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CEO Jeff Jones Announces Measurable Actions and Commitments by H&R Block to Help Create a More Inclusive and Sustainable Economy

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) announced today that Jeff Jones, president and chief executive officer, has joined the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. The Council is a global nonprofit organization that joins moral and market imperatives to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted economic system.

“At H&R Block, inclusivity and belonging are at the heart of our purpose: to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere," said Jeff Jones. “I look forward to joining this diverse group of leaders, who share a commitment to helping address social and environmental challenges across industries as a key element of corporate strategy.”

The Council for Inclusive Capitalism is rooted in action. Upon joining, Council members commit their organizations to measurable and meaningful acts to create equality of opportunity, equitable outcomes, and fairness across generations and to those whose circumstances prevent them from full participation in the economy.

“I am thrilled to welcome Jeff Jones to the Council and look forward to working with him as he and H&R Block take the necessary actions to help ensure a better future for us all,” said Meredith Sumpter, CEO of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. “Whether you run a small business, a mid-sized company, or a global corporation, we all have a role to play to build more inclusive economies and societies.”

H&R Block’s commitments to support a more-inclusive economy include:

• Providing tools to help improve financial health with the recent launch of the Spruce mobile banking platform.
• Working to Make Every Block Better through 1 million volunteer hours by associates by 2025, impacting 500 communities across all 50 states.
• Offering equitable and comprehensive benefits that will help their associates plan for the health and security of their families.
• Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment and reporting on progress on an annual basis.
• Reducing carbon emissions and implementing sustainable business practices in-line with established benchmarks or best practices.
• Providing resources and support to 500,000 small business owners by 2025, with 15% being small business owners of color.

The Council was launched in December 2020 with the belief that businesses have a responsibility and the capability to create stronger, fairer, and more dynamic economies and societies. Council membership is open to all companies and organizations who are willing to make measurable, public commitments toward more inclusive and sustainable business practices. See the full list of Council members here.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation services, financial products, and small-business solutions. The company blends digital innovation with human expertise and care as it helps people get the best outcome at tax time and also be better with money using its mobile banking app, Spruce. Through Block Advisors and Wave, the company helps small-business owners thrive with innovative products like Wave Money, a small-business banking and bookkeeping solution, and the only business bank account to manage bookkeeping automatically. For more information, visit H&R Block News or follow @HRBlockNews on Twitter.

About the Council for Inclusive Capitalism

The Council for Inclusive Capitalism is a global nonprofit organization established to harness the potential of the private sector to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted form of capitalism. The Council is guided by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and is led by a core group of global CEOs and public leaders who convene annually to advance the Council’s mission. Further information can be found at www.inclusivecapitalism.com.

CONTACT: Council for Inclusive Capitalism media contact:
Amanda Byrd
Director of Communications
Amanda@inclusivecapitalism.com


H&R Block media contact:
Angela Davied
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Angela.davied@hrblock.com


H&R Block Investor Relations: 
Michaella Gallina
Vice President, Investor Relations 
Michaella.gallina@hrblock.com

NEW YORK, May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP), a global private markets investment firm, today released its annual Environmental, Social & Governance (“ESG”), Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”), and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (“DEI”) reports.

“Our ESG report, Taking the Long View, addresses our corporate ESG strategy and commitment to responsible investment practices across all asset classes, including private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate, and investment strategies including primary funds, secondaries and co-investments,” said Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment at StepStone. “Our ESG and TCFD reports represent another step forward as we maintain engagement with our stakeholders and benchmark our progress.”

The ESG report contains within it StepStone’s DEI report addressing the firm’s DEI programs and progress. The firm’s TCFD report details the company’s climate-related initiatives and proactive steps toward improving climate-related performance.

Highlights of the reports include:

• Climate Commitment: StepStone is a carbon neutral company and is committed to maintaining its carbon neutral status.
  
  
• DEI Initiatives and Progress: StepStone is proud of the progress it made in 2021, with 37% of new hires being women, and 34% being ethnically or racially diverse. As of January 2022, female partners made up 19% of the partnership, an increase of 58% from 2019. Similarly, 15% of all partners were racially or ethnically diverse, growing 67% over this same period.
  
  
• Responsible Investment: ESG due diligence is integrated into all our investment processes. As a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, a supporter of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, and a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Alliance, StepStone seeks to align its processes with these responsible investing frameworks. Further, StepStone has over $12 billion in allocations across its platform categorized as impact and thematic investments, with an additional $22 billion committed to diverse private equity managers.
  

“ESG, DEI and climate-related initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in decision making among private markets participants,” said Scott Hart, Partner and CEO at StepStone. “As we have done throughout our history, StepStone will seek to be best-in-class in these areas. These reports serve as both a testament to what we have already achieved and a baseline from which to work as we look forward.”

StepStone’s 2021 ESG report, TCFD report and DEI report are available on the Company’s Shareholder Relations website.

About StepStone

StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of December 31, 2021, StepStone oversaw approximately $548 billion of private markets allocations, including $127 billion of assets under management. StepStone's clients include some of the world's largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.

Contacts

Shareholder Relations:
Seth Weiss
shareholders@stepstonegroup.com
1-212-351-6106

Media:
Brian Ruby / Chris Gillick, ICR
StepStonePR@icrinc.com 
1-203-682-8268

STAMFORD, Conn., May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLE) (“Eagle Bulk”, “Eagle”, or the “Company”), one of the world’s largest owner-operators within the midsize drybulk segment, today announced the publication of its third annual Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Sustainability Report.

The report, which has been prepared in accordance with the Marine Transportation Framework established by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), provides an overview of Eagle’s strategic priorities and performance with respect to various environmental, social, and governance-related matters.

Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO, commented, “Eagle Bulk advanced a number of important ESG-related initiatives in 2021, which are detailed in our report. We have embedded these initiatives across our company, as demonstrated by the sustainability-linked targets included in the new credit facility we entered into during the fourth quarter of 2021, which allow the Company to decrease its interest rate margin, subject to meeting fleet energy efficiency targets and making investments in decarbonization initiatives. I’m pleased to report that we have met these targets for 2021 and will benefit from a decrease in our margin starting this June, which will step down to 210 basis points over 3-month LIBOR.   Additionally, we improved our fuel efficiency profile by adding nine modern vessels to our fleet and completed our first ever sustainable biofuel voyage, sailing the M/V Sydney Eagle across the Atlantic and reducing the vessel’s net well-to-wake CO2 emissions by ~90% during the voyage.

From a Social perspective, our top priority has been to ensure the health and safety of our employees, both onshore and onboard our vessels. COVID-19 continued to impact our business in 2021. We have had some colleagues deal with illness personally, while others had to cater to family being impacted at home.

More recently, the tragic events taking place in Ukraine have significantly impacted our Ukrainian seafarers, and we are doing what we can to ensure their safety and well-being by providing assistance with temporary housing, transportation, and other needs.”

Eagle’s ESG Sustainability Report can be accessed on the Company’s website at www.eagleships.com/ESG.

CONTACT

Company Contact:
Frank De Costanzo
Chief Financial Officer
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.
Tel. +1 203-276-8100
Email: investor@eagleships.com

Media:
Rose and Company
Tel. +1 212-359-2228

PHOENIX, May 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (Nasdaq: SFM) today published its 2021 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting the healthy grocer’s ongoing progress in growing its business sustainably and responsibly.

"I’m very pleased with the meaningful achievements we made on our ESG initiatives in 2021,” said Jack Sinclair, chief executive officer of Sprouts Farmers Market. “Our accomplishments reinforce the commitment of our 31,000 purpose-driven team members in caring for each other, our customers, communities, and the planet. We look forward to continuing our progress in the years ahead as we execute on our long-term growth strategy that is rooted in ESG.”

Highlights from the 2021 ESG Report include:

Environment

Climate

• Reduced carbon emissions per square foot by nearly 10% from 2019
• Averted 49,000 MTCO₂e through food recovery programs

Waste

• Achieved an overall landfill diversion rate of 60% by repurposing and recycling 79,000 tons of food and other recyclables
• Recovered 78% of food waste generated and donated the equivalent of 26 million meals to help those struggling with hunger
• Recycled 500 tons of plastic film from customer and in-store use

Sourcing

• Sold $2.7 billion of products with a social or environmental attribute
• Committed to improving chicken welfare by providing environmental enrichments by 2024, reduced stocking density by 2025, and more humane processing through controlled-atmosphere stunning by 2026

Social

Team Member Development and Wellness

• Created 1,300 new jobs and promoted 22% of our team members of which 54% are female and 49% are racially/ethnically diverse
• Delivered 585,000 hours of in-store training
• Reduced worker safety claims by 22% from the prior year

Community

• Awarded $3 million to programs supporting youth nutrition education and food systems equity through the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation
• 70,000 children enrolled in Sprouts-funded nutrition education programs

Governance

Corporate Governance

• 86% of Sprouts’ board members are independent
• 29% of Sprouts’ board members are female and 14% are ethnically diverse

Risk Management and Cybersecurity

• Formed a board-level Risk Committee to monitor enterprise risk management program and provide oversight of risks related to cybersecurity, critical systems, and environmental and social matters, among others
• Experienced no cybersecurity or data privacy events in 2021

Sprouts has again published a table summary that aligns with the Food Retailers & Distributors industry standards of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) on its Investor Relations page located at investors.sprouts.com.

Corporate Profile

Sprouts is the place where goodness grows. True to its farm-stand heritage, Sprouts offers a unique grocery experience featuring an open layout with fresh produce at the heart of the store. Sprouts inspires wellness naturally with a carefully curated assortment of better-for-you products paired with purpose-driven people. The healthy grocer continues to bring the latest in wholesome, innovative products made with lifestyle-friendly ingredients such as organic, plant-based and gluten-free. Headquartered in Phoenix, and one of the largest and fastest growing specialty retailers of fresh, natural and organic food in the United States, Sprouts employs approximately 31,000 team members and operates approximately 380 stores in 23 states nationwide. To learn more about Sprouts, and the good it brings communities, visit about.sprouts.com.

Source: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc
Phoenix, AZ
5/4/22

Investor Contact:	Media Contact:
Susannah Livingston	media@sprouts.com
(602) 682-1584
susannahlivingston@sprouts.com