We all want to feel like we’re working toward a purpose, and there may be no better purpose than making the world a better place. Collectively, we have the ability to engage with our communities, serve as stewards of inclusion and take care of our earth for future generations.

The world expects that corporations will contribute in a major way to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Our vendors, customers, employees and prospects throughout the IT ecosystem want to do business with and work for companies that are making a positive impact. We’re up for the challenge.

When I joined TD SYNNEX in November, I saw tremendous potential to build a strong ESG presence within the company. Over the past five months, I’ve learned that our co-workers around the world are passionate about doing what it takes to make the world a better place. My work in these first few months has been about auditing, assessing and benchmarking where we’re at compared to other corporate responsibility efforts. Through these assessments, our global responsibility steering committee, a group of senior leaders within the business, and I have been able to set goals and milestones moving forward.

My goal in this role is to continue to build momentum and embed ESG in our company culture. Our shared values drive everything we do and we are in a great place to create a more inclusive and sustainable future. This week was a tremendous first step in announcing our commitments, priorities and goals for our ESG initiatives.

3… 2… 1…: The launch of our Corporate Citizenship Program

This week was an exciting one for TD SYNNEX. For the first time, we have introduced a corporate citizenship program that includes our ESG framework, which I will outline below, and a reinforcement of our commitment to philanthropic and community involvement. Before launching our corporate citizenship program, we partnered with an external firm to perform our first materiality assessment, which allowed us to look both internally and externally at what material issues are important to all of our stakeholders. These issues played a heavy role in our new ESG framework.

Environment: Greenhouse gas emissions and logistic deficiencies
TD SYNNEX has committed to the Science-Based Target initiative Business Ambition Pledge and in support of this TD SYNNEX has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. In addition to this we are incorporating circular economy principles into our product lifecycle management strategy, which will minimize waste.

Social: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Our influence on social responsibility is a grassroots effort that starts with our people. To build upon a strong history of promoting DEI within the company and our communities, we are aiming to increase the representation of people who identify as women to comprise 50 percent of our workforce and 40 percent of our leadership by 2030, as well as increasing underrepresented groups by 2025. In addition, TD SYNNEX will continue to grow its five Business Resource Groups (BRGs) which provide a collaborative environment to support the recruitment, retention, enablement and advancement of all co-workers, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, background or beliefs.

Governance: Data privacy and cybersecurity protection
While we have a strong history of corporate governance policies and principles, the new corporate citizenship program will be overseen by a steering committee comprised of cross-regional and cross-functional senior leaders, who will support our ESG strategy, meet with executive leaders and make regular amendments and updates as our ecosystem evolves.

From the experts: Investor Day ESG panel discussion

I was fortunate to be joined by Simon Leung, Rich Hume, Beth Simonetti and Jill Kermes for an ESG panel as part of our recent Investor Day live webcast. Throughout this panel, it was regularly noted that our co-workers have a passion for doing the right thing and empowering others to do the right thing. Creating a culture of corporate citizenship starts from within from those who want to be good corporate citizens.

Additional commentary:

• CEO Rich Hume commented on our summer interns, the Gen Z workforce of the future, and their deep insights, curiosity and interest in working for a company that is committed and focused on ESG principles.
• CHRO Beth Simonetti mentioned that DEI is a strong part of our workplace of the future and that embedding DEI principles into our culture starts with more awareness and resource groups.
• CVP of Corporate Communications Jill Kermes outlined our community involvement structure as an integrated company, prioritizing the digital divide, children and overall wellness.

I encourage you to watch the full panel discussion by registering for the on-demand replay of Investor Day. The ESG panel discussion can be accessed by clicking the tab in the table of contents or by scrolling to mark 97:52.

In action: How we’re already making an impact

Both the legacy Tech Data and legacy SYNNEX sides of the business very much have corporate citizenship as part of the culture; co-workers are passionate about making an impact in both big and small ways. Legacy charitable giving programs like Share the Magic are making a direct impact in our communities.

Recently, Tech Data Europe, a TD SYNNEX company, gifted co-workers with an adopted tree to be planted in Africa. In an effort we dubbed “Treedom,” 7,000 trees were donated to the Tech Data Future Dream Forest, one for each European co-worker. The full Treedom story is a great example of how a small idea can make a massive impact on our environment.

Sustainability, inclusion and community engagement are all journeys that a company embarks on. We’re thrilled to be on the right path with our journey and we will continue to be transparent in reporting on our progress.