Featured this week: AAON, Adobe, AIR Products, Alcoa, Allstate, Altria, American Electric Power Inc. (AEP), American Tower, Analog Devices, Inc., Ancestry, Apple, Applied Materials, AvalonBay Communities, Avangrid, Avantor, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bread Financial, Capital One Financial, Catalent, CBRE Group, Cigna, Cisco, Citizens Financial Group, Clorox, CSX, Danaher, Deere, Dolby, Exelon Corporation, eBay, Estée Lauder Companies, EY, FedEx, Fifth Third Bank, General Motors, ICF, Intuit, Iron Mountain, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyBank, Koppers, KPMG LLP, Lam Research, Leidos, Inc., Lowe's, Marsh & McLennan, Merck & Co., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), Moody's, Motorola Solutions, NASDAQ, Navy Federal Credit Union, Nielsen, Pitney Bowes, Prologis, Prudential Financial Inc., Qurate Retail Group, Raytheon Technologies, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Robert Half, SAIC, S&P Global, Splunk, State Street, Sysco, T. Rowe Price, Target, TD Bank Group, Teradata, Texas Instruments, The Hartford, Thermo Fisher Scientific, TIAA, TOYOTA, Verisk Analytics, Waters, Watts Water, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, Wells Fargo, Yum! Brands Inc., Zendesk

The member community convened by Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship is one of a kind. The 500+ companies we serve each year are leaders in environmental, social, and governance action, and the thousands of individuals who make up this network are some of the best in the field! Pictured right: the second annual NYC Japan Parade, sponsored by BCCCC member companies TOYOTA, KPMG LLP, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, EY, and S&P Global.

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Spotlight on You

Joyce Chang from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Xihao Hu from TD Bank Group, and Akila Raman-Vaseghi from Goldman Sachs joined Ida Liu from Citi for a cross-industry conversation on the importance of representation, accountability, and sponsorship for the AAPI community. Some of the group's shared takeaways include:

1. Accountability matters — what gets measured gets done and seeing is believing
2. Storytelling breaks stereotypes — have courageous conversations to build bridges and advance allyship
3. Mentorship and sponsorship are critical — senior, peer and junior mentors offer fresh thinking and also solicit sponsors who will advocate on your behalf to create growth opportunities
4. Communicating effectively is key — strong presentation skills and self-advocacy is important for ongoing success

Ancestry's Deborah Liu was featured throughout the month of May on CNBC's AAPI Amplified, sharing:

"We all bring experience that we have... our cultures, our history, and [we] make this country as rich as it is because we can bring it all together."

In a recent GreenBiz article, John Edelman, Managing Director, Global Engagement at Edelman (and a BCCCC Board Chair of the Advisory Board for Professional Services Sustainability), outlines why SMEs and family business owners can’t afford to sit on the sidelines in the climate fight... along with some interesting findings from the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer survey.

"Globally, there are an estimated 400 million small businesses, and two of every three businesses are owned or managed by families. That means small business is a big deal — collectively, they have a strong voice and responsibility to help reduce emissions," writes Edelman, who offers easy steps small businesses can take to begin their sustainability efforts.

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Companies Celebrating #AAPI Month

Throughout May, Target is celebrating with a series of events and volunteer opportunities for team members hosted by its Asian Business Council. This year’s theme is “Connect. Collaborate. Transform.” and focuses on sharing diverse perspectives and education about the multi-dimensional Asian experience. Target will also feature over 200 Asian-owned brands for guests to shop, identifiable with its “AAPI owned” badges.

The multitude of backgrounds and experiences in the Asian American Pacific Islander community sometimes gets lost in the term “Asian American.”  To celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, members of Prudential's APA business resource group (BRG) for Asian Pacific Islander Americans and their allies each shared deeply personal insights — as well as ways others can broaden their perspective of what it means to be Asian in America. 

“When I say I’m from Iran, I’m dealt with this awkward silence. So I try to proactively share a couple of tidbits of my story and be curious about theirs, because I truly believe everyone has a story. It makes us more connected to each other," shared Sara Taheri, Vice President and Chief Product Owner, Enabling Solutions.

Nielsen published a report, the Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Diverse Intelligence Series, to see what progress has been made with Asian representation in the media. "The good news is yes—there has been a significant increase in Asian representation on screen in 2021," finds the report. But despite improvements, "media content still falls short in meeting the demands of Asian American audiences who want more accurate portrayals. The results of a recent study found that 2/3 of Asian Americans feel there is not enough representation of their identity group on TV, and when they are seen on screen, more than half of Asian American respondents feel the portrayal is inaccurate."

In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Wells Fargo's Orange County Region leadership team partnered with Orange County United Way in painting murals to inspire the students at Demille Elementary School in Midway City, CA. DeMille is the first English and Vietnamese bilingual immersion school in Orange County with 53% of the students identifying as AAPI.

TOYOTA, KPMG LLP, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, EY, and S&P Global sponsored the annual Japan Parade, which took place in New York City on Saturday, May 13, featuring Grand Marshal and Olympic gold medalist, Kristi Yamaguchi (pictured in top photo). 

Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) and its DEI team asked employees to about their AAPI heritage and to highlight a few of their favorite things about their cultures. The video series is available to watch on ADI's YouTube channel.

Altria's Asian employee resource group, EAST, hosted a virtual food network show featuring members and chefs Wissam El-Zein, MBA, Arlene Serbic, and Sharmine Pithawalla. They showed team members how to make a variety of chicken dishes: shish tawook skewers (Middle Eastern), tandoori (Indian), Korean chili, sesame, and honey; and Lebanese fattoush salad, accompanied by a cilantro yogurt chutney.

Navy Federal Credit Union made a charitable donation to Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, a civil and human rights organization working to empower Asian Americans and other connected communities of color to advocate for a fair and equitable society for all.

More News in Corporate Social Responsibility

USA TODAY, in conjunction with market research firm Statista, developed an inaugural "America's Climate Leaders" list, to help cut through the confusion of which companies have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions. More than 60 BCCCCC member companies made the list, including Moody's, Zendesk, JPMorgan Chase, Intuit, Verisk Analytics, S&P Global, Catalent, Clorox, Applied Materials, Prologis, Bread Financial, Adobe, Robert Half, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Lam Research, eBay, Allstate, Lowe's, T. Rowe Price, Target, Nielsen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Raytheon Technologies, Watts Water, ICF, AvalonBay Communities, KeyBank, Danaher, The Hartford, Dolby, Teradata, CBRE Group, Capital One Financial, Waters, General Motors, Estée Lauder Companies, Merck & Co, State Street, Avantor, Deere, Cigna, American Tower, Yum! Brands, Air Products, Alcoa, Cisco, Avangrid, Apple, Leidos, Texas Instruments, FedEx, Koppers, Motorola Solutions, Pitney Bowes, Citizens Financial Group, Qurate Retail Group, Splunk, Analog Devices, Marsh & McLennan, Booz Allen Hamilton, Iron Mountain, Fifth Third Bank, CSX, Sysco, NASDAQ, Exelon, AAON, and Bank of America.

"It is a data-driven recognition of companies that cut their carbon footprint in recent years, a noteworthy achievement for investors, customers, and anyone who is trying to make sense of these still-evolving measures," the report release states. "After months of investigation and data-crunching, an original lineup of 2,000 U.S.-based companies was narrowed to 400 U.S. companies that cut their emissions intensity from 2019 to 2021."

Leidos, Inc. has joined the fight against adolescent suicide and depression, a growing public health crisis in America.

According to the most recent data, intentional self-harm is the third-leading cause of death among teenagers, behind only homicide and unintentional injury. Earlier this year, the CDC published results from its annual Youth Risky Behavior Survey, which showed teen girls and teens who identify as LGBTQ+ are experiencing unprecedented levels of mental distress:

"More than 1 in 4 girls reported they seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, up significantly from 2011," the report states. "More than 1 in 10 girls reported they attempted suicide in 2021, also increasing significantly over the decade."

"In 2021, almost half of LGBTQ+ students seriously considered attempting suicide, nearly 1 in 4 attempted suicides, and nearly 3 in 14 reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness."

Leidos supports a number of causes related to teenage depression as part of its Mission for the Mind campaign.

The Taco Bell Foundation (Taco Bell is a part of the Yum! Brands Inc. family) announced it is awarding more than $10 million in Live Más Scholarships – the most in the nonprofit’s history. The scholarships will be distributed to 980 students, ages 16-26, eager to ignite powerful change within their community and beyond.

This year, the Taco Bell Foundation is giving $2.5 million to Taco Bell restaurant team members and $7.6 million to Taco Bell fans nationwide. Award amounts range from $5,000-$25,000 per recipient.

The Live Más Scholarship is a passion-based scholarship that gives students the tools and resources to boldly pursue their educational dreams. To qualify for the scholarship, applicants must submit a two-minute video describing their passion, a positive change they want to make in the world, and how their education will help them achieve that goal.

In its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, FedEx, convening sponsor of the 2024 International Corporate Citizenship Conference, highlights how teams across the organization are doing their part to further the FedEx focus on "Our Planet, Our People, and Our Principles."

Some highlights from the FedEx 2023 ESG Report include:

• Decreasing carbon dioxide emissions intensity on a revenue basis by 48.9% from Fiscal Year 2009 through Fiscal Year 2022, a period during which average daily package volumes grew by 142%.

• Avoiding 150 million gallons of jet fuel through aircraft modernization efforts, reducing our total FY22 jet fuel consumption by more than 10%.

• Providing #mentorship and learning opportunities to more than 33,000 frontline team members in partnership with 1,700 mentors through the FedEx Ground Purple Pathways workforce career track program, which won the American Transportation Association #DEI Change Leader Award this year.

• Being recognized as one of Ethisphere’s 2023 World’s Most Ethical Companies®.

"I am proud to have been a part of this team for more than three decades and energized by our mission to move FedEx and the world from now to next," wrote Raj Subramaniam, FedEx CEO, in the report's opening letter. "We have always been a company of action, and we remain committed to solving problems by finding solutions that go beyond business and benefit all humanity."

To celebrate National Foster Care Awareness Month Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina participated in a Comfort Cases Packing Party in Charlotte earlier this month. Teams filled over 200 backpacks with pajamas, stuffed animals, books, and hygiene items that will be distributed to children coming into foster care.

American Electric Power Inc. (AEP) has released its 2023 Corporate Sustainability Report, which provides the latest progress on its environmental, social, governance (ESG) and sustainability strategy, performance and impact. This report, titled Delivering the Power of Opportunity, provides an overview of AEP’s sustainable growth strategy, which is focused on a clean and just transition; environmental compliance and stewardship; employee well-being and engagement; social justice and equity; and strong and effective corporate governance.

“As the economy embraces electrification to decarbonize the climate, our responsibility is to deliver clean, reliable and affordable electricity that is secure and resilient. At AEP, we add to that an obligation that the grid of the future provides equitable access for all its users. Our commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is unwavering. We’ve already made significant progress and also committed to a just transition for our employees and our communities with a focus on inclusiveness, equity and collaboration,” said Nicholas K Akins, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, in the report’s introduction.

Members on the Move

Congratulations to Anne Reisenwitz, Senior External Affairs Specialist at Exelon Corporation, who recently completed her Certificate of Practice in Corporate Citizenship!

"I highly recommend the Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice to any professionals working in the field," Anne shared. "The program structure gave me the opportunity to complete my certificate at my own pace online while also engaging with peers in-person at the (optional) in-person Summit. The Summit was a fantastic opportunity to network with others working in corporate citizenship. This certificate program creates a space for collaboration, networking, and learning, and I learned skills and strategy from real-world examples that I have applied to my everyday work."

If you're interested in earning your CSR certification, read more about the upcoming Fall 2023 Summit, now enrolling.