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We here at TriplePundit are not publishing today, Memorial Day, as we feel it’s important to remember what this day has been about since the late 1860s — remembering and mourning U.S. military personnel who lost their lives while serving in the country’s armed forces.

So, we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least offer a few suggestions on how to remember those who lost their lives, their families — and for veterans of past armed conflicts.

Operation Second Chance

This Maryland-based nonprofit that offers a bevy of services to military families, starting with financial assistance for families affected by troops who are injured while on military duty. Help includes funds for rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, childcare or transport costs for family members who need to visit loved ones who are hospitalized. 

Honor Flight Network

Since 2005, the Honor Flight Network has been sending World War II, Korean War and now, Vietnam War veterans to Washington, D.C. so that they can share memories with other veterans from across the U.S.; during their visit to D.C., they also have the opportunity to visit monuments so they can remember the friends they had lost.

3p’s editor, Leon Kaye, has two uncles, one a WWII vet, the other who experienced combat in Korea, who together experienced this opportunity in 2017 while both were in their late 80s. All the veterans’ experiences are fully paid for; donations can be made to a local chapter or the national Honor Flight foundation.

Canine love and support for vets

It goes without saying that a loyal friend can help mend one’s pain: That’s certainly true of dogs and what they can do for veterans. K9s for Warriors is the largest nationwide provider of service dogs for U.S. vets; Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) works with incarcerated people so that they can help raise and train service dogs for war vets and first responders. 

Image credit: Chad Madden via Unsplash

More than ever, business leaders are coming to appreciate the importance of taking a stand on important social issues. On the other hand, “woke” branding also runs the risk of alienating consumers — especially when it comes across as inauthentic or opportunistic. But entrepreneurs can broaden their reach and deepen their social impact by weaving their values into the core of their businesses — that is, according to disability advocate, author and DEI (diversity, inclusion and equity) consultant Alison Tedford. What’s more, by being genuine and proactive, these entrepreneurs can avoid the trappings of scandal and “cancel culture.” 

Tedford previously spent ten years working in government on policy solutions surrounding inclusion and has since transferred her skills to the private sector, where she helps small business owners incorporate their own values into their brands. With her new book launched in April — Stay Woke, Not Broke — Tedford aims to create a learning environment where “It’s not about guilt, it’s about growth.”

This means breaking things down to the bare bones and making sure that every aspect of a business measures up with the values that an entrepreneur hopes to integrate. In practice, that involves looking at everything from how services are delivered to whether price points are accessible in order to be more inclusive.

There are potentially uncomfortable questions that need to be asked during this process, such as: “How do you work with diverse groups? How do you serve them? How do you adjust?” These questions give entrepreneurs an opportunity to reflect on why their message might not be landing and reconsider their language. After all, for branding based on values to be effective, it has to be authentic, even transformative.

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“It isn’t about repackaging anything,” says Tedford. “It’s about honoring what exists and presenting opportunities for growth.” Growth is a resounding theme in her work — through which she aims to provide a framework that helps businesses avoid potential scandals.

So, what advice does she have for businesses that may have slipped up and fear the wrath of cancel culture? First, take responsibility and issue a clear apology centered on those who were hurt, not on one’s own feelings. Careless apologies do run the risk of worsening consumer backlash, and while a multinational corporation might not face dire consequences, small businesses have more to lose from blame-shifting, excuses and other apologies that really aren’t. Second, identify what went wrong and how the business will do better going forward. Be transparent about what steps will be taken. Consult with people who can give inside insight into a particular group or community and how it is affected by the scandal. Tedford encourages entrepreneurs to compensate those who offer their time and insight — “Don’t expect people to teach you for free.”

Sometimes, a business can summon cancel culture just by how it responds to a scandal or issue in the larger culture — as Pepsi demonstrated several years ago with its ad featuring Kendall Jenner. The beverage giant would have been better off staying out of the issue altogether than risking such heartless messaging. For small businesses, taking a stand can feel like a big risk regardless of how well-crafted the message is. Tedford advises her clients to focus on what is important to them and what they specifically want clients or employees to be aware of so that everyone is on the same page. She encourages brands to take a stand if the issue is in their geographic area or if their services will be impacted. “Otherwise,” she says, “pass the mic. There’s no need to rush into every fire.”

Tedford wants small business owners to know that just because their company is not Apple or Google that it doesn’t mean that it's too soon to start taking DEI seriously in their organization. Even sole proprietorships can benefit from choosing to integrate their values from the bottom up, just as consumers further commit to purchasing according to their own principles. A commitment to DEI is a commitment to growth.

In the next article of this two-part series, Tedford shares how to create a culture of inclusion by applying DEI to hospitality.

Image credit: Humphrey Muleba via Unsplash

Data released recently by the American Immigration Council underscore the crucial role immigrants play in the U.S. economy and how continued immigration will help address ongoing labor shortages while creating a more stable and sustainable economy during the next decade.

The Council’s report analyzes how the demand for various occupations across the U.S. labor market have changed since before the COVID-19 pandemic and which occupations are expected to increase by 2030. 

Employing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the American Community Survey, and the labor market analytics firm Burning Glass, the report assesses shifts in the labor market since before the start of the pandemic, determines which occupations will experience increased demand, and analyzes the role of immigrant workers within occupations that will have the highest growth potential during the next decade.

“Our findings reveal that not only are the most in-demand jobs now expected to continue to outpace the supply of available labor in the near term, but by 2030 millions of additional workers will be needed to fill new jobs and those vacated by retiring workers,” said Andrew Lim, a research director at the American Immigration Council, in a public statement. “While young people entering the workforce will fill many jobs, the gap between the demand and a diminishing supply of U.S.-born workers suggest that more workers will need to come from abroad to make up for the shortfall — or these positions will go unfilled.” 

Immigrants don’t disrupt or harm the economy — they stabilize it

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in huge disruptions to the U.S. labor market, the Council’s research found that immigrants have been a stabilizing force, as they often filled openings in essential occupations while meeting some of the demand in rapidly growing fields, Lim noted. 

The stubbornly tight labor market has left open jobs unfilled at a steadily increasing rate. Of the 165 million U.S. jobs expected to exist in 2030, nearly half — or about 80 million — will be vacated by people retiring, changing careers or exiting the labor market altogether, according to the report. Meanwhile the occupations that grew the most between 2019 to 2021 were the ones with large representation by immigrants. 

Further, job growth patterns during the next decade are likely to be remarkably different from those that unfolded during the COVID-19 crisis, the report concludes.

A need stretching beyond ‘essential workers’

Although many of those future jobs will be filled by people who due to their age will start their own transitions into the workforce, demographic trends cited in the Council’s report suggest that the U.S. labor market in 2030 will still have an excess of vacant positions. Baby boomers will be rapidly sunsetting from the workforce, and the numbers suggest that the population of Gen Z, despite this generation’s growing presence in the job market, will not be enough to fill in those gaps. That’s where immigrants come in.

While almost all occupational groups saw an increase in job postings, the job categories that witnessed the most dramatic growth between 2019 and 2021 were those society considered as “essential” during the pandemic. This includes healthcare practitioners and healthcare support workers as well as other roles considered vital to the basic functioning of modern society, such as in transportation, food preparation, construction and manufacturing.

According to data cited in the report, immigrants currently make up almost 14 percent of the U.S. population, but are disproportionately represented in several “essential" job categories. Such occupations include health care practitioners (16 percent), transportation (19 percent), engineering (20 percent), personal care (20 percent), food preparation (21 percent), manufacturing (22 percent), health care support (22 percent), computer and mathematical jobs (25 percent), and construction (28 percent). Immigrants are even more represented in healthcare occupations, as nearly a third of physicians and 1 in 5 lab technicians in the U.S. are foreign-born.

A changing job market still faces stiff opposition to immigration

The data show that many fields vital to the growth and stability of the U.S. economy rely on immigrant professionals today — and will continue to rely on them in the future. But that does not mean it will be smooth sailing for qualified immigrants who seek opportunities in the U.S.—and definitely not for the organizations that seek to hire them.

The skunk at the picnic are the negative feelings about immigration among a sizable minority of U.S. citizens. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is percolating more and more as the 2022 midterm elections approach, with survey data from earlier this month suggesting that one in three U.S. adults believe an effort is underway to replace U.S.-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gains. Roughly 3 in 10 also expressed concern that more immigration is causing U.S.-born Americans to lose their economic, political and cultural influence, according to the poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to fear a loss of influence due to immigration by a ratio of 36 percent to 27 percent. Considering the polarized climate in the U.S., that is not a huge gap, and it reveals how prevalent resistance to immigration is among a sizable part of the U.S. population.

Still, two-thirds of those surveyed in the same AP-NORC poll believe that the nation’s increasingly diverse population makes for a stronger country, and far more favor than oppose a path to legal status for immigrants brought into the country illegally as children. Nevertheless, the greatest anxieties about changing demographics in the U.S. are among people who are more likely to engage in or promote conspiracy theories about immigration — even though the data make it clear that the U.S. will need immigrants to fill the copious number of jobs expected to open during the 2020s.

Image credit: Nitish Meena via Unsplash

If you’ve read TriplePundit, for much of its 15 years, you have grasped its distinctive word cloud: sustainability, decarbonization, carbon neutrality and, most recently, net zero. More than 700 of the largest global companies apparently have committed to a net zero strategy. That means they aim to negate the greenhouse gases they emit by reducing emissions, absorbing carbon or buying offset credits by some target year.

Climate volatility is here to stay

Fulfilling these net zero ambitions will prove paramount. Because, as the U.S. federal government notes, “Results from a wide range of climate model simulations suggest that our planet's average temperature could be between 2 and 9.7°F (1.1 to 5.4°C) warmer in 2100 than it is today. The main reason for this temperature increase is carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping ‘greenhouse’ gases that human activities produce.”  

Of course, we already experience significant physical impacts from climate change. Indeed, the litany of events is old news: “In 2021, the U.S. experienced 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, putting 2021 in second place for the most disasters in a calendar year,” behind only 2020’s total of 22 individual billion-dollar extreme weather events, as NOAA summarized earlier this year.

Some losses from these extreme weather events can be avoided or reduced with climate resilience — which explains why I suggest corporate leaders also consider a “net resilience” strategy. We must be creative here since resilience doesn’t have the elegant measure of a metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent that undergirds the net zero key performance indicator behind those corporate commitments. 

What would ‘net resilience’ look like?

Reduced deaths from extreme weather events. In 2021, 688 Americans lost their lives this way, and that’s likely an undercount since many deaths from extreme heat are not “coded” that way on death certificates.

Decreased property losses from river flooding, which is rising as the size and frequency of heavy precipitation increases. “Heavy spring rains across the nation in 2019 caused nearly 20 million acres of farmland to go unplanted. Farmers incurred, collectively, billions of dollars in losses, disrupting rural economies across the country as well as the communities they support.”

Lower property losses from wildfire. Among the long list of mega-fires, California’s 2018 Camp Fire – the world’s most destructive that year – destroyed 1,820 structures. “The total residential personal property losses, including homes, condominiums, and mobile homes, was estimated at $7.44 billion, or 88 percent of the fire’s total losses.”

Diminished losses of reservoir water due to heat and drought. “The Lower Colorado River, which provides water to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, and Tucson, already faces a million acre-foot deficit linked to current changes in climate and is in danger of running dry far before the Pacific.”

Reduced property losses from hurricanes. With an above-average hurricane season predicted again this year after other recent above-average years, hurricanes and tropical storms have caused the highest insured losses in the U.S., including nearly $40 billion in 2021.  

Lower cases of Lyme disease, an insect-borne disease that is spreading due to climate change. About 35,000 new cases are being reported annually but more than 10 times that many are diagnosed and treated each year and aren’t recorded because of a hiccup in the reporting process.

Reduced number of deaths from extreme heat. Heat is historically the top weather-related killer in the U.S. 

The checklist for arriving at net zero

Adopting net resilience will require bold actions. The list is long, yet we all should consider how we can contribute to embracing such initiatives as:

Changing laws and construction practices related to where and how we develop to prevent repetitive property loss.

Moving families from harm’s way and increasing affordable housing options in communities that receive those migrating families so that they gain safety, security and stability even as climate change increases uncertainty and instability.

Installing more sustainable infrastructure to mitigate further minor flooding and extreme heat. 

Improving stormwater infrastructure, particularly combined sewer and stormwater systems in America’s older cities. 

Increasing mental health services to address the stress and strain of growing losses on communities.

Growing appropriate crops in the appropriate geographies — i.e., those that can handle increasing temperatures and more rain when we don’t need it, less when we do.

Increasing knowledge about the urban heat island effect among medical professionals, first responders, employers and the general public to reduce unnecessary heat deaths.

Installing distributed energy generation systems to back up utility-scale power sources impacted by extreme weather. 

Being good water stewards and setting priorities for the best use of water as supplies dwindle. 

Achieving ambitious net zero targets and engaging more leaders to make and achieve these commitments since the more greenhouse gases we emit, the more difficult it will be to achieve Net Resilience.

Join me in a net resilience movement to rival net zero: a rivalry where everyone wins by creating safer, more secure and more stable communities. 

Image credit: Johannes Plenio via Pexels
 

Critics often point out that current educational models are failing to prepare high school students for the workforce and its future. In fact, one third of young people around the world reported that their college or university fell short in equipping them with skills required for their desired roles. And, evidence suggests at least 79 percent of youth have developed skills outside of their formal education to obtain the roles they wanted. American Express, however, says one its partnerships helps to tackle this problem.

A long, successful partnership with American Express

There are numerous challenges to ensuring effective skill development and gainful employment for younger generations. To that end, in partnership with American Express, the nonprofit NAF says it offers a solution. The mission of this 35-year-old partnership is to bring a more connected and holistic high school experience to students in preparation for the future of work. To date, over 90 percent of NAF academy students reported being ready for the workforce due to the work-based learning experiences acquired at their respective academy. And till now, American Express has invested more than $24 million in NAF with the aim of ensuring U.S. students are career ready.

"American Express does step in and help to make sure that we are able to do everything we can to support our students as best we can and they've been just a tremendous partner," said Lisa Dughi, NAF’s CEO, in an interview with TriplePundit. "The reason the partnership has lasted for 35 years is their ability to continue to work with us and ensure that at the end of the day student success and student outcome is the driver, nothing else." 

Additionally, the American Express Foundation supported NAF's Academy of Hospitality & Tourism (AOHT), which currently is present in 18 states and hosts close to 19,000 students.

The importance of building an interconnected educational experience

Dughi explained to 3p the integrated approach NAF adopts when helping students envision their future careers. NAF creates curricula that fits into a student’s goals as they are learning both specialty core subjects. She described to 3p the integrated approach with the example of a student reading Life of Pi in an language art class, building the boat featured in the book in engineering class and brainstorming which materials would be available during that period of time during a history class. 

Misguided career expectations are among the challenges to achieving success for teenagers. Data reveals that 47 percent of 15-year-old boys and 53 percent of 15-year-old girls expect to work in one of only 10 jobs by the age of 30. And, teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds often have narrower interests and lower levels of career concentration compared to teenagers in countries with strong career guidance and education of other career fields. “…the results show that the career expectations of young people have changed little over that period. If anything, they have become more concentrated in fewer occupations,” wrote the authors of the 2020 OECD study.

These expectations are a result of lack of resources, knowledge about careers and skills and adults’ attitudes towards youth’s abilities. In addition, current educational models generally do not emphasize team-based projects and problem solving, and are often underfunded or understaffed. 

More direction, knowledge and opportunities are needed to build an interconnected educational experience. And, Dughi told 3p that the experience offered by NAF is crucial for the success of high school students because it enables "real world experiences.” According to Dughi, the majority of students don't acquire these experiences in traditional high schools. Yet, by obtaining an education at NAF, students can envision what their future would look like, which specific skills and capabilities are required accordingly and what leadership looks like. In addition, Dughi explained that students exit the NAF experience with existing relationships with businesses and different types of work-based learning experiences such as internships. And, this allows for multiple career trajectories. 

Preparing students for the future of work is a compelling business investment

There are many benefits for students who engage with the work force while still in high school. In fact, students who combine part-time employment with full-time studies are likely to acquire higher wages, opportunities to pursue apprenticeships and have greater contentment with their career growth. 

Students aren’t the only beneficiaries of work-based learning experiences. Companies who invest in its materialization benefit as well. "When we do work with partners, this isn't just about philanthropy, this really is a business investment in the futures of the companies that we work with,” said Dughi. She further explained to 3p that NAF is building a “diverse talent pipeline” of professionals who can become future leaders and solve problems of companies. These problems include the inability to find certain skills, talents and diversity in leadership roles. 

So far, this non-profit’s strategy is proving fruitful. According to Dughi, NAF has been receiving positive feedback from students and their families for its academies. Specifically, students have shared with NAF how transformational their work-based learning experiences have been for them and their families. Dughi stressed the benefits of these experiences which includes the opportunity to be valued by adults, be paid for their work, and support and mentorship opportunities. And this creates a sense of pride and strength for students. 

"We want to make sure that every kid has the opportunity and access to a successful future," said Dughi. "We need to do more, and we need more partnerships and investment in this kind of work to make sure that we are able to create that opportunity for many, many more students."

Image credit: Yan Krukov via Pexels

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect American Express' cumulative investment in NAF. 

As Americans prepare to return to the ballot box for the midterms this November, political strategists and media figures are heralding a Republican takeover of the House. In preparation for the pendulum swinging to the right, many in Washington, D.C. are already taking their feet off the gas when it comes to engagement with Democrats, paying less attention to the issues they view as important to the left.

This is a mistake. 

In late 2021, ROKK Solutions, in partnership with Penn State's Smeal College of Business and Center for the Business of Sustainability, explored public opinion on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues across 1,240 registered voters and found that, despite popular narrative to the contrary, a majority of voters on the left and right alike care deeply about issues that impact society: 75 percent of Democrats and 52 percent Republicans agree that climate change is at a crisis level, and 62 percent of voters agree that diversity and inclusion efforts are a priority (68 percent Democrats, 52 percent Republicans), just to name a few. What’s more, bipartisan support for these areas dramatically increases among Americans under the age of 45. 

Debunking the myth that issues related to ESG are highly polarized on its own is a pretty good reason for companies to keep their feet on the social impact gas, but it’s not the only one. As we move into the midterms election season, smart businesses should prioritize long-term relationship building across the aisle. 

In periods of divided government, the likelihood of major legislation that disrupts bottom lines becomes smaller. This seemingly quiet time gives companies an opportunity to prioritize strategic engagement as well as the momentum to build alliances with those who share their values. Highlighting community impact for Members of Congress and their staff is one way to make the most of divided government and position an organization for long-term success, no matter who is in the majority. For example, sharing environmental efforts with political stakeholders who are prioritizing climate policy and finding ways to support their proposals over the next two years will help create long-term allies who will be in a position to support business when the pendulum swings again. 

As many companies already know, though, political stakeholders are not the only ones to consider when it comes to social impact. The activist community is increasingly vocal on issues related to environment and social equity, and if history is any indicator, will become more so if Republicans take the House of Representatives this fall. Organizations that are already pressuring companies to take clearer stands on ESG issues are working to up that pressure, and if Democrats lose the House as expected, this community will view their corporate campaign as especially important. 

In the wake of George Floyd's death and the Georgia voting rights bill, a number of companies were name checked by groups like the NAACP and SEIU. Our research indicates that voter expectations of business response to external social issues like these will only continue to grow as younger generations enter and lead the workforce and increase their purchasing power. This trend, combined with an intensified activist push on business to make ESG progress, means that companies may find themselves in the hot seat at any point after the midterms if they miss opportunities to publicly engage on their social impact efforts.

If these risks and opportunities are not enough to convince organizations to continue building their ESG profiles through impact-driven initiatives, perhaps the most fundamental argument for action is. So much has been written about the so-called triple bottom line, but research from Impact ROI hammers home the importance of social responsibility to business imperatives. According to them, organizations that adopt best practices in the ESG space enjoy a number of financial benefits, such as outperforming peers in the stock market, increasing sales by as much as 20 percent and reducing employee turnover, among many others.  

There is clearly much to gain by prioritizing ESG in 2022 and beyond. By engaging early and often with consumers, policy makers and other issue stakeholders, smart businesses have an opportunity to build their reputation for the long term and advance their policy goals beyond just the midterms.

Interested in having your voice heard on 3p? Contact us at editorial@3BLMedia.com and pitch your idea for a guest article to us.

Image credit: Pixabay

In the last two years, there have been incidents of racial violence that have startled the senses, outraged the masses, and even inflicted emotional stress and pain at a personal level. Two incidents, in particular, have shocked the senses of any reasonable person and driven society as a whole into moral camps of either righteous indignation, or indifference to hate — one being the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, and the other the hunt-and-kill execution of Ahmaud Arbery by three white men. Now, the Black community is coping with the aftermath of the recent Buffalo shooting.

Once again, with the slaughter of ten Black people by an angry white man on May 14 at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, we are individually and collectively forced to examine our personal and public commitment to denouncing racism. Suddenly, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not an embellished proposition that shows off to shareholders, employees and the community, but a test of authenticity and fortitude on the part of corporate leaders. 

The proof of authenticity and fortitude is evidenced by a company’s robust public denunciation of evil and support for equality, or failing to do either. 

How has your corporation or organization responded to the killings at the Tops Friendly Market?

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A local family-owned business in Buffalo, New York, provides a model for the type of CSR blithely sworn to but not as often practiced. The Benderson Family opened the first location of Delta Sonic Car Wash in 1967. There are now 32 locations in three states (one of which is shown above). 

“The tragic events of [that] weekend affected all of us,” said Kim Allen, marketing director for Delta Sonic. “We have a location less than five miles from the Tops supermarket. Our customers and employees live, work and shop in this neighborhood. We waited to see what the needs of the community would be and then determined how we could help the most.”

Within a short time after the Buffalo shooting, it became apparent that the neighborhood, which lost access to its only local grocery store, needed alternative sources of food. In anticipation of an increased burden on local nonprofits to bridge the gap, Delta Sonic made a $100,000 donation to the local food bank, FeedMore WNY, earmarked for residents who frequented Tops Market to help mitigate the expense of travel for groceries and higher prices elsewhere. 

It should be noted that this represents socially-informed giving at its best — providing for an immediate need with direct assistance to those most affected by the tragedy. 

Compound the tragedy of the Buffalo shooting in this neighborhood by the reality of food insecurity that many impoverished Black people face. In 2020, 24 percent of the U.S. Black population experienced food insecurity — more than three times the rate of white households. Black children are almost three times more likely to live in a food-insecure household than white children. Black people, especially Black women, are more likely to be essential frontline workers and more likely to work in the industries hardest hit by the pandemic. 

Seventy-eight percent of the population in the Tops neighborhood of east Buffalo is Black. The shooter specifically chose this location for that reason. The average income in this area is less than $20,000. 

Allen gave TriplePundit an overview of the company’s ongoing local philanthropy, even before the Buffalo shooting made headlines nationwide.

“We work with lots of local organizations and charities with everything from donating services to raising money and making monetary donations," she said. "In Buffalo specifically, we annually partner with Roswell Park Cancer Institute, FeedMore of WNY, Make-A-Wish, Visually Impaired Advancement, Variety Kids and Oishei Children's Hospital. All year we run month-long roundup campaigns for local charities. Currently we are supporting Mental Health Advocates of WNY, and last month was Lyme WNY [a Lyme disease awareness organization], just to name a few.”

Where others may hesitate to lend their businesses’ names and reputations to the muddy waters of fighting racism for fear of treading on sensitive ground and ensuing backlash, Allen said the response from Delta Sonic’s employees and the community to the company’s donation after the Buffalo shooting has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We are getting very positive feedback from both our employees and customers," she said. "They feel supported and confident that we care about them and the community. It is important that they know we stand against racism and all forms of violence. We also had shirts made for our employees to wear to show additional support. They read: ‘Buffalo Strong,’ and ‘Buffalo - The City of Good Neighbors.’”

But in addition to the public display of T-shirts and the generous donation is the message of corporate philosophy and beliefs that Delta Sonic soon posted to its Twitter account and corporate website. It’s a powerful enough message of full-throated endorsement for equality and the rejection of racism that it bears reprinting here, and perhaps will serve as an example for others.

“Buffalo is The City of Good Neighbors. We reject racism and hate. Our hearts ache for the victims of the senseless violence that took place Saturday and we offer compassion and support for their families, friends and everyone affected by the shootings.

“As a community we must counter the immeasurable pain that has been inflicted with vast and endless amounts of love. Diversity is a strength to be celebrated. Bigotry is a sickness to be eradicated.

“As a result of this tragedy, families may be struggling to access food in the area where the tragedy took place. Delta Sonic is donating $100,000 to FeedMore WNY to help meet this need. Let’s all work to help bring light, peace and hope to those who are hurting.

Now would be a good time for corporations to examine their environmental, social and governance (ESG) statements, and the authenticity of their messages in support of equality and against racism. In terms of CSR, and being answerable to our own consciences, perhaps this tragedy in Buffalo is an opportunity for corporate leaders to respond to both with renewed fervor. 

Image credit: Delta Sonic Car Wash via Facebook

Critics of the corporate social responsibility movement finally had their moment in the sun this week, after the S&P 500 index of companies ranking high on the ESG (environmental, social and governance) scale declined to include the well-known automaker Tesla. That may seem ridiculous, considering that Tesla is a manufacturer of zero-emission cars. However, the S&P decision underscores the importance of viewing ESG reporting through a holistic lens.

The importance of a holistic perspective

In an article for the World Economic Forum published earlier this week, a trio of analysts with the firm KPMG described some of the key issues involved in ESG reporting.

They note that ESG reporting is a relatively new field that is still sorting through transparency issues and grappling with thorny analytical challenges, such as measuring Scope 3 emissions.

In addition, they maintain that ESG investors currently do not have a wide field from which to pick:

“Much of the current crop of ESG/sustainable funds are, arguably, standard trackers minus fossil fuel-heavy companies. True impact investments — which aim to have a positive effect on people and the planet — are thin on the ground, with few options for investing in ‘brown’ businesses transitioning to ‘green.’ Indeed, the business case for impact investments has yet to be clearly established.”

That point about excluding fossil fuel-heavy companies goes to the heart of the Tesla issue. The roots of ESG reporting are partly in the area of sustainability reporting, which does focus heavily on carbon emissions and other forms of pollution. From that perspective, Tesla should be an ESG shoo-in.

However, as demonstrated by the S&P decision, a narrow focus on pollution avoidance does not guarantee a high ESG ranking.

ESG reporting and corporate culture

ESG reporting also represents a step up from the traditional culture of corporate giving, though it does not necessarily conflate corporate culture with executive leadership.

Take the case of the leading global software firm Oracle, which has established a high-ranking ESG reputation. “Oracle’s corporate citizenship efforts are steadfast, clear-eyed, and effective. We’re proud that our greatest assets—our people and our technology—change lives for the better, every day,” the company states.

Oracle also emphasizes its commitment to sustainability, explaining that “at Oracle, we know that sustainability is good business. We continually invest in initiatives that help us run our business more sustainably and develop products and services that help our customers do the same.”

By some ESG metrics, Oracle is doing all the right things. The company performs relatively high on the cumulative ESG rankings published by CSRHub and other organizations. In particular, it earns a high score from the Human Rights Campaign, which ranks workplaces based LGBTQ inclusion.

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On the other down side, earlier this month Bloomberg Law reported that “Oracle Corp. and its senior leaders, including billionaire chairman Larry Ellison, must face class action litigation over claims they misled investors about the financial health of the tech giant’s cloud computing segment.”

“The suit accuses Oracle’s leaders of attributing its cloud sales success to sustainable business practices when in fact it was the result of tactics that produced only short-term revenue boosts,” Mike Leonard of Bloomberg Law explained.

That may dim the picture for some ESG investors, even if the lawsuit does not have an impact the company’s overall financial performance.

In addition, Ellison’s avowedly “libertarian” politics and public support for former U.S. President Donald Trump may have soured some ESG investors on the company prior to the failed insurrection of January 6, 2021. New revelations about Ellison’s role in the events leading up to the insurrection may be the last straw for some, but others will continue to be attracted by the company’s formal ESG metrics.

Commitments, not only ESG reporting, drive action

As illustrated by Oracle, ESG reporting scores do not necessarily reflect the legal, moral or ethical standards of corporate leadership. However, they do raise expectations, as illustrated by Disney, another company that scores relatively high on ESG rankings and those from the Human Rights Campaign.

Despite its high ESG ranking — or perhaps because of it — Disney faced a withering barrage of criticism earlier this year after corporate leadership failed to speak out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. When the company finally responded, state legislators clapped back with new legislation apparently intended to punish Disney while intimidating other corporate leaders into silence.

Instead of backing down, Disney doubled down. Last week the company moved forward with a planned rebrand of its “Rainbow Collection” merchandise as the “Pride Collection,” in time for launch during Pride Month.

Disney could have downplayed the rebrand in order to cultivate a more favorable legislative environment in Florida. Instead, the company chose to follow an in-your-face pathway. The official Pride Collection website displays large, glowing rainbow lettering to list each of the company’s beloved icons of pop culture, with “Pixar Pride,” “Marvel Pride,” and “Star Wars Pride” included alongside “Disney Pride.”

In addition, Disney has announced that it will donate all Pride Collection profits during Pride Month to a group of LGBTQIA+ organizations.

“I’m proud to share just a bit about what we are doing for the LGBTQIA+ community and to joyfully celebrate Pride not just for the month of June, but all year-round,” Disney's senior VP of global marketing, Lisa Becket, wrote in a May 16 blog post describing the rebrand. “We’ll also be highlighting inspirational and celebratory stories about our guests, cast and community on the Disney Parks Blog and across our social media channels."

What’s all this about Tesla?

As for Tesla, the raising of expectations has thrust the company into the ESG spotlight. According to S&P, its performance just didn’t match up. In a May 17 blog post explaining the methodology behind the fourth annual rebalancing of the S&P 500 ESG Index, S&P senior director and head of ESG indices for North America, Margaret Dorn, singles out Tesla for particular criticism.

“But, how can a company whose self-declared mission is to ‘accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy’ not make the cut in an ESG index?” she asks.

Answering her own question, Dorn takes Tesla to task for not keeping pace with ESG progress among its peers in the auto industry, particularly in the areas of carbon strategy and codes of conduct.

In addition, Dorn cites unresolved racial discrimination issues at the company’s factory Fremont, California, along with issues related to deaths and injuries linked to its autopilot vehicles.

“While Tesla may be playing its part in taking fuel-powered cars off the road, it has fallen behind its peers when examined through a wider ESG lens,” she concludes.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has cried foul over the exclusion, but Dorn’s critique rings true.

Musk is probably lucky that Dorn declined to pursue the point about accelerating the transition to sustainable energy even farther.

After all, Musk’s own SpaceX venture is awash in greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts related to its test site in Texas. In that context, Tesla is not the planet-saving hero it is made out to be. It is just another carbon offset in a world that urgently needs action, not empty promises. 

Image credit: Blomst via Pixabay
 

If you've ever worked for a retailer or in food service, you know that the days can feel long, the work hours that generally pay low wages are both inconsistent and irregular, and of course, the customers can be insufferable. The pandemic exacerbated the inequities many retail, foodservice and warehouse workers had already experienced, as they were most at risk of getting sick from COVID-19 while the rest of us could work comfortably from home. For many, the response has been simple: unionizing.

“We all kick around between the same crappy retail jobs,” Sarah Pappin, a Starbucks organizer, recently told CNBC. “This is the moment where we’ve all realized that it actually kind of sucks everywhere, so let’s just make a stand at one place and prove it.”

Now, count in another popular retailer that is facing unionizing efforts.

Earlier this month, employees at a Trader Joe’s in Hadley, Massachusetts, notified the company that they planned to form a union. Citing slashed benefits, stagnant wages and ongoing safety concerns, the employees’ letter to the company’s CEO, Dan Bane, reads: “With the same instinctive teamwork we use every day to break pallets, work the load, bag groceries, and care for our customers, we joined together to look out for each other and improve our workplace together.”

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Last century’s labor movement was marked by the growth of established unions and the formation of new ones, including the AFL, CIO (which merged with the AFL in the 1950s), United Mine Workers, United Auto Workers and United Steel Workers of America. In contrast, many of today’s unionizing drives — including the one at the Hadley Trader Joe’s — are independent in nature. Such strategies are similar to the formation of the union at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, which also isn’t affiliated with any of the large nationwide unions. Other unionizing activities, including at some Apple, REI and Starbucks locations, are affiliated with larger unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Workers United. 

In the big picture, these unionizing efforts may appear to be relatively minor. But a recent NPR analysis of data from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the government agency with which workers have an option to start the unionizing process, tells a different story. A decade ago, less than 4 percent of union election petitions came from the foodservice and accommodation sectors. This year, they comprise more than 27 percent of such NRLB petitions. It’s not necessarily blue-collar workers in heavy industries, nor educators with master’s degrees, who are seeking to form unions: Now, wage earners in the foodservice and retail sectors are also demanding a say in their compensation and working conditions.

“Workers have cited the pandemic as a major impetus for organizing, saying their companies did not do enough to protect them from the risks of COVID or reward them for carrying on with the work that has made their companies highly profitable over the past two years,” NPR labor and workplace correspondent Andrea Hsu observed.

Many of these companies that are experiencing unionizing drives have sterling corporate citizenship reputations — and often rank high on various corporate responsibility, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and “best places to work” indices. Nevertheless, the checking of various boxes on these surveys and any resulting high scores do not necessarily explain the reality out on the floor, nor behind the scenes in a kitchen. It’s clear that at many companies, corporate “sustainability” isn’t carrying over to workers’ rights and their dignity — and many of them have quite simply had enough.

The companies within which these employees are unionizing certainly have the resources, including attorneys who are well-versed in bucking unionizing efforts. But that doesn’t mean the deployment of such tactics is a good look for big companies and their executives: Public sentiment is on these workers’ side. In 2009, when the U.S. was in the midst of the “Great Recession,” unions only scored the approval of 48 percent of Americans, according to Gallup. Last summer, that number stood at 68 percent, the highest in Gallup’s annual polls since 1965.    

Image credit: Patrick Perkins via Unsplash

One company is changing the way Indigenous communities interact with energy companies. Helping communities become owners of their energy assets and doing so in an environmentally responsible way is the mission for Seneca Solar.

Indigenous communities have long cast wary eyes at energy companies for good reason

Indigenous communities and energy producers have for a long time not always seen eye to eye. Harm to natural environments, desecration of sacred grounds, pollution of water sources, and endowing landowners an unequitable share of profits are just some of the reasons that Indigenous communities and leaders might look skeptically at proposed energy projects.

Massive protests to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in 2016 and 2017 captured the world’s attention as members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protested the route of the pipeline form North Dakota to Illinois, claiming it threatened vital water sources and sacred sites. 

Protests continue in Northwestern Canada over two pipelines passing through Indigenous territory. The UN has since expressed concerns with Canada’s dismissal and eviction of “land defenders."

Fears persist in Australia over the desecration of sites sacred to First Nations communities. The 2020 destruction of Juukan Gorge, and newly proposed expansion of natural gas projects in Western Australia threaten traditional lands.

The stories are much the same worldwide. From Russia to Brazil to the DRC, Indigenous lands and communities are exploited by a whole range of actors, but fossil fuel giants are one of the major culprits.

Seneca Solar wants to change the relationship that Indigenous communities have with energy projects.

What is Seneca Solar?

Seneca Solar is a company owned wholly by the Seneca Nation. The company, which has been in development for about one year, is engaging in climate-related activities that can deliver earth healing solutions – solar powered energy being its primary focus.

Seneca Energy, the tribal utility company of the Seneca Nation, already has four solar projects installed on tribal land, which have produced at least 8.27 million kWh of solar energy.

Seneca Solar is looking to expand beyond Seneca Nation territory. Its primary goals are to rapidly increase the capacity of renewable energy worldwide, and to bring energy sovereignty to historically underserved communities. 

“What we’re trying to do in our work with Indigenous groups around the world is change that relationship by helping them develop and own high-value renewable energy assets,” said Vice President of Seneca Solar, Matt Renner, speaking to TriplePundit about the relationships between Indigenous communities and energy developers.

Those relationships have long been problematic, benefiting communities only so long as there are resources to extract. When the resources are gone, so are the benefits. Providing communities with the ability to own and develop their own renewable energy projects can bring benefits spanning generations.

Governments warming to the renewable energy transition

Focusing Seneca Solar’s efforts on clean, renewable energy sources addresses not only the issue of exploitation, but also the pressing climate emergency. With scientists reporting that climate change is extremely likely (more than 95 percent) to be human induced, and the leading cause of greenhouse gases is the burning of fossil fuels, urgent action is needed to restore the health of the planet.

Seneca Solar wants to increase the access that historically underserved communities have to clean sources of energy and support their engagement in the post-fossil fuel economy.

Its expansion into markets throughout the United States and beyond, however, is largely dependent on state policies surrounding solar and renewable energy. 

“In our federal system, it’s really a patchwork – we’ve got some states that are leaders on renewable energy, and we have some that are very much laggards. The main difference in the industry now from 5 years ago is the economics are there now, where solar plus battery systems can outcompete natural gas in many cases on price alone,” said Renner.

Governments worldwide are expected to reduce their subsidies to the oil and gas industry in the near future, transferring that money to investments in cleaner, renewable sources of energy. At the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, the U.S., U.K., Canada, and 30-plus other countries pledged to end funding for fossil fuel projects abroad by the end of 2022.

With the renewable energy market set for massive growth in the coming years as countries and corporations slash their emissions in order to comply with climate targets, Seneca Solar is placing itself at the forefront of accelerating the energy transition. At the same time, it is helping to reinvent the frayed relationship between Indigenous communities, energy producers, and the global economy as a whole. 

Image credit: Seneca Energy