Gap

Prominent Public Interest Groups Support Consumer Watchdog Petition To CA Supreme Court To Require State Agencies To Enforce Strict Rule On Radioactive Debris Disposal From Santa Susana Site

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 18, 2023

LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Public interest groups filed amicus letters with the California Supreme Court seeking review of a decision by the First District Court of Appeal that would allow Boeing to demolish radioactive structures at Santa Susana Field Lab and dispose of the resulting debris in unequipped landfills and metal recycling centers without any state oversight.

Key Points: 
  • Read the amicus letter of Friends of the Earth, California Communities Against Toxics, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
  • Parents Against Santa Susana Field Laboratory whose children have experienced rare forms of pediatric cancer filed another amicus letter supporting the petition.
  • To this day, its toxic and radioactive contamination threatens more than 700,000 people living within ten miles of the site.
  • If the lower court decision stands, the state will have enabled Boeing to put radiologically contaminated debris anywhere they like.

Marriott International Releases Annual Serve 360 Report

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 12, 2023

BETHESDA, Md., July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), today published its 2023 Serve 360 Report highlighting data as of year-end 2022, and shared the company's continued progress on its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts. Marriott's sustainability and social impact platform, Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction, guides the company's efforts towards its 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Goals. The full report can be accessed on the company's Serve 360 website. Key report takeaways can be seen in the video below.

Key Points: 
  • Report Highlights Progress on Marriott's Environmental, Social, and Governance Efforts
    BETHESDA, Md., July 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), today published its 2023 Serve 360 Report highlighting data as of year-end 2022, and shared the company's continued progress on its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) efforts.
  • Marriott's sustainability and social impact platform, Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction, guides the company's efforts towards its 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Goals.
  • The full report can be accessed on the company's Serve 360 website.
  • Marriott's Serve 360 platform was launched in 2017 in support of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

LL Flooring Announces Leadership Appointments

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 6, 2023

LL Flooring Holdings, Inc. (“LL Flooring” or “Company”) (NYSE: LL), a leading specialty retailer of hard-surface flooring in the U.S., today announced three new leadership team appointments, all effective July 10, 2023.

Key Points: 
  • LL Flooring Holdings, Inc. (“LL Flooring” or “Company”) (NYSE: LL), a leading specialty retailer of hard-surface flooring in the U.S., today announced three new leadership team appointments, all effective July 10, 2023.
  • Charles Tyson, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The Board of Directors and I are pleased to welcome an executive of Bob’s caliber as LL Flooring’s next CFO, and look forward to benefitting from his deep retail, financial and leadership experience.
  • I am thrilled to be joining the Company and look forward to working with the leadership and field teams to maximize growth and optimize the customer experience.”
    Ms. Massaro said, “I am excited to join LL Flooring and to oversee its marketing initiatives as I leverage my prior experience and expertise to deliver the best outcome for LL Flooring and all of our stakeholders.
  • In addition, Mr. Wadhams spent over twelve years in field leadership positions with Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS).

Close the Gap in Senior Care partners with TruBlue Home Service Ally to provide grab bars to seniors

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 6, 2023

SAN ANTONIO, July 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Close the Gap in Senior Care, the non-profit arm of Caring Senior Service, announced today that it is partnering with TruBlue Home Service Ally, a handyman and home services franchise organization that provides affordable, worry-free living for busy adults and seniors, to distribute and install grab bars as part of its Grab the Bars initiative.

Key Points: 
  • Close the Gap in Senior Care president and Caring Senior Service founder and CEO Jeff Salter said this partnership will allow the nonprofit to strengthen its initiative to help seniors and people with disabilities install much-needed grab bars in their homes.
  • In 2021, Caring Senior Service established Close the Gap in Senior Car to raise awareness of the gaps in at-home senior care.
  • The Grab the Bars initiative has installed grab bars in the homes of more than 300 nominees from coast to coast.
  • "Our Grab the Bars initiative aims to raise funds to provide grab bars for seniors who may not otherwise have the means or the ability to install them.

Uncapping uni places for Indigenous students is a step in the right direction, but we must do much more

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 3, 2023

This would mean any Indigenous applicant, provided they met the entrance requirements, could go to university.

Key Points: 
  • This would mean any Indigenous applicant, provided they met the entrance requirements, could go to university.
  • The proposal is part of a broader push by peak body Universities Australia to increase Indigenous participation in higher education.

Australian universities and Indigenous students

    • This explicitly recognises the presence and impact of racism in Australian universities.
    • It shows how universities are still heavily focused on recruitment of Indigenous students.
    • But Indigenous student enrolment is still only at 2.08% and bachelor degree completion rates remain low compared to non-Indigenous students.

Uncapped places

    • Universities Australia wants to see a new push to improve Indigenous participation through uncapped places for all Indigenous Australians, irrespective of their postcode.
    • With 75% of Indigenous people living in urban areas, Universities Australia say the current policy needs to change.

Is this a good idea?

    • However, as with many policies affecting Indigenous peoples, it need to be part of a holistic approach.
    • Encouraging more Indigenous Australians to enrol in a university degree will not be as simple as just uncapping places.
    • It is vital Indigenous peoples wanting to undertake university study come equipped with the skills they need for success.

Culture must change

    • The Universities Australia report showed almost all Australian universities have activities or programs for recruitment of Indigenous students.
    • Although, when surveyed, less than half of the 39 Australian universities made reference to an anti-racism statement or policy.
    • The report also notes:
      member universities’ responses were generally not focused on equipping students with an awareness of Indigenous values and knowledges.
    • If the culture and environment of universities don’t change, providing more numbers or even other methods such as scholarships are unlikely to change the overall outcome.

The Voice alone won't solve the issues facing Indigenous people. Everyone has to do that work

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, June 27, 2023

This may be why many Australians are expressing hope the Voice to Parliament is going to solve such problems.

Key Points: 
  • This may be why many Australians are expressing hope the Voice to Parliament is going to solve such problems.
  • Indigenous leaders, scholars, activists and community members have spent decades suggesting solutions to inequities in this country, which still haven’t been implemented.
  • Read more:
    Attention managers: if you expect First Nations' staff to do all your 'Indigenous stuff', this isn't support – it's racism

Indigenous people have already offered solutions

    • And expecting an Indigenous “Voice” to be a fix-all for inequities brought about by the colonial project is unrealistic and problematic.
    • As Indigenous academics have pointed out, often issues placed under Closing the Gap targets are lost in the list.
    • Indigenous leaders, communities and organisations have led research focusing on racism, Indigenous deaths in custody, the Stolen Generations, and the harm caused by the Northern Territory intervention.

What will be different this time?

    • The Voice to Parliament could potentially represent the views of Indigenous communities and hopefully assist in informing policy and legal decisions that impact our lives.
    • But the Voice to Parliament cannot solve the deeply entrenched racism and bigotry in Australian society, media, and institutions.
    • And expecting it to do so is assigning the role and responsibility of addressing racism to the people experiencing it.

Even if we get the Voice, non-Indigenous people still need to ‘do the work’


    After I asked my students who is responsible for reconciliation work we discussed the kind of work that needs to be done by all non-Indigenous peoples to address the ongoing damage of colonisation. This (ongoing) work requires everyone to:
    • We cannot rely on one strategy to “solve” the racial divide in Australia.
    • The issues Indigenous People face need to be addressed now instead of passively waiting to see if we get the Voice to Parliament.

Inaugural SuperBridge Summit Dubai to Convene Future Minded Leaders From World’s Fastest-Growing Economies

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 21, 2023

KAOUN International, a subsidiary of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), and the SuperBridge Council have today announced the inaugural edition of the SuperBridge Summit Dubai, which will debut at the Museum of the Future in Dubai on 16-17 October 2023.

Key Points: 
  • KAOUN International, a subsidiary of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), and the SuperBridge Council have today announced the inaugural edition of the SuperBridge Summit Dubai, which will debut at the Museum of the Future in Dubai on 16-17 October 2023.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230621053201/en/
    HE Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, and DWTC (Photo: AETOSWire)
    The summit is an exciting new platform that will convene over 500 business, policy and cultural leaders from 20 countries, representing the world’s fastest-growing economies.
  • A multi-disciplinary platform that ignites, connects and unites future-minded leaders from the world’s fastest-growing economies across industries and culture,” said Shane Tedjarati, Co-founder, SuperBridge Council and Chairman of VS Partners.
  • SuperBridge provides access to global capital that seeks future-proofing investment opportunities,” she said.

Why are First Nations children still not coming home from out-of-home care?

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, June 10, 2023

Reducing the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care is a priority of the national Closing the Gap targets.

Key Points: 
  • Reducing the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care is a priority of the national Closing the Gap targets.
  • However, child protection authorities have been removing First Nations children from their parents at increasing rates over the past decade.
  • However, reunification of First Nations children with their parents is largely overlooked in child and family welfare practice.

The numbers show we’re not closing this particular gap

    • Under the Closing the Gap targets, the government aims to reduce the rate of over-representation of First Nations children in out-of-home care by 45% by 2031.
    • However, there are still high numbers of First Nations children in out-of-home care, despite these efforts.
    • In NSW, the number of First Nations children living in out-of-home care has increased by 48% over the past decade.
    • Meanwhile, the numbers of First Nations children being reunified with birth parents has decreased by 41% over the same period.

Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home

    • This project is focused on understanding the best practices to bring First Nations children back to their families.
    • The first group consisted of (mostly young) children recently removed from their parents on short-term or interim orders.
    • These parents are required by child protection authorities to demonstrate they have made swift and significant changes to address the causes of removal.
    • Unless the child can no longer live with their out-of-home carer, or a parent pursues legal options, children often remain in out-of-home care until they are 18.

Where to from here

    • As of 2020-21, only 17% of funding for child protection services went to First Nations-led organisations.
    • The remaining funds went to child protection interventions and out-of-home care services.
    • Child protection systems also need to recognise that First Nations children’s cultural and family connections are vital to their wellbeing.

Brown Jordan Inc Announces Jerome Griffith as President and Chief Executive Officer

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Brown Jordan, Inc. (“Brown Jordan” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of outdoor and indoor furniture, is pleased to announce the appointment of industry veteran Jerome Griffith as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Key Points: 
  • Brown Jordan, Inc. (“Brown Jordan” or the “Company”), a leading manufacturer of outdoor and indoor furniture, is pleased to announce the appointment of industry veteran Jerome Griffith as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
  • Brown Jordan is a portfolio company of Greenwich, CT-based private equity firm, Littlejohn & Co.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230606005333/en/
    Jerome Griffith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brown Jordan, Inc. (Photo: Business Wire)
    Mr. Griffith is a seasoned executive with a track record of success growing premium and luxury consumer brands, having previously led Lands’ End as its CEO from 2017 to 2023.
  • "I am excited to join Brown Jordan and lead this iconic brand into its next phase of growth," said Mr. Griffith.

Carhartt Appoints Tara Roemke as VP of Global Merchandising

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 8, 2023

DEARBORN, Mich., June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carhartt, America's family-owned workwear brand since 1889, today announced the appointment of Tara Roemke as vice president of global merchandising. With more than 20 years of product management and merchandising experience at some of the world's largest apparel brands, Roemke will serve as the general manager of Carhartt's Men's and Carhartt Company Gear (uniform B2B & personal protective equipment (PPE)) businesses. She will report to Susan Hennike, Carhartt's chief brand officer.

Key Points: 
  • DEARBORN, Mich., June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carhartt, America's family-owned workwear brand since 1889, today announced the appointment of Tara Roemke as vice president of global merchandising.
  • With more than 20 years of product management and merchandising experience at some of the world's largest apparel brands, Roemke will serve as the general manager of Carhartt's Men's and Carhartt Company Gear (uniform B2B & personal protective equipment (PPE)) businesses.
  • "Tara has an impressive track record of developing and implementing strategic product plans that authentically reach diverse audiences to drive business," said Hennike.
  • Roemke joins Carhartt after 13 years at Ariat International where she most recently served as vice president of apparel and denim product management.