Here are a few highlights from the report:

• Our company-wide AI strategy听including the investment of more than $100 million per year, over the next few years, in generative AI (GenAI), the integration of GenAI in our flagship products, and AI upskilling of our global workforce.
• The launch of a new听Human Trafficking Resource Center, allowing public authorities to access specialized online resources to help fight human trafficking in their communities.
• Sourcing听100% renewable energy for our global operations, achieved largely through the purchase of renewable energy credits.
• Offering a series of Global Learning Days to engage our entire organization in building critical skills.
• Expansion of听, our supportive workplace policies, to include a more robust Global Parental Leave policy.
• Employees logging over 60,000 volunteer hours, including over 7,600 hours in pro bono support valued at over $1.8 million in consulting services to nonprofit organizations.
• 抖阴成年 Foundation’s pro bono legal service TrustLaw generating $29 million in free legal assistance for NGOs and social enterprises.

Please take a moment to read the report and be inspired by these stories.

Women at 抖阴成年 is an employee-led business resource group (BRG) that is committed to creating awareness and understanding of the diverse backgrounds and experiences represented at 抖阴成年 and in our communities.

Our mission is to drive positive change, inspiring others to promote women as equal partners in the success, achievement, and profitability of the business. We seek to champion women by supporting professional growth and development, expanding networks internally and throughout our communities, increasing allyship, and driving awareness of the unconscious biases that fuel gender inequality.鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧��

With an organization as vast as 抖阴成年, connecting with employees across different locations and functions can enable a better understanding of how the company works and visibility of the talent that powers business results and supports our customers.

We offer global programs and local events that are open to everyone at 抖阴成年.

• • Global Allyship Community: Our Global Allyship Community explores the role of an ally, aims to increase allyship across the organization, drives awareness of unconscious biases that fuel gender inequality, and supports professional growth and development of our people.听 We offer a variety of opportunities throughout the year to help people learn about microaggressions and biases through interactive workshops and scenario discussions.
  • Earnings Call Recaps:听Each quarter, Women at 抖阴成年 hosts an in-depth conversation with senior leaders to break down our business strategy and financial results plus hear what investors had to say about our earnings release. This provides a unique development opportunity for our people to build their business and financial acumen and understand how their work supports the company and our customers.
  • Catalyst Partnership:听抖阴成年 is honored to partner with听, a global non-profit focused on building workplaces that work for women.听 Through this partnership, our BRGs can access research, data, and tools to advance diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts across the organization.听 We work with other BRGs at 抖阴成年 to elevate our collective impact and share best practices.
  • Aspire to Lead Conference: Since 2012, Women at 抖阴成年 has sponsored the Aspire to Lead Conference (driven by our Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter and open to all employees globally). Aspire to Lead brings together powerful speakers, skill-building workshops, and networking opportunities to inspire women and allies to lead with confidence in their profession and communities.听 It is a signature program for our BRG and continuously receives positive feedback from leaders and employees across the company.

Kathryn, a member of Women at 抖阴成年 Canada chapter, shared what she values about being a member of the network. 鈥淎s a proud member of Women at 抖阴成年, I have had the privilege of collaborating with and learning from exceptional women who have enriched my professional journey. Being part of Women at 抖阴成年 has empowered me to actively listen to the aspirations and needs of other women in their careers.”

Women鈥檚 History Month and International Women鈥檚 Day 2024

Throughout March, we celebrate Women鈥檚 History Month and International Women鈥檚 Day globally. Our Women at 抖阴成年 chapters from across the globe planned a wide range of sessions for colleagues to celebrate women鈥檚 achievements, raise awareness about challenges and opportunities, and get inspired to make positive change.

Our global chapter for Women at 抖阴成年 held a virtual panel focused on the theme of #InspireInclusion which featured a diverse panel from across our ten BRGs, focusing on what inclusion means to them.

Our Hyderabad and Bangalore offices in India celebrated with a volunteer event to assemble menstrual kits and distribute them to local shelters, schools, and organizations supporting women in need in those cities.

Our Zug, Switzerland office kicked-off International Women’s Day with an introductory panel discussion with their new exec sponsors for our Swiss chapter.

Our Toronto office hosted a Watch Party to watch the Allyship at Work session听and followed the event with a meaningful discussion on what they learned about enabling allyship at work.

Our Spain office celebrated International Women’s Day with the #InspireInclusion theme.听

Several members of our executive team in Toronto celebrated the #InspireInclusion theme.

Whether in-person or virtual, many teams throughout the globe embraced the Inspire Inclusion theme for International Women’s Day.

Who can join?

All current 抖阴成年 employees are welcome to join Women at 抖阴成年. Colleagues are welcome to participate in any capacity, whether they want to be added to our email list to stay up to date on the Women at 抖阴成年 business resource group or join a committee to help bring an upcoming event to life.

To learn more about our business resource groups at 抖阴成年, check out our听Inside 抖阴成年 page!

About Reuters IMPACT

Reuters IMPACT is a conference and a platform around justice, truth, and transparency in the global climate conversation. It is designed to facilitate constructive discussion and debate with a wide-reaching audience. In 2022, Reuters IMPACT focused on five key themes: urgency, collaboration, policy stability, scale, and justice. In 2023, it will tackle these issues by bringing together world leaders, C-suite executives, and forward-thinking pioneers to inspire, accelerate, and drive action.

With a strong editorial presence, Reuters IMPACT conducts interviews with political and business leaders that cut through the noise, influence markets, and encourage new perspectives. This enables Reuters IMPACT to provide trusted, market-shaping intelligence that is transparent and accessible to all, with millions tuning in to watch the conversations via a global broadcast.

Reuters IMPACT, a part of Reuters IMPACT Congress London, will be held in London on September 6-7. As one of four stages, Reuters IMPACT will unite C-suite executives, alongside sustainability reporting experts, ESG investment professionals, and net-zero communities. Over 1,000 leaders from these groups will collaborate to shape leadership strategies, investment frameworks, and innovative technologies that will expedite action against the climate change.

Reuters IMPACT provides a platform for climate leaders to envision and implement alternative approaches. Only through visionary ideas, sustainable practices, international collaboration, and future-focused thinking can we uncover the opportunities and solutions for businesses to achieve tangible climate-positive outcomes.

To learn more about attending or participating in Reuters IMPACT, please visit our website听.

At 抖阴成年, we’re proud to support volunteerism by giving every employee 16 hours of time every year to volunteer in their communities. In 2022, 抖阴成年 launched its annual Global Volunteer Day where employees were encouraged to volunteer in their communities for an organization whose work excites them. Last year’s event saw over 750 employees take part in supporting more than 100 charitable organizations across 15 countries.

So, whether you’re looking to get started as a volunteer or simply want to learn more about how you can make a difference in your own community, read on for some tips and information about why volunteering is important.

April is Global Volunteer Month听

Global Volunteer Month is a time to celebrate the difference that volunteers make in their communities and to encourage more people to get involved.

Volunteering is important for many reasons. Many nonprofits are tackling the world鈥檚 biggest challenges with the fewest amount of resources 鈥� by giving your time through hands-on volunteering or your expertise through pro bono volunteering, every hour of support can make a huge difference for the organization and the cause they serve, helping to build stronger, more cohesive communities.

Volunteering can also have a positive impact on volunteers themselves. People who volunteer often report feeling happier and more fulfilled than those who don’t. According to research from Cone Communications, 88 percent of employees feel more fulfilled by their jobs when they were provided opportunities to make a positive impact on social or environmental issues.

There are many ways to get involved in volunteering, and there’s something to suit everyone. Whether you have a few hours to spare each week or you’re looking for a longer-term commitment, there will be an opportunity for you to make a difference.

So, what are you waiting for? This Global Volunteer Month, make a pledge to do something good for your community 鈥� you might just surprise yourself at how rewarding it can be.

How to get started as a volunteer听

Finding the right volunteer opportunity can be difficult. People want to find opportunities that match with their passions, but they also want to do work where they can put their skills to use. It can be tough to know where to start, especially if you鈥檝e never volunteered before. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Choose a cause that excites you. Then look for opportunities that match the skills you have to offer. Do you have experience in marketing, web development, or accounting? There are plenty of nonprofits that would love to have your help. One possible starting point in your search for volunteer opportunities could be sites like , , or . Additionally, the 抖阴成年 Foundation offers , a global pro bono legal service.
• Involve your friends and family 鈥� volunteering is more fun when done together. Ask your friends and family if they鈥檇 be interested in joining you for a day of volunteering. You can even make it a monthly or quarterly tradition.
• Don鈥檛 have time? Consider a financial donation, sign a petition, or drive awareness for the cause by sharing it on social media. Every little bit helps.

抖阴成年 hosts its third annual Social Impact Hackathon

To celebrate Global Volunteer Month, the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Institute is excited to host the third annual Social Impact Hackathon from April 24-28, 2023. Launched in 2021, the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon听is a global hackathon that brings together 抖阴成年 employees from all over the world to provide strategic and capacity-building support for nonprofit organizations.

Over the past two years, this innovative cross-sector program has successfully harnessed our teammates’ skills for the greater good, making a lasting impact on nonprofits worldwide. As one employee who volunteered for the 2022 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon put it, 鈥淚 felt like we really helped out nonprofit partner, and that made me feel terrific! The 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon was incredible.鈥�

This year, we’re scaling up our efforts to support over 40 nonprofits across the globe.

The goal of the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon is twofold:

1. To expand leadership and development opportunities across 抖阴成年, and
2. To deepen relationships with our nonprofit partners who are working towards our social impact pillars of access to justice, truth, and transparency.

鈥淓xpanding on our longstanding tradition of offering pro bono legal aid, the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Institute is proud to be able to scale our pro bono opportunities and provide a more holistic approach to supporting our nonprofit partners. The 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon is a true testament to the power of collaboration for the public good,鈥� states Meg Rauth VanWagner, Director, Social Impact Institute.

We are looking forward to seeing the impact our teams make as pro bono consultants at the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon, and we encourage everyone to get involved in volunteer work this month however they can.

Take Action

There is practically no end to the difference you can make by donating your time and talent to organizations that move you. Just as 抖阴成年 employees seek to make a difference through the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Hackathon, there are countless opportunities for you to make a difference in your own community. So, take the next step and make some time to volunteer鈥攏ot only during Global Volunteer Month, but throughout the year.

So when we realized that we had an opportunity to create greater parity and power our own female professionals in India, we knew we had to act.

An opportunity in the cloud

Over the last several years, 抖阴成年 has initiated a cloud-first strategy, and with it came a need to upskill and reskill our existing talent 鈥� thus, the Nuvola Academy was born, an internal training program focused on developing these necessary cloud skills.

We also saw major opportunity to increase equity and representation within the organization. Technology jobs across all industries have historically skewed male and with our shift to a cloud-first strategy, we saw a chance to address that gender disparity. For us to have a well-rounded and diverse company, we need to strive to reach parity in our numbers of male and female technologists.

We want to make sure that regardless of who they are, people can select opportunities of their choosing.

Upskilling women in India

To achieve this vision of parity, our Indian branch of the internal mentoring group Women at 抖阴成年 (W@TR) partnered with the Nuvola Academy and created a cloud training program specifically tailored for women in India.

The goal of this program was to provide women with an opportunity to learn cloud skills and fundamental technology skills in a group of all women, thus creating a focused environment for them to learn and grow. The introductory cloud course had no prerequisites, making it open exclusively to women, while two cohorts focused on architecture were also created.

The response to the program was overwhelming, with more interest than expected. To accommodate the interest, the number of introductory all-women cloud skills and fundamental technology skills courses was tripled. The training began in early July 2022 and concluded at the end of September. The women who participated in the program reported feeling more confident in their skills and motivated to take their careers forward.

This program not only empowered women to speak up and take on new challenges, but also provided them with a clear path to grow their careers. It also showed that by making training female-focused, women felt more comfortable stepping forward and signing up. As a result, they were more confident in applying for promotions, which is crucial for increasing female representation, especially in technology leadership roles.

The importance of creating opportunities for women

It is essential to have female representation at all levels and in all organizational areas. People want to see someone like them so that they can visualize a possible career path. Therefore, it is important to remove barriers to access these opportunities.

On this International Women’s Day, we are resolutely committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive world for women, and to empower them with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

As we look to the future, we will continue the momentum we have started.听We will continue to seek out learning opportunities where women can continue to grow their skills and stretch their boundaries.听 We will encourage mentoring opportunities for women to connect with each other, grow their networks, and learn from one another.

We want women to be the faces the next generation looks at to see what is possible.

Together, we inform the way forward to a more understanding, trusting world for all.

While everyone at 抖阴成年 drives this important work forward, the 抖阴成年 Social Impact Institute works with our people and partners to create opportunities for innovation, community investment, volunteer impact, and sustainable corporate citizenship.

Here, we look back at 2022 鈥� it was a very exciting year for the Social Impact team (and all our teammates). Here are three great initiatives we undertook last year:

Launching our first global Social Impact Hackathon

Last year鈥檚 Social Impact Hackathon extended听support to 17 nonprofit organizations across the U.S., Canada, India, and the Philippines. More than 70 teammates served as pro bono consultants, sharing their communications, sales, public relations, operations, marketing, strategy, human resources, and technology expertise.听Much of the work focused on helping the organizations develop necessary capacity-building tools to enhance their own ability in areas not typically funded by foundation grants and individual donors.

In total, teammates volunteered over 560 hours, totaling more than $110,000 worth of pro bono consulting services with an average of $6,400 per non-profit 鈥� in just five hours!

Launching our first annual Global Volunteer Day

鈥嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�嬧�婭n November, we hosted our first annual 抖阴成年 Global Volunteer Day. Over 750 teammates prepared and distributed meals and hygiene kits to those in need, stocked shelves at food pantries, picked up litter to clean up parks and beaches, created cards for hospitalized kids and seniors, provided walks and toys for animals in shelters, hosted resume and career workshops, visited schools 鈥� and even classified the behavior of owls!

In total, our teammates logged 5,000+ volunteer hours to support 100+ charitable organizations in 15 countries.

Announcing the winner of the Carla Jones Social Impact Award

Agnieszka Podgorska was the winner of our 3rd Carla Jones Social Impact Award.听She organized a group of 9 colleagues from Exmouth, UK and Gdansk, Poland to visit the Polish border with Ukraine for 5 days. These teammates volunteered over 200 hours during their visit. They worked with World Central Kitchen to provide meals to refugees, purchased groceries, visited refugee children at an orphanage and helped a family find accommodations.

In addition, Agnieszka set up a Crowdfunder and fundraised nearly 拢9,000 which was used to purchase clothing and food for refugees, and laptops and other electronics to help refugee children continue their education. For winning the award, a听$10,000 donation was made to听Ukrainian Children Inc.听to help aid in Ukrainian refugee relief.

Looking forward in 2023

2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the 抖阴成年 social impact team. We are thrilled to launch our 2022 Social Impact & ESG Report, continue to celebrate Earth Day, and host our third Social Impact Hackathon. We look forward to sharing our progress and achievements with you as we work towards creating a more sustainable and equitable future.

We鈥檙e excited to continue to inform the way forward in 2023 鈥� together.

AI solutions are increasingly integrated into many technology solutions across various sectors: in our cars, work tools and even our pockets. AI methods are achieving unprecedented performance levels when solving increasingly complex computational tasks, making them more important to the future of our society than ever before.听听

However, as decisions made by AI systems start having real impact on our lives 鈥� for example, in deciding whether someone should be approved for a mortgage or not 鈥� an important question has emerged: What level of trust can (and should) we place in these AI systems?听

Understanding the AI trust gap听

To trust AI decisions, people need to know how an AI system arrives at its conclusions and recommendations. Understanding how a system works gives us a sense of predictability and control. This is because humans are driven to acquire and provide explanations. Within months of uttering their first words, children ask, 鈥淲hy?鈥� Explanations provide us with a sense of understanding, and how things work has been essential to our survival as a species. Furthermore, being able to communicate why we do things is crucial for communication and cooperation with one another.听听

Since explanations are essential for enabling collaboration between humans, they are also important for humans who must rely on systems powered by AI. After all, it takes many years, work and training together side-by-side for human teams to trust each other unconditionally and anticipate each other鈥檚 actions without any explanation. It is even harder to trust AI systems that we do not know and understand so well.听

However, larger, more powerful and therefore more useful AI systems (also known as deep neural networks) unfortunately often cannot offer explanations to users interacting with them. They are essentially a 鈥榖lack box.鈥� Researchers and users typically know their inputs and outputs, but it is hard to see what’s going on inside and we don’t know how all the individual neurons work together to arrive at the final output. As an example, this means that we cannot know how exactly GPT-3 wrote an email or a story.听

The role of explainability in AI systems听

To overcome this issue, companies selling AI solutions have increasingly looked for ways to offer some insight into how such black box AI algorithms reach decisions. They primarily focus on developing additional algorithms which approximate the behavior of a 鈥榖lack-box鈥� system to offer post-hoc interpretations of the original AI decision. 听

For example, AI engineers may build an AI system which decides whether documents should be classified as confidential or not. In addition to the decision of the system about a document, they present users with a set of words that an additional algorithm, seeking to 鈥榚xplain鈥� the decision of the AI system, identified as important for the decision and the different prediction probabilities for the two possible prediction outcomes.听听

However, in studies where such explanations were tested with the users, they were often not sure what the numbers meant 鈥� for example, 50% probability seemed high to one user, but not another. The room left for interpretation in such explanations can make it difficult for the users to rely on them and introduce doubt into AI suggestions themselves. Therefore, increasing trust through such explainability approaches does not always yield results.听听

To achieve true explainability, AI practitioners should look for ways to explain the AI solutions they are developing right at the start of the development process of these algorithms rather than as an afterthought. More efforts should be devoted to understanding what happens inside the 鈥榖lack box鈥� in addition to focusing on reducing computational costs, time and creating better outputs when improving AI models.听听

Additionally, AI practitioners should put the user at the center when developing new technology and understand their explainability needs. If transparency is strongly desired by the users in some cases, in order to have more transparency, simpler, less powerful models may have to be used, despite how tempting playing with the newest technology may seem.听

The road to AI trust built by humans听

The only true constant so far in our world has been change and AI is just an additional new piece to the puzzle we are all putting together. We each have a piece to create and place in the puzzle. Technologists must do their part in creating AI systems that humans can trust by putting greater emphasis on explainability and transparency when building such systems.听听

Governments must do more in providing guidelines and regulations for the industry, to foresee and prevent potential misuse of data and AI. For example, the introduction of 鈥渞ight to explanation鈥� in GDPR in 2016 is a step in the right direction. Companies need to be more transparent to the general public about how our data is supporting the development of better AI solutions and products.听

Nevertheless, the challenges that lie ahead in achieving the full potential of AI and incorporating it into our lives are truly exciting to work on for many in the field, including our AI teams at 抖阴成年. With incremental innovation combined with human values and intelligence, we are working towards positive breakthroughs in combining AI with human expertise in critical areas such as legal, news, government, and many others 鈥� this is just one of the ways we鈥檙e helping inform the way forward at 抖阴成年.听听

Education opens doors for families and communities across the world to opportunities. These opportunities lead to better living conditions, access to nutritious food, and increased earning capacity. Statistics show that more and more first-generation learners are now accessing education around the world, thus helping societies make more informed decisions and creating better standards of living.

When one person in a family has access to formal education, then employment, the whole community this person lives in benefits.

Who are first-generation learners?

A first-generation learner is defined as听someone whose parents did not obtain a higher secondary education. The journey that each first-generation learner goes through is unique, as they would have battled financial hardship, the absence of a mentor, or any kind of support to grasp more technical concepts.

It is often challenging for the average first-generation learner to have access to private education, top-class graduate schools, and thus, great workplaces. However, this uniqueness makes them an important demographic, as they have diverse thought processes and lived experiences; for these reasons, organizations should focus on them when it comes to hiring.

First-generation learners create opportunity

Often, organizations look at premium schools when hiring talent. However, it is important to be cognizant that this excludes a vast majority of the young talent that may be very bright but lack privilege and opportunity. Focused hiring of first-generation learners gives organizations an edge in terms of bringing in different thought processes and the ability to innovate.

One could argue that this is the next, deeper step to further diversifying the workforce.

However, hiring them is not just about the business case, but the larger picture 鈥� it鈥檚 the right thing to do. Giving employment opportunities to a first-generation learner means opening doors to a family 鈥� and then a larger community 鈥� to a better life. This act creates a ripple effect where more role models are created in the communities, which, in turn, inspires future generations to focus on education.

Setting up first-generation learners for organizational success

Just bringing this demographic into the workplace isn鈥檛 enough. The challenges posed by first-generation learners are multifold.听听in building an even playing field 鈥� this could be in the form of mentorship offered, training in communication, and social skills, to help them see a career progression and, consequently, a brighter future.

Communication skills and style are a particular concern, especially in multilingual countries. In India, it certainly is a challenge, as the language used for business communication is English, but it isn鈥檛 the first language for most Indians. Better English-speaking skills are directly proportionate to the socio-economic status of the family and, thus, the quality of education received. This alone sets back a lot of first-generation learners from attaining employment in large organizations.

The way forward for first-generation learners

The odds are stacked against first-generation learners, making it very difficult to make headway into formal workplaces 鈥� let alone climb the corporate ladder. Bringing in and retaining such talent may seem like a tall goal at first, but with the combined efforts of all teams, it can become a reality.

At a multigenerational, multicultural workplace like 抖阴成年, there are continued efforts to build a greater sense of inclusion and belongingness 鈥� and truly celebrate diversity. Focused and mindful hiring drives for first-generation learners have been going on at 抖阴成年 for the past few years, which ties to our purpose. We are not just a world-class organization, but one that informs the way forward and aims to set a new path for businesses across the globe to ensure that we build an equitable society where everyone thrives.

The change we seek starts with giving first-generation learners exactly what they need to succeed: a chance.

Some people are forced to stumble through the legal system without the legal information, advice, or representation needed to enforce their rights. They may miss work to file forms that are thrown out for being incorrect or incomplete. If they show up in court, they may be too intimidated to respond to opposing counsel’s arguments.

Or, they may forgo legal action completely because they find the system too overwhelming or expensive. These scenarios and others like them illustrate how difficult it is for many to find access to justice.

The access to justice gap

Access to justice describes the ability of any person to use the legal system to advocate for themselves and their interests. However, the legal system is extremely complex and can be difficult to navigate. For those unable to afford an attorney, access to the court system and the justice it can provide are limited. This justice gap is the difference between the legal needs of low-income individuals and the resources available to meet those needs.

The numbers tell a clear story about the importance of equal, meaningful access to legal representation and its role in ending poverty, combating discrimination, and creating opportunity.

In immigration cases, the听听found that among immigrants in New York who were released or never detained, 74% of represented immigrants had successful outcomes, compared to only 13% of unrepresented immigrants. The American Bar Association听听that when unaccompanied children are unrepresented at removal hearings, only 15% of the cases win legal relief, but if they have an attorney, over 73% can remain in this country.

In landlord-tenant cases, the听听reviewed studies on tenant representation and found that:

• In a Massachusetts project providing full representation to low-income tenants, 90% of closed cases resulted in positive outcomes, with 70% of tenants remaining in their homes and 20% having more time to find a place to live.
• In California, fully represented tenants stayed in their units three times as often as those receiving limited or no legal assistance.
• In Denver, Colorado, represented tenants remained in their homes 70%鈥�100% of the time, compared to 32% of unrepresented tenants.

The importance of legal pro bono

The number of people who need legal services is staggering. According to the Legal Services Corporation’s 2022 Justice Gap Study, low-income Americans do not get enough 鈥� or any 鈥� legal help for 92% of their substantial civil legal problems.

Pro bono plays an important role in filling this legal need. The term pro bono comes from the Latin pro bono public, which means “for the public good.” While the term generally indicates “the offering of free services,” for the legal profession it carries more significance. Pro bono is both a strategy and an opportunity to promote a justice system that is fair and accessible to everyone, regardless of their income or circumstances.

Many attorneys view pro bono as an ethical responsibility to meet the legal needs of underserved and vulnerable communities. Attorneys empower the disadvantaged by providing pro bono legal services directly to people in need and to the non-profit organizations that serve them, as well as through training and legal representation on larger policy issues that drive positive social change for marginalized groups.

In the 抖阴成年 Foundation’s听, 96% of respondents indicated their main justification for doing pro bono work was to give back to their communities. This motivation has led to increased pro bono activities in both law firms and corporate law departments. According to the听, in 2019 some 127 firms dedicated more than 4.9 million hours to pro bono work.

Legal pro bono is one part of the equation

Ultimately, however, pro bono is only one part of a larger, integrated solution to ensuring equal access to justice. There is also a critical need for properly funded legal aid and legal service organizations 鈥� and a more user-friendly and accessible court system with simplified legal processes and technology to make it easier for individuals to navigate the legal system on their own.

On top of that, advocacy organizations must continue their work to dismantle systemic inequities that negatively impact our most vulnerable populations 鈥� those living in poverty, people of color, women, immigrants, the elderly, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Learn more about how 抖阴成年听听globally.

From the climate emergency to deepening socio-economic inequalities, from surging threats to a free press, and the impact of technology on human rights 鈥� the intersecting crises affecting today鈥檚 societies are growing ever more acute.

The foundations of democracy are under siege. Global crises always hit the world鈥檚 most vulnerable first and hardest; inertia, ignorance, and instability threaten catastrophic long-term consequences for us all.

Interlinked global challenges

And whilst extreme weather impacts everyone, it does not impact everyone equally. It has forced an annual average of 21.5 million people from their homes since 2008, according to the听. A staggering 1.2 billion people will be displaced globally by 2050 due to climate change and natural disasters, as estimated by international think tank听.

Climate crisis and poverty are inextricably interlinked, with the consequences disproportionately affecting the young, the old, women, and the poor. Meanwhile, global efforts towards climate mitigation are also unfairly skewed, with poorer countries under pressure to cut carbon emissions without adequate support from richer nations. Yet the top 10% of emitters are responsible for close to听, of which North America is by far the biggest contributor.

Recent figures demonstrating widening global inequalities are equally as bleak. This year鈥檚 World Inequality Report documents that the poorest half of the global population possesses just 2% of global wealth. In contrast, the richest 10% of the global population owns 76% of all wealth. At the same time, progress towards balancing gender inequalities is extremely slow, with women鈥檚 share of total incomes from work, for example, having increased only 5% since 1990 to 35% 鈥� a far cry from the 50% that would signify gender parity in earnings worldwide.

Economic disruption exacerbated by the pandemic, the rising cost of living, the climate crisis, and large-scale migration are stalling efforts to redress global inequalities. And, in an increasingly divided and polarized world, another power imbalance is at play.

Journalism is under attack

Information has become an ever-more-valuable currency, with a land grab by those desperate to control it. This is being played out by the surging threats to a free press around the world, hindering the flow of accurate, trusted, and independent information to those who need it most.

Professional, public interest journalism saves lives. It can change the narrative around marginalized communities, it can educate and empower those vulnerable to disinformation and propaganda, it holds power to account; it is key to protecting our fundamental human rights. Yet the media freedom ecosystem is slowly being dismantled 鈥� from the onslaught of online abuse targeting women journalists to the weaponization of laws against media practitioners.

UNESCO鈥檚 recent听听of more than 900 women journalists in 125 countries found that 73% had experienced online violence. Individual trauma, discreditation, self-censorship, and the permanent shutdown of independent reporting have become the latest casualties in the war on press freedom.

Meanwhile, 鈥渇ake news鈥� and disinformation laws continue to be used as a smokescreen to crack down on media freedom, as illustrated most recently by Russia鈥檚 newly strengthened听听which criminalize those who disseminate 鈥渇alse information鈥� about the Russian army with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

In tandem, there has been a rise in the use of a wider range of laws to silence a free press. Dubbed 鈥溾�澨齜y human rights barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who acts for Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, this form of harassment sees journalists facing legal threats ranging from fraud to corruption to breaches of copyright. Gallagher says a new tactic is to hit journalists with a slew of lawsuits simultaneously, forcing them to fight on multiple fronts. This leaves them unable to carry out their work, scrambling to source specialist legal support, and more vulnerable to the effects of smear campaigns.

So, how do we meet such complex and interrelated challenges head on?

Affecting change with the media and the law

Agility, innovation, and collaboration are key. These characteristics underpin the work of the 抖阴成年 Foundation. This year alone, from developing a pioneering听听for journalists听to launching听,听a news platform听that covers the human impact of climate change, emerging technology, and the drive towards inclusive economies, our combined expertise 鈥� channeled where it can impact most 鈥� is what powers our work.

In using the twin engines of the media and the law, the Foundation鈥檚 news reporting, media development, free legal assistance, and convening initiatives affect change in three core areas: fostering more inclusive economies, advancing media freedom, and promoting human rights. All of our work is propelled by the belief that societies should be free, fair, and informed. We work with legal practitioners, civil society, policy makers, media organisations, journalists, and the private sector.

The Foundation has a legacy of convening these global players to achieve social impact. It is what drives our annual human rights forum听听鈥� held this year in London on October 26 and 27 鈥� dedicated to tackling the gravest issues of our time at the intersection of socio-economic inclusion, sustainability, media freedom, and human rights. The conference will bring together some 600 delegates, including world-leading experts, innovators, and activists at the forefront of global efforts to build inclusive and sustainable economies, free and equitable societies, and fair institutions.

Trust Conference schedule

The first day of the forum will focus on the surging threats to media freedom and digital rights. A mixture of keynote speeches, panel discussions, fireside chats, and spotlighted speakers will cover a range of topics 鈥� highlighting some of the most听听in the world, addressing the legal trends hampering media freedom, and the role of bitcoin in supporting the sustainability of journalism, to name a few.

We鈥檒l also be discussing whether the Cambridge Analytica scandal could happen again, the ethical implications of AI developments, and we鈥檒l be hearing from our colleague Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on her new-found freedom and insights into her harrowing experiences as a victim of political conflict.

The second day addresses the need to build more inclusive and sustainable economies at a time when global inequalities are deepening. We will explore topics such as overcoming barriers to switching to green economies, labor rights, gender equality and economic empowerment, how sustainable development strategies can effectively tackle persistent inequality, and how to incentivize businesses to embed social issues into corporate and investment practices.

Our incredible lineup of speakers includes:

• Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Laureate
• Editor-in Chief Novaya Gazeta
• Vanessa Nakate, Climate Activist
• Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO
• Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam
• Mark Malloch-Brown, President, Open Society Foundations
• Christiane Amanpour CBE, CNN鈥檚 Chief International Correspondent
• Irene Khan, United Nations鈥� Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
• Brittany Kaiser, Co-founder of Own Your Data Foundation
• Katica Roy, Chief Executive Officer of Pipeline Equity

The only way to achieve progress towards equality and sustainability around the world is through a unified response that leaves no one behind. We need to coalesce, collaborate, and commit to action rather than words.

This is at the heart of the conference 鈥� and it is also at the heart of driving social change. Join us on the journey.