Around the Table: Symetra, Boeing, Alaska Airlines, bp, Microsoft, Fred Hutch, & Kaiser Permanente WA

Giving back to the community

Symetra was recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal as a 2021 Corporate Champion for its support of United Way of King County’s “Bridge to Finish” initiative and the “Care & Feeding” initiative.

Improving sustainability

Boeing and Alaska Airlines are partnering on the latest Boeing ecoDemonstrator program and will flight test advanced technologies to cut emissions, reduce noise, and recycle carbon composites. bp reached an agreement to purchase 9GW of solar development projects that will grow its renewables pipeline from 14GW to 23GW.

Reporting progress on racial equity initiatives

Microsoft released its Racial Equity Initiative: Strenghtening Our Communities report that focuses on justice reform, affordable broadband, skills and education, and nonprofit empowerment. Fred Hutch released its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Annual Report that includes work that has been accomplished related to research, workforce development, workplace climate and training, and community relations.

Contributing to COVID vaccination efforts

Kaiser Permanente Washington will take part in a webinar about the COVID-19 vaccines and children, and its experts are offering advice to people who are concerned about the vaccines.

Around the Table: Seattle Kraken, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, PNNL, McKinstry, Avista, & more

Contributing to COVID vaccination efforts

Seattle Kraken partnered with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and the Washington Department of Health to offer a pop-up clinic that provided COVID-19 vaccines.

Giving back to communities

Battelle, which manages and operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, donated $40,000 to the 3 Rivers Community Foundation. Multiple Tri-Cities nonprofits received COVID-19 response grants from the foundation.

Addressing environmental challenges

In April, McKinstry and partners convened a roundtable discussion about how business is taking action to address climate change, with more than 30 executives from Pacific Northwest companies, including Avista, Amazon, and Microsoft. In April, Avista announced its goal to reduce emissions for natural gas. Avista’s goals include being carbon neutral by 2045 and a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emission by 2030. Microsoft has joined the Green Software Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at reducing software-related carbon emissions.

Looking to the future

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci recently discussed the future of air travel with NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. They also discussed Alaska Airlines’ pilot pathway program and the aircraft that symbolizes the company’s commitment to education and advancing racial equality.