The day began with a Women in Sports Clinic and Panel hosted by the Hope Reigns Foundation. Designed to expand access to the sport, the program invited girls and women from across the community to engage with hockey both on and off the ice through skill development and career-focused conversations.

Participants first took part in a Learn to Skate session focused on building confidence and accessibility for newcomers. The clinic was followed by a panel discussion featuring LA Kings Scout and Community & Hockey Development Specialist Blake Bolden, Minnesota Frost forward Dominique Petrie of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), and former NWHL player Paige Capistran. Panelists shared insights from their career journeys across professional hockey, scouting, broadcasting, and leadership, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, perseverance, and expanding opportunities for women in sports.

“This event is about creating access and showing girls and women that there is a place for them in hockey—whether that’s on the ice, behind the scenes, or in leadership roles,” said Madelyn Morgan, Community Relations and Events Coordinator for the Ontario Reign.

The celebration continued throughout the evening with ceremonial puck drops and in-game interviews featuring the panelists. The Reign also hosted a Diaper Drive in partnership with the Child Care Resource Center, extending the event’s impact beyond the arena to support local families.

Through its Women in Sports Game, the Ontario Reign demonstrated how sports can serve as a platform for empowerment, community connection, and meaningful social impact—on the ice and beyond.

“Relationship building is the key to having any kind of impact on young people,” says Teresa Scott, coach for The Legacy Project.

The Legacy Project is designed to meet underserved students where they are. Through individualized coaching, real-world career exploration and scholarship support, the holistic program empowers students to build the future they want.

This was easy to see when the fifth cohort visited the ScottsMiracle-Gro world headquarters in Marysville, Ohio. Whether they were planting basil seeds, discussing marketing with our associates or handling an African giant millipede for the first time, the goal was clear – to provide the foundation that allows students to forge their own paths to success.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation is dedicated to partnering with The Hagedorn Foundation this International Day of Education to nurture the potential of these students.

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About ScottsMiracle-Gro
With approximately $3.4 billion in sales, the Company is the leading marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products in North America. The Company’s brands are among the most recognized in the industry. The Company’s Scotts®, Miracle-Gro®, Ortho® and Tomcat® brands are market-leading in their categories. For additional information, visit us at www.scottsmiraclegro.com.

I’m talking about the reality of employee volunteering. The one our data from The State of Corporate Volunteering 2026 report reveals with clarity and a little discomfort.

Despite record participation and surging corporate investment, it’s unclear if volunteering is delivering what we actually need. Participation is up (amazing and worthy of celebration!), but hours per volunteer are at a seven-year low (also worthy of taking a beat!).

Employees want purpose, and they’re choosing bite-sized acts as their preferred method.

Companies want engagement and community impact, but nonprofits need funding and reliable, skilled volunteers to help build their capacity and get AI-ready.

Many C-suite executives want proof of value, and we don’t always have it.

We’re growing, but are we aligning?

We’re doing more, but are we doing what matters?

We’re celebrating participation, but do we also know what the outcomes are?

If many of us were to share our inside voice, we’d admit that while we are celebrating our wins, we are also quietly asking ourselves whether our volunteering strategies are suited to the world we’re living in now. Our intuition is telling us it’s great, but maybe it’s not enough.

That’s the dissonance. And it’s time we confront it.

Employee volunteering isn’t sacred. It’s a system. And systems evolve.

For too long, we’ve treated corporate volunteering primarily as a moral good that gets connected to business outcomes like employee engagement, culture and belonging.

The language we use reinforces this. “Volunteer Time Off” (VTO) implies volunteering is time away from meaningful work, instead of time invested in something that delivers returns to the business. What if we treated VTO as a core component of our work by reframing it as “Skills Development Time,” for example?

• And what if we started acting like what we know is true — that volunteering is:
• A skill-building investment
• A training ground for empathy, adaptability and leadership
• A mechanism for trust, connection and community among distributed teams
• A way for people to grow personally while strengthening the business
• Time to innovate new solutions that generate business and social value

If these things are true for business — and we believe they are — then the biggest barrier to unlocking volunteering’s potential isn’t just money, time or interest. It’s our unwillingness to evolve our models. It’s our uncertainty of diving into uncharted territory. It’s a lack of time and energy to think differently (we all know how busy our jobs have been since 2020!). And frankly, it’s our outdated language.

Language shapes behaviour. Behaviour shapes culture. Culture shapes community.
Corporate volunteering doesn’t need to be protected. It needs to be unleashed.

The world is changing. Corporate volunteering needs to catch up.

The reality is that good volunteering requires more than what companies are dedicating to it now. Yes, there is investment. But there is also a growing amount of work and expectations being put on small, centralized CSR teams. Teams that are struggling to scale and tailor their programs to their employees and the nonprofits they want to support. Volunteering requires time, money and better technology, deployed in ways that serve the end goal.

Employees are navigating massive changes in life and work within a volatile economy, high cost of living, geopolitical disruptions and the rapid pace of AI transformation — all of which are affecting job certainty, mental health and wellbeing. The confluence of these changes is leading to competing priorities, higher rates of social isolation and loneliness, and very real financial pressure.

Meanwhile, nonprofits are under extraordinary strain, pushed beyond capacity by rising community needs and shrinking resources, exacerbated in the U.S. by an onslaught of regulatory and political changes that are demanding more investment in legal, marketing and branding. They need deeper support — not just more volunteers.
Despite all of this, we have enormous ambition for volunteering. It is expected to deliver:

• Employee engagement
• Community impact
• Culture and connection
• Skills development
• Wellbeing
• Business resilience

It’s an enormous burden to place on a strained system. This is an inflection point. And it’s also an invitation.

We need experiments, not elegance. Evidence, not assumptions.

If we want to successfully design the next era of workforce volunteering, we need to slow the theorizing and accelerate the experimentation — openly, humbly and collaboratively.

That’s why in 2026, Benevity is committing to a year of experimentation to build a body of evidence around what works. Real programs, with real data, tested hypotheses and shared learnings. And transparently, these insights are needed for us to help build the best practices and technology that delivers on the needs of tomorrow, while we solve for the strain of running corporate volunteering programs today.

Our suggested approach rests on three principles:
‍
1 – Be less precious
Let’s release our grip on the tactics that no longer serve us. We need to build ones that work with how the world works now and in the future.

2 – Invite experimentation
We need a robust body of evidence. Hard data. Comparative insights. In addition to anecdotal success stories, we need to discover how to be uncomfortable, challenge the status quo, test new models, new language and new definitions of value.
What happens if employee volunteering is framed as:

• Innovation time?
• Professional development?
• Skills deployment?
• A resilience strategy?
• Community co-design?

We don’t know yet. But we will one day if we start experimenting now.

3 – Learn together
This is not a Benevity job. Nor is it a nonprofit challenge. It’s a collective call to action.
We are already partnering across the ecosystem — with nonprofits, researchers, practitioners, impact leaders who are ready to explore new ideas. Together, we will spark conversation, pressure-test assumptions, test, learn and shape the path forward for the future of volunteering.
We’re prepared to share what we learn — even and especially — the uncomfortable parts. And together we will build the proof for what is next.
The sector doesn’t need more polish. It needs progress.

International Volunteer Year — a moment made for reinvention

2026 is the United Nation’s International Volunteer Year — a time to celebrate volunteers. It arrives at a time when corporate volunteering is both more essential and more strained than ever. We are being reminded to pay attention.

Employees are searching for meaning, purpose and connection.

Companies are doubling down on volunteering.

It’s time to embrace corporate volunteering as a business investment like any other. As an imperative and a strategic capability. As a lever for creativity, innovation, leadership development and resilience. Now’s our chance to re-invent it. A global moment to shift from intention to innovation.
‍
The invitation — let’s reimagine corporate volunteering

This moment calls for leadership. It calls for courage. And it calls for companies to move beyond what we already know toward a new era of experimentation, collaboration and shared learning.

For as long as I have been in this space, we have focused on driving participation. The good news is that average participation rates have increased 30% over the past six years. This is phenomenal. This proves that what we focus on is where we succeed. So what is our future definition of success?

The volunteering of today is not — and will not be — the volunteering of tomorrow.
To fully unlock the promise of corporate volunteering, we must co-create new models that meet the needs of all stakeholders:

• Nonprofits who require deeper, skilled and reliable support
• Employees seeking purpose, flexibility and connection
• Corporations striving to build resilient businesses with connected cultures
• Communities navigating increasing complexity and need

No single organization can solve this alone. Meaningful change requires cross-sector partnership and collective innovation. If you believe volunteering is one of the most powerful engines for human and organizational transformation, join us.

If you think the old models are no longer enough, help us build new ones.

If you want to co-design the future of corporate volunteering — one that is unequivocally a driver of business value and social impact — tell us! Share your commitments and experimentation ideas through this form (kind of old school, but it works!).

And if you disagree with this provocation? Even better. Tell us why. Add your voice. Help us shape what comes next.

Because the future of volunteering won’t emerge on its own. We have to create it together.

The three‑day clinic was held from February 27–March 1, 2026, at the Empire Polo Club, which is home to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival, in Indio, California. The clinic delivered free dental, vision, and medical care to approximately 2,000 underserved residents, supported by more than 500 volunteer healthcare professionals and community volunteers. Services were provided at no cost, with no insurance, identification, or income requirements, helping remove barriers to care for individuals and families across Riverside County.

Care offerings included dental treatment, vision exams with on‑site prescription eyeglasses, general medical consultations, and acupuncture services. The clinic also expanded access to preventive care through free mammograms provided by The Pink Journey and women’s health exams offered by the Desert Healthcare District.

“At Empire Polo Club, we believe our role as a venue extends beyond events to how we serve the community,” said Mark Girton, Vice President of Special Events for Goldenvoice. “Giving back and supporting initiatives that strengthen the region are core to how we operate.”

Since 2011, California CareForce has delivered more than $19.2 million in free healthcare services statewide. For the past 10 years, Goldenvoice has supported this work in the Coachella Valley as part of its ongoing commitment to serving the local community.

The article features the New Holland R4 autonomous robot, developed in response to evolving needs in specialty agriculture, including labor availability, operational efficiency and sustainability targets.

Designed for vineyards and orchards, the R4 integrates multiple operations in one autonomous system. Compared to conventional tractors, it can reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% and lower total cost of ownership by up to 20%.

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In this heartfelt conversation with her granddaughter and grandson, Gretchen opens up about her worries, shares the wisdom she’s gained, and answers their curious questions about her journey leading up to surgery. From fears to triumphs, her story is about resilience, family, and hope—things we can all relate to.

Watch the full episode of Open Book here and be inspired by Gretchen’s journey.

Asahi Group, maker of Japan’s best-selling beer, was struck by a cyberattack last fall that was so severe the company had to shut down many computer systems and fill orders using pen, paper and fax machines. The disruption cascaded to Asahi’s supply chain, bars and restaurants, and consumers.

This attack is representative of the new face of cybercrime, with digital assaults inflicting broader economic damage and causing greater global losses each year. This trend is creating a stronger connection between cyberattacks and the global economy, with a growing body of research showing that when markets and businesses fail to prioritize their cyber protections, economic growth can suffer.

The more policymakers and business leaders can understand the economic implications of cyberattacks, the more effectively they can prevent them from happening – for instance, if AI-powered phishing is causing the most financial harm, they can prioritize their investments and consumer education there. To support this research, economists at the Mastercard Economics Institute analyzed both the Asahi cyberattack as well as a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline a few years ago, as part of our ongoing research into the economics of cybersecurity and cybercrime.

Our review of aggregated and anonymized Mastercard spending data showed a similar pattern of distortion to buying patterns, with evidence of stockpiling in the face of supply disruptions. These two case studies highlight how attacks that impact supply chains expose their fragility and interconnected nature, showing that the effects can go far beyond financial losses for a single business targeted in an attack. Instead, these attacks can result in major impacts for millions of consumers and thousands of businesses, with some disruptions persisting for several months.

Case studies of Asahi and Colonial Pipeline attacks

The Mastercard Economics Institute team, led by our colleague Shubham Chauhan, completed in-depth analyses of these two major cyberattacks. The Mastercard Economics Institute reviewed historic transaction data processed on the Mastercard network following each attack to gain insights on their aftereffects and impact on consumers.

In the first case study, we analyzed the September 29, 2025, cyberattack on Asahi Group. Cybercriminals caused a system failure for the company, forcing it to stop production at most of its 30 factories in Japan and suspend orders, shipments and call center operations in the country.

As restaurants, bars and stores struggled to restock Asahi beer, we observed a large, sustained spike in spending at beer and liquor stores in Japan in the first 10 days of October, as news of the cyberattack caused consumers to stockpile Asahi beer, thus exacerbating shortages.

In beer and liquor stores in Japan over those 10 days, we saw a 57% rise in sales from a year earlier. Comparatively, sales rose by only 3% during the same 10-day period in 2024 versus the year prior.

Asahi Group ransomware attack

The late September 2025 ransomware attack on Japanese beverage maker Asahi cripped its operations and led to a spike in sales at beer and liquor stores. 

In the second case study, we researched the Colonial Pipeline attack, a ransomware breach on May 7, 2021, that shut down Colonial’s operations and disrupted nearly 45% of fuel supplies on the East Coast of the U.S.

In a similar pattern to the Asahi attack, news of the supply disruption triggered a surge in fuel purchases along the East Coast by May 10. The Mastercard Economics Institute found that the data revealed a 17% increase in spending per card in impacted states versus a 5% increase in other states. Additionally, we found a 14% rise in the average transaction size of fuel purchases, reflecting both stockpiling by consumers and price spikes amid the growing demand.

By May 12, our research identified widespread fuel shortages across the impacted states, caused by both supply disruptions and the higher demand, with supplies eventually normalizing two days later.

The Colonial Pipeline cyberattack timeline

Panic buying in the Eastern U.S. ensued in the first days after the ransomware attack on May 7, 2021, followed by fuel shortages. The bar below shows the total spend index per postal code indexed to the 2021 fiscal year average, with red signifying lower than average spend and green signifying higher than average spend. 

The rise of larger scale cyberattacks

The potential for these types of large-scale attacks has only grown. Cybercriminals have professionalized their operations and have increasingly targeted critical infrastructure and key business operations to maximize their chances of receiving large payments for stolen data or frozen systems. To that end, some of the most malicious — and increasingly common — attacks are those targeting hospitals and other health care systems. These attacks can often endanger people’s lives, as emergency care is diverted to different locations and impacted hospital staffs struggle to coordinate and share critical information.

In another recent example of these large-scale breaches, Jaguar Land Rover, the largest U.K. automaker, in August 2025 suffered a cyberattack that halted its global operations for five weeks and impacted more than 5,000 suppliers. This attack was so large that it harmed the overall U.K. economy, which reportedly absorbed estimated losses of $2.5 billion.

Additionally, in 2024, software firm CDK Global shut down data centers, phones and applications following a ransomware intrusion. These mitigation measures disrupted services for approximately 15,000 car dealerships across North America. Economic consultant Anderson Economic Group estimated that CDK’s shutdown cost auto dealers more than $600 million over two weeks. CDK paid a $25 million ransom.

In all four of these cases mentioned, we can clearly see that cybercrime has grown into an economic threat to businesses, infrastructure and GDP growth. More significant attacks should be expected in the future, especially as artificial intelligence increases the sophistication and frequency of attacks.

Recommendations and next steps

As part of our research, we’ve identified two key recommendations.

First, because of how interconnected global economies have become, the response to cybercrime must be more coordinated globally and involve shared responsibility to protect data, instill trust in digital tools and support continued GDP growth. As cybercriminals continue focusing on critical business operations, industries need to build up resilience of both their cybersecurity operations and supply chains to counteract these attacks. Strong public-private partnership and information sharing across industries will support this work.

Second, our analysis underscores the need for continued research into the economics of cybercrime. Without reliable metrics, organizations and governments won’t be able to make informed decisions and will instead be forced to rely on anecdotal information to determine the direction of policy and cybersecurity investments.

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Highlights include new D Series 3-ton mini excavators, a new midi excavator and new models to the E Series full-sized excavator lineup — showcasing versatile attachment capabilities and CASE’s latest advancements in controls, connectivity and precision technology. Visitors can also see the latest addition to CASE’s growing list of electric equipment: the all-new TL100EV electric mini track loader, with ultra-quiet, emissions-free operation and the same performance as its diesel counterpart.

Powerful new G Series compact wheel loaders with operator-friendly cab improvements will be at the show, along with upgraded large wheel loaders featuring operator-assist features like AutoDig and rear object detection. Show attendees will also be able to preview new N Series dozers expected to arrive in late 2026, with big upgrades to performance management, visibility and the operator experience.

Alongside the new equipment, the trailblazing 580EV electric backhoe will also be on display, demonstrating CASE’s pioneering work in powerful, zero-emissions equipment for unique jobsite requirements.

Read the full story here.

Since its launch in 2020, the Ray of Hope Accelerator has supported nearly 60 early-stage startups ranging from pre-seed through Series A from 19 countries, 35% of which are women-led. Today over 90% of the portfolio companies remain in operation, and collectively they have raised more than $250 million in investment.

Building on this momentum, the Institute is seeking the world’s most promising and impactful nature-inspired startups for its 2026 cohort.

“Last year’s cohort was one of our strongest yet,” said Amanda Sturgeon, CEO of the Biomimicry Institute. “We witnessed founders not only refining breakthrough technologies inspired by nature, but also bringing to life solutions that address climate change and biodiversity loss. They reaffirmed that nature-inspired innovation is not a niche approach, it is a powerful pathway to regenerative systems change. We are excited to welcome the next ten visionary teams who are ready to learn from life itself how to address the challenges of our time.”

The Institute is focused on ventures that address the polycrisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, and eliminate the linear “take, make, waste” paradigm. In addition, solutions should be grounded in deep scientific research, informed by biological principles, processes or systems, or are enabling bio-inspired innovation.

The selected companies will participate in a six-month accelerator starting in August valued at more than $50,000 in in-kind services. The program includes industry mentorship, science-based storytelling expertise, and connections to corporate leaders and mission-aligned investors. Founders will also gather for a four-day immersive Nature Retreat, where they will deepen their leadership skills, build community, and cultivate a biomimicry-driven philosophy to guide their companies.

“As I see it, the biomimicry startup community has reached critical mass. As a category, it has more than enough companies that are successfully scaling to prove the merit of nature-inspired design” says John A. Lanier, Executive Director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and founding funder of the Accelerator, “we are heartened that more companies are starting with biomimicry as a central tenet, and that more investors are actively seeking them out as a result.”

To explore the full portfolio of Ray of Hope Accelerator alumni, Visit the Portfolio page on Biomimicry.org to explore the full list of Ray of Hope Accelerator alumni.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit biomimicry.org/innovation/accelerator/.

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About the Biomimicry Institute

The Biomimicry Institute is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded by Janine Benyus in 2005, on a mission to create a nature positive, inclusive, and regenerative world inspired and guided by nature’s genius. The Biomimicry Institute is embarking towards a ten-year vision to dramatically scale the impact that biomimicry is having on some of the biggest challenges facing the world today. Since its founding 20 years ago, the Institute has worked to spread the practice of looking to the solutions developed by living organisms over billions of years to provide insight and inspiration for effective, efficient, and sustainable innovations and approaches to addressing our own challenges. As the Institute embarks on their third decade, they are fully committed to work across sectors and disciplines to spread the wisdom of nature-inspired, actionable solutions across our world. For more information, visit biomimicry.org.

Media Contact:

Anna Konstantinova
Biomimicry Institute, Director of Strategic Communications
anna.konstantinova@biomimicry.org

Back from Taipei – inspired by what’s next for urban mobility 

I recently returned from Taipei, where our teams and partners took an important step forward in making everyday travel simpler. Together with Taishin International Bank, we launched contactless payments on the Taipei Metro, a great example of how we’re focused on transit and bringing the benefits of open-loop experiences to riders: tap in with the card or wallet you already carry, no extra transit card or top-ups needed. 

We’ve paired this with our Mastercard Priceless Planet Coalition – tap, ride, plant – so each tap contributes to our reforestation efforts and makes sustainability part of daily routines in a simple, tangible way. 

Proud of the collaboration behind this milestone and energized by what we’ll continue to build with our partners.

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