American Airlines

Frito-Lay North America

The Consumer Goods Forum

A Culture of Celebrating Diversity, Giving to Communities and Honoring History

Frito-Lay and Quaker's Recipe for Success: Driving Food Regulation & Sustainability With Danielle Dalheim

Expert Series: Accelerating Human Rights Due Diligence Through Collaboration and Remedy With PepsiCo and Unilever

<img alt="Gisela Martinez" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bc0fc334-6dc1-4dca-b886-5841372eceb7" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/employee-qa-sustaining-local-communities-volunteerism_OWENS-CORNING_050224.jpg" width="640" class="align-center" height="900" loading="lazy" />Our people making a difference is a series featured throughout Owens Corning’s <a href="https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/corporate/sustainability" target="_blank">2023 Sustainability Report</a>.

Since high school, Gisela Martinez has been actively volunteering in her community. She joined Owens Corning as an intern in 2017, and she brought her passion for service to her role almost immediately when Mexico City, Mexico, was struck by an earthquake. Gisela helped lead her co-workers into action, providing food, clothing, and more. Upon moving into her current role, she has continued to lead the way in volunteerism, bringing people together to help in meaningful ways in Mexico City and beyond.

On our human approach to corporate citizenship 

Owens Corning is always trying to reach as many people as possible, and that is achievable with all the fantastic people that volunteer. I personally always try to help more people every year as an objective. We care about the people we’re giving back to and how we are impacting their lives. When the Community Engagement team came to Mexico City in 2023 to present the Volunteer of the Year award, they were able to see how our contributions have helped many girls in vulnerable situations, or children suffering terminal cancer, or a 13-year-old who arrived at the Hummingbird House in an unresponsive state who now is able to walk, talk in English, and enjoy being a kid again. That’s why I always suggest taking some extra time to visit the associations you’re benefiting with your work and donations, so you’ll see firsthand how you are making the world — and their world — a better place.

On the ways community engagement fits with sustainability 

I believe that there’s no way a company can claim to be sustainable without benefiting the people around them and showing them our value as a neighbor and a socially responsible citizen. That’s why it’s important to include community engagement and giving back to our community in our approach to sustainability, as this is bringing us closer to our aspirations as a company.

On engaging employees at the plant level 

In Mexico and Latin America, we all do informal volunteering — helping people around us in our community, like relatives, neighbors, or victims of a natural disaster. But when we ask people in operations to come and volunteer in a formal system, it can be hard for them. We offer more diverse programs so people will have something to engage with. If they don’t feel close to a certain cause, they always have different options, and they’re welcome to bring new projects to the table. I always tell them to try it once and if they don’t like it, hopefully there is going to be something else they are interested in. Now, after six years of running this, I have people asking me when they’re going to be able to volunteer again. This year, we’ve been seeing more participation from people in the plant because we’ve been offering more activities on weekends. Also, we donate our own insulation materials, and our co-workers love to see where the material they make is going. When they see the faces of the people who benefit from their hard work, they get even more engaged.

Employee Q&A: Sustaining Local Communities Through Volunteerism

<img alt="Woman seated on a chair and reading a tablet." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="100835dc-e0df-40e8-9274-8c2f9410c36a" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/GoDaddy%20Innovation_GoDaddy_5.21.24A.jpg" width="640" class="align-center" height="801" loading="lazy" /><a href="https://img1.wsimg.com/cdnassets/m/e3455b8b423cdaa/original/2023_GoDaddy_Sustainability_Report.pdf" target="_blank">Originally published in GoDaddy's 2023 Sustainability Report</a>

Innovation 

We’re focused on evolving to deliver for our customers.

The world is constantly changing and so are the needs of our customers. To stay ahead of the curve, we commit to progressing our products and services through continuous experimentation and innovation.

Controlled Experimentation 

We intentionally create a culture of experimentation to empower each employee to be an inventor, a problem solver, and a champion for our customers. In 2023, our experimentation catapulted many ideas into becoming fully integrated customer solutions. The purpose behind our controlled experimentation lies in our commitment to building great products and experiences that solve real customer problems. This effort requires an approach to decisionmaking that embraces learning and evidence-based methods, where decisions impact not only our performance but also our customers’ performance. GoDaddy experiments use randomization and robust statistical methods that empower teams to build confidence in their decision-making, find incremental value in each experiment, and trace the causal effects on key stakeholders.

To engage in controlled experimentation, our teams follow our five experimentation lifecycle stages:

<ul><li>Observation or opportunity</li>
	<li>Experimentation design</li>
	<li>Platform experimentation</li>
	<li>Experiment configuration</li>
	<li>Experiment results and decision</li>
</ul>In 2023, we conducted a total of more than 1,700 controlled experiments in product — 33% more than in 2022. We also continued our Experimentation Showcases to further our test-and-learn culture. During the 11 Experimentation Showcases held in 2023, GoDaddy teams created and trialed experiments to enhance customer experience and submitted them for review. Senior leadership representatives then voted on experiments based on design features, innovative thinking, and potential for value creation. Experiments with the most votes are featured in a live, cross-company Experimentation Showcase.

Technological Innovation 

Our GoDaddy Tech Manifesto guides our innovation through a set of technological principles:

<ul><li>Simplicity</li>
	<li>Abstraction</li>
	<li>Consistency</li>
	<li>Extensibility</li>
	<li>Connected Data</li>
	<li>Iterate</li>
</ul>These foundational principles allow our teams to make the right technology decisions quickly, increasing both the velocity and quality of delivery. Our Tech Manifesto also builds on our existing engineering principles of security, speed of delivery, performance, availability, quality, and embracing innersource and open-source communities to foster innovation. In 2023, we enhanced our Tech Manifesto by elaborating on the implications of our principles to emerging GenAI technology, specifically with reference to how our GoDaddy GenAI service and custom LLMs (Large Language Models) promote the fifth principle of connected data.

To improve transparency and cross-company collaboration, we use Tech Radar, a forward-looking summary of our global technology strategy. In 2023, we continued the Tech Radar Tuesday newsletter series to highlight new technologies and encourage engagement across engineering teams. This sharing of ideas promotes breakthrough innovations that solve the most challenging issues at hand.
<img alt="Illustration of a male face on a laptop with a hand reaching around to hit a key." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ebb4551f-f8b7-45b5-bfb0-5dce92afe254" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/GoDaddy%20Innovation_GoDaddy_5.21.24B.jpg" width="400" class="align-center" height="417" loading="lazy" />Artificial Intelligence 

Keeping up with the fast-paced digital world means leveraging GenAI and machine learning (ML) to build experiences that improve feature discovery, engagement, and monetization. We engage GenAI to enhance accountability, save time, and effort, which in turn helps our customers achieve heightened success.

In 2023, we announced <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/ai-for-small-businesses" target="_blank">GoDaddy Airo™</a>, a GenAI-powered intelligent experience that proactively builds and helps entrepreneurs grow their online businesses. GoDaddy Airo™ is a breakthrough technology that simplifies our customers’ experience, automatically generating a branded logo, customized website, tailored content, communications, social marketing, and more. The process is GenAI-driven and personalized.

We are also leveraging GenAI to improve our customer service experiences and the accuracy of our support bots, helping to reduce the time it takes to get to the root of a customer’s need. Our Care Guides are an integral part of the community learning how to use prompt engineering to offer value to our customers quickly and more effectively. While GenAI enhances and streamlines processes, our GoDaddy Guides are available to provide one-on-one customer assistance and guidance.

In 2023, we rolled out an Artificial Intelligence (AI) coding assistant so our developers can write code faster and with less work, by quickly cycling through lines of code, completing function suggestions, and deciding which to accept, reject, or edit. Using these new AI tools, we can accelerate our innovation to meet our customers' evolving needs.

As these technologies continue to evolve, we remain vigilant in encouraging ongoing dialogue and minimizing risks posed by GenAI, such as misinformation or algorithmic bias. At GoDaddy, our AI and ML Governance Council helps to oversee these efforts and works to ensure that the appropriate guardrails and risk management measures are in place. By fostering a culture of responsibility and ethical GenAI use, GoDaddy seeks to leverage GenAI to deliver real customer impact.

AI Office Hours 

For our customers who wanted to harness the power of AI for their small businesses, GoDaddy’s internal AI enthusiasts offered indepth video support to enhance customer usage of AI and drive their business growth. During these ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qm7KfsAR8Y&amp;list=PLdg4YtrtIzukxgiR5HGMe4LFoEkm3FB63" target="_blank">AI Office Hours</a>,’ GoDaddy Guides dove deep into the world of AI, offering practical advice and real-time problem solving to attendees. Leveraging our extensive prompt library and crafting new prompts on the fly, we demonstrated how AI can revolutionize operations, marketing, customer engagement, and more.

Whether our customers were curious about chatbots, predictive analytics, automated processes, or any AI-related topic, GoDaddy panelists provided valuable insights and actionable strategies to help navigate the AI landscape safely and effectively. In 2024, we are eager to provide more opportunities for our customers to learn from industry leaders and help their small businesses gain a competitive edge in the digital age.

GoDaddy Engineering Hackathon 

Hackathons are a way we inspire employees to think innovatively. At the GoDaddy Engineering Hackathon 2023, employees were encouraged to build solutions across any areas they felt would drive impact in customer experience, developer productivity, and security. Innovations created during the Hackathon were tested, and select innovations were launched into production.

Ambitions for 2024 

In 2024, we'll continue to experiment and innovate, including hosting more employee-led events to reward creative solutions. The Experimentation Showcase remains integral to our commitment to harness game-changing innovations. Efforts to streamline developer processes from ideation to production are underway through tool development and hands-on training sessions. We’ll also continue to innovate responsibly leveraging GenAI, while monitoring and mitigating evolving risks. Our culture of innovation is a cornerstone of GoDaddy's success, fostering creativity and customer-centricity

To learn more, read our <a href="https://img1.wsimg.com/cdnassets/m/e3455b8b423cdaa/original/2023_GoDaddy_Sustainability_Report.pdf" target="_blank">2023 Sustainability Report</a>.

###

About this Report 

The GoDaddy 2023 Sustainability Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching corporate mission and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/godaddy-for-good/sustainability" target="_blank">website</a> and our annual Sustainability Report. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting <a href="https://www.3blmedia.com/news/ESG@GoDaddy.com." target="_blank">ESG@GoDaddy.com</a>.

This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector. We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please review the Frameworks and Metrics section.

GoDaddy 2023 Sustainability Report: Our Customers | Innovation

<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.3blmedia.com/sites/default/files/2024-05/savethechimps_fedex_050724.mp4" width="100%"></iframe></center>

At <a href="https://savethechimps.org/" target="_blank">Save the Chimps</a> sanctuary in Fort Pierce, FL, chimpanzees spend their days relaxing and having fun in the sun. The organization goes to great lengths to ensure their residents are comfortable and entertained—even using their talent to paint canvases that help raise money for the sanctuary!

Through various art expos, the chimpanzee’s artwork is highlighted and sold, in collaboration with celebrity guest painters, to continue the best care for the animals domiciled at the sanctuary. This year’s event was no different, taking place at Art Expo NY, Save the Chimps collaborated with Joaquin Phoenix, his wife Rooney Mara, and FedEx, to ensure another successful showing with their latest and greatest artwork on display. It paid off, raising $20,000 with all proceeds going to support Save the Chimps.

To ensure the artwork could be completed prior to the event, the canvases needed to log some serious miles travelling from California to Florida then on to New York for the event. As with a previous <a href="https://fedexcares.com/stories/delivering-good/wild-planet-collection-paintings-chimps-help-b-52s" target="_blank">art shipment</a> of 30 canvases, FedEx donated the shipping of the 16 framed canvases going to New York. These shipments are part of the company’s FedEx Cares “Delivering for Good" initiative, in which FedEx lends its global network and unparalleled logistics expertise to organizations with precious cargo requests and helps communities before, during, and after crises. Learn more about FedEx Cares Delivering for Good initiative <a href="http://fedexcares.com/our-focus/delivering-for-good" target="_blank">here</a>.
<img alt="A chimp painting with a brush." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="177dfb7c-6750-430e-979a-4e7ff5dd15cf" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/chimppaint_fedex_050724.png" width="640" class="align-center" height="675" loading="lazy" />Save the Chimps is the largest privately funded chimpanzee sanctuary in the world. Situated on 150 acres in Fort Pierce, FL, the refuge provides exemplary vet care, nutritious food, and social enrichment to over 220 chimps retired from laboratories, the entertainment industry, the pet trade, and roadside zoos. FedEx has collaborated with the organization for multiple shipments, including transporting the <a href="https://fedexcares.com/stories/delivering-good/new-day-sunrise-seven" target="_blank">Sunrise Seven</a> from Wildlife Waystation, a California animal refuge, that closed in 2019 to the sanctuary in Florida.

“We hope these paintings will raise much-needed funds for Save the Chimps’ sanctuary and deepen people’s appreciation of these intelligent apes,” said Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix. “Chimps are our closest relatives in the animal world. They share 98% of our DNA, so it’s no surprise that some chimps find it therapeutic to paint, much like some humans do.”

Source: <a href="https://savethechimps.org/the-joaquin-phoenix-rooney-mara-save-the-chimps-collection/" target="_blank">Save The Chimps</a>
<img alt="A painting done by a chimp." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="55b1ffde-d201-4922-a950-8e51e6e56247" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/redpainting_fedex_050724.png" width="640" class="align-center" height="675" loading="lazy" /> 
<img alt="A chimp painting outside" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e16f7673-b8a5-44c0-a2d7-ccfe493490c4" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/savethechimps_fedex_050724.jpg" width="640" class="align-center" height="675" loading="lazy" /> 
<figure role="group" class="align-center"><img alt="&quot; &quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="32c13dfe-6959-4110-9b03-2f72a50e225d" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/supporters_fedex_050724.png" width="640" height="675" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix</figcaption></figure> 
<figure role="group" class="align-center"><img alt="&quot; &quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="959973ab-3bd8-4a12-a077-d663da59228c" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/paintingsgrid_fedex_050724.png" width="640" height="675" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Samples of the paintings displayed at Art Expo, NY</figcaption></figure>

These Paintings Are No Joke – Art by Talented Chimps on Display in New York

<img alt="A person having a video call on a tablet device " data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="562ee356-0a0c-4598-b3f3-c18452b8821c" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/hero-Mental-Health-Awareness_T-Mobile_052424%20%281%29.jpeg" width="640" class="align-center" height="600" loading="lazy" />A lot has changed in the world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — perhaps none more than the way <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/mobile-mindfulness-the-future-of-mental-health" target="_blank">mental health is perceived and addressed</a>. As in-person care shifted to primarily telehealth care during the pandemic, mental health <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/telepsychiatry/blog/tech-trends-2024-what-to-watch-out-for-this-year-i" target="_blank">became the specialty</a> with the highest rate of <a href="https://epicresearchblob.blob.core.windows.net/cms-uploads/pdfs/telehealth-utilization-higher-than-pre-pandemic-levels-but-down-from-pandemic-highs.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">consistent telehealth usage</a>.

Even as restrictions lifted, the effects of the pandemic on mental wellness haven’t eased. Roughly <a href="https://www.nssbehavioralhealth.com/nss-blog-the-state-of-mental-health-in-america-2023-adult-prevalence-and-access-to-care/#:~:text=21%25%20of%20adults%20are%20experiencing,have%20not%20received%20any%20treatment." target="_blank">21% of adults, equaling 50 million people in the U.S.,</a> said last year they were experiencing at least one mental health concern. Yet, <a href="https://thenextgengeneralist.substack.com/p/issue-009-6-digital-mental-health" target="_blank">55% of adults</a> with a mental illness reported not having received any treatment for reasons varying from costs to availability and accessibility.

It’s one of the many reasons T-Mobile employees use and are offered teletherapy platforms like <a href="https://livemagenta.com/l3/Virtual-Therapy-with-Talkspace" target="_blank">Talkspace</a> through <a href="https://www.livemagenta.com/" target="_blank">LiveMagenta</a>, a company-sponsored, digital well-being resource. As we take a closer look this Mental Health Awareness Month at how tech is advancing the way we understand needs and treatments, we asked experts at health care company <a href="https://www.optum.com/" target="_blank">Optum</a> where they see technology improving access and accuracy in this space.

“Digital health tools can be useful across nearly all health care needs, and behavioral health is no exception,” said Doug Smalley, Senior Product Director at Optum Behavioral Health. “Optum is proactively engaging with people to help manage their health and well-being through in-person, virtual and digital clinical platforms. We continue to proactively expand our virtual care options to increase access to timely, affordable behavioral health care and offer greater flexibility for both members and providers.”

Smalley leads a team dedicated to finding ways to continuously improve and evolve consumer experiences in the health and well-being space for the more than 45 million people Optum serves, including T-Mobile employees. We asked him about several key areas of technology in the mental health space — including recent app and telehealth trends, wearable technology, accessibility and artificial intelligence — to see how connectivity continues to be a driver of innovation.

The use of mental health apps <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/01/trends-pathways-access-mental-health-care" target="_blank">continues to climb</a>, with teletherapy still a main driver and preventative care becoming a big focus. How do you see teletherapy evolving to meet patients’ needs?

Telehealth and other digital tools can help people access the behavioral health support that’s right for them. Digital health technologies — from web and app-based symptom checkers to automated self-scheduling and more efficient data exchange — can create a seamless, end-to-end consumer experience, cutting down on consumer frustration and clinician burnout.

<a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/3DmBzxxQ2R85W7VnDkwRTX" target="_blank">Check Out Our “Mobile Diaries” Podcast on Teletherapy.</a>

There’s been a <a href="https://thenextgengeneralist.substack.com/p/issue-009-6-digital-mental-health" target="_blank">renewed vigor</a> around offering digital wellness solutions for mental health, just like using workout apps for physical health. Do you also see technologies that support stress reduction, resilience training and the early detection of mental health concerns in your work for preventative care purposes?

Not only can mobile apps and virtual programs provide mental health support, teletherapy may even offer some advantages over traditional in-person care. For example, people concerned with mental health care stigma may feel more comfortable opening up from the comfort of their own home. The important thing is making a broad suite of behavioral health offerings available that allow individuals to access support in a variety of ways, including self-help tools, in-person and virtual visits, a family support program and employee well-being solutions.

We have often discussed how <a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/news/community/world-of-womens-wearables" target="_blank">wearable technology can be an innovative solution</a> for physical health concerns and preventative care, but do you see the wearable tech trend in your own work, and do you find it beneficial?

Wearable tech, such as fitness trackers that can monitor your physical health, is growing in popularity — about 30% of American adults now use wearable health care devices. These remote tools can help ensure timely and convenient access to care by removing the need to physically travel to an office for health needs. Data from wearables, digital therapeutics and remote-monitoring devices can trigger behavioral nudges to help individuals better manage their health. The data also allows caregivers to respond to changes in treatment needs. Mental and physical health are directly linked — you need to take care of both to support total health and well-being. These tools and apps can be a great way to seamlessly integrate mental health support in a way with which individuals are already comfortable.

Harnessing Technology Can Lead to More Mental Health Care Options, Expert Says

<figure role="group" class="align-center"><img alt="Photo of Eric Chavous, a Black man with a beard wearing a grey suit coat and white shirt, with the text Congratulations to Eric Chavous, Sr. Manager &amp; Counsel, Tapestry, on his acceptance into The Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2024 Sources of Success™ Program " data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="009405e7-78ec-4740-b2f4-61050ed2cd51" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/EricChavous_RecognitionPost_Alt1d%20%282%29.png" width="640" height="1200" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Photo of Eric Chavous, a Black man with a beard wearing a grey suit coat and white shirt, with the text Congratulations to Eric Chavous, Sr. Manager &amp; Counsel, Tapestry, on his acceptance into The Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2024 Sources of Success™ Program </figcaption></figure>Tapestry congratulates Eric Chavous, Senior Manager and Counsel at Tapestry on his acceptance into the <a href="https://mcca.com/career-center/sources-of-success/" target="_blank">Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2024 Sources of Success</a>™ Program. A highly competitive professional development program that accepts about 30 attorneys from legal departments and law firms across the U.S. each year, MCCA’s Sources of Success Program is designed to help mid-career attorneys excel as leaders within their organizations. Each year, the curriculum evolves to address the needs of the cohort to excel as leaders within their own organizations.

Tapestry is proud that Eric has been recognized and selected to be a part of this esteemed program, and we look forward to seeing him reach even further heights.

We connected with Eric, and he shared a little about his experience at Tapestry:

Q: Can you share your role, how long you’ve been at Tapestry and a few details about what your team oversees? I am Sr. Manager, Counsel and have worked at Tapestry for a little over three years. I started as an independent contractor and was converted to full-time nearly three years ago. Currently, I support both the Contracts team that oversees all agreements entered across Tapestry and its brands in NA, and the Intellectual Property team responsible for managing Tapestry’s global IP portfolio and clearing designs, artwork, and names for brand design and merchandise teams.

Q: What is your proudest moment/achievement at Tapestry? I am blessed to be able to truthfully say I have had numerous proud moments at Tapestry. The moment that sticks out the most at this time is the opportunity I had to give a presentation on NFTs to our Executive Committee with one of my colleagues. Not many lawyers at my career level can claim they have personally presented to the entire Executive Committee of a multi-billion dollar public company.

Q: What words would you use to describe our culture? Innovative. Fast. Inclusive.

 

Learn more about Tapestry and how we support our people to achieve their professional goals <a href="https://www.tapestry.com/responsibility/our-people/" target="_blank">here</a>.

Tapestry's Eric Chavous Selected for Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2024 Sources of Success™ Program

<img alt="co-workers looking at a computer together" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="61c2df24-5f44-4e6a-8898-ab3b882088a5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/actingresponsibly_qualcomm_051624.png" width="640" class="align-center" height="1240" loading="lazy" /><a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/2023-qualcomm-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf" target="_blank">Originally published in Qualcomm's 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report</a>

We have been a committed partner to countries around the world for more than 30 years, supporting policies that encourage innovation, foster the advancement of technology and enable business-friendly environments globally. With each new generation of wireless connectivity, we strive to create shared success in collaboration with lawmakers and regulators and to create new opportunities for local industries and communities.

We implement our public policy approach around four key principles:

<ul><li>Participation: We engage in policy discussions with governments, organizations and industries around the world to advocate for policies that promote innovation and protect and foster new ideas in connectivity. We are committed to helping policymakers at all levels understand our business model and role as an ecosystem enabler.</li>
	<li>Responsible Governance: We abide by all applicable laws and regulations regarding political contributions and expenditures, and our contributions are subject to the approval of our senior management with oversight by the Governance Committee of our Board of Directors.</li>
	<li>Transparency: We publicly disclose to the Federal Elections Commission all political contributions made by our Company and our Political Action Committee, and we abide by all legal obligations of the FCPA and similar legislation around the world.</li>
	<li>Policy Guides: We carefully monitor and evaluate developments that affect the world of connectivity. Our key public policy topics are 5G, invention and IP, spectrum, privacy, immigration and taxation. Our general positions are outlined below and published on our public policy website.</li>
</ul>Key public policy topics

<ul><li>5G: 5G is a unified connectivity fabric that we believe will continue to transform industries, create jobs and usher in an estimated $13.1 trillion in global sales activity in 2035.17 To achieve these benefits, we believe governments must continue to adopt policies that support a comprehensive 5G rollout plan.</li>
	<li>Invention and IP: Invention, innovation and protection of IP are core drivers of economic growth and competitiveness. Without robust patent systems and strong global protection of IP, innovation would be significantly weakened.</li>
	<li>Spectrum: The benefits of wireless connectivity depend on the availability of adequate and appropriate radio spectrum. We believe in freeing new spectrum in a responsible way to meet the demands of consumers and businesses.</li>
	<li>Privacy: We believe that cultivating consumer trust through a foundation of security and privacy practices helps drive broader adoption and more personalized wireless technology offerings.</li>
	<li>Immigration: Highly skilled talent, especially in the areas of math, engineering and the sciences, is vital to the success of our Company and to the future of technological innovation around the world.</li>
	<li>Taxation: We support policies that incentivize innovation and enable American technology companies to compete in today’s global marketplace.</li>
	<li>Environmental Sustainability: Our technologies, our business model and our role as a driver of technology transformation can support communities, governments and other stakeholders in a transition towards a more sustainable future.</li>
</ul>Our public policy position on climate change and environmental sustainability, published in 2023, can be found on our <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/company/corporate-responsibility/acting-responsibly/public-policy" target="_blank">public policy webpage</a>. We believe that environmental sustainability is a societal imperative. The conservation and protection of natural resources and global ecosystems yields significant social and environmental benefits for present and future generations. These benefits require collective action and leadership from corporate citizens.

Our <a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/Qualcomm_Global_Tax_Strategy.pdf" target="_blank">Global Tax Strategy</a> highlights our commitment to being a responsible and transparent corporate citizen. Our approach to tax is consistent with our CoBC and Code of Ethics and is premised on complying with applicable tax laws, maximizing stockholder value and delivering transparent tax reporting and disclosures. We also seek to pay the requisite taxes on profits generated from the activities performed in each jurisdiction.

“We are committed to helping policymakers at all levels understand our business model and role as an ecosystem enabler.”

Implementing our business strategy requires specialized engineering and other talent, as our revenues are highly dependent on technological and product innovations. To attract top talent, we must be able to hire top engineers, regardless of their country of origin. Beyond fierce competition for talent across our industry and with our competitors, existing immigration laws make it more difficult for us to recruit and retain highly skilled foreign nationals, making the pool of available talent even smaller.

We engage in public policy efforts to support regulations that are aligned to today’s economic reality. Our Government Affairs team participates in diverse advocacy efforts that contribute to immigration laws that support our Company’s ability to develop leading-edge technologies specifically and our innovation-based global economy in general. Our advocacy efforts, as they relate to immigration laws and recruiting a global workforce, are generally implemented through collaborations with trade associations and diverse coalitions of employers. For more information on our approach to managing a diverse highly skilled workforce, please see our SASB Index.

Fostering a more accessible patent ecosystem for all

Our belief that the U.S. patent system should reflect the diversity of this country is stronger than ever. We know that diversifying who is inventing and patenting can create more jobs, boost the national economy, close wage and wealth gaps and enable the U.S. to remain a global leader in innovation. We are actively working within our Company and externally to create equitable opportunities for all.

Last year, we announced, in collaboration with Invent Together, the launch of The Inventor’s Patent Academy (TIPA). TIPA is a free mobile-friendly course that guides inventors through the process of protecting their inventions through patenting. The e-learning course readies innovators to apply for their own patents, offering actionable advice for overcoming obstacles and navigating the system. It also shares real-life stories of inventors and how they surmounted challenges and brought their ideas to life. It gives inventors a solid understanding of patent law and the patent filing process.

Since its launch, TIPA has already reached close to 1,400 students. Two-third of those students responded to an optional survey to help TIPA better understand the profile and satisfaction of participants. Around three quarters of survey respondents highlighted being from historically URM and over 40 percent were women, 70 percent of whom were women of color. The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program is using TIPA as a learning resource. Students come from all sectors of the economy, including government, higher education, startups and accelerators and private corporations. Nearly a quarter are individual inventors. We are proud of this strong start and intend to continue outreach to our target audiences as we acquire more students.

At Qualcomm, we leveraged our diversity-oriented employee resources, including providing a new inventors’ workshop series entitled “Cultivating Innovation.” These workshops were a collaboration between our IP Department, Government Affairs and employee networks, with the goal of increasing diversity in innovation within the Company. We provided 16 events, including a workshop on TIPA, as part of that series. More than 90 percent of participants agreed that course material addressing systemic barriers to patenting and patent law content was useful and relevant. Given the positive feedback and our large engineering population, we are exploring ways to offer the course more broadly within the Company.

We are thankful for the help in our recruiting from Invent Together partner organizations like AnitaB.org, the Society of Women Engineers and the Native American Intellectual Property Enterprise Council. We are equally grateful that the USPTO has linked to the TIPA program on its website, featuring it as a learning resource for the USPTO’s new First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program.

This past year, we also implemented updates and improvements in the content of the online course. For example, we incorporated user feedback and now provide an enhanced smartphone experience, updated voice-narration, learning capsules, improved accessibility and additional inventor resources including information on the patent pro-bono program. The enhancements and updates to TIPA will further our Company’s commitment to enabling the accessibility of the inventing and patenting process for all. We firmly believe that empowering inventors with robust patent rights enables them to transform the world for the benefit of all.

<a href="https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/2023-qualcomm-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf" target="_blank">Learn more about how Qualcomm is driving innovation, societal advancement and sustainability in the 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report</a>

Qualcomm’s 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report: Public Policy and Regulation

<figure role="group" class="align-center"><img alt="&quot; &quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8fc8e462-6b60-4a40-bb2d-8e95dfbdeb65" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Urbane-Cafe_U.S.%20Bank_5.28.24A.jpg" width="640" height="675" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>In Ventura, California, students toured the offices of Urbane Café, a growing fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in hearty salads and sandwiches crafted from a hearth oven.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.usbank.com/about-us-bank/company-blog/article-library/california-students-upskill-industry-knowledge-with-help-from-us-bank.html" target="_blank">Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog</a>

For many people, life’s most helpful knowledge comes from learning on the job. Through its support of the <a class="external-linked" href="https://calrestfoundation.org/prostart/" target="_blank">California Restaurant Foundation's</a> “Experience Hospitality” initiative, U.S. Bank is supporting job training for high-school students pursuing a career in the restaurant industry. 

The innovative initiative recently provided 500 students from throughout the state with an opportunity to tour the headquarters of a California-based hospitality company. Each student is enrolled in the <a class="external-linked" href="https://chooserestaurants.org/programs/prostart/" target="_blank">ProStart</a> program – a two-year, industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students. The tours included everything from iconic brands like Wienerschnitzel to the California beach hotel brand Pacifica Hotels. 

In addition to the tours, students were treated to lunch and an opportunity to hear from company founders, head chefs, presidents and other executives in finance, marketing, human resources and other areas of operation.  

In Ventura, California, students toured the offices of Urbane Café, a growing fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in hearty salads and sandwiches crafted from a hearth oven. They met with founder and CEO Tom Holt, along with a team of executives and employees. Holt discussed the origins of the company and the founding principles that keep it grounded in service.

“We strive for every customer that walks through our doors to leave with a fulfilling experience,” said Holt. “That includes not only a healthy meal made with quality ingredients, but an experience that makes them feel at home and wanting to come back and see us again.”

Holt stressed the importance of training his employees to pay attention to the little details that make every customer’s experience a memorable one. The sentiment was repeated by nearly all of the employees who spoke, a testament to the company’s customer-centric focus. 

During the tours, students also met with a team of small business specialists from U.S. Bank to learn more about what it takes to start a business, including components of a business plan and different ways to access capital to fund a business. U.S. Bank has proudly supported the California Restaurant Foundation since 2017 and was encouraged by the level of engagement in its inaugural Experience Hospitality event. 

“U.S Bank is proud to support the Experience Hospitality program as part of our efforts to encourage workforce development in California,” said Rockette Ewell, vice president and U.S. Bank community affairs manager for California. “Our team is passionate about sharing financial literacy insights with students and delighted to join them on the immersive and enriching behind the scenes tours that are sure to open new doors and broaden career horizons.”

To learn more about how U.S Bank is making Community Possible through partnering with nonprofits, visit <a href="https://www.usbank.com/about-us-bank/community.html" target="_blank">usbank.com/communitypossible</a>.

For many people, life’s most helpful knowledge comes from learning on the job. Through its support of the California Restaurant Foundation's “Experience Hospitality” initiative, U.S. Bank is supporting job training for high-school students.

U.S. Bank Helps California Students Upskill Restaurant Industry Knowledge

<img alt="Colored ticker board" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3de0dd2b-c9ca-4d61-9d83-8a8a39389b32" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/1-nature-new-risk-shaping-sustainable-finance-policies_BLOOMBERG_052124.jpeg" width="640" class="align-center" height="800" loading="lazy" /><a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/nature-the-new-risk-shaping-sustainable-finance-policies/" target="_blank">Originally published on about.bnef.com</a>

Financial institutions are inadequately prepared to assess and manage nature-related risk, with just 1% discussing the potential threats and opportunities in company filings. This is despite growing awareness of how ecosystems underpin economic value generation and the environmental harm caused by many business operations, with some G-20 countries rolling out voluntary guidance on nature or imposing mandatory regulation. As policymakers incorporate broader environmental considerations into legislation, banks and investors will be compelled to better understand how to manage nature-related risks in their portfolios and processes.

<ul><li>With global biodiversity declining faster than at any point in human history, both physical and transition nature-related risks have become more material to financial institutions’ investing strategies.</li>
	<li>An April 2024 survey by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) found that the majority of financial institutions lack sophistication in their approach to managing nature-related risk, far behind the equivalent strategic engagement with climate. The same report notes that only 17% of banks and asset managers are using metrics, targets or limits to assess drivers of nature-related risks, while 75% of the same entities are yet to identify nature-related risks or opportunities.</li>
</ul><img alt="By the numbers " data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4a683666-b4f1-489e-912a-7c79184a8624" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/2-nature-new-risk-shaping-sustainable-finance-policies_BLOOMBERG_052124.png" width="640" class="align-center" height="718" loading="lazy" />BNEF clients can access the full report <a href="https://www.bnef.com/insights/33919/view" target="_blank">here</a>.

About BloombergNEF

BloombergNEF (BNEF) is a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and the disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy. Our expert coverage assesses pathways for the power, transport, industry, buildings and agriculture sectors to adapt to the energy transition. We help commodity trading, corporate strategy, finance and policy professionals navigate change and generate opportunities.
<img alt="Financial institutions' approach to nature- and biodiversity-related risk management" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="222341d0-7d1e-4866-b5e2-4488adfa0d5d" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/3-nature-new-risk-shaping-sustainable-finance-policies_BLOOMBERG_052124.png" width="640" class="align-center" height="930" loading="lazy" />

Financial institutions are inadequately prepared to assess and manage nature-related risk, with just 1% discussing the potential threats and opportunities in company filings. 

Nature: The New Risk Shaping Sustainable Finance Policies

<img alt="Black women from Catapult Greater Pittsburgh." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bbcfe07e-275b-41f0-baf4-cd9dd88b8f72" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Black-women-lead-Pittsburghs-microbusiness_GoDaddy_5.23.24A.jpg" width="640" class="align-center" height="800" loading="lazy" />Originally published January 25, 2024 in the <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/guest-columns/2024/01/25/catapult-greater-pittsburgh-microbusiness-black-women-enterpreneur/stories/202401240022" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</a> and authored by Tammy Thomson, founding executive director of <a href="https://catapultpittsburgh.org/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Catapult Greater Pittsburgh</a> and Alexandra Rosen, senior director of GoDaddy Venture Forward.

Pittsburgh stands out as one of the fastest-growing areas for America’s smallest businesses, called microbusinesses. Microbusinesses are defined as those with a unique web domain, an active website, and most often fewer than 10 employees.

This kind of entrepreneurship has flourished since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. In fact, 39% of microbusinesses started since 2020. And in Pittsburgh, Black women lead the charge.

Microbusiness in Pittsburgh

High unemployment and government-funded stimulus checks forced or motivated people to start businesses. The pandemic also provided people time to question what they wanted to do and challenged many to find new ways to make ends meet. This was especially true for women, particularly mothers who lacked childcare options.

Research from Venture Forward offers a deeper view into Pittsburgh’s microbusinesses. There are currently more than 167,000 such businesses in Allegheny County, a number that has nearly tripled since September 2019.

About 144,000 of those call the city of Pittsburgh home. Excluding the owner, each microbusiness creates about seven jobs at the county-level. Job creation stems from direct and indirect hiring and more money in the community.

Additionally, the research found that:

<ul><li>More than two-thirds of microbusinesses contribute at least 25% of the owner’s total household income.</li>
	<li>59% of microbusinesses in Pittsburgh needed under $5,000 to get started. Raising that small amount of capital wasn’t easy. In fact, 24% of microbusiness owners who needed less than $1,000 found it difficult to raise the funds.</li>
	<li>75% of microbusiness entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh didn’t know about any business assistance programs. Only 14% of owners believe local policies effectively support their business.</li>
	<li>About 80% of Pittsburgh microbusiness owners left a job to become an entrepreneur or started their business as a side-hustle.</li>
</ul>Ways to help entrepreneurs

According to the research, focusing on a few areas helps the new class of entrepreneurs succeed. Areas to focus include: better access to funding, affordable and reliable broadband, and digital skills training such as website creation.

Pittsburgh’s microbusinesses thrive thanks to groups like Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, which one of us directs. The organization was formed to create intentional opportunities for wealth building.

For example, Aquene Watkins-Wise knew her business, Royally Fit, needed to expand into a physical location. But she didn’t know where to start. She turned to Catapult. She graduated from our Startup to Storefront program and then participated in a retail incubator program. She is now working with Catapult seeking a permanent brick and mortar space to grow her retail business.

Venture Forward’s research found the number of Black women entrepreneurs in Allegheny County almost doubled since 2020. Black women entrepreneurs were the only group that grew during that timeframe. This data aligns with national trends and Catapult Greater Pittsburgh’s insights.

Roughly 95% of Catapult Greater Pittsburgh participants are Black women, and 90% are Black, single moms.  Most started their business out of necessity to supplement their total household income. Digital entrepreneurship helps close equity gaps and creates accessible opportunities for all.

Where do these women conduct their business? 47% of women entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh are online-only. In 2020, many Catapult Greater Pittsburgh women participants didn’t have a website. The lockdown pushed them into building one. The result — a successful and growing group of Black women elevating the Pittsburgh economy.

Digital presence

A digital presence continues to be a key asset for modern business owners to expand their customer base. Venture Forward research finds 25% of microbusiness entrepreneurs use their website for sales and 19% for bookings.

That number is more than 50% higher for Black entrepreneurs and about 20% higher for women-owned businesses. Black-owned and women-owned businesses are also more likely to have nationwide customers.

Microbusinesses contribute to the broader economy in many ways. When we shift what defines an entrepreneur and what size of businesses drive impact, we shift the whole economy.

<a href="https://www.godaddy.com/ventureforward/black-women-lead-pittsburghs-microbusiness-revival/" target="_blank">Read the article on GoDaddy's Venture Forward Research Initiative</a>

Pittsburgh stands out as one of the fastest-growing areas for America’s smallest businesses, called microbusinesses. Microbusinesses are defined as those with a unique web domain, an active website, and most often fewer than 10 employees.

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