Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
Shareholder pressure leads to right-to-repair evaluation at major tech company
The EU and the UK have both recently expanded right to repair laws aimed at reducing e-waste and saving customers money. As this movement gains popularity, Microsoft shareholders have successfully pressured the company into expanding the repairability of its goods. Although the US has limited Read More...
Ethnic studies to become high school graduation requirement in California
California high school students graduating in 2030 or later will be required to take at least one semester of an ethnic studies course. Legislation mandating the new graduation requirement was signed into law last week, following similar policies in Los Angeles Unified and Fresno Unified school Read More...
Refugees in Cameroon turn desert camp into a lush forest
In 2014, thousands of refugees who were fleeing the violence linked to militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria came to Minawao, Cameroon, a desert region badly affected by climate change. Since 2014, almost 70,000 refugees had made the space their home, cutting down the last standing trees to support Read More...
New policy reduces climate misinformation on popular video platform
A 2020 report by Avaaz, a US not-for-profit organization focused on issues such as climate change, blamed YouTube for “incentivizing this climate misinformation content via its monetization program.” In response, Google is finally banning ads, YouTube videos, and other content that preaches Read More...
“The Gathering Basket” is a growing collection of Indigenous recipes
Yucca, three-leaf sumac and chiltepin are all staple ingredients in Indigenous recipes, but the rich history of Indigenous cooking is often forgotten or overlooked, especially in Western kitchens. To highlight Indigenous recipes, ingredients, and chefs, Indigenous chef organization I-Collective, Read More...
Lego works to remove gender biases in its toys
The Lego Group, the world’s largest toymaker, now has promised to remove gender bias from its products. According to the company’s chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin, they have been “working hard to make Lego more inclusive,” and that they want “to encourage boys and girls Read More...
Nobel prize awarded for work demonstrating benefits of raising minimum wage
US-based economist David Card is one of this year’s recipients of the Nobel prize for economics, awarded for his work which helps answer one of the field’s most contested ideas surrounding minimum wage. Card is Canadian born but based at the University of California, Berkeley. So what Read More...
5 Ways digital nomads can cultivate a sense of home while on the road
Digital nomadhood has been on the rise since before the pandemic, which only accelerated the shift from working in traditional offices to location-independent remote work that relies only on a good internet connection. As we adapt to the Covid-19 virus, remote workers everywhere are likely Read More...
Cal State Los Angeles prison education program celebrates first graduates
Pitzer was the first college in the US to establish a bachelor’s degree program for incarcerated individuals, but while Pitzer allows students to participate in classes virtually from prison, Cal State Los Angeles' Prison B.A. Graduation Initiative is California’s first in-person bachelor’s Read More...
Belgium considers implementing a 4-day work week
We recently shared the results of the largest ever trial of a four-day working week in Iceland, which researchers hailed as an “overwhelming success." Now, inspired by those findings, Belgium is considering implementing the idea as part of a broader set of labor market reforms. According to Read More...