrics from 933 sources to produce a strong consensus signal on corporate sustainability performance.

Stakeholder scrutiny of corporate ESG practices is on the rise.

Investors are increasingly expecting Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments from companies, while regulatory bodies enforce stricter disclosure requirements. Informed consumers expect ethically produced goods, and employees prefer to work for companies with strong ESG values.

This convergence of factors makes it imperative for companies to be aware of the unique ESG risk factors their industries face.

In this post we’ll examine the specific ESG risks faced by the following industries:

Consumer and Industrial GoodsTechnologyEnergyRisk and Financial Services

Consumer and Industrial Goods 

The Consumer and Industrial Goods (CIG) industry encompasses a wide range of products that are essential for everyday life and industrial processes. This includes consumer goods like food, beverages, clothing, electronics, and household products, as well as industrial goods such as machinery, equipment, and raw materials used in manufacturing and production.

ESG risk factors specific to CIG

Environmental Risks 

Resource depletion: Overuse of natural resources can lead to shortages and increased costs.Pollution and waste: Production processes often generate significant waste and emissions, impacting air, soil, land, and water quality.Climate change: The industry is susceptible to the effects of climate change, such as supply chain disruptions due to extreme weather events.

Social Risks 

Labor practices: Ensuring fair labor practices and safe working conditions is critical, especially in global supply chains.Product safety: Companies must ensure their products are safe for consumers, complying with health and safety regulations.Community impact: Operations can significantly impact local communities, requiring careful management of relationships and contributions to local development.

Governance Risks 

Compliance: Staying compliant with a myriad of regulations across different regions can be challenging and costly.Ethical business practices: Ensuring ethical conduct in business practices, including anti-corruption measures, is essential for maintaining trust and reputation.Transparency in reporting: Companies are expected to provide clear and accurate reporting on their ESG performance.

Impact of SEC climate disclosures and other regulations on the CIG industry

While the SEC rules don’t cover Scope 3 emissions (emissions from indirect activities along the supply chain), other global regulations do, pushing firms to integrate ESG considerations into their risk management frameworks.

The complexity of reporting on Scope 3 emissions poses significant challenges, as consumer markets companies often function within a value chain ecosystem that includes thousands of suppliers. Many private sector companies in the supply chain are not subject to ESG disclosure rules and may not be prepared to respond to these requests for data.

Technology Industry 

The technology industry consists of companies involved in the development, production, and distribution of technology products and services. This includes sectors such as software, hardware, telecommunications, and media. Tech companies range in size from large multinational corporations to small startups.

Key ESG risk factors specific to the tech sector

Environmental Risks 

Energy consumption: Data centers and other tech infrastructure consume significant amounts of energy, contributing to carbon emissions.Electronic waste: Rapid obsolescence of tech products leads to large volumes of electronic waste, which can be hazardous if not properly managed.Resource extraction: Manufacturing tech products often requires the extraction of rare and valuable materials, leading to environmental degradation from mining activities.

Social Risks 

Labor practices: Ensuring fair labor practices, especially in manufacturing facilities, is crucial to preventing exploitation and maintaining ethical standards.User privacy: Protecting user data and ensuring privacy is a significant concern, given the vast amounts of personal information tech companies handle.

Governance Risks 

Regulatory compliance: Tech companies must navigate complex regulatory environments, including data protection laws and cybersecurity regulations.Ethical business practices: Maintaining ethical standards in AI development, algorithm transparency, and content moderation is essential to building trust.

Impact of SEC climate disclosures and other regulations on the tech industry

Given the prevalence of climate action commitments in the technology, media, and telecommunications sector, many companies are subject to SEC climate disclosures and other ESG regulations. They must produce detailed disclosures on their plans and progress for meeting these commitments, including Scope 3 emissions when applicable.

Tech providers play a critical role in the climate transition, offering solutions for carbon accounting and enabling smarter supply chains, factories, cities, and energy grids. The global regulatory requirements present an opportunity for these companies to double down on developing technologies that support ESG reporting requirements.

Energy Industry 

The energy sector encompasses companies involved in the extraction, production, distribution, and sale of energy, including fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), renewable energy (wind, solar, hydroelectric), and utilities. This sector is critical to powering economies and supporting daily life, but it also faces significant environmental and regulatory challenges.

Key ESG risk factors specific to energy companies

Environmental Risks 

Emissions: High greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel extraction and consumption contribute significantly to climate change.Resource depletion: Extracting non-renewable resources like oil and gas leads to depletion and environmental degradation.Pollution: Oil spills, methane leaks, and other forms of pollution can have severe environmental impacts.

Social Risks 

Community impact: Energy projects can disrupt local communities, in some cases leading to displacement and placing the health of community members at risk.Health and safety: Ensuring the health and safety of workers in hazardous environments like drilling rigs and refineries is crucial.Energy access: Addressing energy poverty and ensuring equitable access to energy resources is a major concern.

Governance Risks 

Regulatory compliance: Navigating a complex network of local, national, and international regulations is challenging and costly.

Impact of regulatory frameworks on energy firms regarding ESG disclosures

Energy companies and utilities are continually investing in infrastructure to improve asset resilience and operational reliability. However, regulatory frameworks introduce additional complexities. These regulations delineate between routine costs associated with reliably supplying energy to customers or recovering from typical weather events and the climate-related disclosures required under many global disclosure rules.

The need for accurate and reliable data presents unique challenges for companies with assets like pipelines, transmission lines, drilling rigs, or offshore wind turbines. Expanded global disclosure rules, beyond the industry’s already extensive reporting requirements, as well as an accelerated timeline for sustainability reporting, will likely require increased investments and enhancements of existing processes and systems.

Risk and Financial Services Industry 

The Risk and Financial Services sector includes a wide range of businesses that manage financial transactions, investments, and risk – such as banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and other financial institutions. These organizations play a crucial role in the economy by facilitating capital flow, managing risk, and supporting economic stability.

Key ESG risk factors specific to financial services companies

Environmental Risks 

Climate risk exposure: Financial firms must assess the climate risks associated with their portfolios, including the impact of physical and transition risks on their assets.

Social Risks 

Fair Lending practices: Ensuring equitable access to financial services and preventing discriminatory lending practices.Consumer protection: Protecting consumers from unfair practices and ensuring transparency in financial products and services.

Governance Risks 

Ethical conduct: Maintaining high ethical standards and preventing issues like fraud, money laundering, and corruption.

Impact of regulatory frameworks on financial firms regarding ESG disclosures

Financial services firms face increasing scrutiny under global disclosure regulations, requiring them to transition to investor-grade ESG reporting and upgrade current processes and controls that fall short. One of the most challenging aspects is measuring financed emissions.

While Scope 3 emissions are not covered by the SEC rules, other global regulations mandate reporting on this topic.

Financial firms should expect to have limited comparable reporting data from their counterparties about climate risks and emissions. In California, climate disclosure requirements include private companies that meet certain criteria, but many private market organizations will not be subject to these reporting requirements, presenting an additional data collection challenge.

Antea Group offers ESG Advisory Services to ensure you’re prepared to comply with new climate rules and regulations, regardless of your industry.

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

Located in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, Carter’s BBQ stands as a symbol of American grit and the enduring spirit of small businesses. Featured in GoDaddy’s Made in America documentary series, the journey of Darren W. Carter and his wife Theresa Carter, the founders of Carter’s BBQ, embodies the values of inclusivity and opportunity that GoDaddy champions through its mission.

Made in America: Ohio highlights the transformative efforts of the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI), a key partner in GoDaddy’s social impact initiative, Empower by GoDaddy.

Ohio, a region rich in diversity, spans the bustling industrial landscape of Cleveland to the serene vistas of rural Appalachia. According to GoDaddy Venture Forward research, there are over 490,000 active microbusinesses in Ohio, making it a hub of entrepreneurial activity.

Together, ECDI and Empower by GoDaddy provide essential education, mentorship and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs across Ohio, fostering growth and innovation in communities that have historically faced economic challenges.

The story of Carter’s BBQ began as a passion project, rooted in a love for authentic barbecue and a desire to bring people together through great food.

According to GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research, 58% of US entrepreneurs report feeling little to no stress, anxiety or burnout, or feel neutral when owning a microbusiness. And “making an impact in my community” ranked in the top three responses from entrepreneurs when asked what brings them the most joy while operating their businesses.

Darren’s transition from working at a steel mill to becoming a barbecue pitmaster was unconventional but crucial for his emotional and physical wellbeing. With unwavering support from Theresa, Darren took a leap of faith, which led to the creation of Carter’s BBQ, a venture rooted in his love for barbecue and his desire to recreate the family traditions he cherished from his childhood.

Beyond barbecue, Darren and Theresa are foster and adoptive parents, providing love and care for the children in their lives. They identify their business as an important way to show their kids they can make it in the world and build generational wealth. The Carter’s often participate in fundraising and community events, and even hosted a Father’s Day barbecue – featured in the latest Made in America season – that raised over $3K for foster youth in their community.

Participation in the Empower by GoDaddy program was a turning point for Carter’s BBQ.

The digital training and tools provided through the Empower by GoDaddy program helped enhance their online presence and refine their marketing strategies, ultimately elevating Carter’s BBQ to the next level. Now, the Carters can sell their seasonings and sauces through the website, connecting Carter’s BBQ with a broader audience.

The collaboration with ECDI and GoDaddy not only provided technical skills but also instilled confidence and strategic vision, essential components for sustainable growth in today’s digital landscape. Darren’s commitment to his craft and community is evident in his efforts to give back through initiatives like the “Unknowns Black Pitmasters” community group and podcast.

As Carter’s BBQ continues to thrive, it serves as an inspiration to other small business owners navigating their own paths.

Watch the inspiring story of Carter’s BBQ and explore more episodes of Made in America, now streaming on YouTube.

Empower by GoDaddy Spotlight Series: By partnering with diverse local nonprofits and community organizations around the world, Empower by GoDaddy aims to reach those who haven’t otherwise had access by offering skills training, resources, and mentoring to help accelerate their business journeys. This article is part of the Empower by GoDaddy spotlight series that shines a light on the individuals who make this unique initiative possible.

Three Entergy Louisiana employees were honored with certificates of commendation from Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome during the Sept. 25 Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council meeting for their stakeholder engagement efforts during and after Hurricane Francine.

Seth Schilling, region customer service manager; Desiree Harris, customer service manager; and Traye Granger, region distribution operations senior manager, were recognized for their dedication to the community in the aftermath of the storm. Their certificates praised their “selfless service and commitment to the safety and well-being of citizens,” calling it a testament to the spirit of public service.

In addition to recognizing the Entergy employees, Broome acknowledged the efforts of those on the frontlines, including some with the Baton Rouge Fire Department, East Baton Rouge emergency medical services and the Baton Rouge Department of Public Works. She thanked the Entergy team for effective communication and strong stakeholder engagement before, during and after the storm.

“Your quick and coordinated efforts did not and do not go unnoticed, and certainly because of your commitment, lives were saved, and critical services were restored in record time,” Broome said. “Thank you for putting our citizens’ safety above all else. Your work truly embodies the spirit of resilience and community, and we are deeply grateful for what you have done.”

Councilman Daryl Hurst also praised Entergy Louisiana’s efforts.

“I want to give Entergy a huge commendation for the level of support they provided throughout the storm, but throughout the year as well,” Hurst said. “Thank you for the impact you make on our community.”

Michelle Bourg, Entergy vice president of customer service, expressed her gratitude for the recognition and highlighted the strong relationship with the communities across East Baton Rouge Parish.

“We’re incredibly grateful to be recognized for our efforts and to have the opportunity to serve the people of East Baton Rouge Parish,” Bourg said. “We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the city and parish in the future as we work together to ensure the safety and well-being of our citizens.”

Hurricane Francine made landfall as a Category 2 storm in Terrebonne Parish on Sept. 11, knocking out power to more than 300,000 Entergy customers across southeast Louisiana, including the Greater Baton Rouge area. The storm brought heavy rain and winds exceeding 100 mph, causing widespread damage to vegetation and electric infrastructure.

Entergy Louisiana continues to make strategic investments to improve service reliability and strengthen the state’s power grid against extreme weather. In April, the Louisiana Public Service Commission approved phase one of the company’s comprehensive grid resilience program, a five-year initiative including 2,100 projects affecting approximately 69,000 structures. These efforts are anticipated to help avoid up to $1.2 billion in storm restoration costs.

###

Cultivating a safe work environment plays a critical role in everything we do at Covia. From our plant locations to our offices – safety and health remain a consistent focus to ensure the well-being of our Team Members, customers, and communities.

In 2024, Covia continued to innovate our strategies and workflows to further improve safety for our team members. Read on to find out more about the important work our Safety and Health team has completed over the past year, a preview of upcoming safety innovations, and a closer look at Covia’s Safety Days.

Safety and Health Team Highlights: Chris Thynne & Mona Legin

Covia’s approach to safety is outlined in our Safety and Health Management System (SHMS) – a comprehensive collection of policies, guidelines, and procedures that help guide everything we do. Our Safety and Health team helps ensure Covia’s plants and locations are following the SMHS and creating the safe work environment that’s critical to our operation.

We want to highlight two members of the Safety and Health team who have helped in the implementation and management of recent key technologies. Chris Thynne, Safety and Health Manager, and Mona Legin, Ergonomics Specialist, are invaluable team members who have played important roles in our safety efforts.

Chris started working with Covia back in 1988 as a quality control and environmental supervisor. Over the years, he held several positions at Covia until landing in the safety and health department in 2011. He is currently part of the safety and health team.

Mona earned her bachelor’s in human resources and started working at Covia’s Quebec, Canada plant while still a student. During her seven-year career at Covia, she worked in a variety of roles at the plant level before being offered the position of corporate ergonomics specialist. In her current role, Mona monitors workplace ergonomics to help make a difference in the long-term musculoskeletal health of Covia’s employees.

Chris, Mona, and the safety and health team have worked diligently to implement innovative safety measures that further reduce the risk of injury in the workplace – including wearable safety sensors and digital workplace inspections.

Preventing Injury with Safety Sensors

In March of 2024, Covia started rolling out new safety sensors to team members at a select handful of locations. This self-coaching tool provides instant feedback to team members when the sensor detects “hazardous movements.” Movements that are flagged can include instances such as lifting a heavy object with the back instead of the legs. The goal of implementing these safety sensors is to help team members consider their body movements and act in a way that reduces the risk of developing a musculoskeletal disorder.

The sensors, which are clipped to the collar or arm of team members on the plant floor, flags any back or shoulder movement that puts them at risk. When a hazardous movement is flagged, the sensor buzzes and provides feedback on how to correct the movement. The data from these movements is then collected so members of the safety and health team can pinpoint where improvements need to be made to provide a safer work environment for the team. This process allows for preventative maintenance to lower the risk of injury.

“Sensor implementation has been very exciting,” Mona said. “I race in to check the sensor dashboard every morning to see the decrease in hazardous movements detected. It’s one of the highlights of my day.”

Covia initiated its exploration into wearable sensors. The process gained momentum when Mona joined the ergonomics team. One of her initial responsibilities was to research different sensors on the market and find one that can meet Covia’s unique needs. Since then, Mona has worked closely with the sensor representative to launch the program across several Covia plants.

“I’m looking forward to expanding the program to every employee, so they know how to keep their body safe,” she said. Covia plans to continue rolling out this innovative safety feature to all our plants.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently recognized Covia, in partnership with Soter Analytics, for the implementation of our wearable sensor program by awarding us with the Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovations Award. When presenting the award, NIOSH noted that Covia demonstrated an exceptional commitment to leveraging technology in innovative ways that exceed regulatory standards, thereby improving the safety and health of our employees.

Streamlining Safety with Digital Workplace Inspections

The safety and health team has been hard at work preparing a digital mobile equipment inspection pilot to start later this year. By utilizing a digital workflow and tablets for inspections, Covia can ensure proper inspections are completed and the correct actions taken.

One advantage of a digital system over traditional pen and paper is that the safety and health team can enforce SMHS procedures more effectively – providing additional insight on a regular basis to review risk and potential defects in a piece of equipment.

Digital workplace inspections would ensure team members could not start working on a project until the proper work permits are filed, the SLAM risk assessment is completed, and checks are in place before the project begins. This helps keep team members safe. With these new technologies, Covia can better utilize data to understand what’s happening so we can modify our programs or policies to better protect our team.

Covia is looking forward to implementing digital workplace inspections later this year.

Building a Safe Work Environment

Covia provides employees with regular training on our safety policies and procedures, including annual emergency action drills, as well as required role- or location-specific training, to ensure a proactive approach to incident preparedness and response applicable to each team member.

Part of that training includes the “Safety Starts with Me” program – an employee-led engagement initiative that helps to build rapport among team members to create a positive work environment at their plant.

“A safe work environment comes down to workplace culture,” Mona said. “It comes from experience and strong communication.”

The program stems from the idea that everyone at the plant is on the same level – there is no hierarchy when it comes to safety. All team members want to go home in one piece.

“The key to a successful plant is that they treat each other like family,” Chris said. “Team members look out for one another. That comes from including everyone in the process and not a unilateral decision that is pushed on to everyone else.”

Prioritizing Protection with Safety Days

Covia’s Safety Day program started as a way to have the entire company united in safety at the same time – regardless of location. It allowed our team to take a step back from production to focus solely on safety for a day.

In addition to emergency preparedness, Safety Day encourages plants to focus on different elements of health and safety. For instance, one year a plant might focus on fire drills with the local fire department while the next they practice confined-space rescue drills.

For Safety Day 2024, plants ran mobile-equipment fire drills to learn about new internal policies around mobile-equipment fires. These drills help ensure that all team members are aware of what to do, how to respond, how to interact with first responders, and how to ensure everyone makes it out safely if fire were to break out.

“I remember my first Safety Day” Mona remarked. “I was absolutely impressed by everyone’s dedication to safety. I’ve never heard of a company doing this sort of thing.”

Chris added, “I like how Safety Day challenges our policies and how we would react to hypothetical scenarios. Like, what would we do if a mobile equipment operator had a heart attack? How would we rescue them? How would we get them out of their cab?”

“This is important in case a real crisis scenario was to happen,” Chris continued. “Without practicing and knowing the gaps, our response would be delayed and put people at risk.”

This is why Covia goes the extra mile to educate team members on procedures. From fire extinguisher demonstrations to a mock electrocution where an emergency helicopter was dispatched to evacuate the test person – Covia is invested in maintaining the health and well-being of all of our team members.

For further information regarding Covia’s core value of Safety First and its significance in our operations, please visit CoviaCorp.com.

The Royal Mint’s new Precious Metals Recovery facility uses the PlantPAx® DCS (distributed control system) from Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) to manage and control the gold extraction process.

After two years of design and manufacture, the plant is now operational and provides a strong foundation for further expansion of this technology to support the world’s challenges with electronic waste, which is simply discarded electrical or electronic devices. The World Health Organization says it’s the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world, increasing three times faster than the world’s population.

The PlantPAx DCS at The Royal Mint’s facility is used to monitor and control a chemical extraction process that can remove gold from e-waste such as printed circuit boards found in discarded mobile phones and laptops. The extraction technology, which was only at lab scale a few years ago, has been successfully scaled and is now operational at its site in Llantrisant, Wales.

E-waste is a major sustainability challenge across the globe, and technologies like this are essential towards carbon reduction and material re-use.

According to Statista, electronic waste is one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams. With 62 million metric tons generated across the world in 2022, the volume of discarded electronic material has nearly doubled since 2010. With e-waste generation forecast to exceed 80 million metric tons by 2030, improved recycling and recovery infrastructure will be needed.

Tony Baker, director of manufacturing innovation at The Royal Mint, said: “The successful collaboration with Rockwell and the deployment of its DCS solution allowed us to demonstrate the technical viability of the technology to operate at scale. This puts us firmly on the road to our 4,000-ton per annum target, and discussions are already well underway with regards to usage of the recovered materials, as are the plans to expand the technology further.”

Learn more about Rockwell’s work to support customers and boost the circular economy.

Building Birmingham Businesses

Supporting the communities in which we live and work is a cornerstone of PNC’s pragmatic approach and empathy-leading philosophy. In 2023, we expanded our previous funding of REV Birmingham, a place-based revitalization and economic development organization working to make the city of Birmingham, Alabama, a more vibrant place for all. Our support is helping to launch the Building Birmingham Businesses Program, which is focused on low- and moderate-income business owners. The program’s goal is to meet entrepreneurs’ unique needs at three different stages of business, from those who have reached their first sale, to those whose sales have grown to the point that they need a physical presence, to businesses already operating with a physical presence. The program will address the businesses’ needs at all three stages, which might include financial education, marketing, accounting expertise, assistance with inventory sourcing, understanding real estate, securing business improvement funding and operational support.

Our Community Affairs group is responsible for the overall corporate strategy for charitable giving from the PNC Foundation and for PNC Grow Up Great® and other volunteerism opportunities. In collaboration with PNC’s Regional Presidents organization and the Community Development Banking team, the Community Affairs group provides guidance and assists with local efforts to implement our strategy.

In 2023, PNC provided critical grant funding supporting various nonprofit organizations across the country, including:

Dallas, Texas: The North Texas Food Bank’s Feeding Children initiative provides nutritious foods to children in need throughout the school year and summer months. The Food Bank works with schools and social service programs throughout a 13-county service area.Chicago, Illinois: Ravinia Festival Association’s Music Discovery program enables teaching artists to provide interactive instruction to elementary students in Chicago Public Schools that will help them develop musical knowledge, appreciation and skills.Miami, Florida: Florida Memorial University’s Center for Entrepreneurship was established to serve as a learning hub and solution center for entrepreneurs and help prepare students to be competitive in a rapidly evolving business world.San Diego, California: Just In Time for Foster Youth’s Financial Fitness initiative was designed to provide financial education workshops and encourage saving behavior to aid those in the foster care system to achieve financial stability and self-sufficiency.

Helping Our Youngest Neighbors Grow Up Great

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great supported 10+ MILLION CHILDREN

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great has supported more than 10 million children through grants and educational programs. We provided more than $247 million in grants to organizations championing high-quality early childhood education, and enlisted PNC employees to volunteer more than 1.1 million hours to the cause.

Supporting Early Childhood Education

High-quality early childhood education is the very foundation of a bright and promising future for individuals and society at large. We recognize the significant role educators, caregivers and parents play in early childhood education. That’s why we’re committed to supporting educators and caregivers in giving children the opportunity to Grow Up Great. This initiative was built on the understanding that education is a powerful means for economic and social mobility.

Early this year, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our signature PNC Grow Up Great initiative. Since 2004, we’ve supported early childhood education through this $500 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative. Our goal is to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and in life, with particular emphasis on underserved communities. Through a comprehensive approach that includes grant funding, employee volunteerism, awareness and advocacy efforts, PNC Grow Up Great supports families, educators and community partners. This provides innovative opportunities that enhance learning and development for our youngest community members, setting a path for success that lasts a lifetime.

Since the program’s inception and through the end of 2023, PNC Grow Up Great has supported more than 10 million children through grants and educational programs. We provided more than $247 million in grants to organizations championing high-quality early childhood education and enlisted PNC employees to volunteer more than 1.1 million hours to the cause.

In 2023, we continued our efforts to promote high-quality early learning opportunities in collaboration with PNC Grow Up Great partners. Some examples of the impact on early childhood leaders, organizations and communities working with PNC Grow Up Great include:

PNC’s continued support of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago, a research institute that translates science into tools and strategies to help parents, organizations and communities meet the developmental needs of children. In 2023, the TMW Center expanded its reach by building on the success of a PNC-funded study confirming that parents’ knowledge of brain development contributes to improved language skills later in life by increasing the quantity and quality of talk with their children. These findings have helped to inform the growth of a bilingual, group-based community program, 3Ts-Let’s Talk, which reinforces parents’ understanding of the critical role their talk and interactions which reinforces parents’ understanding of the critical role their talk and interactions play in their children’s foundational brain development, and shares research-based strategies to enhance that development. To date, PNC Grow Up Great has provided support for 3Ts-Let’s Talk in six PNC markets, with three additional markets planned for 2024, benefiting nearly 400 families.As part of our nearly two-decade partnership with Sesame Workshop, the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street and so much more, we created new financial education resources for young children and the parents and caregivers who support them. Sesame Workshop’s mission is to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder. With financial stability remaining a top concern for families with young children, these resources teach foundational financial skills so children can understand the value of money and learn to make wise financial decisions as they grow. The new resources, which include free bilingual videos, activity guides and articles, are distributed by Sesame Street in Communities, a program created to support national and community providers who serve families and help children face challenges big and small.Building on PNC’s longtime collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, nearly 50 Be My Neighbor Day community events were hosted across PNC markets throughout 2023 in cooperation with local public television stations. More than 46,000 attendees, primarily families with young children, participated in these community events. Participants learned about high-quality early childhood resources and learning opportunities in their neighborhood while participating in fun, engaging hands-on activities. In addition to the Be My Neighbor Day community events, PNC Grow Up Great support of Fred Rogers Productions has sustained sponsorship of the PBS television show Alma’s Way, including PNC Grow Up Great recognition for more than 3.2 million viewers during the year. Alma’s Way, a bilingual, animated series, provides positive representation of Hispanic and Black children. It focuses on critical thinking, responsible decision-making and self-awareness. Now in its second season, the show has won back-to-back Imagen Awards for Best Youth Programming and the Kidscreen Award for Best Inclusivity–Preschool Programming. PNC Grow Up Great support also affords a variety of educational awareness efforts, such as custom-branded video content aired on various media channels. Alma’s Way episodes, digital games and resources provide parents and teachers tools to support the development of early childhood critical-thinking problem-solving skills and self-awareness.The PNC Grow Up Great Mobile Learning Adventure (MLA), a mobile early learning experience, visited all 54 PNC markets in 2023, interacting with over 197,000 children and families. The MLA provides an opportunity for parents and caregivers to learn about the importance of early childhood education while engaging in fun activities with their children. Through a series of hands-on activity stations, and together with their families, children learn new words while they explore various careers and professions. This ignites their imaginations for what they hope to be when they grow up.

Volunteerism

Our communities are not simply places where we do business. They are home to our employees and our customers. At PNC, we’re committed to making a difference in these communities, not only with our products and services, but with our time. We share our employees’ passion for our communities and support that passion by empowering volunteerism and participation in our volunteer grant program.

In 2023, PNC employees volunteered a total of 83,433 volunteered hours and earned $400,000 in volunteer grants. A total of 122 organizations have been approved as volunteer partners across 51 of our markets.

To support and encourage our employees’ community commitment, our paid volunteerism policy provides up to 40 hours of paid time off each year to volunteer with approved organizations.

Engaging our community partners across our markets is an important part of our community efforts. For the past seven years, we’ve invited our PNC Grow Up Great nonprofit partners to participate in SkillShare, a unique volunteer program that helps solve some of our partners’ biggest issues, such as donor tracking and electronic inventory systems. This 12-week experience provides an opportunity for teams of employees to enhance their skills, demonstrate leadership capabilities and learn more about the nonprofit world. In 2023, SkillShare expanded to include a racial and social justice cohort and engaged 70 volunteers, providing a total of 2,619 volunteer hours and earning $64,500 in volunteer grants.

PRO BONO PROJECT

PNC Legal Department’s Pro Bono Project offers PNC attorneys and legal professionals an opportunity to provide free legal services to individuals and organizations in their local communities who need, but cannot afford, legal assistance. The program enables PNC attorneys and legal professionals to develop new skills and fulfill practice requirements by working with local legal service providers to do good for the community.

The project is run by a committee of PNC lawyers who periodically approve new pro bono opportunities and encourage their fellow Legal Department colleagues to participate. Now in its eleventh year, the Pro Bono Project continues to grow in participation and expand opportunities to help in PNC communities where PNC employs internal lawyers, and across the U.S. through virtual volunteer opportunities.

In addition to providing pro bono opportunities throughout the year, PNC attorneys participate in the annual “Pro Bono Week” each October, during which the Pro Bono program offers seminars, training sessions and pro bono opportunities across PNC’s footprint. Previous opportunities during Pro Bono Week included assisting with veteran discharge status reviews for the Veterans Consortium and drafting wills for low-income or disabled clients. There’s also a partnership with the PNC Foundation, encouraging volunteering with Sky’s the Limit, an online mentoring platform that matches business professionals as volunteer advisors and mentors to underrepresented, young adult entrepreneurs across the U.S.

The PNC Pro Bono Project continues to partner with the Pro Bono Institute (PBI) on larger projects, including Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, which has grown out of a joint initiative between PNC and PBI to now include more than 40 different financial institutions across the U.S. and parts of Europe. During Financial Institution Pro Bono Day, each financial institution’s legal departments volunteer on pro bono projects on the same day. Some opportunities during Financial Institution Pro Bono Day in 2023 included refugee clinics for children, pardon clinics and name change clinics.

Between 2021 and 2023, 550 PNC volunteers have logged more than 1,600 volunteer hours

SkysTheLimit.org

For young, underrepresented entrepreneurs, nonprofit Sky’s the Limit makes mentoring connections with business professionals seeking skills-based volunteer opportunities through their proprietary digital platform at SkysTheLimit.org. PNC supports that mission by providing opportunities for our employees to take part in support of our racial and social justice volunteer program.

Sky’s the Limit’s young entrepreneurs (generally 18 to 29 years old) are seeking support to develop and launch their own businesses. Participants are 80 percent people of color, 70 percent women and 90 percent low income. Between 2021 and 2023, over 550 PNC volunteers have logged more than 1,600 volunteer hours and earned Sky’s the Limit 10 volunteer grants totaling $28,000.

View the full 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report. 

Water influences every part of our lives. From the drinking water in our taps to distant glaciers and ice sheets, through the waterways contouring our communities and connecting us to expansive watersheds, access to clean water promotes public health, food security, and economic prosperity. The wide-ranging impacts of pollution, population pressures, and extreme weather define what can now be considered a global water crisis. In this climate-changed era, our collective practice of responsible water management must evolve to meet these complexities.

SCS Global Services has published a new eBook, Eight Strategies to Become a Better Water Steward, whicih speaks directly to these challenges and stands as a comprehensive guide designed to help organizations of all sizes navigate the most vital components of responsible water management and stewardship.

The eBook will help global companies to:

Learn about nature-based solutions and innovative technologies that can transform water management practices.Gain insights into water-conscious business operations that can support biodiversity and enhance climate resilience.Discover the differences between achieving net-zero and net-positive water use.Understand the relationship between improving water quality and supporting community development.Access additional resources and frameworks for effective water stewardship.

Download eBook