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Corona-crisis relief: What companies and others are doing to help soften the blow

Our news roundup focusing on how businesses and other organizations are making purposeful efforts to provide help at a time of crisis. Updated April 16 Amazon: Testing all employees for Covid-19 CEO Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon will be expanding efforts to test employees for the coronavirus. “Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running. For this to work, we as a society would need vastly more testing capacity than is currently available,” Bezos wrote to shareholders. He stated Amazon would be testing all employees, regardless of whether they were showing any symptoms of the virus. Starbucks: Some locations to re-open  After closing a majority of stores in the U.S. and Canada on March 21, the popular coffee chain may re-open certain locations for drive-thru and to-go orders, depending on local health guidelines. The company will take a “monitor and adapt” stance, noted CEO Kevin Johnson, and will also be extending paid leave for employees and paying an extra $3 per hour to those still on the job. Toyota: Teaming up to manufacture ventilators  Like many manufacturing companies, Toyota has adapted to creating medical equipment, particularly sought-after ventilators. Nihon Kohden, a Tokyo-based manufacturer of medical electronic gear, is now working with Toyota to boost output of ventilators by fivefold, reported Bloomberg. Nissan and other car manufacturers may follow suit. Office Space: This company has created an office-sounds generator  Miss the office? Chances are you didn’t realize just how much you craved the sound of a copy machine. Kids Creative Agency, a culture design company based in Switzerland, just launched imintheoffice.eu, a simulator to bring us back to all the familiar and oddly nostalgic sounds of our offices. Updated April 10 Twitter & Co.: Tech billionaires donate money and resources   Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, announced this week that he plans on donating approximately one third of his wealth, or $1 billion, to coronavirus relief programs. Other celebrities from Jeff Bezos to Oprah Winfrey are following the trend, contributing millions to food banks and philanthropic organizations. While this provides much-needed short-term relief, critics warn that it's no substitute for what the government can do to alleviate economic inequities. “It’s really important to ask why the crisis has hit us the way it has and the weaknesses it’s exposed,” author Anand Giridharadas told Recode.  Restaurants: Becoming makeshift grocery stores With empty shelves in grocery stores and worker strikes sweeping across popular grocery-delivery businesses, local restaurants are converting their closed locations into grocery stores. In San Antonio, dozens of businesses are pooling their resources to sell essential items, meal kits, and, of course, precious toilet paper.  Movie Theaters: Finding unique ways to stay afloat As movie theaters large and small have been shut down due to social-distancing orders, some local cinemas are finding ways to stream new indie films with a new stay-at-home option. Customers can buy a ticket online and will receive a one-time viewing link and an option to support a local theater with their purchase. “We really do think that we’re supporting small theaters and their staff,” says Erik Lokkesmoe, president of Aspiration Entertainment.  Hair Salon: Founder makes emergency pivots to save company Amy Errett, the founder of Madison Reed, a hair-color brand, taking drastic measures to adapt to the pandemic. After shutting down multiple stores in San Francisco, Errett has seen an increase in online orders by adjusting supply chains and giving hairdressers customer-service positions to help people color their own hair at home. “We quickly quadrupled the size of the Color Crew from 30 to 115 people to support increased customer demand, and got everyone set up in new jobs within a week,” Errett said. Detroit Sewn: Local contractor starts manufacturing masks A contract-sewing shop in Detroit is now working full-time making masks for healthcare staff, essential workers, and the elderly. Inspired by the "Arsenal of Health," a movement designed to pivot manufacturing, the company began work making 50,000 cotton reusable masks per  week for healthcare workers in desperate need of personal protective equipment (PPE). The company has since partnered with several other non-profit organizations to distribute and develop machinery to make N95 masks, which are more effective at stopping the virus than standard cloth masks. "What's important to know is these are not alternatives to N95 masks, nor are they alternatives for surgical masks, they are considered standard face masks," says Detroit Sewn CEO Karen Buscemi. Updated April 7 Tesla: Using car parts to make ventilators  The electric-auto maker released a video this week breaking down a prototype of its Model 3-borne ventilator, made partly of Tesla car components. The company joins Ford and General Motors in rushing to build ventilators that hospitals need to help severely ill coronavirus patients breathe. "Model 3 parts used in the Tesla ventilators include a mixing chamber and vehicle controllers and several components of its Model 3 infotainment system, including the touchscreen and infotainment computer," Fast Company reported.   Car-insurance companies: Giving customers a break  As motorists around the U.S. shelter in place, Allstate and American Family Insurance are cutting drivers some slack. Allstate will be giving 15% of its monthly premiums back to customers and American Family will send $50 for each vehicle registered with a policy. With fewer cars on the road, fewer accident claims are being filed, so companies are returning some of the windfall to customers. Not all auto-insurance companies are on board yet. Grocery delivery: More ethical options  In response to worker strikes over hazard pay and workplace safety during the pandemic, a new company is empowering small shopping-and-delivery companies to compete with the big platforms like Instacart. Dumpling, a new shopping platform, allows users to hire local delivery-business companies to shop for their groceries and essential items. Founder and co-CEO Joe Shapiro stated that personal shoppers using the platform are earning a take-home pay of $33 per job, “an order of magnitude higher than the average that you see on other online delivery apps,” Fast Company reported. Uber: Helping out-of-work drivers find jobs Impacted tremendously by the coronavirus, 3.9 million hourly drivers are now looking for alternative means to make ends meet. This week Uber launched Work Hub, a platform to connect drivers to new job opportunities such as warehouse, food production, and customer-service positions. Uber will also connect drivers to opens outside of the company and will not collect commissions from partner companies.  Updated April 1 Kohl’s: Launching curbside pickup tomorrow  In an email to customers this week, Kohl’s CEO Michelle Gass announced that the 1,200-store chain would begin a new "drive-up" feature that allows shoppers to order items online and have them placed in the back of their cars upon arrival. The stores will remain closed to the public. Participating locations are to be announced on the company's website kohls.com starting tomorrow. Facebook: New feature to encourage neighborly behavior The social-media giant announced a new “Community Help” feature that allows users to volunteer to help neighbors in their area. Within a 50-mile radius, volunteers can help deliver groceries, medicine, and run errands for sick or elderly neighbors. The feature is set to roll out this week in the U.S., U.K., and France. Crocs: Donating shoes to frontline health-care workers  The company's CEO Andrew Rees is donating 10,000 shoes for nurses and doctors across the U.S. Workers can have the shoes, known for their comfort and easy clean-up, delivered to their homes by going to crocs.com/freeforhealthcare. "These workers have our deepest respect, and we are humbled to be able to answer their call and provide whatever we can to help during this unprecedented time," said Rees. Dallas Mavericks: Owner supports arena workers  NBA team owner Mark Cuban has put into place a program to continue to pay hourly workers who are now out of a job. With the league unsure when games will resume, thousands of workers are now left empty handed. Cuban also plans to work with organizations to provide day care for frontline health workers. Bloom Energy: Fixing up old ventilators While many companies are starting from scratch, a California-based company called Bloom Energy has taken to refurbishing thousands of old and broken ventilators to send out to hospitals in need. “This is a really good reminder and representation of the power of American manufacturing, and Americans coming together to support the community,” said Susan Brennan, Bloom’s chief operating officer. Updated March 30 Yum Brands: CEO forgoes salary to help restaurant managers CEO David Gibbs, who oversees brands including KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, announced today that he will give his 2020 salary to restaurant general managers in the form of one-time, $1,000 bonuses. His expected $900,000 will also be used to fund the Yum Brands Foundation Global Employee Relief Fund to help employees directly impacted by the pandemic.  Facebook: A pledge $100 million to news media News publishers, particularly the print media, are taking a hit during this pandemic and Facebook is offering its help. From the promised $100 million total, $25 million will be given to local media, while the remaining $75 million will be spent in marketing for global news organizations. Both Facebook and Google, whose dominance in the market for online advertising has exacerbated the decline of American newsrooms, have earlier pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to assist local media. Johnson & Johnson: Making progress on a coronavirus vaccine  With a $1 billion investment from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a federal agency, Johnson & Johnson announced it is getting closer to a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. Human testing could begin as early as September, with use possibly by early 2021. The company is also partnering with other countries to speed up manufacturing capacity.  Amazon: Alexa voice assistant now offering triage  The company has added a new feature to the popular Alexa voice assistant to help users gauge their risk level for coronavirus. The AI-bot will respond with questions about symptoms and travel history, while offering expert health guidance from the CDC about how to get help if they are at risk. Alexa will also sing you a song for 20 seconds while you wash your hands, the minimum washing time advised by health experts.   Medical drones: taking flight in the U.S.? Zipline, a medical drone delivery service launched in Rwanda, is now working to bring its devices to the U.S. In Ghana, the company has already used the drones to deliver emergency masks and gloves to regional hospitals. The startup is currently brainstorming ways to use the drones for prescription delivery as well. Updated March 27 Walmart: Waiving rent for essential partner businesses For the month of April, Walmart will offer rent relief to more than 10,000 businesses housed in their stores such as hair salons, veterinary clinics, banks, and eye doctors. The company has seen a boom in sales since the coronavirus pandemic and has also announced it will give $500 million in bonuses to hourly workers. Apple: New CDC-approved screening app and website The company announced a new website and iOS app that allows users to take a questionnaire to screen for possible symptoms. The app and website include information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the virus and what to do if the app indicates that a user may be positive for COVID-19. Instacart: Hiring as demand escalates As more Americans stay home and avoid grocery stores, Instacart has announced it will seek to hire 300,000 independent contractors over the next three months, nearly doubling its current workforce. "The last few weeks have been the busiest in Instacart's history and our teams are working around the clock to reliably and safely serve all members of our community," said Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta. Dyson: Founder designs new ventilator in record time In response to an order from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is suffering from coronavirus himself, the vacuum-cleaner company announced that it has designed a ventilator that will be ready to distribute to hospitals as soon as April. The devices will meet National Health Service requirements. Columbia University: Putting 3D printers to good use Madiha Choksi, research-and-learning-technologies librarian at Columbia University, put the school’s 3D printer to work this week by printing face shields for health workers. With help of volunteers, she has turned a local New York community center into an assembly line for the equipment. Updated March 25 Snapchat: New games encourage staying at home Zenly, the Snapchat app that allows you to share your location with friends, is now releasing a Stay at Home leaderboard to challenge users to help contain the coronavirus outbreak by staying at home. Zenly also offers a coronavirus lens, which allows users to see the number of confirmed cases updated on a map three times per day using data from the World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins University. Restaurants: New food automation and 100% contactless production Creator, a restaurant in San Francisco, is innovating with automated food production and a new pressurized “transfer chamber” that allows workers and delivery workers to eliminate the passage of germs during pick-up. “We can’t restart the economy until retail and restaurant workers are protected,” says Creator founder Alex Vardakostas. “They’re some of the most important people to keep virus-free.” Neiman Marcus: Partnering to ship protective gear to health-care workers Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus and Jo-ann Stores, the fabric-and-craft chain, are joining efforts to provide masks, gloves, and scrubs in several facilities across the U.S. The materials are not fully medical grade, but will follow health guidelines from the Providence Hospital System in Washington, reported the Dallas Morning News. 3M: Ramping up N95 respirator mask production  Creator of Post-it Notes, Scotch tape, and various office supplies, 3M has been refining its response to health emergencies for nearly two decades. The company doubled global production of N95 masks and is shipping them to the hardest-hit areas in the U.S. The company is also announcing a partnership with Ford Motor Co. to produce air-purifying respirators for severely ill patients. Updated March 24 Nike: Top Athletes promote new coronavirus PSA The company known for the message “Just do it” is campaigning a new one: “Play inside, play for the world.” Among the famous athletes to endorse the message are LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ford: new ads and expedited ventilator and mask production Instead of a scheduled March Madness-themed campaign, Ford released a new ad with the tagline “Built to Lend a Hand,” encouraging those struggling to make car-loan payments to contact them if they need help, Fast Company reports. The company is also teaming up with 3M, GE, and the UAW to produce 100,000 face masks and disposable respirators using a 3D printer. Kraft-Heinz: donating $12 million to

Mimi Hayes | March 16, 2020

Lighting a Fire for Inclusion Across a Major Enterprise

As organizations increasingly claim diversity, equity and inclusion as top priorities, they've hired chief diversity officers to make that shift abundantly clear. This isn't an easy job for any individual, particularly in storied institutions like universities. But Carol Henderson sees her role as lighting a torch that others will help carry. First as vice provost of diversity at the University of Delaware, and now at Atlanta's Emory University as its first chief diversity officer, Henderson realized that she'd need as much of the campus community as possible invested in this grander vision. To do that, she'd need to “shake the syllabus, shake the mind, create a safe space,” as she had as a professor of English and African-American literature. “I took those skill sets and brought them to these administrative roles,” Henderson said at a recent From Day One conference in Atlanta. “In this level, I am doing a master class in getting folks on board.” Once Henderson arrived at Emory last summer, her first priority as a cabinet-level hire was to meet with colleagues and potential allies like Amanda James, the university's assistant dean of diversity, inclusion and engagement. Once she was oriented, one of her goals was to jump start initiatives that had only been lumbering along. "One of the things at work we're doing now–I love this–is at Emory's College of Arts and Sciences. Tomorrow they're going to have a conversation about having a race-and-ethnicity requirement for all students. Now, they've been doing this work for about six years. It sped up all of a sudden. I won't say I had anything to do with that. But what I will say is that I've had conversations with colleagues to say, Where is the logjam? What are people reticent around? How can we work around that?" Any good teacher knows how the right question can lead to thoughtful discussion, she said. “It's amazing what happens when you ask questions: Why do we do things this way? Has this gotten the result that you want?” Many of those questions should be open-ended, as they might lead to answers and possibilities that Henderson couldn't have imagined, she said. At a recent lunch-and-learn session for her team, Henderson screened the film Just Mercy. She asked her team to observe the film's subject, Bryan Stevenson (played by Michael B. Jordan), the activist and lawyer who fought for more than 30 years to get wrongly incarcerated prisoners off death row. Henderson then asked her team to brainstorm how they could learn from his example. The point wasn't to land on any one answer. “When you build a team, you have to cultivate the mind of your team leaders,” Henderson said. “Give them room to innovate and create. Give them a room without boundaries.” Henderson realizes that she can't expect to engage every single person in her journey on behalf of the school. However, she can maintain perspective so that her efforts are constructive. “We know that fear is usually the one barrier that prevents people from engaging in the process: What am I going to lose if you enact diversity, equity and inclusion?” she said. “My role–as visionary and accountability partner, change agent and community member–is to minimize that as much as possible.” Said Henderson: “I am doing a master class in getting folks on board” Henderson said she sorts out her audience to see who is most willing to listen. “I believe that on the spectrum, you have 30% of folks who get it. Sixty-five percent are in the middle, who may want to get involved, are not sure how to get involved; they're afraid of what it might cost them. The other 5%,” she said, pausing. “I don't believe people are inherently evil. Somebody has to teach you how to be that; some environment has been cultivated for you to think that's OK.” Henderson thinks it’s unproductive to spend too much effort on the holdouts. “When we do diversity, equity and inclusion, we tend to focus on a lot on the 5% to 7%. But that 5% to 7%, I let them be. I'm more interested in the other 90% to 95%, because that's where I believe the movement will be.” In 2014, when the University of Delaware first approached Henderson with the vice provost of diversity position, she hesitated to say yes. She didn't know whether she wanted to leave the classroom. “I think the classroom is the most revolutionary space in the academy,” she says. Now Henderson understands that her current work is an extension of what she has already done. From her vantage point, she still observes how Generation Z, having recently surpassed millennials as the largest and youngest population cohort, is keenly interested in the issues she is concerned with. In her current position, she can gently remind colleagues that these conversations aren't new to American history, that Atlanta was once the “cradle of the civil-rights movement,” how inclusion “has been an issue since the Declaration of Independence.” She can build connections and offer context for the sake of the future generation of workers, as she always has: “It would be negligible to graduate students from an elite institution who don't know how to work across boundaries, traditions and cultures outside themselves.” “I believe teaching in the classroom is diversity and inclusion,” Henderson says. “It definitely is part of cultural literacy. It's about helping our students understand their space and place — the knowledge of what it means to be African-American in this country, what it means to be themselves, Americans in this country. Narratives are important to demonstrate our commonality and our humanity.” Christina Lee is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and podcast host.

Christina Lee | March 04, 2020

The Abundant Virtues of Building Homes Together

Habitat for Humanity is an organization that helps families build homes, as well as improve them. But it has been building something else as well: the size and scope of its own ambition. Habitat helped about 125,000 people in 2005, which grew to about 7 million in 2019, according to the company’s CEO, who attributes the growth to Habitat’s partnerships with businesses and other organizations. “In some ways our model turned inside out,” said Habitat CEO Jonathan Reckford. “Rather than thinking we can build our way out, we wanted to be a partner and catalyst for worldwide access to safe, decent and affordable housing,” he said in a panel discussion at a recent From Day One conference in Atlanta, where he was joined by executives from partner companies Delta Air Lines and Levelor. Reckford said the key to picking a partner is to anchor the partnership in the mission of the company in a way that authentically engages employees and customers, as well as advancing the company’s strategic goals. “And don’t pigeonhole it in one area, so it shouldn’t only be in HR,” he said. The partnership has to be owned by a company’s senior leadership if it’s going to be embedded in the culture, he added. Tim Mapes, Delta’s chief marketing and communications officer, said the interest in philanthropic causes is so great among the company’s employees that management uses a bidding process for the 90,000 employees who want to get involved. On creating sustainable air travel, Delta’s Mapes said: “That’s a responsibility we have, not that our customers have, that we have.” “We’ll build 15 homes this year, eight outside the U.S., seven in the U.S. We’ve built 273 homes over our time, and the reason the numbers keep growing is because our employees want to do more,” he said. Delta has even focused on its Habitat partnership in one of its latest safety videos. Levolor, the maker of window shades and blinds, recently partnered with Habitat and promised to donate $1 million worth of cordless blinds and shades to Habitat homes across the U.S. “Our company was looking for a philanthropic endeavor and it started more as an observation that we weren’t really active in the community,” said Levelor President Christian Leard. “So it started small, with things that were important to me and I found to be important to some of my staff.” The partnership with Habitat is attractive because it combines the company’s product, its purpose, and the “right level of philanthropy.” It also allows employees who are involved in the product’s installation to “really get their arms around” the company’s purpose, he said. “That’s the part where the employees actually feel involved when they’re out there at the house. It’s not just the product for us, it’s the being together with the community and our partners,” Leard said. The need to pursue more than just profits and career advancement is especially important to younger workers, Reckford observed. “I hear a lot of mixed things about millennials, but this is the most globally connected and compassionate generation I think we’ve ever had in terms of care,” he said. “I do think they’re also setting a much higher bar than maybe any generation. I’m expecting that wherever they work will be authentically committed to making their communities better.” Reckford said data overwhelmingly shows that the best talent wants to work for companies that are value-driven and live that out in a tangible way in the communities they serve, which is something customers also want to see. Habitat CEO Reckford is also the author of a recently published book: “Our Better Angels: Seven Simple Virtues That Will Change Your Life and the World” Being clear on those values also allows companies to make quick decisions and boldly execute them, Mapes said. “If you’re unclear, obviously it’s much more difficult to make decisions in a timely manner. And for us, as an airline where our planes are going 525 mph, speed matters,” Mapes said. Such clear values may help illuminate the organization’s direction, he said, which includes a major commitment to sustainability. In February, Delta announced that it was committing $1 billion over the next decade toward becoming carbon neutral. “Increasingly young people are of the belief that with [environmental activist] Greta [Thunberg] and other people like Greta that you’ve got to make a decision between travel and protecting the planet,” he said. “That is not a decision we want any customer anywhere, anytime, to be forced to make.” “We need to solve this problem for customers such that the people who want to travel to see the world and experience other cultures and become sensitive and empathetic toward others can do that without in any way harming our planet,” said Mapes. “And that’s a responsibility we have, not that our customers have, that we have.” Alissa Smith is an Atlanta-based copywriter and journalist. She has spent the past five years working at news outlets including the Associated Press and the Orlando Sentinel.

Alissa Smith | March 04, 2020

How a Founder Transformed the Beauty Industry and Made Space for Women of Color

Welcome to She Leads, a series digging into the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a woman in business. In each piece, we chat with a different founder about her experiences, the issues women face in business, and how they’re powering through in the face of adversity. Miko Branch didn’t just have to build a business in order to get her products for curly and textured hair in the hands of women everywhere. She had to expand a category. She had to break down stereotypes. And she had to educate consumers not just about her product, but also about their own hair and the lies they’d been told about it. When Branch, along with her sister Titi, launched Miss Jessie’s at their kitchen table 15 years ago, the beauty industry was a long way from inclusive. There were products for women of color to relax their hair, but not embrace its natural beauty. Miss Jessie’s helped changed this with fresh solutions that celebrate women of color for who they really are, bringing diversity and inclusivity to a category that was failing to serve everyone. We chatted with Branch to learn more about Miss Jessie’s, as well as educating your customers and making space for women of color. You started Miss Jessie’s because the market didn’t have the product you needed. This is a founding story I hear a lot from women and especially women of color. Why do you think it didn't exist already? Why did you need to fill that gap? Media and the beauty ideals weren’t accepting of texture and embracing what God gave you naturally. It was about straight hair and the European ideas of what beauty was. But I had started to embrace my natural texture, and when my salon clients started to take notice, it didn't take me long to see the opportunity. I was always good at hair and quickly became an expert at styling curly hair, but there were no products like Miss Jessie's on the market. So my sister Titi and I took to our kitchen table and literally whipped up our first product, which was Curly Pudding. We created the niche and supplied the market we built by using the internet to show the possibilities. We showed before and after photos that were really, really key. Now, more than a decade later, you can't look at a magazine, turn on your TV, or walk down the street without seeing textured hair. We saw an opportunity, we jumped on it, and we helped to build that niche brick by brick. I'm sure the women who use your products were quick to embrace them, but with such an emphasis on European beauty standards, did you find resistance anywhere else? The resistance actually came from the people we were marketing to. They didn't believe that these outcomes and possibilities were real. We got a lot of backlash and people thought that we were tying weaves into the hair. Why do you think your potential customers didn't believe it worked? For generations, women of color were told that their hair was bad, both from people who loved them and disliked them. Could you imagine? Your grandmother might have told you your hair was not great in the same way your enemy did. That really had an effect on what we all believed beauty looks like. But we showed you could wear a middle part or a side part. We showed you could define your curls. Once they were able to see that it was a desirable look and could be styled beautifully, I think that's when the interest started. We showed the possibilities beyond afros, braids, or dreadlocks, which were the only categories of natural hair at the time. Many women, primarily women with the tighter coiled curl, didn't even know that they had curly hair because for many years, they'd straightened it to emulate a European beauty standard. It sounds like as much as you are in the hair-product business, you were also in the business of breaking down stereotypes and negative ideas about textured hair. Would you say you had to do some education? Yes, I definitely see it that way now. Although at the time, we were 360 degrees in the development, production, distribution, and marketing. We didn't realize that we were also helping restore esteem that may have been destroyed over the years. We found ourselves reinforcing and reminding women how beautiful they are and how unique and beautiful their hair is. Miss Jessie's is available in nearly every big-box and beauty-supply store across the country. How did you get that distribution? Sales had been down around 30% in the sections of big-box retailers where they marketed to women with a tighter coil texture and [stocked] the relaxers. I imagine many of these retailers wanted to know why, and it was actually Target that made the first move by reaching out via a third party. When they called, we didn't think that it was really them. We blew it off, but they were persistent and they wanted us to be at this meeting. We got our plane tickets, went, and they ordered everything on our list. With the handshake and signing a lot of our contracts without a lawyer, we became multimillionaires. Then we started getting calls from everyone. Why were sales down 30% with those products? We think women stopped using relaxers and became more interested in natural hair. And at the time, that section of the store that was marketed to primarily women of color was very dimly lit, dusty, and not a lot of attention was paid to it. But in the other sections, it was brightly lit with big, bold pictures, and it looked like the retailer cared about that customer. Now, when you go into the section where Miss Jessie's is sold, we have lights, we have multiple images, we have variety. What Miss Jessie’s proved is that this customer is willing to try new products and spend a bit more for products that work. Now when you go into that aisle, it’s extremely crowded. Not only did we give women beauty options and solutions, but we changed the beauty industry. We showed other minority women that they can do it too. Miss Jessie’s has always been a bit of a family affair, having been inspired and named after your grandmother and co-founded with your sister, who has since passed. How did that family support help you build Miss Jessie’s as a woman in business, and how did it help you to succeed now that you’re the driving force behind the company? Titi and I didn't go to business school. We didn't have any mentors or special skills. We had to tap what we learned, whether it be at the kitchen table or an old saying that my grandmother passed on to us. The work ethic that my dad, Jimmy Branch, put in us was also really key. There would be no Miss Jessie’s without the support of Titi. We had a big sister-little sister dynamic, and she often made a lot of the decisions and handled business while I worked on the creative side. We weren't just business partners, but also roommates, best friends, and sisters. We were co-parenting. Could you imagine when we got into a fight and didn't agree on what color Curly Pudding should be? We would have to get in the same car and drive all the way home and then walk into the same house and then come back to work and do it again. We had the good fortune of being able to support one another in business. I know love was the key with Titi and I. And I think love really was the key ingredient to the success of Miss Jessie's. What advice would you give to other women founders? It's really important that you're confident in your womanhood, meaning knowing that your voice does count. Women are strong and women can be leaders. When a woman says no, her no is equally as solid and forceful as a man’s. I found that as a woman, just being taken seriously is important. You need the confidence to be able to sit at a table as the only woman and not second-guess yourself. We also tend to be hard on ourselves. So if we do make a mistake, which many of us do, I really encourage women to forgive themselves and try again. Next time you'll do much better. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Read about an earlier hair-care pioneer here. Sage Lazzaro is a New York City-based journalist covering tech, business, culture, women and diversity & inclusion. Her work has appeared in Refinery29, VICE, Medium, the New York Observer, and more. Follow her on Twitter here.

sagelazzaro | February 28, 2020

Why Workers Want to Have an Impact Beyond Profits

The voices crying out for corporate responsibility in the community are louder and more plentiful than ever in 2020, and companies big and small are starting to respond. But what is the best approach for corporations, and who decides how much is enough? In a panel discussion at a recent From Day One conference in Seattle, a panel of local experts sought to answer that question. “I think we all know that focusing on values as well as making money is not only good for the bottom line, it’s good for the employees and for the community, your home,” said panel moderator Herb Weisbaum, a KOMO Radio reporter and NBCnews.com contributor, setting the stage for the conversation. Rebekah Bastian, VP of community and culture for Zillow Group, said the sense of community starts at home, within the walls of the company. “[We’re] focused on creating a workplace where all of our employees have equitable opportunities to grow and thrive in their careers, and a sense of belonging where they feel like they can bring their best selves to work, and they’re really seen and heard and valued for the unique perspectives that they bring,” she explained. From there, Bastion said that Zillow then has the goal of merging the internal culture with the product side, so that employees can see how their work is having a positive impact on the community around them. Focusing on motivation, Mark Horoszowski used a story to illustrate why he co-founded MovingWorlds, a company whose stated mission is to “build leaders and doers behind grassroots, world-changing ideas.” He mentioned the phenomenon of window washers dressing up like superheroes that office workers (and kids in children’s hospitals) sometimes see on the outside of their windows, and how much joy they bring–and often introspection. “Everybody in your company’s looking outside, then the Spider-Man goes [by], then everyone is wondering ‘What am I doing here? I’m doing hard, smart-person work, but what’s the effect of that? The window washer just brought joy into my life, but what am I doing?’” Reporter Herb Weisbaum of Seattle’s KOMO radio, at right, led the panel discussion. This, Horoszowski said, is why MovingWorlds was created: to help find ways for employees to know that the work they’re doing has an impact and a purpose, that “they are contributing to something bigger than themselves.” The MovingWorlds platform helps companies connect their employees with meaningful projects around the world that utilize their skills in impactful ways. Cassandra Mitchell, VP and corporate-responsibility officer for KeyBank, brought another angle to the discussion, since banks are bound not only by an internal sense of responsibility but also government rules and regulations for financial institution. Her role chiefly entails finding and connecting with nonprofits in the local community to take on worthwhile projects. Naturally, her responsibility includes focusing on ways to help increase financial literacy, but also to take on some of the most pressing challenges facing the Seattle area, including the need for more affordable housing. “We want to make sure we’re serving the underbanked and underserved,” she explained. Beyond that, Mitchell said that she tries “to find partners who are innovative, different, but really an expert in their field.” Kim Vu, global head of diversity, equity and inclusion for Remitly, described her relatively young company as “a digital platform that provides financial solutions that allows people to send money to their families across the globe.” Remitly’s social responsibility is inherent in its mission, she said, because it serves a unique, beneficial purpose in the world. “Social impact and thinking about that mission-driven purpose of our work, it’s built into what we do in equity and financial systems, it’s built into what we do on a daily basis,” Vu explained. Horoszowski said he is impressed that much larger companies, including financial giants like BlackRock and Goldman Sachs that are taking a high-profile stand on issues like climate change. “These are companies that are saying, ‘Let’s not do some harm and cover it up with some good.’ These are companies that are saying let’s use our assets to create some good and minimize harm in the process.” Weisbaum asked the panelists, “Is it enough to just enable workers or do [companies] need to put their money where their mouth is?” Mitchell stressed that those are two sides of the same coin, that employees should be able to feel comfortable in their workplace to speak out and enact change, but companies should also support those ideas financially. “It’s a combination of walking the talk, having a board of directors that is holding everyone accountable, and if it doesn’t happen, you’ll see it,” she said. Bastian agreed, but noted that the reverse of Weisbaum’s question should also be considered: “Is it OK, or enough, for a company to be writing a check, even a big check, or many big checks, if the employees aren’t engaged in doing the work?” She said that having a company write those checks can potentially let employees feel like they’re “off the hook” in terms of social responsibility and don’t have to do the work themselves to make things happen. Horoszowski looked to the future and suggested that big things can happen if companies accept that change is coming to the global economy and its relationship to the workplace. What does that mean, in concrete terms? “I don’t have an elegant answer, and I’m biased here, but employees within companies do.” If companies can find ways to let their employees be creative and do meaningful work, solutions to some of these large-scale problems may come naturally. Spenser Davis is a Seattle-based writer who has contributed to VICE, Pacific Standard, Atlas Obscura and other publications.

Spenser Davis | February 14, 2020

On Workplace Bias: ‘Leaders Need to Be Aware of the Systems of Oppression’

Individuals carry all sorts of bias around with them, but so do the systems that run our lives. How to mitigate the problem in the workplace? It helps to consider that systems don’t operate autonomously; they’re made by people. They become conduits to express–and perhaps even enforce–what their makers think and feel.  Indeed, systems operate according to the many-layered biases of their developers, noted Amy Lou Abernethy, CEO of Amp Creative, an enterprise-learning company. “And the system won’t solve itself. It takes people coming together to overcome these [barriers]. It’s tandem work that needs to be done.” Workplace bias was the focus of conversation among a panel of experts on diversity and inclusion at a recent From Day One conference in Seattle, moderated by veteran broadcast journalist Enrique Cerna.  “There isn’t a silver bullet” to mitigate the problem, acknowledged panelist Shinder Dhillon, vice president for diversity and inclusion at Fortive, the industrial-tech giant. She emphasized both the individual and communal work to be done. Companies need to foster a culture of personal responsibility and accountability to an organizational standard of diversity. “From my perspective,” she said, “everyone owns inclusion.” While that’s a valid expectation, many marginalized people in the workplace lack the access to decision-making power that would improve equitable outcomes for themselves.  In spite of the popularity of employee resource groups (ERGs), it’s still typically the system that decides the nature, frequency, and quality of their assignments, promotions, and salaries. Javier Barrientos, director of diversity and inclusion for T-Mobile, believes the system often drives inequity and exclusion. “You and I being great inclusionists won’t necessarily change the system,” he said. “The system owns D&I. Every country, every company has systems [that are] barriers to it. [They are] codified and hardened into policies, practices, laws, and software,” a point typically ignored in conversations about behavioral models of D&I, he said.   The full panel, from left: Charlotte Flanagan of DocuSign, Abernethy, Barrientos, Shinder Dhillon of Fortive, and moderator Enrique Cerna Emphasizing principles of inclusive design, Abernethy described ways in which bias is often programmed into the products we use. As an example, she cited the design of a typical virtual-reality (VR) headset. “If you have difficulty hearing, if you have difficulty moving your head or your hand, if you have difficulty wearing something on your head,” then the product, by design, is exclusive–not inclusive, she said. Moderator Cerna gave voice to what many of us think countless times in a week, maybe a day, but do not necessarily say: “With leadership at the top, they’d better be the ones that are out in front of this, but are they?” To this question, Abernethy suggested an incentive: leaders’ bonuses should be tied to hitting D&I goals, plain and simple. Responded Charlotte Flanagan, director of diversity and inclusion for DocuSign:  “Leaders need to be aware of the systems of oppression before we begin to implement those sorts of goals.” The bottom line seems to be this:  Make the exception the rule. Everyone whose whole lives and workplace experiences have happened in the margins must finally be invited and escorted to the center, where power must be shared equitably.  Carla Bell is a greater Seattle-area freelance writer published by the Seattle Times, Crosscut, The News Tribune, and others.

Carla Bell | February 12, 2020

Healthy Workplaces Can Ease a Modern Problem: Job Stress

Stress doesn’t just feel bad, it costs money. Eighty percent of workers experience it, which causes 1 million people a day to skip work, according to the American Institute of Stress. The total cost is estimated at $300 billion a year for U.S. This makes addressing the issue an imperative for companies. But how do they do that? At a recent From Day One conference in Seattle, a panel discussion moderated by Rob Smith, editor in chief of Seattle Business, shed light on how companies can get a handle on the problem. It’s caused by a range of factors, including workload, people issues, work-life conflicts, and lack of job security. Managers can start to address the issue by recognizing employees need to be comfortable being themselves and feel they are a part of an organization, said Kate Zimberg, vice president of talent and organizational capability at Seattle tech company F5 Networks. “Two parts of our mission are about embracing diversity and inclusion, and helping each other thrive,” she said. “It’s about kindness and how we can help each other be successful.” Michaela Doelman, assistant director of workforce support and development for the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, acknowledged that there is a lot of buzz about “bringing your whole self to work,” she said, but it can have limits. “What if the person is just a jerk? Is that an excuse? We have conversations about the importance of not having to hide a part of yourself.” She explained that if someone is queer and afraid to talk about their partner, or a mom fears taking time off for a sick child, or an employee feels they need to change the way they speak at work, “that takes mental energy and can impede a productive work environment. People need to feel they are accepted for who they are so they can do the job they were hired to do.” More specifically, managers need to get to know their employees and pay attention to their work habits, Doelman said. “Let them know you respect who they are and ask what they need to be supported.” Zimberg added that she has seen stress among her employees and will approach them about it, telling them to go take a break in the company wellness room, or take a mental health day. “Sick days are not just for when you are physically ill.” “No one ever talked to me about mental health,” recalled Roger Dowdy, vice president of mental-health strategies for Providence St. Joseph Health. “We have all had moments of knowing someone is struggling and maybe we should approach them, but no one tells us how.” Dowdy advises educating as many people as possible in the company–not just management. Think about training in CPR, of course, but also training for warning signs for suicide. “People who are suicidal don’t show signs at a doctor’s office; they show them in school or at work. If you have a willingness to ask questions if you see signs of distress, do it.” For help, he recommends Mental Health First Aid and Seattle’s Crisis Connections. You don’t have to be in the same physical space to pay attention to the needs of your employees, says Deborah Drechsel, global director of coaching and learning delivery at Expedia Group. Much of the work her company does is virtual and over the internet. But she says that by training management and leadership alike in coaching programs, they can continue to maintain a level of human contact that might seem at odds with co-working on the internet. Doelman adds that managers should pay special attention to members of marginalized communities for signs of stress. “Racism doesn’t show up at work in a white hood. Racism is in micro-aggressions that happen daily. We have been blind to the impact it has on others.” Another current stressor to be aware of is the opioid epidemic, says Dowdy. While it may not affect your employee, it could affect their friends or family. Managers should strive to destigmatize employees seeking help for themselves or their loved ones. “Every dollar invested in mental health brings back $1.62 to a company in return. So model behaviors that destigmatize mental-health care and accessing mental-health benefits,” he said. Find out in advance where employees can get help, advised Teresa Blake, a nurse practitioner and regional medical director of One Medical, which provides regular and virtual visits for consumers and corporate employees across the U.S. “Primary care should be the first touch point for evaluating a patient’s mental health needs and working to develop a treatment plan and then monitor progress.” The full panel, from left: Teresa Blake of One Medical, Roger Dowdy of Providence St. JosephHealth, Kate Zimberg of F5 Networks, Drechsel, Doelman, and moderator Rob Smith of SeattleBusiness magazine If your company has an employee-assistance program (EAP), consider whether it works seamlessly with your existing medical-insurance programs, she added. Ensuring your EAP providers are also on your health insurance is one way to remove an obstacle in the way of employees getting help. Programs like EAP need to remain top of mind, said Zimberg, not just something that you remind people of every year during open enrollment. Whenever there is whole-company messaging about a crisis, it’s an opportunity to remind workers about assistance programs. For instance, when there was a shooting in downtown Seattle in January, company emails about safety included a statement about how to access the EAP and the services available, she said. You don’t have to know how to solve the employee’s problem to help them, said Blake. “You can start a conversation, check in with an employee who is starting to come in late more than usual, or missing more work than normal,” she said. “You can ask them how you can better support them, and if they don’t open up to you the first time you try, they may the second or third. It helps you build trust. And it gives you a chance to tell them that seeing their primary- care doctor is a great first step.” Zimberg said some managers and executives worry more about having to make accommodations or fill out reports than about their employee. “Be a human,” she said. “Accommodations are there for a reason.” Team leaders need to be champions of mental-health care, said Dowdy. If a mental health program is handed down from on high, it will go nowhere. Zimberg agreed that there has to be a culture in place for something to take hold. “We can, in HR, create a perfect program, but if employees don’t engage in it, share it, use it and feel the empowerment from their managers to use it, none of that matters.” Lastly, check your work. Ask employees how you are doing in terms of supporting their well-being in and out of the office. But if you are going to do it, make sure you take action on the results, said Dreschel. At her company, they survey staff a couple times a year and leadership is evaluated in part on how employees respond to those surveys. Be aware that those surveys are looking at data after the fact, said Doelman. “It’s like if you were weighing yourself after you ate the bag of chips. You have to find a way, systemically, to find a way to be proactive and get ahead of the issues.” Lisa Jaffe is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in national, regional and professional publications for more than 30 years. She lives in Seattle with her son and dog.

Lisa Jaffe | February 11, 2020

Home Court Advantage: How a Basketball Team Builds Ties to Its Community

On a Saturday night at the Barclays Center in January, a young boy sits courtside to see his favorite player in action. He holds a sign high up above his head reading “all the way from Melbourne, Australia to see Kyrie.” The Brooklyn Nets point guard notices, and in an act of kindness, he walks over to give the boy a hug and hands him a pair of his game-worn Kyrie 6s. With a smile from cheek to cheek, the boy holds up the shoes and his sign for a photo op to document a moment he will surely never forget. Inside the minds of young people around the world, NBA players like Irving are thought of as superheroes. They are idolized, studied, and looked up to as larger-than-life figures who kids aspire to be like when they grow up. It’s every youth basketball player’s dream to meet an NBA player, and it’s the Nets’ mission to make dreams come true for youth in its home borough of Brooklyn. “Community is so important to who we are,” says Mandy Gutmann, senior VP of communications for BSE Global, the team’s parent company. “We like to think of ourselves as more than just a basketball team.” Professional sports teams across the globe give athletes and team employees the rare opportunity to have a platform for philanthropy, charity, and social change. Since the relocation of the Nets from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012, BSE Global has strived to create bonds of connection with its new home town by reaching out in multiple ways. Call it a playbook for social impact. Many of the programs stem from Brooklyn Nets Assist, an initiative for giving back to surrounding communities in three distinct areas: education, basketball training, and community investment.   Teachers of the Game What professional basketball players know best is, well, how to play basketball. And what other way for youth hoopsters to learn than from the best of the best? The Brooklyn Nets Assist program hosts numerous basketball camps and clinics hosted by coaches and players. This year, the team is on track to  host 100 of them by the end of the season. So far, about 6,400 young people have participated in a Nets camp. While kids may simply think they are there to hone their skills on the court, the Nets hope to teach other lessons through their demonstrations. “It’s beyond teaching the game of basketball,” says Gutmann. “It’s about teaching life skills like how to communicate and how to handle defeat.” While many of the camps are geared towards children, adults are also there to learn new techniques. In early January, the Nets hosted a clinic for coaches, where more than 100 coaches from around the borough received training and tips directly from members of the Nets coaching staff.  Nets players are using their own on-court skills to give back to those in need as well. Teaming up with the New York City-based supermarket chain Key Food, the Charity Stripe initiative pledges the Nets to make a donation to a local non-profit based on the number of free throws the team makes at the Barclays Center this season. (As of Jan. 31, the Nets had made 420 shots from the line at home.) A similar challenge is the Threes for Trees program, in which a tree is planted for every three-pointer made at home during the regular season.  An Assist for Education In a borough of 2.6 million people with many inequalities in its school system, the Nets have aim to make a difference in youth education. One player who’s renowned for his work is Nets center Jarrett Allen, who has a contagious passion for the subjects known collectively as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Allen has emphasized the importance of STEM education through events that combine concepts with real-life experiences. At his third annual Meals + Math Thanksgiving event in November, he provided groceries to 25 local children and their families while simultaneously teaching them about math and budgeting. For his efforts, Allen was honored with the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for the month of March during the 2018-19 season.  “I’ve always been into STEM since I was younger,” Allen said in an interview with CloseUp360. “I was into technology and math. Giving back was always a part of my childhood, and now that I have a platform to do it, I might as well.” As in Allen’s case, players have the opportunity to suggest their own ideas for how to give back to the Brooklyn community. Earlier this month, Nets guard Garrett Temple hosted a screening of Just Mercy for kids at a theater in the Cobble Hill neighborhood. The movie, based on the true story of the wrongful murder conviction of Walter McMillian in 1988 in Alabama, resonated with Temple due to his family history in the civil rights movement. Temple’s father, Collis Temple Jr., became the first African-American player on the Louisiana State University (LSU) basketball team. To this day, his son remains eager to teach children about the history of the civil-rights movement and its impact on the U.S.  Gutmann says whenever players like Allen or Temple come to the front office with ideas, team executives will aim to make them happen. “We try to create events for players around issues that are most important to them,” she said. The Nets also focus on raising awareness about social issues in the community. After an increase in anti-Semitic crime in Brooklyn neighborhoods in 2019, the team collaborated with the Anti-Defamation League to design a team warm-up shirt that displayed the message “No Place For Hate.”  Nets center Jarrett Allen meets a young fan at his Meals + Math Thanksgiving event (Photo by Katherine Tyler) The team has expanded on the effort by organizing an education program for K-12 students about how to prevent and combat hate crimes. “We stay focused on the needs in the borough and ask ‘What is happening?’” says Gutmann. “How can we use our voice to amplify that need?” Investing in the Community “Social responsibility and community investment is important across the NBA,” says Gutmann. “We have the ability to really touch special young people and have an incredible pipeline to give them life lessons.” Part of community involvement is aligning with cultural heritage, including the embrace of local icons.   For the last two seasons, the Nets have produced special-edition jerseys paying homage to rap legend and Brooklyn native the Notorious B.I.G., trimmed with a Coogi-style color scheme that was infamous in his wardrobe. On many breaks in play on game night at Barclays Center, you can hear a Biggie song playing on the PA. “We weren’t just launching another jersey, we were celebrating the life of Christopher Wallace,” said Gutmann. Getting close to the people is another goal of the Nets. Every year near the beginning of the season, the teams hosts a Practice in the Park on a pier on the Brooklyn waterfront, where fans can come and see the players do a light workout. This year’s event had extra buzz because of the Nets acquisition of All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, both of whom showed up for a close encounter with their new fans. “Both players have incredible community activism and the impact they are capable of making,” says Gutmann. During the holiday season, Durant visited the Coalition for the Homeless in Manhattan to provide gifts for 40 children enduring homelessness in the city, where the problem has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. Kids were greeted with big red bags full of toys, which Durant snapped photos and chatted with them Irving hosted his annual “Kyrie Invitational” high-school basketball tournament in December, where some of the best young players from around the borough showcased their skills in front of one of the NBA’s best. All-Star Center DeAndre Jordan, also new to the Nets this season, won the most recent NBA Cares Community Assist Award in December for his efforts to brighten the holiday season for kids through his “6 Days of Giving” initiative. Jordan invited 30 children from the BKLYN Combine on a shopping trip with him and treated 60 students from a local school to the new Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park in New Jersey. “We’re all getting involved in the community and people can see the effects of what we’re doing,” said Nets head coach and Long Island native Kenny Atkinson in an interview with NetsDaily. “I think people are taking note of the things we do and how in tune with Brooklyn we actually are.” Rising stars in the Nets organization are beginning to make a name for themselves in the community as well. Rookie forward Nicolas Claxton and Nets representatives teamed up with the New York Knicks to host a holiday party for the local Boys & Girls Club in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Some boys met a player not much older than them and asked him questions about life and had meaningful conversations,” Gutmann said about their interaction with Claxton. “When Nic walked away, he was so touched by it.” Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving shoots a three as fans look on during the third annual Practice in the Park at Brooklyn Bridge Park (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) While individual teams like the Nets tailor their programs to the contours of their communities, they have a mandate from the NBA to do so. Organized under the umbrella of NBA Cares, the league’s has a commitment to demonstrating social responsibility in the U.S. and around the world. According to its website, NBA Cares programs have provided more than 5 million hours of hands-on service. As a multibillion-dollar business, the NBA sees its role as bigger than just entertainment. Caring about the fans and community members beyond the dollars they spend on tickets and gear brings a return than can’t be measured according to the usual business metrics. “Words don’t even cover the amount of tremendous feedback we have gotten,” says Gutmann. “The smile that you see on someone’s face when they get to experience something they haven’t before says it all.” Evan Hong, a reporting intern at From Day One, is a journalism student at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. He works as the sports director at TV10, the university’s campus TV station 

Evan Hong | January 31, 2020

How to Infuse Digital DNA into Your Future-Ready Workforce

In case you had any doubt about technology’s unprecedented role in our lives today, here’s a statistic for you. It took 62 years for the automobile to reach 50 million users, but Pokémon Go reached 50 million users in only 19 days. Times have definitely changed, and technology is more accessible and integrated into our work than ever before. As we anticipate the future of work, there’s a lot of uncertainty. But one thing we know for sure: We will be working alongside more machines–not fewer. A successful future-ready workforce has to be digitally prepared. That digital readiness has to be ingrained in your workforce, like DNA. Fortunately, there are tools and techniques available to help you understand what digital readiness looks like, measure its activation in your organization’s workforce, and build your digitally ready internal-talent pipeline. Activate the Elements of Digital Competence Many companies believe that their workforce must be exposed to elite technology to become digitally ready. But that’s true only in very specific contexts. The ability to be malleable to the digital landscape–to be agile, flexible and willing to learn–is much more predictive of the digital readiness of your workforce. Digitalization is going to mean a constant improvement in technology, and it’s going to impact the way work gets executed at every level. Essential to every workforce will be agility. The qualities that support agility among your workers are curiosity, learnability, and adaptability. These are three traits you should identify and reward as you develop your future-ready workforce. They will allow your workforce to evolve with the technology around it. A future-ready team, however, still needs to function in the present, meaning that your team members need to be able to execute their current roles even as they prepare for the future. How can employers identify and activate the talent DNA their organization needs? The answer is job neighborhoods. Certain competencies and behaviors needed for success in different parts of the organization can be grouped together. Job neighborhoods can help you map the characteristics that support digital readiness to skill-specific, functional job groupings that serve you now. These specific skill-groupings, once aligned with job pathways, can be used to determine transparent re-skilling paths for your employees. These pathways empower them to take ownership of their own growth and development. Mina Morris, author of this piece, is an organizational psychologist Assess Your Existing Team’s Talent DNA The skills your organization needs to become future-ready are probably already in practice at key points in your organization. Standardizing these skills is an important step in preparing your workforce for the future. If you can isolate and identify the most valuable skill sets, you can replicate them. A helpful first step is to assess your talent. Take stock of where they currently are, capturing a 30,000-ft. view of talent at every level across all teams. This step gives individuals insight into where they are in their journey. It can also inform what your next steps are as an organization. Using the results from the assessment process, you can create learning and development pathways that offer opportunities to standardize and focus on behaviors you identify as essential to your company’s long-term success. Giving employees pathways to learn and activate transferable skills is particularly important. Most technical skills are short-term, with an average shelf-life of just five years. While short-lived skills are important in the moment, it’s critical to lay the groundwork for long-term, transferable skills when you’re seeking to develop a viable workforce for the next decade. Nurture Your Internal Talent Pipeline Empowering employees to own their careers includes giving them a significant degree of control over their training-and-development journey. Employee buy-in into re-skilling is a critical element of building a future-ready workforce. That buy-in is easiest to attain when employees are given agency over their own career journey. Job neighborhoods also play a role in increasing employee buy-in. Certain job groupings are more aligned with certain competencies and skills. Once those potential career moves are laid out, employees can match their skill sets to a series of interconnected job pathways. Employees are more likely to buy in when they receive multiple options for job mobility within your organization. Distinct, individual career paths should present themselves. But restructuring your workforce requires more than employee buy-in. Leadership must also back the initiative. Championing a growth mindset means supporting and implementing it at all levels. Leadership has to provide employees the time and resources they need to focus on re-skilling and professional development. Employees should be encouraged to engage in learning, retraining and re-skilling, and key performance indicators (KPIs) should be adjusted to account for engagement in these initiatives. The seeds of the future workforce can develop only if your organization is active and present in their nourishment and growth. Mina Morris, an organizational psychologist, is an associate partner with the Assessment Solution Practice at Aon, the professional services firm. Morris works with clients to maximize the effectiveness of their talent selection processes, to implement talent-management systems, and to help organizations manage change. Morris will be speaking on March 19 at From Day One’s Chicago conference, where Aon will be a sponsor. This essay is derived from a recently published white paper on the topic.

Mina Morris | January 24, 2020

Corporate Culture: Why It Can Pay to Put Employees First

While almost everyone agrees that a company’s culture is the No. 1 key to its long-term success, the best expression of that culture is probably not platitudes but programs–real things a business does to show its workers and other stakeholders what it believes in. What does the fabric of culture look like? Imagine having a direct pipeline to your CEO when you’re in unexpected financial straits–a way to apply immediately for an emergency monetary grant. Or access to a dedicated whistleblower channel encouraging employees to report anything they consider unethical, immoral, improper, or unsafe. Or a “social good” program to support community work, a program so essential to a new company that it’s launched even before the company starts taking on paying customers? Those were some of features of corporate culture described by executives on a panel discussion at From Day One’s conference in Los Angeles. The panel, titled “Crafting a Corporate Culture That Means Something,” was moderated by Los Angeles Times writer Margot Roosevelt. Many of their examples focused on the well-being of employees. “There’s certainly a lot of research out there … that suggests that taking care of your employees, taking care of your own, does also benefit your shareholders,” said Sarah Townsend, assistant professor of business administration at the University of Southern California. “So one of the ways of maximizing revenues is also to make sure that … the communities you serve are doing well, and that your employees are feeling that they belong and can perform well because of that.” Ronald Reeves, head of diversity and inclusion at insurance giant AIG for the U.S. and surrounding regions, pointed out the importance of bolstering the passions of younger, motivated employees when it comes to giving back to the community, even taking into account the need to produce healthy profits for stockholders. “We want AIG’s shareholders to make money, but it’s also being driven a lot by our employee-resource groups (ERGs),” Reeves said, referring to the priorities of what he called the “I Generation,” as in: “I want technology, I want diversity, and I want to be able to give back to the community and do meaningful work.” The full panel: Roosevelt, Knobbe, Morrison, Meagan Dorsch of Visible, Sarah Townsend of USC, and Ronald Reeves of AIG He added: “A lot of the organizations that we supported in the past, they were some of the pet projects of our most senior executives. What we love about our employee resource groups [is that] we actually give them the funding to make an impact,” said Reeves, with company leaders asking questions like, “What are the trends that we are seeing that our employees are passionate about? And how do we make a bigger investment, whether that’s with resources or money?” Listening is key, he said–an imperative echoed by the other panelists. Live Nation, for example, has implemented programs suggested by employees, taking a grassroots approach. The company, while focused on acquisitions and the continued independence of subsidiaries, strives to achieve employee satisfaction across its range of business entities, said Elizabeth A. Morrison, Live Nation’s VP of diversity and belonging. The company’s initiative called Taking Care of Our Own, through which employees can email the CEO, often results in staff members in financial distress receiving “a grant from the company that is a gift,” Morrison said. “It’s not a loan. There is no interest. There’s no payback. There’s no penalty–and not only is it utilized, but there’s a halo effect from that, with employees literally seeing in real time that a company cares about them and is willing to invest in them.” She added: ‘We also go really above and beyond when it comes to our benefits, in terms of being inclusive … [the company is] expanding to six months paid maternity leave. We’re also really invested in growth and development programs,” Morrison said, pointing to mentorship and mental-health programs suggested by Live Nation employees. Bernie C. Knobbe, head of global benefits at the engineering giant AECOM, highlighted the importance of mental and physical health awareness within the company, citing research. “We did use the data that said shareholder value is increasingly focused on employees’ focus and well-being,” Knobbe said. “And we needed that substantiation to actually do what we wanted to do. We also looked at our claim information for three years and realized that people who participated in the wellness program had 18% lower health-care costs than employees who did not. Those are the data points that you need to even start.” Knobbe said that he was “realistic but optimistic” about the program, which keeps growing in scope. “We went from a Global Well-being Day to a Global Well-being Week and this year it was a Global Well-being Month–because we couldn’t get it all in.” Crafting the corporate culture, however, doesn’t have to focus just on employee and employer, said Meagan Dorsch, head of social good at the new wireless network Visible. “Getting a wireless subscription or service is very complicated,” says Dorsch, whose company is a subsidiary of Verison and focused on affordable service, with a particular focus on younger customers. “The field is very crowded, and the onus has been put on the consumers to figure out what’s best for them. So one of the goals in launching Visible was to make it easy, simple,” she said. “What we did is turn to our members–that’s what we call our customers–and said: ‘What do you want from a wireless provider?’ And we heard things like: ‘We want a WiFi hotspot, we want family plans that aren’t for families.’ So these are things we’ve rolled out in the last nine months to our consumers.” The company takes the same approach to its social-good programs, said Dorsch. “We ask our consumers again: ‘What change do you want to see? What do you want to be a part of?’” Roosevelt of the Times covers economic, labor and workplace issues Another important aspect of corporate culture is taking a broad approach to diversity and inclusion. “One of the other sort of unseen, subtle areas of inclusion that I’ve looked at is social-class diversity, outside the typical race, gender [categories] that we talk about. People that are the first in their families to go to college–they have a college degree but are from a working class, lower-income background,” she said. People from a blue-collar background, where individualism is highly valued, may have trouble fitting into a global corporation that puts an emphasis on collaboration among its global workforce. “And that’s very attractive to that population, but what we’re finding is, if you don’t back that up with having employees actually working together and collaborating, that this disconnect–what you say you’re valuing and what people are actually doing day-to-day–causes issues,” Townsend said. That kind of disconnect has a measurable downside, she said. “People who are in corporations where they say they value cooperation but are not actually working with others on a day-to-day basis show 13% greater turnover intentions.” In a keynote address that followed the panel, Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre, gave a presentation based on his book Open Source Leadership: Reinventing Management When There’s No More Business as Usual. Sheila Flynn is a New York-based journalist who has written for DailyMail.com, the Irish Daily Mail, and the Associated Press. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame

Sheila Flynn | January 21, 2020

This Week, Big Business Got Religion on Climate Change

Corporate leaders have been getting an earful lately from workers, consumers and students around the world: Do something about climate change, the activists have cried out. This week, big companies almost seemed to be taking turns stepping up to the microphone to announce their response. The week began with Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, declaring in his influential, annual letter to CEOs that his company, the world’s largest asset manager with nearly $7 trillion in investments, would start making investment decisions with environmental sustainability as a core goal. “Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance,” Fink wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the New York Times. “The evidence on climate risk is compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance.” Besides creating new funds to avoid fossil fuel-oriented stocks, Fink wrote that BlackRock would  vote against corporate-management teams that are not making progress on sustainability. Fink, a lifelong Democrat, told the Times’s Andrew Ross Sorkin that the decision was strictly business.“We are fiduciaries,” he said. “Politics isn’t part of this.” As if on cue, a parade of companies made announcements that they, too, were joining the fight against climate change. Visa, PepsiCo and Microsoftannounced that they had made strides toward reducing their carbon footprints or were making new commitments to do so. JetBlue, for its part, said it will become “the first large U.S. airline to offset emissions from all of its domestic flights, aiming to become carbon neutral by July,” Bloomberg reported. “This is part of a long-term commitment we and the industry have to have to reflect the climate reality we are in,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said. “Aviation has a central and important role to play.” The earnest declarations emerged as global business leaders were preparing to head to the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos next week, where climate-change activists have promised to raise a hue and cry about the issue. “To the world leaders and those in power, I would like to say that you have not seen anything yet,” 17-year-old activist Greta Thunberg declared in a speech leading up to the WEF. At this point, however, the activists may finally be preaching to the converted, according toa survey of more than a thousand WEF participants about the biggest global risks facing the world. “For the first time, climate change or climate-related issues occupied the top five spots as the most likely global risks,” Quartz reported.“It’s the first time since the poll began that environmental risk has ranked so highly, up from zero in 2010.”  

fromdayone | January 17, 2020

TOMS in Turnaround: Can a Purposeful Pioneer Reinvent Itself?

Even the most groundbreaking companies with a cause need to keep evolving to stay on their feet. TOMS, the shoe company that pioneered a mix of sales and philanthropy, is now under new ownership. The company launched in 2006 with an uplifting promise–“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need"–but struggled recently in the face of price competition and declining novelty of the one-for-one concept. TOMS owners, including founder Blake Mycoskie, have agreed to transfer the company’s ownership over to its creditors, according to a letter sent to employees last month by TOMS CEO Jim Alling. The group of creditors includes Jefferies Financial Group, Nexus Capital Management, and Brookfield Asset Management, who seized control of the company through an out-of-court deal. Multiple credit ratings agencies had warned TOMS that they would not be able to repay their $300 million loan due next year without renegotiation, according to Reuters. In exchange for the ownership acquisition, the creditors will provide debt relief to the company as pledging to invest $35 million to help turn the company around. The Los Angeles-based business was one of the first of its kind. Founded by former Amazing Race  contestant Mycoskie, TOMS drew its brand name from his initial concept, “Shoes for Tomorrow Project.” The idea behind TOMS stemmed from a trip Mycoskie took to Argentina where he noticed many shoeless children as well as a potential solution in alpargatas, the most popular shoe design among locals. After launching with a batch of just 250 shoes, by the time of the company’s 2019 impact report, TOMS said that the company has donated more than 95 million shoes as of November 2019 and hopes to reach the 100 million mark sometime in 2020. In 2014, private equity firm Bain Capital LLC acquired a 50% stake in the company from Mycoskie in a deal that valued the company at about $625 million, with Mycoskie retaining rest of the equity. It is unclear at this point what role Mycoskie might continue to play at the company. While the one-for-one model promoted humanitarianism and benevolence, the company has suffered in recent years as other companies began to imitate it. Popular shoe retailer Skechers launched BOBS back in 2010, a shoe line that began with a virtually identical business model as TOMS. As more companies continue to lower their prices and follow a similar model, the originality of the premise tended to wear off. TOMS transitioned from its one-for-one model in November, now sending a third of its profits to a fund that finances philanthropic and social causes. TOMS says they have dedicated $6.5 million to what they call “impact grants” to their 205 giving company partners. “Maybe it’s time to evolve a little bit,” TOMS Chief Giving Officer Amy Smith said in the report. “Maybe it’s time to do more than just our one-for-one giving.” TOMS has indeed done more than sell and donate shoes since their inception, including the launch of an eyewear line in 2011. With a similar format, TOMS has helped restore eyesight for over 400,000 people in 13 countries by donating prescription glasses and providing funding for medical treatment. In 2014, TOMS also launched a sister coffee company, TOMS Roasting, that helps provide safe drinking water to communities where their coffee beans are grown. Even though TOMS did its best to branch out, the separate projects did not have the same success as the classic shoe line. According to a Business of Fashion report, the upstart eyewear company Warby Parker won the race with TOMS for direct-to-consumer eyewear with lower prices while using a similar charitable business model. Warby Parker partners with the nonprofit Vision Spring to donate glasses abroad. Retail experts suggest that handing the company over to creditors was a “good start,” according to the Business of Fashion article. Some believe that this will push TOMS to use a stronger wholesale strategy to revive the company. Currently, TOMS operates nine retail stores nationwide but partnering with major retail chains like Walmart or Target could help its products reach a wider audience in a mass market. With its new financial structure, the management of TOMS hopes it will have the resources to make that turnaround happen. Said Alling in his letter to employees:  “Combined with an enhanced capital structure, this funding will enable TOMS to further invest in our promising growth areas and continue our commitment to giving.” Evan Hong, a reporting intern at From Day One, is a journalism student from Vadnais Heights, Minn., who currently studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He works as the sports director at TV10, the university’s campus TV station

Evan Hong | January 14, 2020

What ‘Best Companies to Work For’ Have in Common

Those lists in business publications about “best companies to work for” are eminently browsable to see who made the cut–and who’s notably absent. But Michael O’Malley and Bill Baker, authors of Organizations for People: Caring Cultures, Basic Needs, and Better Lives, decided to take a much deeper look, putting 21 of the consistent performers on those lists under a microscope. Visiting a diverse selection of companies including Patagonia, The Motley Fool, and Edmunds.com, they interviewed executives, conducted focus groups, and toured facilities. In a recent piece in Harvard Business Review, O’Malley summarized their findings. Here are some of the things the authors believe these companies do differently from their peers–and why they’re successful: Put People First “The best places to work provide people with life satisfaction as opposed to job satisfaction alone. Almost all of the corporate founders and CEOs we spoke with told us that they built their companies with people in mind. To them, a healthy culture is as important as a healthy balance sheet. Their benefits go far beyond minimum wage,” O’Malley wrote. Help Workers Find and Pursue Their Passions “The companies we studied find ways to rejuvenate employees by helping them identify their ‘calling,’ or the area of work that provides them with the greatest fulfillment,” O’Malley wrote. “Doing so not only increases productivity, it makes people feel happy—lucky even—to be at work. … The surest way to improve performance is to give people something they like doing.” Bring People Together on a Personal Level “Before beginning this project, we considered life events, rituals, and rites of passage—such as marriages, birthdays, and anniversaries—as trivial to the work environment. But the companies we visited gave us a new perspective. In fact, they made a big deal out of significant dates. Why? These social extracurriculars may appear contrary to real work, and to some, as senseless wastes of time. But forming meaningful relationships is real work. The best companies realize that personal affinities and deep social bonds are failsafe measures against team breakdowns and are essential for top team performance,” wrote O’Malley. Empower People to Own Their Work “The executives we interviewed repeatedly told us that they want their employees to think and act like owners. Allowing them to control aspects of their work, we learned, is the key to accomplishing this. Employees who have the leeway to rearrange, modify, and improve their assignments feel possession over them, and once this happens, their mindsets begin to change,” wrote O’Malley. “Instead of focusing on what cannot be done, they become preoccupied with what can. As a result, they are more easily able to grow, innovate, and push their companies forward.”    

fromdayone | January 02, 2020

How Can We Get Bias Out of Our Systems?

As diversity-and-inclusion programs have become standard across most corporations, they’ve made strides toward better equity in pay, organizational culture, and advancement opportunities. But what remains stubborn is bias, not only individual but systemic. How do we root it out? That’s the question panelists tackled at From Day One’s Los Angeles conference during a conversation moderated by Los Angeles Times staff writer Carolina Miranda, who is also co-chair of the paper’s labor union. “So much of the conversation today is about bias training,” said Liji Thomas, head of diversity and inclusion at Southern California Edison. “What 50-plus years of diversity-and-inclusion work has taught us is that if your efforts are limited to training, you’re really missing the boat on this stuff. Mitigating bias in our intra systems, understanding the barriers faced by underrepresented talent–women, people of color–is absolutely critical to long-term diversity-and-inclusion sustainability.” At Southern California Edison, she said, the company has been “looking at the barriers. It’s understanding barriers across the age and life-cycle intersectionality and taking a data-driven approach. If you’re just looking at race and gender, it can really mask barriers that folks have been experiencing. So getting really smart about diversity is something that we are absolutely looking at.” Kristena Hatcher, HR executive for inclusion and diversity at CAA, said the company has even employed a writing-platform app which screens job ads and emails to “rid language that basically could eliminate or keep certain groups of individuals from applying … there are words that traditionally don’t resonate with women or underrepresented communities.” The overall panel included Carolina Miranda of the Los Angeles Times (moderator) and Ilit Raz of Joonko, as well as Thomas, Hatcher, Seiler and Brooks “It’s a very handy system that can help you be more thoughtful about unintentionally excluding people when you’re trying to bring these diverse individuals into your company,” she said. She acknowledged that “training is not the be-all-and-end-all,” however, particularly in the fast-paced and competitive industry of talent representation. “Something that I’m passionate about is education when it comes to an employee population that literally is focused on getting their clients jobs,” she said. “We focus so much externally; how do we educate employees internally to make sure that there is buy-in and that their efforts are sustainable?” Education and training at CAA “empowers them to understand it’s not just recruiting,” she said. “At the end of the day, our agents and executives are the hiring managers, so we want to make sure they’re being as thoughtful as possible as they’re making their hiring decision. We know we all have bias, but how do we attack that and understand? How do we flush that out of our systems when we’re going through interviews and someone many not look like us?” At Control Risks, a consulting firm where Alex Seiler is partner and head of human resources for the Americas, the hiring process has become focused on rooting out innate bias, he said. Many of the company’s hires come from male-dominated professions including global security and intelligence. “We are taking our leaders on a journey of self-discovery around, really, what their biases are–really being able to see them­­–but also being able to create talent processes that are equitable and fair and transparent,” he said. When joining Control Risks, partners must go through a process administered by the PAC, or partner appointment committee. The panel aims to ensure gender diversity, departmental diversity and other diversity-and-inclusion goals in a process that is “global in its approach.” “If somebody on the PAC is not happy with a particular candidate, they can very well block” the appointment, he said, noting that it “really does take out that sense of hierarchy.” “Our clients are international and diverse by nature,” he said, adding: “We’ve operated in a lot of countries where English is not the first language, so when we go through this process, we don’t use the word ‘cultural fit,’ we focus on language around behaviors and values to really kind of look at something that works across the globe.” Said Brooks: New hiring guidelines at his company mandate that “you have to have at least one woman and one woman of color in the final candidate pool, or you cannot move forward with the role” He added: “You have to be thoughtful. First of all, we’re picking from a market, first of all, which is largely male-dominated. And it’s very much niche in nature. So we can really try to go out of our way to make sure we’re looking at atypical, non-traditional types of channels to bring in people.” “The PAC, in particular … I think has really kept us honest.” But sometimes companies–and employees–need additional, slightly selfish motivations to keep them honest, said Marion Brooks, vice president and U.S. head of diversity and inclusion at Novartis, the pharmaceutical giant. “I think the whole diversity thing, the inclusion conversation, has to be shifted to ‘What’s in it for me?’ for the individual to really buy into it,” he said. “Research shows that there are clear benefits that organizations receive from having more diverse teams. No. 1: Higher revenues. No. 2: They’re more innovative. And No. 3: More responsive to customer needs. So I don’t care if it’s a Little League team or a major corporation, no organization does not want those three things,” Brooks said. “I start all of my conversations saying: ‘If we believe the research, and these are the three benefits, now how do we execute them? How do we make sure we have more diverse teams?’” Brooks cited research published by Harvard Business Review showing that, if only one person of color or woman is in a candidate pool, they have statistically zero chance of getting the job. Adding just one additional woman or person of color raises their chances to 50%. “By simply diversifying the candidate pools–and not just [people who] submit resumes, but get interviews–and holding a standard to that, you significantly increase the opportunity to diversify your work teams.” Now at Novartis, Brooks said, new hiring guidelines mandate that “you have to have at least one woman and one woman of color in the final candidate pool, or you cannot move forward with the role.” Southern California Edison’s Thomas pointed out another “gender-diversity fact: Men tend to be promoted on potential and women tend to be promoted on past performance.” “There are all these subtle ways in which bias creeps into your systems, and if you’re not smart about mitigating bias in your systems, again I’ll go back to the training: [It] does no good if you’re not introducing smart inclusion in places where it really matters for people.” Ilit Ratz is the founder and CEO of Joonko, which is focused on placing women, veterans, and underrepresented communities in companies around the world by matching up relevant candidates to an employer's open positions and encouraging them to apply, thus increasing qualified, diverse talent's exposure to a company's open positions. Miranda, the moderator, covers culture for the Times, often looking at how art intersects with politics, gender and race Joonko, she said, was encouraging companies to look at potential as well as experience, noting that women often underestimate themselves when assessing their suitability for a job. “Women apply if they’re 100% qualified for a job,’ she said. ‘Men apply if they’re 60% qualified. We’ve got to try to encourage those underrepresented candidates to apply, even if they’re not a 100% fit.” The goal, she says, is “to encourage people to apply for jobs that are 80% or 70%” a fit. Another issue, she said, is visibility. “I think a lot of employees … have zero to limited visibility” across a company, she said, adding: “We encourage companies … to give opportunities to employees across the company to do small activities that they relate to.” “I mean, something for women’s month or African-American month … anything that you budget and sponsor as a company for them to feel that they belong and are just included.” Sheila Flynn is a New York-based journalist who has written for DailyMail.com, the Irish Daily Mail, and the Associated Press. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame

Sheila Flynn | January 02, 2020

#MeToo in the Workplace: How Have Things Changed?

The progress of the #MeToo movement has come in waves, starting in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke and then growing substantially in 2017 with the explosion of revelations about high-powered perpetrators of workplace sexual harassment. Now comes a fitting time to take stock of what could be the third wave: the real impact of the movement on everyday workplace behavior. “The biggest change I’ve seen is people willing to subtly say, ‘No that’s not acceptable,’” said Rebecca Port, VP of talent at Netflix. “Whereas they might have tolerated some inappropriate behavior or microaggressions [before], more people will stop and say that they’re uncomfortable.” Port was among the speakers on a panel at the From Day One conference in Los Angeles, moderated by Stacy Perman of the Los Angeles Times, who has covered the issue in the entertainment industry. Perman asked panelists about the role of human-resources professionals in reporting cases of abuse, and whether employees should view their respective HR representatives as allies or enemies. The full panel: moderator Stacy Perman of the Los Angeles Times, Zev Eigen of Syndio, Jessica Childress of the Childress Firm, as well as Meidav, Port and McLaughlin “HR has a responsibility to protect the company, first and foremost,” said Mandy Bynum McLaughlin, director of global diversity, equity, and inclusion at New Relic. “We as managers also have the responsibility to drive revenue and performance and sometimes those two things clash.” McLaughlin shared an experience in which she was unable to report to HR about a manager who was inappropriately touching other employees. Over the course of a few months, she had to gain trust from sales-team members who confided in her and eventually built a case that resulted in the manager’s termination. Netflix’s Port added that corporate culture plays a big part in what type of behavior is or isn’t tolerated. “People [at Netflix] are very candid,” Port said. “We don’t shy away from exiting people. We pay people to leave all the time and don’t tolerate certain kinds of behavior. Because of that, [our employees] trust that HR will take action right away.” Neta Meidav, founder of Vault, a company that empowers victims to report misconduct in the workplace, shared her experience of harassment, and how it would eventually prompt her to start her company to give a voice to individuals who are afraid to speak out. “At my first job out of university, I was harassed by a very powerful man,” Meidav said. “I never considered reporting it. I didn’t want my career to be crushed before it even started, so I left.” Federal law covering sexual harassment, noted Childress, “is not a civility code” Months later, Meidav received a call from a fellow colleague who disclosed that she had been assaulted by the same man. It changed Meidav’s perspective on the significance of reporting harassment and she realized that coming forward can prompt multiple survivors of abuse to do the same and bring strength in numbers. Jessica Childress, founder of the Childress Law Firm, addressed issues on the legal aspects of reporting and whether the law will keep pace with current workplace dynamics. “The law has to reform to create a code of conduct which is going to be commensurate with what’s in your [workplace] code of conduct,” Childress explained. She continued: “The Title VII Civil Rights Act, which is what governs sexual harassment, is not a civility code, so the law doesn’t require your workplace to be civil. However, all of us would say a core value of your company should be civility. The law is not likely going to change in my lifetime–however, civility does need to be a core value and companies should train on what it means to be civil.” The discussion then turned to new concerns of men who are uncomfortable mentoring or even interacting with women, for fear of being accused of misconduct. While reports of sexual harassment have declined since the second wave of the #MeToo movement, some researchers have detected a backlash. Perman, the moderator, is an enterprise staff writer at the Times, covering the entertainment industry Zev Eigen, founder of Syndio, an HR analytics platform, said that he believes anyone who makes claims of discomfort because of the #MeToo movement, should be called out. Refusal to interact with a female colleague, he said, detracts from the seriousness of the matter and shows a lack of accountability for displaying appropriate behavior in a work environment. “I don’t think it’s a valid thing to say,” Eigen said. “I think it’s designed intentionally as a rhetorical device and not a valid response to this, and it doesn’t seem to come from a genuine place of wanting help or not knowing what to do.” Panelists also gave their thoughts on what progress needs to be made in the near future. Eigen said that technology will have a significant impact on providing solutions to many workplace issues, and encouraged employers to utilize these resources, rather than take the passive approach of “admiring the problem.” “I’ve been on a lot of panels with people who don’t have actionable solutions that they can implement today to start solving problems,” he said. “I invite you to check out all of the opportunities in front of you within the [HR and diversity & inclusion] space.” Quinisha Jackson-Wright is a journalist who has contributed to the New York Times, Business Insider, and The Muse. She is a U.S. Navy veteran and graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis

Quinisha Jackson-Wright | December 20, 2019

How a Social Scientist Measures Kindness in Life and Diversity on Screen

“Why now, for kindness?” The question stems from buzz around the recent launch of UCLA’s Bedari Kindness Institute, which will conduct scientific research on kindness and its outcomes among members of society. “We live in very polarized times, and we have lots of questions plaguing us about how we treat our fellow human beings,” explained Prof. Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences at UCLA and head of the department overseeing the new institute. “There are issues with immigration and what’s been happening at the border, and with women and how they’re treated in society,” Hunt told the audience at From Day One’s conference in Los Angeles. “These are long-standing issues, but we’ve reached the point where these things are critical in terms of importance and we need to look at them in structured, measured ways.” But if kindness can be better understood, is it a quality that can be promoted? Maybe so. Hunt shared thoughts on what he described as “contagious pro-sociality,” a theory studied by Daniel Fessler, an evolutionary anthropologist and inaugural director of the Kindness Institute. “[Fessler] does a number of experiments to understand the conditions under which people are kind to one another,” Hunt explained. “Under certain circumstances, when you see someone engaged in a random act of kindness, others will copy that behavior.” “If you want to remain profitable, you need to tell stories that resonate with where your audience today and where the audience is going,” said Hunt, who was interviewed by conference co-founder Steve Koepp Hunt pointed out that kindness often creates a domino effect and gives individuals the sense of participating in something greater than themselves. On the other hand, he mentioned that harmful behavior can also be copied in environments where people are given permission to do so. “If it becomes common to treat people as less than human, that opens the door for them to carry out acts they wouldn’t have before,” he explained. “We’re studying the conditions where it’s more or less likely for these things to happen and make recommendations about policies that will encourage pro-sociality as opposed to negative treatment.” Along with scientific research, Hunt said that the goal of the Bedari Kindness Institute is to collect findings and share them in terms that the general public will understand. After conducting its research, he said the institute’s internal team will work with policymakers to develop guidelines that will ideally create more humane societies. A related question, said Hunt, is why members of society may lack incentive toward being kind to one another. One example he gave focused on genocide and specifically, how seemingly “good” people participate in harmful acts. “I have a colleague in sociology who studies the Holocaust,” he shared. “She found that certain authority figures give people cover to do things they otherwise might not do. If someone in a position of authority says it’s okay to do [bad] things, you’re much more likely to do it.” He said cultural norms shape the way we interpret any situation. Especially in business and politics, ruthless or competitive behavior is often rewarded more than consideration of one’s counterparts. The conversation segued into Hunt’s work on the annual Hollywood Diversity Report (HDR), based on a study he has conducted for seven years, which tracks diversity trends in television and film. He described how his studies on diversity in Hollywood began, and the initial task of convincing major decision makers that more diversity would have a positive impact on the bottom line. “Bringing the two conversations together [of social impact and making money], the report was able to show that diversity does sell and it’s okay to be inclusive,” Hunt said. “In fact, if you’re inclusive, you stand to make more money.” Before his report arrived on the scene, the nature of Hollywood was less than welcoming to individuals who did not fit the traditional image of what would sell in television and film. However, the findings of the first HDR, Hunt said, encouraged kinder and more inclusive work environments for women and people of color, among other marginalized groups. While major strides have been made since the first annual report, Hunt admitted there is a long way to go. In a workshop session at the conference, Stacie Mallen, principal consultant at Executive to Win, used Post-It notes to illustrate some of her points He said diversity is now driving the market, whereas it used to be an afterthought. However, there is still a disconnect between what Hollywood looks like onscreen and off-screen. Hunt offered some final thoughts on what needs to be done to bridge the gap and make continuous progress toward true inclusivity. “If you want to remain profitable, you need to tell stories that resonate with where your audience today and where the audience is going,” Hunt said. He added: “That means not only putting [diverse] people in front of the camera, but behind the camera, in the writer’s room, directing, and in the executive suites.” Quinisha Jackson-Wright is a journalist who has contributed to the New York Times, Business Insider, and The Muse. She is a U.S. Navy veteran and graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis

Quinisha Jackson-Wright | December 19, 2019

Hallmark’s Impossible Dilemma: How to Embrace Diversity While Avoiding Controversy

When caught in the unfamiliar glare of public outcry, Hallmark Cards issued a statement this week that encapsulated the company’s dilemma in two adjacent sentences. On the one hand, “We are an inclusive company and have the track record to prove it,” the company declared. On the other hand, it said, “It is never Hallmark’s intention to be divisive or generate controversy.” Yet in today’s polarized America, is it possible to have it both ways, especially for a company that’s a household name? This week Hallmark unintentionally provided a case study in the quandaries faced by companies being pushed by their stakeholders to take sides on issues ranging from climate change to gun safety. Over a matter of days, Hallmark aggravated a highly publicized fuss by seeming to embrace gay rights, then trying to avoid the issue, and then reasserting its belief in diversity and inclusion while apologizing for “the hurt and disappointment this has caused,” said its CEO, Mike Perry. The result was backlash upon backlash, but perhaps providing some lessons for business leaders navigating a highly politicized public arena. The brouhaha began when the Hallmark Channel, one of three TV channels the company operates in its Crown Media Family Networks division, ran a series of ads for Zola.com, an online wedding registry and planner. At least one of the ads showed a same-sex wedding with two brides kissing. The company had already been getting complaints from viewers about recent comments by Bill Abbott, CEO of the Hallmark networks, saying that the network would be open to LGBTQ-friendly programming, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal’s story was headlined, “In Three Days, the Hallmark Channel Managed to Upset Pretty Much Everyone.” Indeed, much more was to come. One Million Moms, a division of the conservative American Family Association, published a petition urging Hallmark to “please reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples.” It was a sensitive moment for the Hallmark Channel, which profits over the holiday season from a surge in Christmas-themed programming. Top managers huddled over last weekend and decided to yank the offending ads. The company felt “it was in the best interest of the brand to pull them and not continue to generate controversy,” a spokesman said. LGBTQ-advocacy groups keep an eye out for this kind of cultural censorship, as in a case earlier this year when two Delta Air Lines inflight movies were edited to remove same-sex love scenes.  One such advocacy group, Glaad, reached out to Hallmark in recent days and said it would start contacting the channel’s advertisers and asking them to protest by pulling their ads. Glaad compiled a list of 37 advertisers to target and planned to launch a media blitz to announce its protest. Meanwhile, the emerging controversy was providing raw material for mockery of Hallmark by everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to the Weekend Update anchors on Saturday Night Live. Hallmark’s top management huddled again and decided to reverse itself. “The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we’ve seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused,” said Perry in a press release. “Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision. Our mission is rooted in helping all people connect, celebrate traditions, and be inspired to capture meaningful moments in their lives. Anything that distracts from this purpose is not who we are.” So who is Hallmark? Founded in 1910 by J.C. Hall, a high-school dropout, the Kansas City-based company has grown into a $4 billion enterprise with 30,000 employees and interests well beyond greeting cards including the TV channels, a chain of 2,000 retail stores, real-estate holdings, and the Crayola crayon company. Hallmark’s embrace of diversity has been fitful. Its website testifies to the company’s “welcoming work environment.” The company has won recognition as one of America’s best employers for women and “featured more actors of color than ever before in the 2018 lineup of original Hallmark Channel holiday movies,” the company said. Even so, “the Hallmark Channel has long been a place of blatant erasure,” wrote Trish Bendix on NBCnews.com. “This year (2019!), for the first time, it attempted to acknowledge Hanukkah (poorly), and the ‘diversity’ of its casts remains laughable (take a look at the Hallmark holiday movie homepage and you'll see it's looking like another straight, white Christmas). The Hallmark Channel has also continually ignored the existence of LGBTQ people. There is no room for queer people in the channel’s fantastical rom-coms and tales of family cheer.” Among the lessons from Hallmark’s holiday hullabaloo: In the business world, the arc of history bends toward diversity. Brands ranging from Tiffany to Walmart have embraced LGBTQ representation in their advertising, as well as support of events aligned with Pride month. Another lesson is that in today’s world of lightning-fast, social-media reaction, you have to move quickly, but also thoughtfully. “It’s hard to keep everyone happy, but flip-flopping doesn’t help,” Allen Adamson, co-founder of the marketing consultancy Metaforce, told the Associated Press. “These are difficult issues to navigate but when you’re going to make a call one way or another, make sure you understand the ramifications. You only want to pull the Band-Aid off once.” Fortunately for Hallmark, the company got back to its original position without further wavering. “It seems they learned a very hard lesson very quickly,” Todd Sears, founder and CEO of Out Leadership, told NBC News. “Its apology was very heartfelt and there was an earnestness, a sincerity in the apology.” Of course, not everyone was pleased. One Million Moms said it was “extremely disappointed” in Hallmark’s reversal, adding, “This is an enormous mistake that will cause a majority of its viewership to turn the channel.”      

fromdayone | December 19, 2019

To Promote True Advocacy, Don’t Be an Ally: Be an Accomplice

This essay was first published on Forge, Medium's new channel on personal development. I sometimes introduce myself as a “professional African American” when I travel the country to give ally skills workshops — often while looking out at a sea of white faces. It’s a joke, of course, but the point is serious. I’m using humor to disarm my audience, and to make some difficult and personal topics more accessible. I recognize that every person walks into the room with a different set of experiences and point of view. Many folks have had uncomfortable and even traumatizing experiences talking about race, gender, sexuality, and other forms of marginalization. And many of the companies I work with have had conversations about bias go sideways. So a part of the learning experience in my workshops is making it safe for people to be present, both physically and emotionally. Of course, most of the people who sign up for an ally skills workshop already consider themselves an “ally.” Which is what exactly? An ally, in this context, is simply someone who isn’t part of a marginalized group but who supports that group actively. Given the pervasive experiences of bias that many numerically underrepresented minorities report at work, the impulse toward allyship by majority group folks is encouraging. But putting this impulse into action can get tricky. As I caution folks, the very notion of allyship is rejected on its face by some folks who have been harmed by the ham-fisted efforts of well-intentioned, self-proclaimed “allies.” The ally skills framework that I developed in partnership with Dr. Kim Tran, and I teach as a consultant at the diversity strategy firm ReadySet, asks a provocative question: It’s great that you see yourself as an ally, but what does putting that into action look like? Be an accomplice, not an ally It comes as a surprise to some of my ally skills workshop attendees, but I encourage folks to move from the frame of “ally” to “accomplice.” Here’s why I prefer this term. Without context, most folks would consider “ally” to be positive and “accomplice” to be negative. But bringing history into focus means recognizing that many of the liberties we now enjoy — civil rights for black folks and gay marriage, for example — were but a dream not long ago, and required major disruption of the status quo to happen. Disruption isn’t easy or polite. What I’m hoping to impress upon folks is that this work — the work of being an accomplice — might cost you something. Perhaps your comfort or social standing, or maybe even your safety. Real advocacy and comfort rarely go hand in hand. Accomplices try to “care more” For some people, the growth opportunity might involve slowing down, taking up less space in conversations across difference, and becoming a more active listener. For others, it might mean admitting when they’ve made a mistake and offering a genuine apology to the person harmed. For others still, growth might look like having the courage to speak up and communicate the impact of an unfortunate altercation. Willie Jackson will be speaking at From Day One's conferences in Los Angeles on Dec. 11 and Seattle on Jan. 28 I once had a boss advise me, “It’s okay to care more.” I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but the phrase and invitation has stuck with me over the years. In my experience, many audiences exist on a continuum of caring, from withdrawn skepticism to card-carrying social justice warrior. But caring is personal, and doesn’t need to conform to accepted tropes. Some of the most committed agents of institutional change decline to publicly advertise their commitment. They just do the work. I often cite as an example the actress Jessica Chastain, whose pledge to her fellow movie star, Octavia Spencer, to negotiate for pay as a unit leveraged her privilege as a successful white Hollywood star to demand equity. I can’t tell you what to care about or how to express it, but I’m confident that everyone — regardless of identity — can put their caring into action a bit more. Accomplices understand that marginalization isn’t always obvious or visible My way of being in the world and my anchor in this work is deeply grounded in my identity as an African American man: the descendant of enslaved folks and the grandson of sharecroppers. I’m not shy about bringing this identity into the room and naming it. But this stance doesn’t require anyone to make themselves smaller in my presence. In fact, I invite others to bring more of themselves into the room as well. One of the greatest shortcomings of our cultural discourse is the refusal to explore our complicated shared history in America. I don’t mean simply dwelling on the brutality inflicted on indigenous and enslaved folks, although we shouldn’t be shy to acknowledge historical truths. What I mean is that our shared history is more complicated and interdependent than we tend to discuss. That sea of white faces I encounter in a workshop might well include more diversity and marginalized identities than it appears to at first: Many attendees have told me that while they pass for white, they identify ethnically in a multiplicity of ways. Many white-passing folks find themselves in conversations that “other” them or make them feel conflicted, invisible, and resentful. Many people of Italian, Irish, and Jewish heritage have ancestors who suffered from and fled persecution. And of course there are other less obvious identities in these rooms: LGBTQ+, differently abled, and neuroatypical folks, to name just a few. In rooms of visible ethnic and racial minorities, expression of those experiences is often muted. It can be seen as insensitive and disingenuous for white and white-passing folks to claim a marginalized historical identity. As a black-white binary pushes important nuance into the shadows, I’m passionate about creating spaces where all this can be discussed more expansively. I don’t think it serves us to expect people we think of as white to take up less space, and for the people we think of as black to take up more space, based solely on our perception of their proximity to oppression. Similarly, it’s important to acknowledge privilege that may coexist with marginalization. Despite my historically and systemically marginalized racial identity, for example, the privileges afforded me by dint of being an educated, straight, able-bodied male are significant. We all contain multitudes, and the space to bear witness to someone else's story can be sacred and affirming. Accomplices don’t have all the answers Admitting (and, frankly, learning) what we don’t know is a crucial starting point. I haven’t always had the analysis I now hold around race and identity in the United States. In fact, the whitewashed formal education I received was woefully deficient in preparing me for the realities of moving through the world with the identity I have. I learned my history — and in many ways what it means to be a black man in America — as an adult. Despite our best intentions, our liberal enclaves, our high-minded ideals, we all have more learning to do. There’s something comforting in this universal growth opportunity: None of us have it all figured out. As an accomplice, the goal isn’t to avoid stressful conversations or situations where we risk saying or doing the wrong thing; we actually need to spend more time in them, and learn to lean into our values when we feel emotionally triggered. That’s not easy: The physiological impact of conflict and stress prompts the brain to release cortisol and adrenaline into the bloodstream, putting the body into a fight, flight, or freeze response. In this state, we are biologically primed to respond to imminent danger — not to do complex thinking or bring our social graces to bear. Put another way: We don’t rise to the level of our hopes and values, and we sink to the level of our basest instincts and our training. This is why it’s vital to train ourselves — to practice how we’ll intervene where necessary, and how we’ll respond when we’re embarrassed, ashamed, or called out. And it’s why we need to breathe and reflect as we do the work of preparation — and when we can, maybe even laugh. Willie Jackson is a diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) speaker, consultant and facilitator who makes waves at the intersection of event production, behavior change, and leadership development. He’s the founder of an online magazine for black men called Abernathy, and an advisor to authors, startups, and executives across a range of industries.

Willie Jackson | December 10, 2019

Business Feels the Heat: Workers and Consumers Push for Action on Climate Change

Like many of their compatriots in northern California, the workers of Silicon Valley have long trended liberal, especially on social and environmental issues. But what they weren’t known for was organizing around those politics–especially if it involved potentially clashing with their own companies, in which many own equity. Yet on Sept. 20, thousands of workers at major tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook took to the streets as part of a worldwide climate strike organized by the 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. And their CEOs listened. Ahead of the demonstrations, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company would become carbon neutral by 2040, well ahead of the goals set by international climate diplomacy, while Google CEO Sundar Pichai trumpeted a package of 18 new energy deals he called “the biggest corporate purchase of renewable energy in history.” Across the corporate world, from the cubicles of frontline workers to the boardrooms of CEOs, it’s becoming clear that acting on climate change is becoming a vital part of the mission of business today. Companies are getting the message not just from their employees and customers, but from the most powerful economic influencers as well. On Nov. 8, the Federal Reserve did something it had never done before in its more than 100-year history: it held a conference about climate change. At the Reserve’s San Francisco branch, Fed board members, climate scientists and economists discussed the effect that global warming would have on the labor supply, on the financial risk posed by climate change, and on the future of oil in a hotter world. The presentations were dry and technical—this was the Federal Reserve, after all—but the point could not have been sharper: climate change and the environment have become a central force in determining the future of the global economy, a force that will only grow stronger. A few days after the Fed conference, an alliance of more than 80 companies with a market capitalization of more than $2 trillion, ranging from the chemical giant Dow to Duke Energy, backed a report outlining how the U.S. economy can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. When the Trump Administration on Nov. 4 announced that it was formally withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, the We Are Still In coalition of more than 2,000 major companies and investors—including major names like Walmart and Apple—responded by reiterating their independent support for the most important global climate agreement ever signed. A few days later, the CEOs of companies like BASF and LafargeHolcim took to Capitol Hill to press Congress on the need for climate action. Beyond pledges and political action, corporations are making changes to their own business practices, both to minimize the future dangers of climate change and handle the threats that are already on the horizon. IKEA plans to remove all single-use plastic from its home furnishings next year, and use only renewable or recycled products by 2030. McDonalds announced the first-ever large-scale virtual power purchase agreements for buying electricity from renewable sources. In the United Kingdom, Burger King has gone so far as to pledge to stop giving away plastic toys with its kid’s meals. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, shown in a walking tour of the Amazon Spheres in Seattle, announced that the company would become carbon neutral by 2040 (Photo by Ted S. Warren/AP) While corporations have long trumpeted their sustainability projects, those efforts often had more to do with good PR than a good bottom line. What’s changed in recent years is that going green is becoming core to the way businesses do business, both for vital reputational reasons —inside their companies and outside of them—and to survive in a warmer world. According to a study published by Deutsche Bank in September, shares of companies perceived as environmentally responsible performed notably better than shares of companies that were not, in part because consumers are increasingly basing their purchasing decisions on environmental quality. “It is our most successful, innovative and agile companies that have a responsibility to lead on climate and sustainability because they have the greatest capacity to act in a transformative way,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at a gala for the sustainability nonprofit Ceres in October. At the same time, as climate change becomes an increasingly important issue—an August Pew Research survey found that the percentage of Americans calling global warming a major threat to well-being rose from 40%  in 2013 to 57%  this year—companies need to respond to their own workforces. In November more than 1,000 Google employees signed a public letter calling on their company to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2030, and cancel all contracts with fossil fuel companies. Earlier in the year more than 5,000 Amazon employees signed a similar letter addressed to Bezos, writing that “we believe this is a historic opportunity for Amazon to stand with employees and signal to the world that we’re ready to be a climate leader.” If those companies are ready to lead, it’s at least in part because they’re following their workers. This is all happening at a moment when leadership is of any kind is sorely needed on climate change. Every week seems to bring more bad news about the state of the climate, and the horror the planet seems plummeting towards. This October was the warmest such month on record, and for the Northern Hemisphere, the summer as a whole was the hottest on record. For all the rapid growth in renewable energy, the International Energy Agency reported in November that the transition to cleaner power sources is still well short of what’s needed to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, even as global carbon emissions hit an all-time high in 2018. On the political front, President Donald Trump—aided and abetted by a Republican party that has been fully taken over by climate-change deniers—is reversing action on climate and the environment whenever possible, moves that are echoed by conservative leaders in countries like Australia. Given the weakness of politicians and the hard nature of climate science, business has a role to play that goes beyond PR or even their own survival. Environmentalists are increasingly counting on corporate leaders to use their billions and their bullhorns to push for drastic action on climate change. Doing so can create what former U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change head Christiana Figueres has called a “surround-sound effect” around climate change action, pushing politicians to do more at a time when political will is severely lacking. While the corporate world has moved ahead of many politicians, a growing number of leaders and voters on the left are pushing for even more radical climate policies, as symbolized by the Green New Deal. But businesses still feel the tension between competing agendas. As much as they may recognize the need to address climate change over the long term, they still face intense pressure from investors and the market to succeed in the short term. The ultimate question is how far business leaders are willing to go on their own—and how far they can take the rest of us. The False Dawn of Corporate Activism For those of us who have been reporting on the climate crisis for years, what’s happening in the business world today has a very familiar feeling. The mid 2000s saw a burst of corporate interest in climate change, renewable energy and sustainability. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth put climate change squarely in the middle of the global agenda, and while, like now, a Republican president in the White House stood in the way of climate action on the national level, corporations appeared ready to pick up the slack. Many of the same Silicon Valley investors who had made billions on software were ready to pivot to cleantech, funding innovations in renewable energy and biofuel substitutes for oil. In 2007 the venture capitalist John Doerr of the famed firm Kleiner Perkins moved himself and his audience to tears in a TED talk, as he talked about how scared his then-15-year-old daughter was about climate change, and how scared that made him. But business could help fix the problem, Doerr said, because “green technologies—going green—is bigger than the internet. It could be the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century.” That same year a group of major companies formed the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), an alliance with environmental NGOs that called for the creation of mandatory, national carbon-reduction policies. This was significant not just because of what they were saying, but who was doing the talking. USCAP included fossil-fuel companies like the oil giant BP and the aluminum producer Alcoa. At the 2007 UN climate talks in Bali, which I attended as a reporter for Time magazine, the potential presented by groups like USCAP inspired far more hope than the negotiations themselves, which were largely blocked by the lame-duck George W. Bush Administration. Once Barack Obama won the White House nearly a year later, it seemed that this would be the moment when—as Obama himself put it in a speech during the campaign—“the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal.” After all, in the past, business had most often served as an obstacle to major environmental legislation like the Clean Water Act of 1972 or the Clean Air Act of 1990. If business and political power seemed in lockstep on climate change at the dawn of 2009, what could go wrong? A lot, as it turned out. The financial crisis of 2008 devastated the global economy, and wrenched corporate leaders’ attention from the long term of climate change to the short term of survival. Along the way, crude-oil prices cratered, which helped kill nascent green innovations that would have been competitive in a world of $100-a-barrel oil. Forced to choose its legislative priority—while trying to keep the economy on life support—the Obama Administration prioritized a health-care overhaul over climate legislation. Obamacare ultimately became the law of the land, but after carbon cap-and-trade legislation squeaked through the House, it died in the Senate. Cleantech investment ultimately cratered, and by 2017—a decade after his moving TED talk—Doerr’s firm Kleiner Perkins had separated its faltering green-growth fund from the rest of its portfolio. Much of the grassroots activism to fight climate change is driven by a global crusade among young people (Photo by Callum Shaw on Unsplash) A New Generation Demands Action Witnessing those years has left me a little skeptical when I see new claims that business is going green in a big way. And I’m not alone. In September, the consulting firm Accenture released a survey of more than 1,000 corporate executives around the world that drilled deep into their views on sustainability. The respondents reported that the two biggest factors motivating executives on sustainability were customers and employees—especially young ones. A 2018 survey of more than 500 tech workers by the cloud-based software giant Salesforce found similar results: 60% of respondents said that sustainability should be a “moral imperative” for their companies. “The younger generation is drawn to higher purpose and mission— ‘Why are we doing this?’” said Patrick Decker, the president and CEO of Xylem, a water-technology provider. “It’s not purely the profit motive.” Still, more than half of the CEOs surveyed in the Accenture report said that they “face a keen tradeoff in the pressure to operate under extreme cost-consciousness while seeking to invest in longer-term strategic objectives,” including objectives around climate change. As Rolf Martin Schmitz, the CEO of the German electric utility RWE AG, put it: “Sadly too many people are only talking about it. What we really need is more action.” Healthy skepticism aside, however, I’m convinced that this time really is different. For one thing, big money is driving the push for green business practices in a way that it never was before. In November the European Investment Bank announced that it would stop funding all fossil-fuel projects by the end of 2021, which could pull the plug on billions of dollars of natural-gas projects that were in the investment pipeline. In September, a group of more than 500 investors who manage more than $30 trillion in assets urged both policymakers and businesses to comply with the emissions-cutting targets set by the Paris agreement. In 2018 Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset-management fund, sent business leaders a letter demanding that they focus not only on profits, but on what they’re doing for society. “To prosper over time,” he wrote, “every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.” If those holding the purse strings are speaking with one voice, the climate itself is chiming in. Climate change has long been seen as a problem for the future, and to a large extent, it still is. The carbon we emit today will linger in the atmosphere for decades, even centuries. According to data from the Carbon Disclosure Project, the world’s 500 biggest corporations face roughly $1 trillion in costs related to climate change in the decades ahead unless action is taken now and in the near future. Other studies have used computer models to estimate that global warming, if nothing is done, could cost the world’s financial sector as much as $24.2 trillion. But climate change isn’t just a problem for tomorrow. Take the example of PG&E, California’s largest utility. In 2018, PG&E told the Carbon Disclosure Project that the rising risk of wildfire— partially due to the climate-driven effects of warmer and drier weather in the West—could cost the company as much as $2.5 billion. As it turned out, PG&E vastly underestimated those costs. After horrific fires in the summer of 2018, many of which were triggered by the utility’s downed power lines, PG&E had to file for bankruptcy protection and now faces some $30 billion in fire liabilities. This fall, PG&E had to preemptively put hundreds of thousands of Californians in the dark after it shut off power to reduce the risk of causing more wildfires. If the company doesn’t survive, it may go down as one of the first major corporate victims of climate change—in the here and now. The point is that any company that fails to take the effects of climate change into account is failing its shareholders, and ultimately, the rest of the world. There’s a reason that climate and environmental issues were ranked at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos as the most important risks facing business. As Apple’s Cook put it, “If you are an executive who has not developed an innovation strategy to address your impact on the climate, then you are failing in your duties as a leader.” And lastly, employees are out on the front lines, pushing their bosses to stay honest on climate change in a way that simply wasn’t the case a decade ago. Smart companies will develop those strategies, both to hedge against the rising risks of climate change for their own business, and to minimize their own contribution to it, as citizens—and consumers—of the world begin to demand no less. But will that be enough? Many scientists would say no. In early November a group of more than 11,000 scientists from a variety of disciplines released a report warning that without massive energy efficiency and conservation practices—including efforts to essentially stop mining new fossil fuels—the world would not escape what they called a climate emergency. The writer’s 2019 book on existential threats to humankind, including climate change A global environmental movement called Extinction Rebellion is pushing intense, even confrontational tactics—including shutting down a London subway line—to push for drastic carbon cuts. Those are aggressive, even existential policies that few major businesses would sign onto, which is perhaps what the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg had in mind when she told reporters earlier this year, after being asked if any company was doing enough to tackle climate change, that “as it looks now, it doesn’t look good.” The reality is that the massive shifts in energy use that will be required to avert potentially catastrophic climate change must come, first and foremost, by government policy. Businesses can help by creating the “surround-sound” chamber of support that Christiana Figueres cited, and most of all, they can help themselves, their shareholders and their customers by listening to their young employees and speeding the adoption of smart climate policies. The biggest impact that business can make, however—which is the same impact all of us can make—is by using all the influence it has to push elected politicians to make the hard choices needed to keep our future safe. From employees to executives, the business world is going green as it never has before, and that’s much needed. But if we’re going to survive, we need to go green together. Bryan Walsh is the author of End Times, a new book about existential risk. He previously worked as a foreign correspondent, reporter, and editor for TIME for over 15 years. He founded the award-winning Ecocentric blog on TIME.com and has reported from more than 20 countries on science and environmental stories like SARS, global warming, and extinction. He was recently the launch editor of Medium's OneZero, a science and technology publication

Bryan Walsh | December 06, 2019

The Team Builder: Why Fortune Picked Microsoft’s Nadella as Businessperson of the Year

This has been a rough year in the public eye for Big Tech, whose digital giants have been pilloried as privacy invaders, monopoly builders and even threats to democracy. Yet one of them has stood out from the pack, basking in a glow of newfound admiration: Microsoft. Affirming that distinction, Fortune recently named Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as its Businessperson of the Year. Fortune attributes his success to having succeeded in assembling the right team. In his ascent to the chief executive role, Nadella had several gaps in his resume, lacking significant experience in sales or finance. So he surrounded himself with complementary players. “I’m wired to be fairly confident in myself and to let others shine,” he told Fortune. Among those executives is president Brad Smith, who runs policy and legal affairs. “Nadella credits Smith, Microsoft’s longtime general counsel and previously an outside lawyer to the company, for leading policy initiatives on areas from cybersecurity to ethics in A.I. and privacy,” writes Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky. “A roving corporate ambassador, Smith has deftly positioned Microsoft, once the scourge of Washington and Brussels, as the most thoughtful and least under attack of its Big Tech cohort.” Microsoft’s reputational success has been matched by the financials. The company earned $39 billion in profits in fiscal 2019 on revenue of $126 billion, with revenues growing at a three-year compound annual rate of 11.%. Its stock-market capitalization, which had lagged for years, topped $1 trillion. Fortune’s declaration was presaged earlier in May by Bloomberg Businessweek, which put Nadella on the cover with the headline: “The Miracle of Microsoft: The greatest tech company of the 1990s is back.” The company that had once drawn comparisons to the Evil Empire of Star Wars was far less of a competitive threat in the 2000s, flailing as it attempted to ride the new waves of mobile phones, search engines and social networking. Businessweek’s sources inside and outside the company attributed the historic turnaround to a change in culture as well as strategy: “Microsoft marketers like to attribute its reemergence as a tech power to a sort of cultural rehab, involving what Nadella calls corporate ‘empathy’ and a shift of his team from a ‘fixed mindset’ to a ‘growth mindset.’ The reality of the company’s turnaround was more painful … Under Nadella, it cut funding to Windows and built an enormous cloud computing business—with about $34 billion in revenue over the past year—putting it ahead of Google and making progress in key areas against the dominant player, Amazon Web Services. ‘I don’t know of any other software company in the history of technology that fell onto hard times and has recovered so well,’ says Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix.” By a different set of performance dimensions, however, Microsoft came in No. 2. On the Wall Street Journal’s annual ranking of the Management Top 250, the winner for 2019 was Amazon, which unseated Apple for the No. 1 spot. “Amazon catapulted to the top of the list this year by earning an off-the-charts ranking in innovation,” wrote the Journal. “Its score in that dimension of performance is more than double that of any other company. Amazon outpaces others in patent applications, trademark registrations and spending on research and development,” reported the Journal, which works with a team of researchers at Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker Institute using dozens of data points to rank companies on five performance dimensions: customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development, innovation, social responsibility and financial strength. The Journal’s rankings also rolled out a new “red flag” designation to highlight companies with particularly weak scores in one dimension of the scorecard. Facebook earned a red flag for customer satisfaction, likely attributable to the controversy over its data-privacy practices, and Walmart drew a red flag in the area of employee engagement and development. In recent years, the company has aimed to improve worker satisfaction with an array of education and development programs.    

fromdayone | December 05, 2019