Tell us a little bit about yourself and your career journey to date.

I’m Deidre Murzynski, a Senior Technical Program Manager (TPM) at GoDaddy – and I’ve been here for 17 years. I came in with a BA in Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science, which doesn’t map directly to what I do today, but it built the foundation that defines how I approach problems now. What I didn’t expect was that GoDaddy would become the place where I’d build an entire career.

I started as an Inbound Sales and Support Agent in Care – what we now call Guides. From there, I moved into Quality Management, then into a Supervisor role in Tier 2 Hosting Support. I kept gravitating toward the project work, so when a reorganization came around, stepping into a Project Manager role felt natural. My big focus there was reducing tribal knowledge and building a scalable knowledge base for all Hosting Agents.

Things kept evolving from there – Program Manager, then Product Manager for WordPress Premium Support, then on to the My Accounts team where I eventually expanded to managing three product surfaces at once. My passion was always in building scalable platforms, so when the Engineering team came knocking and brought me on as a Technical Program Manager in 2022, it felt like the perfect fit. I’ve had the privilege of working on some amazing programs including Airo, Airo All Access for the 2025 Super Bowl, and Airo HQ. Earlier this year, I was promoted to Senior TPM, which felt like a really meaningful milestone.

The honest truth is that most of my role changes happened because of shifts in the organization, not because I went looking for new positions. I fell into Project, Product, and Program Management almost by accident, taught myself everything along the way, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

How do you approach learning new tools, formats, or creative techniques in your role?

I learn through doing, observing, and experimenting. I take feedback seriously and I’m always looking for what I can tweak and improve upon. The thing I keep coming back to is learning in layers – start with a broad general understanding and then peel back the layers one by one, going deeper until things really click. I find that approach makes the learning stick, because you’re building on a foundation rather than jumping straight into the deep end.

What’s one project you’re especially proud of, and what impact did it have on employees or the business?

The project I’m most proud of is Airo All Access- the product we built for GoDaddy’s 2025 Super Bowl commercial. I had the privilege of leading Program Management, and knowing our work would be showcased on that stage was exhilarating, especially since it marked GoDaddy’s return to the Super Bowl after years away. We built it fast, and there were definitely moments when it felt like we were holding things together with popsicle sticks and bubble gum. But the energy was electric. The teams rallied in record time, and it became, without question, the most fun project I’ve ever worked on.

What did you learn about yourself or your working style through moments of change?

I learned that I’m someone who stands by her convictions. Empathy, honor, and integrity are core to who I am, and staying true to those values has been the only way I’ve been able to not just survive change, but thrive in it. I’ve also landed on this: I never want to be completely outside my comfort zone, but I always want one foot outside of it. And rather than “thinking outside the box,” I’d rather fully understand what’s inside and outside the box first – then find creative ways to work within it while finding scalable ways to expand it. 

What would you tell candidates who think career growth only happens “upward”?

Sometimes you have to stumble around a little to figure things out – and that’s okay! Career growth to me is really just the journey to expand your knowledge and skills, and it doesn’t have to be in a single direction. I try to learn something new every day. Recently, I submitted my first Vibe-coded PR – a small change to our Receipt page – and I counted that as real career growth because it was something new and different.

Keep learning, keep expanding, and don’t be so focused on the next rung of the ladder that you miss the doors opening beside you.

What’s your motto or personal mantra?

I actually have a few that I live by…

• “Faith Manages.” (Delenn, Babylon 5) – I’ve always taken this to mean that having faith in yourself will carry you through all things.
• “Always be Yourself, unless you can be a Unicorn. Then always be a Unicorn.” – I have this on a little wall art near my desk. To me it’s about being unique… plus I just really love unicorns.
• “Live Long and Prosper.” (Spock, Star Trek) – This is what I want for myself and for everyone. Peace and long life.

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERGs, Locations), careers, and so much more. You’re more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

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Learn more about GoDaddy here.

At a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, May 19, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and With Honor teamed up to bring together leaders from public health, building science, defense, technology and national security to explore a powerful and increasingly urgent idea: positioning buildings to protect public health and strengthen national security. The briefing, titled “Built to Defend: Unlocking the Role of Buildings in America’s Biosecurity Strategy,” focused on the growing recognition that the indoor environments where people spend most of their time can help protect health, strengthen readiness and improve national resilience in the face of evolving biological threats.

As I said in my opening remarks, we have made great progress over the past decade in reshaping our places and spaces to enhance health, prioritize well-being and improve organizational performance — reflected in the exponential growth and adoption of WELL in the past five years to nearly 6.5 billion square feet. But the conversation at this briefing was designed to dig deeper into another important priority, and to offer something of a reframe: positioning buildings as frontline assets for protecting health and strengthening our preparedness in the face of growing and increasingly complex threats.

This added lens is particularly timely given concerns over future pandemics, accidental biological threats, the rapid expansion of high-containment laboratories and the ways emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and gene-editing tools, are making the biosecurity landscape more volatile and fraught.

Fortunately, as the briefing demonstrated, we are meeting the moment. Experts, industry leaders and policymakers are coming together around this issue and coalescing around solutions.

“Healthy, resilient air indoors can be the next great American public health investment.”

— Dr. Rafid Fadul, Chief Medical Officer, ARPA-H

Indoor Air as a Missing Pillar

The event’s featured speaker, Dr. Rafid Fadul, Chief Medical Officer at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), built on that framing by describing indoor air as a missing pillar in the nation’s public health and biosecurity infrastructure. He noted that we have done decades of work to examine and improve the quality of outdoor air. “But we haven’t done the same for indoor air,” said Dr. Fadul. “That is the missing pillar. And in a biosecurity context, it is also a vulnerability we have not yet closed.”

For ARPA-H, he explained, the goal is not incremental improvement. The agency was created to tackle hard problems that markets alone cannot or will not solve, and with an inordinate alacrity. “We fancy ourselves a time machine,” said Dr. Fadul. “We want to do what would ordinarily take three or four decades and do it in three or four years.”

That ethos is central to ARPA-H’s work in this area, including its [BREATHE program — Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total Health](https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/breathe). Dr. Fadul described BREATHE as a bold effort to develop the next generation of intelligent building systems that can sense, assess and protect against threats in the indoor environment. The goal, he said, is to create platforms that can monitor what is in our indoor air, translate that information into actionable health risk and trigger responses that help keep occupants safe.

“Healthy, resilient air indoors can be the next great American public health investment,” he said, emphasizing that the same systems that can protect people from everyday respiratory illness and chronic disease could also strengthen our national security. He said, “The same intelligent building platforms that protect Americans from everyday respiratory illnesses and pathogens are exactly what we need to detect and respond to a deliberate and emerging biologic threat.”

He sent a clear message that our buildings are not inactive but instead can be proactively positioned as part of the country’s health and defense infrastructure. “Buildings like the one we’re sitting in are not passive,” he said. “They are infrastructure. And like every other piece of critical infrastructure in this country, they need to be designed to defend people.”

Buildings as Critical Infrastructure

The panel discussion was moderated by Brendan Owens, Chief Sustainability Officer at HKS, who picked up directly on Dr. Fadul’s framing. “Buildings are critical infrastructure,” Owens said. “That’s the walk-off line I’ve been looking for.”

Owens brought a deeply personal national security perspective to the conversation, drawing on his time as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment at the U.S. Department of Defense. He recalled a conversation with a DOD colleague who led on biosecurity that reshaped how he thought about the built environment. “It changed the way I looked at vulnerability and risk associated with buildings,” he said. “It reframed the opportunity we have to do more than make buildings better for the people inside them; but also, to make them readiness platforms.”

That idea, buildings as readiness platforms, became a throughline for the panel.

The Intersection of Building Science and Biosecurity

*Dr. William Bahnfleth of Penn State University*, a professor of architectural engineering and ASHRAE Fellow, placed the conversation in a longer historical context. For Bahnfleth, the connection between buildings and infection control stretches back more than a century, from Florence Nightingale’s and John Shaw Billings’ work on hospital design and early ventilation standards created to reduce infectious disease transmission. He also noted how anthrax attacks in the early aughts and the COVID-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in the built environment, and both underscored the cost of being underprepared. “What we learned is that planning is important and preparation is even more important,” he said.

Bahnfleth pointed to progress made in building standards, most notably the emergence of ASHRAE Standard 241, which he said has been a major step forward. “We are moving into risk-based standards for building design,” he said. “ASHRAE Standard 241 is the first standard I know of for buildings that addresses airborne infection transmission based on quantitative risk assessment.” The opportunity now, he said, is to combine proven interventions like ventilation, filtration, pressurization, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation and other technologies, with real-time sensing and controls. “If we can integrate sensors with real-time building controls to quantitatively reduce risk, that will be a very important change,” he said.

Toward a “bio radar” for early warning

Matt McKnight, CEO of Perimeter, widened the conversation, noting that the country needs to think more ambitiously about biological intelligence, early warning and more ubiquitous monitoring. McKnight described the current moment as fundamentally different from past eras because biology has entered what he called an engineering phase. The ability to cheaply read, write and synthesize DNA, which has now been accelerated by artificial intelligence, is creating enormous promise, but also new risks. “We are entering the engineering phase of biology,” McKnight said. “And it would be the anomaly in human history if a new engineering technology was not eventually applied in some way to conflict.”

He described a rising challenge for us to simultaneously build the technical architecture needed to detect biological threats early, characterize them quickly and enable rapid response. In other national security areas, he noted that the U.S. has invested in monitoring and verification in areas like cyber security and nuclear detection. But not so in biology. “In bio, we are not yet thinking at the scale we need,” he said, arguing for something more extensive and deployed across critical nodes like airports, hospitals, schools, military installations and other settings where early detection matters.

A First Line of Defense: Biosecure Buildings

Erik Malmstrom, CEO of SafeTraces, brought the discussion back to the human stakes of indoor air and biosecurity. Malmstrom, an Army combat veteran, spoke about why this matters to all the people in our lives, reflecting on the importance of indoor air for his friends and his family. “This is being positioned as biosecurity,” he said. “But this is also fundamentally health. We are all breathing all the time.”
 

He discussed how traditional biosecurity approaches often rely on data that precludes us from being preventative. In other words, we know something is wrong because someone is already sick, and by that point, the threat may already be spreading. “Clinical and syndromic surveillance are lagging indicators,” he said. “Someone is already sick. The genie is already out of the bottle.” That is why indoor air matters so much – by creating the potential to detect a bio-threat environmentally before it exposes and harms people, he argued. Indoor air is one of the most common and fastest exposure pathways. People breathe tens of thousands of times per day and spend most of their time indoors, where transmission risks can be significantly higher than outside.

To show how indoor air could be an asset in protecting health and safety, he drew a powerful analogy to fire safety recalling how, a hundred years ago, fires were among the most devastating threats to public safety. The response was not one technology or one intervention. It was a full life-safety system: codes, smoke detectors, marked exits, occupancy limits, sprinklers, compartmentalization, fire drills and suppression systems. The result, he said, was a dramatic reduction in fire deaths.

“What does this have to do with bio?” Malmstrom asked. “I would say there are a lot of direct analogies.” In the biosecurity context, he said, the equivalent of a fire code is a standard like ASHRAE 241. Detection and early warning come from biosensors. Suppression comes through ventilation, filtration and germicidal ultraviolet systems. Zoning and airflow management can help contain risk. Outbreak protocols can guide action.

“What we’re working toward is autonomous, end-to-end environmental biosecurity,” Malmstrom said. “Rapid detection, risk assessment and mitigation — all tied into the building systems that can respond.”

Operational Readiness and the Defense Imperative

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Thomas Bostick, former Chief of Engineers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and now head of Bostick Strategy Group, brought the conversation squarely into the frame of military readiness and operational execution.

Bostick emphasized that leaders across government and the military often face enormous backlogs, competing mandates and limited resources. The challenge is not always a lack of will, he suggested. Often, it is the need to connect the issue to mission priorities that already command attention.

For the Department of Defense, he said, that means connecting indoor air, biosecurity and building performance to operational readiness. “The number one priority in the Pentagon is warfighting,” Bostick said. “So the question is how does this support warfighting?” That connection, he argued, is clear. Healthy barracks, safe facilities, resilient installations and protected troops are all part of readiness.

“Operational readiness through barracks, through installations, through ships — that is where this fits,” he said. Bostick also stressed the importance of taking practical steps and building momentum.

“Don’t be afraid to take baby steps,” he said. “It is hard to move things in this town. Use the open doors where you have them.”

A Moment of Opportunity

The briefing ended with panelists pointing to real momentum already underway. Malmstrom underscored ARPA-H’s more than $150 million investment in BREATHE as evidence that progress is happening fast. “The technology is being built in quick order,” he said. “We are moving from development to deployment, not just showing that the technology works, but connecting it all the way to health outcomes.”

McKnight pointed to early warning programs already showing results, including airport-based monitoring that has detected pathogens before they appeared through traditional surveillance systems.

“These systems are working,” he said. “They are moving forward, and they are being exported internationally.”

Bahnfleth urged policymakers and building leaders to take advantage of the tools already available, especially standards like ASHRAE 241. “If you want to improve your building from the point of view of biosecurity, this is a big step in that direction,” he said. And Bostick returned to the importance of readiness. “This is an operational readiness issue,” he said. “There are spaces where we can support that right now.”

Overall, the briefing made clear that buildings have a tremendous role to play in the future of America’s biosecurity strategy. As Dr. Fadul said at the opening, healthy, resilient indoor air can become one of the next great American public health investments, while also being one of the most consequential biosecurity investments of our time.

View original content here.

CLEVELAND, May 21, 2026 /3BL/ – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), today announced a new collaboration with SPORTx at Arizona State University (ASU) and GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) that lays the foundation for student-athlete education and activation opportunities relative to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

SPORTx Venture Studio built with GoDaddy will be recognized as NACDA’s Annual and Convention sponsor ahead of the 2026 NACDA & Affiliates Convention in Las Vegas, while also sponsoring the Senior Administrators Mentoring Institute and providing educational programming for Convention attendees this June.

“One of the primary factors driving the new landscape of intercollegiate athletics is NIL, and it is important for NACDA to provide our members with the right tools to help them navigate this space on their campuses,” said Pat Manak, chief executive officer at NACDA. “This new collaboration with Arizona State University and GoDaddy provides athletics administrators and student-athletes with previously untapped resources from industry experts, allowing them to reach their full potential inside and outside of sport.”

The collaboration builds on the successful launch of the SPORTx Venture Studio built with GoDaddy at Arizona State University during the 2025 academic year. Initially launched to support ASU student-athletes through entrepreneurial education, mentorship, venture development and digital enablement tools, the initiative has since generated meaningful insights around how institutions can better support student-athletes at scale through accessible, compliant and career-focused programming.

“College athletics is evolving rapidly, and we believe institutions have a tremendous opportunity to empower student-athletes with tools and experiences that extend far beyond sport,” said Jeff Kunowski, founding director of SPORTx at Arizona State University. “Through our collaboration with GoDaddy, we’ve seen firsthand how entrepreneurship, digital ownership and proactive career development can unlock confidence and long-term opportunity for student-athletes. We’re excited to collaborate with NACDA to share those insights and help support athletics administrators across the country.”

Through the collaboration, SPORTx at ASU and GoDaddy will share learnings, resources and practical frameworks with NACDA members to help institutions create stronger pathways for student-athlete development beyond traditional NIL transactions. Areas of focus include entrepreneurial mindset development, digital identity ownership and brand development, career readiness, mentorship and equitable access to modern business-building tools and technologies.

“As NIL continues to evolve, the real opportunity isn’t just in what student-athletes can earn; it’s in what they can build,” said Jared Sine, chief strategy and legal officer at GoDaddy. “We’re focused on the whole student-athlete, because all will go pro in something outside of their sport at some stage, and they deserve access to the tools and education that make that next chapter beyond athletics possible. That’s what GoDaddy’s purpose means in practice: making opportunity more inclusive for all so anyone with an idea can thrive. Through our partnership with NACDA, we’re expanding the SPORTx Venture Studio Built with GoDaddy nationwide so athletics departments of every size can benefit from innovative resources that help empower their student-athlete community.”

Through its sponsorship of the Mentoring Institute, SPORTx Venture Studio built with GoDaddy will have the opportunity to directly connect with the next wave of athletics directors across the country and collaborate to find ways to enhance the student-athlete experience at their institutions. This is a structured, accessible program designed to help student-athletes take a proactive, entrepreneurial approach to their NIL while building a lasting digital foundation.

SPORTx Venture Studio built with GoDaddy will host a panel discussion with an NIL focus designed for all NACDA & Affiliates Convention attendees on Monday, June 8 at 9 a.m. They will also have a dedicated session during the Mentoring Institute on Wednesday, June 10, in addition to the fall portion of the Institute, scheduled for September 20-22 in St. Louis, Mo.

NACDA & Affiliates members can look forward to additional information and resources throughout the 2026-27 academic year from SPORTx Venture Studio built with GoDaddy in areas including but not limited to:

• Providing equitable access to digital tools and resources for all student-athletes
• Supporting student-athlete career development and life skills beyond sport
• Enabling structured, compliant engagement with NIL opportunities
• Complementing existing programming with practical, applied tools
• Sharing scalable frameworks and educational resources for athletics departments
• Empowering student-athletes to build digital brands, ventures and professional pathways

About NACDA: Now in its 61st year, NACDA is the professional and educational Association for more than 24,000 college athletics administrators at more than 2,300 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. NACDA manages 19 professional associations and four foundations. In addition to virtual programming, NACDA hosts and/or has a presence at seven major professional development events in-person annually. The NACDA & Affiliates Convention is the largest gathering of collegiate athletics administrators in the country. For more information, visit www.nacda.com.

About SPORTx at ASU: SPORTx at Arizona State University, anchored within the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute, is the university’s sports innovation engine – uniting athletics, academia, and industry to empower a broad innovation ecosystem. Through its core pillars of venture development, athlete engagement, and innovation ecosystem building, SPORTx creates structured pathways for founders and student-athletes to access mentorship, funding, education, and real-world opportunities. For more information, visit sportx.asu.edu

About GoDaddy: GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, helps millions of entrepreneurs globally start, grow, and scale their businesses. People come to GoDaddy to name their idea, build a website and logo, sell their products and services and accept payments. GoDaddy Airo®, the company’s AI-powered experience, makes growing a small business faster and easier by helping them to get their idea online in minutes, drive traffic and boost sales. GoDaddy’s expert guides are available 24/7 to provide assistance. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

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Every year in May, we celebrate the life of a woman whose vision reshaped not only the beauty industry, but the very idea of what entrepreneurship could look like for millions of women: Mary Kay Ash.

Born in 1918 in Texas, Ash did not just build a company – she built a movement. When she founded Mary Kay Inc. in 1963 with $5,000 of her life savings, she was responding to a workplace reality that consistently undervalued women. Rather than accept it, she rewrote the rules.

A Pioneer of Women’s Entrepreneurship Through Direct Sales

Mary Kay Ash championed the idea that every woman deserves the chance to build something of her own — on her own terms. She believed women could and should have the option start their own business and choose when and how they work. Her direct-sales model gave women the flexibility to build businesses on their own terms, often from their own homes, at a time when such opportunities were rare. She understood the hard work behind direct sales.

She famously said: “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” That simple truth is still the foundation of our business, guided by the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

Mary Kay Ash fostered a pathway to independent entrepreneurship that evolves with the needs of women and consumers at every stage of their lives. She also was the primogenitor of influencer marketing who understood the critical importance of people’s influence in sales. Her philosophy was simple yet radical: empower individuals, reward effort, and cultivate leadership from within.

A Legacy Recognized Among America’s Greatest Innovators

Even decades after her passing, Mary Kay Ash’s impact continues to be recognized at the highest levels. In 2026, Mary Kay Ash ranked #54 on Forbes 250: America’s Greatest Historic Innovators list¹, a distinction celebrating individuals whose ideas forged the American dream and who left an indelible mark on modern America. Mary Kay Ash is featured among visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, etc.

She has also been recognized by Direct Selling News among the legacy innovators who built the direct selling channels. Learn more: Direct Selling’s History of Innovation at Scale.

To be included among such titans underscores what many have long known: her influence extends far beyond cosmetics. She helped redefine opportunity, leadership, and the power of believing in oneself.

Mary Kay Ash was also:

• Named one of the “25 Most Influential Businesspersons of the Past 25 Years” by PBS and Wharton School of Business (2004) and was featured in the “Great American Entrepreneur” Series at the Smithsonian Institute (1988).
• The only woman out of 20 profiles to be named one of “Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time” (1996), along with Bill Gates, Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, and Walt Disney.
• Posthumously honored for her humanitarian efforts as one of only five recipients of the inaugural Humanitarian Rose Award from The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc. (TPPCF) at Kensington Palace. The Foundation was founded to celebrate the charitable legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• Received the Golden Plate Award for Business from the American Academy of Achievement. Other recipients include Steve Jobs, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, William Hewlett, Gloria Vanderbilt, Philip H. Knight, Ralph Lauren, and Charles Schwab.

Mary Kay Ash was truly an iconic woman, a visionary! She was committed to enriching women’s lives. That was her passion and the WHY behind her namesake company – to offer opportunities to women that they would otherwise not have had, and that allowed them to work independently, setting their own schedules. She was a true Texan: down-to-earth, with a great sense of humor. She had grit and worked tirelessly for her vision of making the world a better place. She lived and led by the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Teaching Women to Believe in Themselves

At a time when many women were told to think small, she encouraged them to think boldly. She famously emphasized recognition, confidence, and self-worth, creating a culture where women were elevated and celebrated for ambition rather than discouraged by it.

Her company’s mission to “enrich women’s lives” was not just branding – it was operational. Creating leadership opportunities, she inspired and gave women resources to flourish and advance their business. She imagined a community where women could connect, enjoy great products, grow in confidence, and ultimately realize their potential. By building a business. Of their own.

On her birthday month, we do not just remember Mary Kay Ash – we reflect on what she made possible.

For every woman who started a small business, took control of her financial future, or believed in herself a little more because someone said she could – that is her legacy in action.

And perhaps that’s the most powerful innovation of all.

Did You Know:

• In 1969, Mary Kay Ash introduced the “career car” concept to her independent beauty consultants, making the pink Cadillac an iconic and synonymous symbol with the Mary Kay brand.
• In 1968, Mary Kay Cosmetics became one of the first companies on the New York Stock Exchange chaired by a woman. In 1985, Mary Kay returned to a privately held company.
• At Mary Kay Inc., 60% of Executive team, 62% of R&D Scientists, 81% of Global Brand, Marketing & Design team, 63% of Global Workforce, and 57% of leadership positions in the top 10 markets are held by women².
• In 2026, Mary Kay is present in 40 markets around the world.

Learn more about Mary Kay Ash here.

***

About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women’s lives. Learn more at marykayglobal.com. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or follow us on X.

# # #
 

¹ Alex Knapp and Michael Noer, Forbes Staff. (February 12, 2026). “America’s 250 Greatest Historic Innovators.”  https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/02/12/forbes-250-americas-greatest-historic-innovators/

² Source: Women Representation & Leadership at Mary Kay (2025).

Satoyama: A biophilic philosophy of coexistence with Nature
In Japanese, Satoyama (里山) refers to the semi-natural landscapes found between mountain foothills and flatlands, where natural elements such as rice paddies, forests and villages form a continuous, sustainable cycle linking people and land. More than a physical setting, it represents a philosophy of coexistence—one in which human activity and natural systems support one another in balance. Drawing inspiration from this timeless approach, the Ohara Sanso (大原山荘, literally “Ohara Mountain Villa”) seeks to deepen the spirit of Satoyama within a contemporary context.

Nestled in the Ohara region, an hour from Kyoto’s bustling city center—home to renowned temples in Japan such as Sanzen-in and Jakkō-in—the area has long been a place where culture and nature are deeply intertwined. Set within a small basin community of roughly 2,000 residents, the landscape reflects the traditional Satoyama harmony between people and the environment. Inspired by this sweeping natural setting, Toho Leo, a Japanese sustainable place-making collective, set to reimagine the site of roughly 10,000 kilometers in Ohara, encompassing a historic guest pavilion, a teahouse and an expansive landscape.

One critical challenge Ohara faces is the population aging and decline in Japan. The key to reimagining and revitalizing the Ohara area is to restore its lost foot traffic. The guest pavilion, once used as a reception villa for VIP guests, gradually fell into disuse, and Ohara’s vast, beautiful landscape became largely unknown to today’s visitors.

Driven by its mission to enrich lifestyles through nature- and culture-based real estate development and placemaking, Toho Leo recognized the overlooked potential of Ohara as an opportunity to help restore the human connection to nature within a rich and authentic cultural context.

Toho Leo believes that while wellness experiences are increasingly sought after by sophisticated visitors, many places face challenges to deliver meaningful experiences. Too often, nature and culture are presented superficially, lacking the depth and authenticity needed to create meaningful, lasting connections. Recognizing the strong potential of Ohara, Toho Leo seeks to reimagine the area as a truly distinctive wellness experience—one rooted not only in nature, but also in cultural memory and local identity.

Project Vision: Reimagining Wellness Through Satoyama
Ohara Sanso is being repurposed as a flagship venue showcasing Toho Leo’s Satoyama philosophy, offering an authentic Japanese Satoyama experience for the most sophisticated and discerning visitors. Through a diverse range of art and cultural events and sensory-rich wellness experiences, the project aims to rekindle and deepen the connection between people and the natural world.

To bring this vision to life, a carefully curated set of experiences is taking shape across the site. Visitors are invited to walk barefoot across a carpet of moss—renowned in Kyoto for its lush, velvety surface—which fosters a direct, bodily connection with nature. Mountain water is reintroduced into a rice paddy beside the teahouse, where guests can sit along the engawa (縁側—the traditional wooden veranda that mediates between interior and garden), enjoy tea and take in the changing light at sunset. Different genres of art and music experiences are woven into the landscape, creating unexpected harmonies and sparking moments of inspiration.

Equally important to realizing this vision is the process itself. Deeply rooted in the context of Ohara, every decision—whether concerning design, programming or operations—is made through close dialogue with local residents, ensuring that all interventions remain authentic while respecting local culture. The future of Ohara Sanso will have a meaningful impact on the community, and residents’ voices are heard, consensus is prioritized and the project is shaped with them—co-creating a shared vision for the future.

Beyond Connection: Toward a Reciprocal Relationship with Nature
Connection to nature is sometimes understood simply as access to greenery or scenic views. Yet wherever nature exists, there is also a relationship between people and their environment, and when time is added to this equation, that relationship becomes inseparable from local history and identity. The Satoyama philosophy encompasses all of these layers.

Today, as many rural areas in Japan face population decline and fading cultural continuity, the Ohara Sanso restoration explores the possibility of redefining our “connection to nature” as a reciprocal, place-based relationship that offers a potential model for regeneration, rather than extraction.

View original content here.

For years, dedicated local organizations have been doing heavy lifting to make this a reality. Clean Memphis has served as a vital catalyst, coordinating the Circular Economy Task Force and spearheading the Circular Mid-South initiative to align community goals, educate the public, and drive zero-waste policies. FedEx Cares has been supporting their efforts in Memphis for many years with a particular focus on reducing food waste in public schools.

In addition to Clean Memphis, the Business Hub operated by the Binghampton Development Corporation (BDC) has created innovative streetlight and mattress recycling programs, providing employment and workforce development for over 180 people. FedEx Cares supports the BDC with in-kind shipping to support workforce training for hard-to-recycle items like mattresses and tires.

Last year, in coordination with the PGA TOUR and FedEx, fifty local volunteers from Clean Memphis and The Compost Fairy were mobilized for the FedEx St. Jude Championship rescuing 2.75 tons of surplus food, composting 3.75 tons of organic waste, and sorting thousands of recyclables – demonstrating how innovative logistics and community engagement can change the playbook on waste.

These local champions have proven that circularity isn’t just good for the environment – it can create jobs, build resilience, and strengthen the local economy.

In April 2026, leaders from across the Mid-South – from large corporations and small businesses to innovative startups – came together for an event hosted by GAME Change and the Circular Supply Chain Coalition (CSCC). Participants shared a common vision for a future where materials are reused, repaired, and remanufactured, keeping them out of landfills and in our economy longer.

A tour of a local return center brought this vision to life, showcasing how a major manufacturer is already putting circular principles into practice through product take back, reverse logistics, and remanufacturing. In addition to the materials, the group emphasized the importance of workforce development, providing jobs to many people struggling to build an economic future for themselves and their families.

At FedEx, we’re proud to be at the intersection of these efforts. We’ve been working alongside Pyxera Global since 2021 to help launch the CSCC, conducting an e-waste pilot in middle Tennessee alongside Terra’s Done with It program and the American Battery Technology Company. Pyxera recently published a report on the role of logistics to support a more circular economy. As you might guess, logistics is a critical link to enable businesses, communities, and start-ups shift waste from being a burden to becoming a resource.

Today, through FedEx Cares, we are connecting these community pioneers with the logistical support they need through in-kind shipping, supply chain expertise, and philanthropic support. The goal? Supporting the Circular Supply Chain Coalition’s growing portfolio of projects across the U.S. and right here in Memphis.

Click here to learn about FedEx Cares, our global community engagement program.

During Small Business Month, we’re spotlighting a handful of the millions of small businesses that rely on Comcast Business to keep things running – from Virginia drive-thrus to Pittsburgh’s Strip District – each one building something lasting in its own way.

The Roaming Bean: From the Road to a Permanent Home

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Roaming Bean started on wheels in late 2022 – trailers, popups, and a growing fleet bringing creative espresso drinks directly to customers across Pittsburgh. Mobility was their identity. But in early 2026, the brand planted roots with its first brick‑and‑mortar café in Strip District, one of the city’s most energetic neighborhoods.

The new space offers something the fleet never could: a place to linger. To work, to people watch, to soak in the neighborhood. A steady anchor for a brand built on motion.

But running both mobile and fixed operations simultaneously means juggling a lot. Comcast Business supports the whole ecosystem – POS systems, guest WiFi, music, and the real-time social media presence that keeps the brand connected to its audience during peak hours when it counts most. As The Roaming Bean grows, that foundation gives the team the confidence to keep moving forward without worrying about whether their infrastructure can keep up.

Joe Beans: Built for the Morning Rush and the Long Haul

Lynchburg, Virginia

Joe Beans was born from a simple idea spotted on a flyfishing trip: a tiny drive‑thru coffee stand that moved fast and did one thing exceptionally well. Twenty plus years later, that idea has grown into a local institution across Central Virginia – and the pace hasn’t slowed.

At peak hours, cars roll through at a clip of roughly one every 15 seconds. That rhythm is the business model. Quick ordering, seamless payment, and a familiar rhythm customers can count on before work or school. For Linda Brown, who runs Joe Beans alongside a career in chiropractic care, any friction in that flow – a slow connection, a payment that won’t process, a POS system that hiccups – ripples through the entire line.

Comcast Business keeps that momentum intact. Credit cards, gift cards, and mobile payments process without interruption across all locations. Security cameras and guest WiFi run on the same dependable connection. Since making the switch, the team no longer worries about outages – which means Linda can stay focused on what she’s spent two decades perfecting: great coffee, fast service, and regulars who keep coming back.

Nirvana Soul Coffee: Where Coffee Meets Culture

San Jose, California

At Nirvana Soul Coffee, the goal has always been bigger than the cup. The music, the artwork, the menu – everything is chosen deliberately to make people feel welcome and inspired to stay awhile. This isn’t a grab-and-go spot. It’s a place with a vibe.

In a city built around technology, that intention has made Nirvana Soul a natural gathering place for remote workers, students, and friends meeting between commitments. The space earns repeat visits not just for the coffee, but because it reliably works for the community it serves, and that reliability extends to the WiFi.

Fast, consistent connectivity from Comcast Business means customers can take meetings, answer emails, and get things done without hunting for a signal or watching a spinner. Behind the scenes, SecurityEdge provides an added layer of network-level protection helping block malware, phishing attempts, and other online threats before they reach devices, without requiring hands-on management from the team.

During peak hours, the connection holds. That kind of dependability is what turns a good coffee shop into a daily habit, giving the team confidence that their business systems and their guests are supported throughout the day.

Ground Ops Roastery + Bakehouse: Service in a Different Form

Tallahassee, Florida

Ground Ops Roastery + Bakehouse grew out of a lifetime of service. Founded by Navy veteran and former law enforcement officer Chris Smith, the shop brings that same ethos – precision, reliability, accountability – into every part of its operation.

Everything is done in-house, from roasting the beans to baking pastries. And beyond its own cafe, Ground Ops supplies coffee and baked goods to other local businesses around Tallahassee, strengthening the community rather than just competing within it. It’s stewardship as much as entrepreneurship.

Running an operation that complex requires back-end infrastructure that keeps up. Comcast Business powers the POS system so orders – whether at the counter or online – are processed quickly and accurately, even during the busiest rushes. With most customers paying by card or mobile, reliable connectivity keeps transactions moving and the workflow from falling behind. When the technology works the way it’s supposed to, Chris’s team can stay focused on what they’re known for: quality, craft, and genuine hospitality.

Wirlybird Coffee: Where the Day Shifts with You

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Wirlybird Coffee is designed to meet people wherever they are in the day. Located inside Wissahickon Brewing Company in East Falls, it naturally shifts from a morning coffee stop to an evening destination for craft beer and food, all within the same space. The concept grew out of Wissahickon’s openness to new ideas and smarter use of the space throughout the day. Built by a father and his children with deep roots in the Northwest Philadelphia community, the brewery proved to be a natural home for a coffee concept that could evolve while keeping its neighborhood feel.

A guest might come in for a cortado at 8 a.m., stay through a lunch meeting, and return that evening to catch a game with friends. The space supports all of it without forcing anyone to choose a mode. Fast, reliable guest internet from Comcast Business keeps customers connected whether they’re working or unwinding, and Comcast Business TV adds live TV and entertainment – giving people another reason to stick around long after the coffee is gone.

That adaptability is what makes Wirlybird feel like a true neighborhood anchor. It’s not trying to be only a café or a brewery. It’s a place that earns a spot in the daily routine by adapting to whatever the day calls for – and making sure the experience holds up every time.

The Daily Grind, Done Right

These coffee shops don’t look the same, operate the same way, or serve the same communities. But they share something essential: each has become a fixture in the daily rhythm of the people around them.

When the technology behind the scenes works the way it should, owners aren’t thinking about systems or slowdowns. They’re thinking about the regular who takes their drink the same way every morning. The student who needs a reliable place to focus. The neighbor who stops in just to feel connected.

That’s what turns a coffee shop into a community institution. And coast to coast, Comcast Business is proud to help small businesses like these keep running – one cup at a time.

Guided by its Trilogy of Care — Caring for Our Patients, Caring for Each Other and Caring for Our World — the 2030 framework builds on more than 25 years of progress and reflects DaVita’s continued commitment to raising the standard for kidney care in the communities it serves.

“As we look toward 2030, we’re building on decades of progress and continuing to redefine what’s possible in kidney care,” said Javier Rodriguez, chief executive officer of DaVita. “Whether it’s expanding access to transplants, creating meaningful opportunities for teammates or advancing more sustainable operations, these commitments reflect the impact our teammates make every day in the communities we serve.”

The 2030 commitments build on strong momentum from the company’s previous five-year goals and focus on three areas central to DaVita’s mission.

Advancing Industry-Leading Care

In 2025, DaVita educated more than 40,000 people through its Kidney Smart® classes — bringing the total number of individuals reached to more than 300,000 — and supported more than 8,000 patients in receiving kidney transplants.

By 2030, DaVita aims to:

• Improve patient quality of life by reducing avoidable hospitalizations
• Empower 150,000 patients to make more informed modality choices through kidney education
• Narrow health disparities by increasing home dialysis and transplant access for underserved populations
• Support 40,000 DaVita patients in receiving a transplant

Driving Economic Mobility and Teammate Engagement

In 2025, DaVita achieved an 85% teammate engagement score, exceeded its five-year teammate volunteerism goal by logging more than 218,000 hours of community service, and supported more than 400 teammates in pursuing advanced nursing degrees.

By 2030, DaVita strives to:

• Sustain market-leading teammate engagement scores of 80% or higher each year
• Advance 2,000 new nurses through DaVita development and career programs
• Contribute 300,000 hours of community service through teammate volunteerism

Strengthening Communities and Environmental Resilience

DaVita has already achieved 100% renewable energy use across its current operations and surpassed prior environmental goals by conserving 468 million gallons of water.

Looking ahead, the company plans to:

• Support philanthropic investments benefiting 400,000 people
• Power global operations with 100% renewable energy annually
• Assess climate-related risks and invest in more resilient operations to help protect continuity of patient care
• Expand water conservation best practices across every country where DaVita operates

External Recognition

DaVita’s approach to sustainability, workplace culture and corporate governance continues to earn external recognition, including recent honors from:

• Time magazine’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies
• Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices
• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) “A-List” for climate change
• Fortune, USA Today and Newsweek recognitions as an employer of choice

To read more about DaVita’s 2025 achievements and review the report in its entirety, visit https://davita.com/communitycare/

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About DaVita Inc.
DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a healthcare provider focused on transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients globally. As a comprehensive kidney care provider, DaVita has been a leader in clinical quality and innovation for more than 25 years. DaVita cares for patients at every stage and setting along their kidney health journey — from slowing the progression of kidney disease to helping support transplantation. This includes ensuring they are supported at home, in dialysis centers, in the hospital and in skilled nursing facilities. As of March 31, 2026, DaVita served approximately 296,300 patients at 3,262 outpatient dialysis centers, of which 2,666 centers were located in the United States and 596 centers were located in 14 other countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved mortality, helped improve health access and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care community to adopt a higher quality standard of care for all patients, everywhere. To learn more, visit DaVita.com/About.

Media Contact: newsroom@davita.com

“This study, conducted in collaboration between IWBI and Panasonic EW, provides a comprehensive analysis of WELL Certified offices across Japan,” said Dr. Yoshifumi Murakami, Manager of Well consultant & Service Promotion Dept. at Panasonic EW. “The findings show that WELL Certified workplaces achieved higher performance not only in environmental factors such as air, sound and lighting, but also in workplace experience and organizational environment, contributing to improved employee well-being and engagement. We believe these results reinforce the importance of designing workplaces with well-being.”

The findings demonstrate a clear and consistent performance advantage. Employees in WELL Certified projects reported a 19% increase in overall well-being and a 20% increase in perceived work engagement compared to non-certified buildings. Across the core indoor environmental quality factors examined, those most tied to human health and performance, WELL projects also showed significantly higher satisfaction, including access to nature (+36%), water quality (+26%), indoor air quality (+23%), sound environment (+21%), speech privacy (+21%), thermal comfort (+20%), natural light (+18%) and lighting environment (+13%). Importantly, this performance advantage held even against recently renovated workplaces. WELL Certified offices outperformed recently renovated non-certified offices by 10% in well-being and 8% in engagement, underscoring that renovations alone fail to deliver the same gains in engagement and well-being.

“This study adds to a rapidly expanding and well-substantiated body of evidence showing that WELL Certified buildings consistently outperform across the very factors that matter most for human health, well-being and performance,” said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO, IWBI. “The findings also send a powerful message to organizations everywhere: investing in health is not a cost but a catalyst for stronger performance, deeper engagement and greater organizational resilience.”

Beyond the indoor environment, the study also underscores the broader impact of WELL on workplace experience. Employees in WELL Certified spaces reported higher satisfaction with key workplace culture and design elements, including privacy, psychological safety, social connection and opportunities to rest and recharge throughout the workday. Interior design factors, ranging from layout and furnishings to cleanliness and operational policies, also scored higher, pointing to a more comprehensive and supportive workplace ecosystem.

“While many organizations recognize the importance of well-being, one of the common challenges has been the difficulty in clearly demonstrating its impact and value. This study provides important evidence validating the performance and value of WELL Certified spaces, while also offering meaningful insights to support investment decisions related to workplace well-being.” said Hisashi Hara, Head of Well-Being Business Development Office at Panasonic EW. “Panasonic EW will continue leveraging these findings to support clients in creating healthier, more comfortable and higher-performing workplaces, while helping advance well-being across the Japanese market.”

Further analysis in the study helps dive deeper, explaining what is driving these outcomes. Regression modeling shows that key factors related to refreshing and recharging are a strong contributor to perceived well-being, accounting for 31%, followed by team culture at 16%, indoor environmental quality at 15% and design at 14%. A similar pattern emerges for work engagement, with refreshing and recharging accounting for 18%, team culture 14% and design 14%. The design factors also include the teamwork environment, highlighting the importance of workplace design in supporting collaboration and employee experience. Together, these findings highlight a holistic model of performance where physical conditions, social dynamics and workplace design operate in tandem to support both health and productivity.

As one of the largest post-occupancy datasets comparing WELL-certified and non-certified offices, the study provides a rigorous, evidence-based rationale for elevating health and well-being as a cornerstone of workplace investment strategies. Taken together, the results mark a fundamental shift toward prioritizing health and well-being as central to driving human performance and organizational resilience.

Download the study here.

About the International WELL Building Institute
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first places for everyone, everywhere. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Coworking Rated, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

Media contact:
media@wellcertified.com

About Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
Company Name: Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.
Head Office: Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Building, 1-5-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8301, Japan
Representative: Kiyoshi Otaki
Website: https://panasonic.co.jp/ew/

Guided by its purpose, “Brightening Today. Powering the Future, Panasonic EW is committed to creating new value through electrical infrastructure, with a focus on areas such as Well-Being and Energy Management, contributing to a sustainable and enriched society.

In the field of Well-Being, Panasonic EW promotes the concept of “Science for Well-Being” by providing WELL Certification consulting services in Japan, develops workplaces where people can experience Well-Being firsthand, and offers a variety of solutions designed to enhance health, comfort, and workplace experience. Through these initiatives, Panasonic EW continues to contribute to the creation of healthier and more human-centered spaces across Japan.

View original content here.

As technology advances at unprecedented speed, Blackbaud is focused on ensuring trust keeps pace with progress. The report reflects the company’s belief that how it operates matters as much as what it builds, and that long‑term, sustainable impact depends on clear standards, strong oversight, and accountability.

“As AI innovation accelerates, responsibility isn’t optional; it’s foundational,” said Mike Gianoni, president, CEO, and vice chairman of the board of directors of Blackbaud. “Our customers’ missions depend on trust. This report shows how we’re strengthening governance, transparency, and sustainability so we can innovate with confidence and support impact that lasts.”

In 2025, more than $100 billion was raised, granted, or managed through Blackbaud platforms worldwide, fueling the mission‑driven work of nonprofits, educational institutions, and social impact organizations across the globe.

The 2025 Impact Report also highlights progress across Blackbaud’s environmental, people, and governance priorities, including:

• Achieving 100% carbon neutrality for 2025 emissions and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions 86% since 2020.
• Increasing employee engagement, with 75% of employees volunteering in 2025, compared to a global median of 23%.
• Requiring annual cybersecurity and responsible AI training for all employees to reinforce accountability and data stewardship.
• Strengthening oversight of responsible AI through a formal, cross‑functional AI Council with enterprise‑wide scope.

The report underscores Blackbaud’s commitment to advancing responsible AI through disciplined governance and transparency so innovation delivers measurable benefits without compromising trust. In 2025, the company strengthened how accountability, oversight, and transparency guide product development and operations, ensuring responsibility scales alongside technological capability.

“Our role in the social impact ecosystem carries a lower risk tolerance,” Gianoni said. “This report reflects the standards we hold ourselves to as a corporate citizen and the progress we’re making to operate more responsibly, engage our people more deeply, and govern innovation with rigor.”

The 2025 Impact Report provides an in‑depth look at Blackbaud’s approach to:

• More responsible operations to reduce environmental impact.
• More employee engagement to strengthen culture and community.
• More governance oversight to guide responsible innovation and long‑term value creation.

The full report is available at csr.blackbaud.com.

About Blackbaud
Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Serving nonprofits, educational institutions, companies committed to corporate social responsibility, and individual change makers, Blackbaud propels impact at scale with the sector’s most intelligent solutions for fundraising and engagement, education solutions, financial management and CSR and grantmaking. With the deepest expertise powered by the world’s largest philanthropic data set, the most connected workflows, and the most powerful impact network, Blackbaud’s solutions are building a future where resources are unleashed at the speed of need. Blackbaud has been recognized by Fast Company, Newsweek, Quartz, Forbes and more for AI innovation, responsible leadership and workplace excellence. Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. 

Media Inquiries
media@blackbaud.com

Forward-looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.

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