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During the following three years, tea brand Pure Leaf will partner with organizations including the SeekHer Foundation and commit $1 million to organizations and initiatives that support women who have had enough of feeling compelled to do mundane work, coming in on a day off or handling someone else’s tasks.

Why would Pure Leaf get involved in distributing “No” grants? Let’s set the context.

Women are still falling behind in the job market

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ February 2022 jobs report delivered good news about progress toward reaching pre-pandemic employment levels, but that goalpost still has 1.14 million jobs to go to be reached. One obvious way to fill that gap is to get the remaining 1.1 million women who lost jobs or continue to leave — including 31,000 Black women last month — to return to work.

The problem is not a lack of work ethic on women’s part; in fact, the opposite holds true.

The pandemic hit mothers in the workplace hard, whether single or married. Childrearing and schooling in the home fell mostly on them as work came home or jobs were lost and as daycares and schools closed down.

A culture of fear over setting limits and saying 'no'

For employed women without children, also both married and single, horror stories abound: 20-hour workdays, juggling the caregiving to parents or ill partners, and demands for being the emotional and work support to others 24/7. “Superwoman syndrome” is real and becomes a vicious cycle of external social and work pressure combined with internal expectations.

The findings of a recent SeekHer study bear out these mental health issues confronting women in the U.S. and globally. Women often put the needs of others first, feel guilty for engaging in self-care, and experience fear or discomfort with their work environments.

To that last point, the study found that only about 32 percent of women felt their workplace was open to discussing personal and professional needs. Not only do companies fail to provide this safe space, according to women’s perceptions, but businesses often exact punishment for women saying “no” to work demands.

To quantify what saying “no” means for women in the workplace, Pure Leaf Iced Tea, which launched its “No Is Beautiful” campaign in 2020, surveyed 1,800 U.S. women in November 2021. Its research found that three-quarters of the women expected negative consequences for saying “no” at work and that nearly 2 out of 3 actually experience that negativity.

Further, the study assessed that saying “no” had actual costs in future earnings. For white women, it translates to $731 per incident. Racial discrimination adds to the toxic work stew, as each incident costs Asian-American women $871, Hispanic women $1,403 and Black women $1,406.

Pure Leaf and SeekHer step up for women

To that end, Pure Leaf and SeekHer recently launched part of the overall initiative, which features Olympic champion Allyson Felix, to provide $2,000 “No Grants” to 100 individual women who have been adversely affected by standing up for themselves at work.

Beyond her athletic accomplishments, Felix gained widespread attention for the split she and Nike had over the issue of women athletes becoming pregnant. Nike later altered its policy. Felix moved to Athleta and then achieved Olympic gold again, running in shoes from her own line, Saysh.

The problem of saying “no” pre-dates the pandemic, of course. One study found that women accept or volunteer for low-promotability tasks more often (76 percent) than men (51 percent). Because women do so — whether out of fear of negative consequences, a desire for social acceptance, altruism or other motivator — both men and women are more likely to ask women to perform a low-status task.

This creates yet another vicious cycle that is disadvantageous to women.

Business leaders can turn such interactions into better outcomes for women in simple but effective ways. For example, assigning low-promotability tasks equitably removes employee discretion in accepting or declining a request.

Alternatively, tasks can be weighted with value, so they lead to promotion or are paired with other incentives, such as bonuses or time off. Even just setting guidelines applicable to everyone on how and when to say “no” improves the cultural environment in support of women’s mental health.

One more “atta-girl” for serving on one more committee isn’t going to draw women back to the workplace or compensate companies for lost productivity due to their absence. To borrow from the immortal words of vaudeville:

No applause — just throw solutions.

Image credit: Naassom Azevedo via Unsplash

Everywhere Apparel recently launched what it says is the world’s first closed-loop blank apparel (defined as clothing without any decorations or branding) line made of 100 percent GRS-certified (Global Recycled Standard) cotton. This Los Angeles-based clothing company is providing an alternative to recycled polyester (rPET) with Circot yarn and fabric. This fiber is fully recycled and free of microplastics, unlike other fibers on the market. Founded in 2019, the company is led by Stanford-educated engineers with an objective to transform the materials industry with more sustainable materials.

The company decided to open-source its closed-loop system at no cost in order to make the technology accessible to anyone interested. Centering its focus on blank apparel, Everywhere Apparel is increasing its impact on sustainable fashion by broadening its reach as wide as possible. Printable clothing appeals to the business-to-business, or B2B, market by reaching other organizations. Everywhere Apparel goes beyond individual consumers, providing other businesses a simple catalyst toward showcasing their focus on sustainability through distributing branded apparel.

What sets Circot fabrics apart?

Everywhere Apparel utilizes Circot yarn, which is fully recycled. According to the company, its closed-loop, 100 percent recycled cotton garments have a far lower environmental impact than organic cotton and recycled polyester. Circot is spun out of shredded recycled cotton fibers and knitted into a fabric that is both durable and comfortable. Other brands can then purchase the garments and have their preferred designs printed on them. This process appeals to companies that are motivated to reduce their carbon footprints.

According to Everywhere Apparel, the lifespan of its shirts is a few years. Once the shirts are no longer wanted, the owner scans the QR code on the tag to order a free return envelope.

How this closed-loop apparel manufacturing process works

Everywhere Apparel says it accepts heavily worn garments, as well as garment scraps. The company will also accept other used clothing in consumers’ closets, adding it to the collection of recycled cotton fiber to be spun into Circot yarn. Upon receipt, the shirts and scraps are organized by color and then mechanically shredded to begin the cycle once again. Contributing to this closed-loop process also earns consumers a $10 credit towards more closed-loop recycled products.

Using Circot fabric to manufacture garments offers several significant advantages. Everywhere Apparel says that no water, dyes, microplastics or chemicals are used in, or linked to, its fiber production. Additionally, closed-loop garments help direct waste away from landfills as well as give companies another tool to reduce their carbon footprints.

“Mechanically recycled cotton is the most sustainable apparel fiber in the world along multiple measures when compared to conventional or organic cotton and recycled or virgin polyester,” Everywhere Apparel said in a public statement earlier this month.

Why strive for sustainability in the apparel industry?

With roughly 85 percent, or 3.8 billion pounds, of the clothing Americans purchase send to landfills as solid waste, the apparel industry is a large contributor to pollution worldwide. Hence Everywhere Apparel is pioneering a more responsible future for this sector. Beyond leaving a smaller impact on the planet as well as wishing to mitigate any effects on people and the planet, consumers are strongly motivated by sustainability when it comes to where their dollars go.

According Everywhere Apparel's data, 81 percent of people feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment, and 75 percent of them view sustainability as either extremely or very important. Further, 70 percent of consumers think it is important that a brand is sustainable or eco-friendly. Practicing and promoting sustainable initiatives internally can make a brand more attractive to consumers and thereby increase profits. 

Other brands have also adopted a closed-loop model, keeping clothing in circulation for as long possible. Companies like Evrnu, Worn Again Technologies, and For Days are making it possible for brands and individuals to curb clothing waste. Everywhere Apparel, along with the aforementioned apparel brands, are closing the loop, reducing microplastic deposits, saving water and directing waste away from landfills. A new system for purchasing and discarding clothing is finally emerging.

Image credit: Chase Charaba via Unsplash

The Russian war against Ukraine sparked an unprecedented backlash from U.S. and global corporations. Scores of the most recognized brands in the world dropped all or part of their business ties with the country soon after it launched a murderous, unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Those remaining have struggled to justify staying, though clearly, they should make a clean break. Among other reputational risks, they stand to lose all credibility on how they stand on racial equality, gender diversity and LGBTQ rights. 

Unprecedented unity on sanctions

Global fossil energy companies were among the first to announce the suspension of business in Russia, even before governmental sanctions regimen got under way. Many other companies soon followed, amplifying the impact of international economic sanctions.

In addition to pulling out of Russia, many companies have also rushed to provide humanitarian and defensive aid to Ukraine. In particular, leading U.S. tech companies responded to a direct appeal from the Ukraine government to apply their systems and equipment to the defensive effort. That includes Elon Musk’s Starlink communications venture. Though security experts initially cautioned that the system could enable attackers to find targets, the equipment has reportedly been helpful.

Who is defying demands to exit?

All in all, the business response to Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine is unprecedented in terms of scale and unity. Still, there are some notable holdouts.

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The Yale School of Management has been tracking the corporate response in the form of a downloadable Excel list. The list is divided into five categories in descending order of impact. To date it includes more than 400 companies. Of those, an impressive number of 166 are making a permanent or “clean break.” Another 186 are suspending operations, which is also a forceful act. A lesser number are taking more limited action, with 28 scaling back operations, and 54 delaying future plans while continuing existing operations.

The fifth category, as of press time, consists of 32 companies that have been unresponsive to the rising tide of public and government sentiment. The school lists this category as “digging in,” defined as “companies defying demands for exit/reduction of activities.”

The key word is action. Through the “digging in” category, Yale draws attention to a shrinking number of companies that have taken no public action at all.

Other familiar names in the “digging in” category include Ball Corporation, Cloudflare, Credit Suisse, International Paper and Renault.

Brand reputation at risk when companies appear to overlook suffering

At this time, much of the public pressure has focused on two very different companies that do have one thing in common, and that is their high public profile. One of them is Koch, which Yale lists in the “digging in” category. The other is Nestlé, which is among those companies “buying time.”

Koch and Nestlé are not alone. Other global companies have taken some action but have also failed to break or suspend all operations. By staying, they have all exposed themselves to a reputational risk that will take years, if ever, to resolve.

Nestlé has put itself in the position of appearing to critics as overlooking Russia’s wanton destruction of residential buildings, schools, hospitals, care homes, hospitals and bomb shelters. Short of genocide, those actions have all the hallmarks of a terror campaign aimed at depopulating Ukraine, no matter the human cost.

That puts Nestlé squarely in the spotlight due to its oversized role in the global food supply chain. In a statement dated March 11, Nestlé insisted that has a responsibility to continue supplying essential foods and medical products in Russia. The forced displacement of millions and the bombing of civilian populations clearly undercuts that argument.

Nevertheless, as recently as March 21, the company persisted in defending its decision in terms of its responsibility to employees in Russia as well as its role as an essential food supplier.

Similarly, as of last week Koch inferred that its 600 workers in Russia will suffer if the company shuts down its two glass factories there. Meanwhile, news reports continue to show the millions suffering, dying and losing their jobs in Ukraine.

The diversity factor and the Russian war

The element of human suffering alone should drive the corporate response to the Russian war on Ukraine. However, Koch and Nestlé also illustrate how some companies also continue to put themselves at reputational risk as a matter of corporate social policy.

Stephanie Foggett, Mollie Saltskog and Colin Clarke of the counter-terrorism and security consultancy Soufan Group have drawn attention to the role of “tactical misogyny” in both Russian aggression and the far-right extremist and white supremacists movements in the U.S. and elsewhere.

They outlined their case last week, in an article published on the War on the Rocks online platform, a project of the firm Metamorphic Media.

Though cautioning that the far-right response to Russian aggression is complex and varied, they argue that the common denominator is “the creation of a white ethno-state and the destruction of Western liberal societies.”

That puts Russia’s attack on Ukraine in perspective as a matter of corporate social policy.

"The false ‘evidence’ levied against [Ukraine President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy includes the fact that he is Jewish — and thus part of the ‘global elite’ — and that he is a supporter of rights for the LGBTQ+ community, who the Kremlin claims seek to exploit children in order to groom them,” the three researchers explain. The latter narrative shows alignment with far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, which frequently deploy homophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric within their propaganda.

In short, companies that continue to maintain a footprint of any sort in Russia are aligning themselves with the world view of murderous extremists, a position that runs directly counter to the kind of support for gender diversity and LGBTQ rights that companies like Nestlé claim as part of their corporate identity.

"For years, Putin’s sexist rhetoric and deliberately cultivated macho imagery have played into the hands of white supremacist extremists who share his disdain for women and gender equality,” Soufan’s researchers write.

They also note that white supremacists in the U.S. commonly claim that the U.S. military is being “destroyed by diversity,” and that “in meeting the needs of women, minorities, and gender non-conforming servicemembers, Western militaries were lowering standards and fighting fitness."

Under the spotlight as sanctions mount

The “destroyed by diversity” world view made its way into White House policy in stark relief during the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, when former President Donald Trump lead the charge to brand diversity training as a sort of 21st-century red scare.

On September 22, 2020, Trump issued an executive order that banned certain types of diversity training among all federal agencies and their contractors, including the U.S. Department of Defense.

Unlike Nestlé, Koch is not widely known for a focus on gender equality and LGBTQ rights. However, the September 22 executive order underscores the company’s ties to steering public policy. Aside from their well-documented support for fossil energy stakeholders, the decades-long role of the Koch family in promoting right-wing policies is an attention-getter that extends from the John Birch Society in the 1960s on up to the present day. That includes financial support for the Federalist Society, which was instrumental in seating three conservative Supreme Court judges during Trump’s term in office.

Given this background, it is no surprise that Koch has become a focus of attention as sanctions against the Russian war effort mount. The company argues that its operations in Russia are limited to the two glass factories, but last week independent journalist Judd Legum of Popular Information detailed how groups backed by Charles Koch have launched a lobbying effort against the sanctions.

It’s also no surprise that the full weight of a decades-long campaign against civil and human rights in the U.S. has taken the precise form of the Putin world view outlined by the Soufan Group researchers, focusing like a laser against women, against transgender children and against diversity education in elementary schools, and it is no surprise that the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court is met with a whisper campaign that raises the same child-centered canard long wielded against Jews.

As the atrocities pile up in Ukraine, corporations that take their human and civil rights profile seriously need to take a long, hard look at their support for elected officials in the U.S., who promote the same world view practiced to the lethal, near-genocidal consequence by Vladimir Putin’s forces in Russia.

Image credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

With more than 11 million metric tons of plastic entering Earth’s oceans every year, an amount experts say could triple by 2040, California’s comprehensive plan to reduce microplastics may very well serve as a welcome push. Will it be enough to make a difference? The scale of the microplastic pollution generated within the world’s fifth-largest economy alone indicates such a strategy certainly could not hurt.

“We must take action, and this strategy shows us how,” said Wade Crowfoot, the state’s secretary of natural resources, in a public statement announcing the plan. “By reducing pollution at its source, we safeguard the health of our rivers, wetlands and oceans, and protect all of the people and nature that depends on these waters.”

Research has suggested that the Golden State’s waterways are saturated with microplastics. The effects include “an estimated seven trillion pieces in San Francisco Bay alone, much of which washes in through stormwater drains,” Katherine Gammon of the Guardian reported. On that point, the California Ocean Protection Council (OCP) identified the top sources of microplastics: tires, synthetic fabrics (often from fragments that can be sourced to washing machines and dryers), cigarette filters and single-use plastic food containers.

The Golden State’s two-track plan was announced in late February. The plan’s first track lists 22 immediate, “no regrets” actions to curb plastic pollution at its sources, find ways to reduce and manage microplastic pollution, and educate the public about the problem while offering the best possible solutions. The second track outlines a 13-point comprehensive research strategy to enhance the scientific understanding of the sources of microplastics in California, drive future action through a statewide monitoring plan, boost the knowledge of how these pollutants can affect aquatic life and human health, and then, develop a future management plan for microplastics based on locally available data.

Organizations including the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) have concluded that plastics are the most harmful and persistent fraction of marine litter, accounting for at least 85 percent of the waste that ends up in the globe’s waterways and oceans. Microplastics, which agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) identify as plastic particles less than five millimeters in size, are the result of plastics in aquatic environments breaking down into pieces of ever-decreasing size. According to agencies including the IUCN as well as OCP, the potential health effects on marine life include tissue inflammation, impaired growth and development as well as the impaired ability for such species to reproduce.

Preventative measures in California’s plan range from a ban on certain plastic materials, prioritizing the reusability of packaging, limiting single-use plastic, a plan for statewide procurement of reusable food-ware, and stopping the sale and distribution of polystyrene-based food containers and packaging by 2023.

Andrew Gray, a watershed hydrologist at the University of California, Riverside, told Guardian the plan’s emphasis on prevention is critical, as once microplastics are in the environment, removing them is “virtually impossible.” Gray leads a research laboratory at UC-Riverside that contributed some of the science that helped develop California’s microplastics plan.

The global pandemic made plastic pollution worse due to the increased demand for single-use plastics, intensifying pressure on the environment, according to research published by the U.S.-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) last fall. More than eight million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste have been generated globally, and more than 25,000 tons ­– mostly medical waste from hospitals – entered the oceans, concluded PNAS’s researchers.

In addition, legislation aimed at curbing plastic pollution was postponed in California and other U.S. states. This November, California’s voters will vote on a ballot measure that would require all single-use plastic packaging, containers and utensils to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2030.

California’s plan could provide a roadmap for a global community becoming more aware of the threat posed by plastic waste. Some companies, such as Coca-Cola, have responded to public pressure by announcing plans to increase the amount reusable packaging for its products. In early March, as evidence mounted that more citizens worldwide support some form of a ban on single-use plastics, representatives from 173 countries met at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya to agree on continuing talks over the next two years for a global treaty that will address plastic pollution.

For many scientists, such a global treaty could not come soon enough.

“The exponential rate at which global industries extract fossil fuels and produce new plastics and associated chemicals outstrips governments’ ability to regulate their safety, manage waste, and mitigate harm to people and the environment,” a team of scientists led by Bethanie Carney Almroth, Melanie Bergmann and Scott Coffin wrote in an op-ed for Environmental Health News. “The total mass of plastics produced exceeds both the overall mass of all land and marine animals and the planetary boundary for these novel substances, moving us out of a safe operating space for humanity.”

Image credit: FLY:D via Unsplash

Few companies have avoided the drain on talent brought on by the oft-cited Great Resignation. Most corporate executives are scrambling to identify flexible working models that are attractive to current and prospective employees, while still aligning with bottom-line results. While the mobility of talent has forced companies to consider and implement flexible working environments that prioritize the remote model, this workplace flexibility has quickly become table stakes among the most competitive magnets for talent. 

Just as ping-pong tables and beer carts were once differentiators for what became the mislabeled definition of “tech culture” five to 10 years ago, we’re now seeing companies lean on workplace flexibility as the defining characteristic of what makes their company special. And while this flexibility is certainly a strong benefit, it’s now expected and no longer enough to differentiate a company. Additionally, while a flexible working model appeals primarily to one’s sense of convenience and personal preference, it fails to fully capture what motivates the purpose-driven employee.

And so, as millions of square feet of office space designed to attract employees remain largely empty, how can mission-driven companies ensure they retain their culture, leverage in-person connections, and reinforce their collective purpose? The answer lies at the heart of attracting and retaining the purpose-driven employee, and it’s something that is needed now more than ever: volunteering and community engagement.  

Ignite the connection between employees and their communities

A recent study found that nearly 70 percent of employees would refuse to work for a company that lacks a clear sense of purpose. A commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), for example, is a prime example of an organization’s underlying purpose. The personal connection between a company and an employee’s purpose and values is critical to maintaining employee engagement. Unfortunately, in the absence of in-person volunteering engagements amidst the pandemic, the personal connection between employees and the community diminished greatly. CSR programs largely have been reduced to writing checks and occasionally holding vaguely engaging volunteer events on Zoom.

Just as our in-person work muscles have atrophied over the past two years, so too has our ability and willingness to volunteer in person with charitable partners. A 2020 study by Fidelity Charitable found that two-thirds of regular volunteers decreased or stopped volunteering entirely amidst the pandemic. 

Many in the workforce have attempted to restore normalcy in their lives. Their kids are back in school, and they’re going to the gym, restaurants and grocery stores. Reintroducing in-person community engagement is not only an important next step in re-engaging employees, but it’s also an increasingly realistic and valuable activity for them to safely partake in.

In place of mandatory in-office requirements, in-person volunteering presents a unique opportunity to bring employees together, restore a sense of collaboration and community, and further strengthen corporate culture. Despite the recent surge of omicron and the specter of future coronavirus variants, there is a broad need to restore work cultures and return to a version of normalcy wherever possible. Engaging with community partners who have suffered in a remote-first world is a critical piece of more creative in-person interactions, while driving meaningful engagement touchpoints between employees and their communities.

Volunteering brings benefits across the board

Make no mistake, volunteering may never look the same, but most nonprofits actually may be better for it. COVID-19 and our subsequent reluctance to gather in crowds may have thankfully ended the days of hundreds of T-shirt clad employees descending on a nonprofit for service days that too often end up leaving the nonprofit overwhelmed and underprepared. Instead, we’re seeing a shift in volunteering that focuses on small-scale and often one-on-one engagements. This intimate approach leads to more engaged employees, more meaningful results, and interpersonal relationships that rarely occur at those large-scale, single-day playground cleanups.

The benefits felt are not limited to the partner organizations. Volunteering gives companies an in-person touchpoint to bring their employees back together without the complexity and sensitivity that comes with mandating a return to the office. For employees not quite ready to head back to the office regularly, volunteering provides an opportunity for colleagues to connect in person, reconnect with their corporate mission, and engage with community partners who’ve largely been unable to organize in-person experiences up until now. At a recent volunteer event with three of my colleagues whom I’ve barely seen since early 2020, we spent the entire session chatting and catching up with one another while sorting winter boots for children. We left feeling like we made a small difference, but we also took a big step in rebuilding relationships that have been relegated to a computer screen for the past two years.

Volunteering is the ideal vehicle to solidify our commitment to the community, bring employees back together, and remind them of the central role that social impact and community resilience play in our values and our business model. Best of all, this effort, amidst a highly competitive talent landscape, will attract a new crop of engaged and purpose-driven employees.

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: RODNAE Productions/Pexels

LanzaTech, which recycles carbon emissions into fuels and textiles, recently announced that it will merge with AMCI Acquisition Corp. II in a SPAC deal, valued at $2.2 billion, to become a publicly traded company. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

TriplePundit recently spoke with LanzaTech CEO Dr. Jennifer Holmgren about what brought the carbon emissions recycling company to this moment, how her team is closing supply chain loops for a more circular, “carbon-smart” economy, and what LanzaTech has planned for the future.

‘It’s time’ for LanzaTech, for the economy and for the climate crisis

LanzaTech is based in Skokie, Illinois, and works with partners around the world, including in Japan, China and India. During the last few years, the 17-year-old company has achieved proof of concept for how its gas fermentation process can create “a future where consumers are not dependent on virgin fossil feedstocks for everything in our daily lives.”

The company’s plants feature bioreactors where microbes use waste carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, siphoned from steel mills or captured from municipal solid waste, to make a proprietary blend of ethanol it brands as Lanzanol. Ethanol is a basic building block of many materials, and LanzaTech and partners have already leveraged it to make sustainable jet fuel a reality and put renewable yoga pants on the market.

“It’s really been a case of convincing people what’s possible,” Holmgren said of the company’s business model. “Our technology is one platform that we’ve optimized. [Our goal was] to convince people we’ve got your feedstock for production of consumer-grade materials, and that we’ve made it from waste.”

Holmgren said she is excited about the visibility going public will bring LanzaTech now that it has shown how its technology can work at scale. The company has two commercial plants with bioreactors and another seven in the pipeline. “We’ve been much more methodical than other companies in our sector that went public before they got their first commercial plant running,” Holmgren told 3p. “We need to step up. It’s time.”

What’s next for LanzaTech

As the no-nonsense message on LanzaTech’s website states: “It’s not a debate. There’s no two sides. A post-pollution world is inevitable. Humans will either be part of it, or the planet will go on without us. But where others see a dire choice, LanzaTech sees a trillion-dollar opportunity.”

Holmgren believes LanzaTech’s model presents a win-win solution that addresses the shortcomings of our consumption-fueled capitalist economy, which she said is badly “in need of climate justice," and gives hope “to those who understand just how bad the climate crisis really is.”

“The future is not obscene capitalism," she added. "If I can convince people that you can make money while reducing carbon emissions, I think that helps a lot.”

To that end, the company will start building out the “portfolio of molecules” at its disposal by genetically modifying ethanol. For example, Holmgren said, “instead of just making polyethylene, we can make polypropylene. Instead of making polyester, we can make acrylic.”

Right now, LanzaTech is working to make acetone and isopropanol, which should be ready in 2023.

It takes a village (of people and microbes)

Holmgren, who was recently named one of 25 leading women shaping climate action and who was previously named the world’s most compassionate businesswoman, puts a lot of stock in collaboration. “Doing hard things can’t only be done by an individual or a company. It has to be done by a consortium of partners," she told us. 

Because the SPAC deal was announced on March 8, International Women’s Day, we asked Holmgren how it feels to helm LanzaTech as a CEO who happens to be a woman.

“Every time I sit at a table, I have to prove myself,” she acknowledged. “When it comes to the phrase ‘woman CEO,’ I have to totally forget about it so it doesn’t bog me down.”

Instead, Holmgren prefers to focus on the current moment. “I’m leading a transformative company in an industry that needs to be transformed. The carbon economy needs to be transformed. We’re ready to step up into the light and show people what is possible.”

And within the company, Holmgren doesn’t want the larger implications of LanzaTech's work for people and planet to be lost. “Our company culture is about not just doing good but being good citizens,” she said.

As of 2022, LanzaTech’s plants have produced over 30 million gallons of ethanol, the equivalent of offsetting 150,000 metric tons of CO2 in the atmosphere. Not only does the process convert more than 90 percent of the carbon in CO2 gas streams into ethanol, but the company says its systems also recycle over 90 percent of the water they use and utilize the spent bacterial biomass as a nutrition source for aquaculture.

Image credit: LanzaTech Investor Relations

Over the past two years, the pandemic has hit the U.S. Black community hard when compared to how many Americans fared over the same time period. Further, many Black-owned businesses often struggled to stay open without the possibility of receiving any assistance, thereby sending the message to Black Americans that they had to forge ahead on their own.

For many Black youths who see this in their communities, while finding themselves denied the educational opportunities their peers in wealthier neighborhoods take for granted, their future prospects appear even more dire. That's especially true when looking at the U.S. unemployment rate by race, which has been stubbornly far higher overall for Black Americans than whites and Hispanics.

The long-term results of this disparity include the ongoing wealth gaps between white and Black households. Depending on the source, the median wealth of white families has approached $200,000 while the data suggest Black families’ median total wealth is less than $25,000.

Federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Labor have recently announced more funding designed to serve youth who haven’t been shown doors that could open for better opportunities in both education and employment. Clearly, however, more can and should be done on this front.

For many, the intuitive solution that comes to mind is simply “get a college degree.” Nevertheless, the cost of higher education is out of reach for many families. To that end, if the private sector wants to ensure that it will always have a reliable pipeline of talent, then it needs to do its part.

Editor's note: Be sure to subscribe to our Brands Taking Stands newsletter, which comes out every Wednesday.

One coalition, a partnership between Grads of Life and OneTen, believes it has a solution.

Grads of Life is a nonprofit with a staff determined to eliminate any divides between employers and all qualified job applicants. Its approach is to work with companies in order to secure equity in employment by launching DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) strategies that can both improve lives and generate tangible benefits for businesses.

OneTen is focused on a similar mission, one that is centered on finding ways for Black Americans to be hired for jobs that can support a family. Such jobs, according to MIT’s Living Wage calculator, need to pay in the high $50,000 range to about $90,000 a year, depending on the location in the U.S.

Last week, Grads of Life announced it would accelerate its partnership with OneTen, with the goal to work with Black Americans who do not have a four-year degree. Their measure of success is to help provide 1 million Black youth and adults the tools during the following 10 years so they can land jobs that pay well enough to support a family.

“We know that structural barriers call for structural solutions — and OneTen has responded overwhelmingly to this call,” Elyse Rosenblum, CEO of Grads of Life, said in an emailed statement. “It has been Grads of Life’s privilege to support OneTen and its more than 60 member companies and 250 executives. OneTen’s efforts have already led to more than 20,000 hires and increased access to economic opportunity and mobility for Black talent nationwide. We are excited to double down on this partnership in 2022, engaging employers in new markets and advancing the talent practices necessary for Black Americans to thrive.”

Companies that have so far lined up to participate in this initiative include Accenture, ADP, Caterpillar, Cisco, GM, HP, IBM, Target, Verizon and Whirlpool.

Image credit: Justin Shaifer via Pexels

Marsha Guerrier has hit the sweet spot with her virtual network for businesswomen of color. Aptly named, HerSuiteSpot seeks to propel its members toward financial success by empowering them as entrepreneurs and leaders, breaking down negative money beliefs, and replacing those beliefs with a true sense of worth. And it’s working — according to the network, members have increased their revenue by an average of 30 percent.

In the U.S. and Canada, women held less than a quarter of the top executive positions in 2021. That number dropped to a mere 4 percent for women of color. While parity appeared to be nearer for women in general when it comes to lower management, only 12 percent of those positions were retained by women of color. Further, women of color consistently report being undervalued and overburdened at work.

It is this type of corporate culture that inspires Guerrier to help women who look like her find ways around those barriers. She began with the Women on the Rise Conference in 2014, which blossomed into what is now HerSuiteSpot. She told TriplePundit that she saw the need for the network while working for a startup where she and the few other women employed there were being taken advantage of for their knowledge and expertise without any real acknowledgment or gratitude for their work. When the women got together and compared experiences, it became clear that none of them were receiving bonuses, regardless of their contributions. Instead, the men were keeping all of the profits for themselves.

Guerrier explained that executive management seemed to see her, the only Black person at the company, and the few Asian women working there as a way to tick off their diversity markers without utilizing the women to their full potential in the proper positions with the commensurate pay. The disappointment in her voice was palatable as she described the situation, “I’m a woman and I’m a Black person, and I filled those boxes,” she told us.

With the original conference, Guerrier’s goal was to provide an opportunity for women of color to come together and access resources that would help them deal with the marginalization they experience in the workplace and go beyond the hobby state with their own side hustles. Since then, she has expanded into HerSuiteSpot with a huge network that serves as a support group and mastermind. There is a toolkit for business planning and goal setting. There is a video library. There is consulting, coaching, and a career center where corporate sponsors can list jobs, and there is an app to support all of it. There is even capital in the form of monthly $500 HerRise MicroGrants and a virtual pitchfest for entrepreneurs from New York state on March 31 with a $5,000 grant up for grabs.

Capital is an integral part of turning a side hustle into a startup. Yet HerSuiteSpot’s website cites less than 1 percent of venture capital going to Black and Latina women. Guerrier pointed out that while venture capitalists do prefer to invest in people who look like them, it goes beyond gatekeeping. These investors falsely assume that entrepreneurs of color aren’t interested in providing goods or services for a larger market, so when they do invest in Black and Latina-owned businesses, it is largely in the form of hair and beauty products.

With the grants, Guerrier says, “We try to look beyond the average things that they think a woman of color would do,” and strike a balance between products and services. This month the grant will go to an entrepreneur upcycling plastics. Last month it went to a faith-based nanny matching service.

According to HerSuiteSpot, 65 percent of women of color have side hustles, but this isn’t anything new. Guerrier explained that Black women have always had some kind of monetization outside of work — whether it was babysitting, hair-braiding, making skin and hair products, etc. — the language just wasn’t there to describe it as such. The goal with side hustles now is, as she puts it: “We want women to realize it can become bigger than their salary.”

Turning a side hustle into a startup can be intimidating for anyone, even more so for women of color who have been raised without wealth or resources. In addition, Guerrier explains that many are held back by a fear of failure, along with a mindset of scarcity, and the idea that they should be grateful for what they have and not go after more. This is why HerSuiteSpot focuses on mindset as the first of its Four Pillars (the other three are money, marketing and media).

This mindset work is constant and relies on affirmations and reminding. Members are tasked with being fair and kind to themselves while celebrating their wins — something most women struggle with. Guerrier shared one of her tricks with TriplePundit and, without giving away the secret, it sounds like a magical way to borrow the confidence of those who somehow always seem to manage to fail upward.

She also has invaluable advice for parents raising girls of color — “It starts at home.” She encourages parents to actively build confidence in their daughters and expose them to new experiences and non-traditional fields. They need to see success and leadership and be exposed to high-level executives who look like them. HerSuiteSpot will help bring this advice to fruition for 25 girls aged 14 to 18 this summer with the HerRise STEM Squad.

In a corporate culture that continues to favor white males at the expense of women of color, HerSuiteSpot steps in to fill a void and provide a medium through which these women can collaborate and network to further their careers and turn their side hustles into startups.

Image credit: Ono Kosuki via Pexels

Of all the plastic that has ever been produced, approximately two-thirds has found its way into the natural environment, according to a 2020 study from the European Parliament. From there, plastics can degrade, flow into rivers and enter marine food webs. Scientists have already come up with some solutions that clear the environment of microplastics (like adhesive bacteria or a magnetic liquid), and some businesses are innovating to stop the flow from the start.

How two very different companies started to work together on microplastics

At this year’s Consumer Technology Association conference, Samsung — maker of phones, laptops, refrigerators and more — announced a lineup of sustainability initiatives for its home appliances. Among the initiatives was a collaboration with outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia. That may seem like an unexpected collaboration, Mark Newton, head of corporate sustainability at Samsung Electronics America, told TriplePundit, but when it comes to tackling microplastics, he said it makes perfect sense.

Big issues like microplastics pollution require big thinking — and working together. For Newton, who has worked in corporate sustainability for decades, Samsung’s new collaboration has all the ingredients for success (and not every working relationship does) — from shared values and clear objectives to adequate funds.

What does it take to build a corporate collaboration that actually has a positive environmental impact?

First, Newton noted, Patagonia and Samsung are at the table to work. Patagonia has been working on the issue of microplastics for a while now, because, to be frank, the retailer’s garments are often made with plastic-based materials that can shed in the washer and enter the environment through laundry wastewater. “They are deeply aware that their products are shedding, and they’re doing everything they can to try to avoid that,” Newton said. The apparel company aims to be part of the larger solution to microplastics while minimizing its own contribution to the problem. Patagonia has conducted research on textile design and the breakdown of fabrics, findings that come in handy as Samsung updates its washing machine design. And the retailer knows it can make a bigger difference in solving fiber shedding with a tech company at its side, Newton added.

Patagonia’s choice to work with Samsung was ideal, because the electronics company has already invested in sustainable solutions for its washing machines. Features such as effective cold washes and wash-customizing artificial intelligence already help diminish the ongoing wear-and-tear of fabrics.

Newton said the collaboration’s specificity is a plus. In fact, a successful collaboration needs clear goals — what you’re going to do together and what you’re not, he said. And even if the project leads to only a slight adjustment to the multinational’s washing machines, that can make a big difference. "One of the things that is important about Samsung is our scale,” Newton said. “The small things that we do really amplify across our product line and then across our product sales, so that we can make relatively small everyday changes that have a big impact.” For Samsung, it was also important that the project related to the company’s bigger-picture goals of climate mitigation, building a circular economy, and listening to the next generation of customers. Staying aligned with those larger goals helps keep activities focused, Newton said.

Commitment, investments and time

Finally, Newton added, a healthy collaboration needs adequate resources. Actually putting in the needed time and money for a successful sustainability initiative requires understanding the business case for doing so. Externalities like the impact of mining on local water systems or the effect of microplastics on ocean life are often ignored when designing, manufacturing, or pricing a product. “I think about this way…that if we're bringing these externalities into the decision-making process, we're going to make better decisions, and we're going to be in business longer, which is one way to define sustainability,” Newton said.

But working together, though serious, doesn’t have to be somber. When he first learned his team was going to work with Patagonia, Newton said he was “thrilled,” knowing the value they would bring to the table, and he expects the collaboration will be fun.

Image credit via Adobe Stock

A growing tidal wave hitting businesses can be summarized in three letters – ESG. The environmental, social and governance investing movement may not have fully grabbed the public’s attention – yet – but it is rapidly growing on national and international business radars. In fact, ESG assets are expected to exceed $50 trillion globally by 2025.

While the vanguard of ESG investing was concentrated in Europe, that started to change in January 2020 when BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, told CEOs that “climate risk is investment risk” and going forward sustainability will be “at the center of our investment approach.” BlackRock’s initial shockwave soon became a tidal wave, particularly in the U.S., with more investors signing on and the Securities & Exchange Commission recently proposing mandatory climate disclosures.

Make no mistake: This is not just an issue for publicly traded companies. Those companies, answering to investors and consumers, will pressure their private company suppliers and vendors to become more sustainable.

ESG reporting has become a priority for C-suite leaders and their boards. Much of the attention so far has been focused on carbon, which is relatively “easy” to comprehend, but corporate leaders have said the next “wave” is water. The challenge is they don’t know where to begin or what to do.

Water is a complex problem to tackle because water challenges are diverse, local and shared across many stakeholders in a watershed. Until now, companies typically haven’t thought about water until they didn’t have it, or until the quality was so bad that their operations literally ground to a halt.

Now is the time to start thinking about water in all its complexity. Most of the effects of climate change will be felt through water events, from coastal storm surges to loss of source water from low snowpack and everything in between, leading to more flooding in some areas and drought and scarcity in others. These impacts will leave few companies untouched, and the financial consequences are anyone’s guess, from direct operational losses to hits on investments and financing.

Water issues vary based on how a company uses water and where it is located. We’ve heard much about the drought on the West Coast and how that will affect businesses, particularly those that are heavily water-reliant such as data centers and food and beverage companies. In the Great Lakes region, companies are relatively immune from water scarcity. But even in water-rich regions of the U.S., companies face their own problems of water quantity, such as too much rain, and quality, such as contamination. Plus, we live in a global economy, with supply chains spread throughout the world. So, water issues in China, for example, ripple back to our home markets.

Last summer, Piet Klop, head of responsible investment at PGGM Investments, said it succinctly when a colleague told him, “Water isn't that important because the entire water sector is less than 1 percent of GDP.” The problem, he said, “is that the other 99 percent can't do without it.”

What is needed is good corporate water stewardship practices and technologies to address water-related issues. The first step for any company is to understand how it uses water and the condition of the watershed in which it operates to start building a water stewardship plan. However, good corporate water stewardship practices and technology are not enough—we also need proper reporting practices to accelerate and verify those who are acting as good water stewards.

ESG-related performance improvements and reporting are no longer optional for businesses. You can start the journey today by assessing and addressing your company’s water use and impacts. The worst thing to do is nothing because you will inevitably be engulfed by the tidal wave.

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Image credit: Clay Banks via Unsplash