Beyond the headline numbers and big-picture achievements that partnerships create, the smaller stories of specific collaborations reveal the depth and breadth of our partnerships’ impact on campus. The following spotlights give a taste of what this impact looks like on the ground.
Will AI Be Humanity’s Last Act?
Berkeley is especially powerful when it takes its intellectual firepower to the public. When stakeholders collaborate to deliver the message, the impact is even greater. PepsiCo sponsored a great, and timely event along these lines, professor Stuart Russell’s informal conversation on AI, co-hosted by the Cal Alumni Association and BAMPFA. “Will AI Be Humanity’s Last Act” offered plain-language context for the potential and perils of a technology that captivated the public’s imagination, and anxiety, last spring.
Powerful Projects
Berkeley leveraged more than $25,000 in dedicated PepsiCo sustainability funding to accelerate green initiatives that further the university’s push to zero waste and zero emissions. In FY24 the funding subsidized purchases of recycling and compost bins, farm equipment, and scooter parking infrastructure for projects led by, respectively, Cal Performances and Cal Zero Waste, Housing & Dining Sustainability, and Parking and Transportation. The impacts of these projects will be felt immediately and into the future, as the university better sorts its waste, produces fresher, and more local, food, and travels more efficiently to and from campus.
The NOW Conference
Employees love career development opportunities, particularly when they’re timely and easy to access. People & Culture’s NOW (Next Opportunity at Work) Conference has become a “thing” on campus for these very reasons, with registrations for in-person versions filling in minutes. PepsiCo’s support helped to fuel the enthusiasm for NOW 24, which reached more than 1,400 attendees at 17 UC locations, with an astounding 98% of attendees finding value in the event, and 97% saying they would encourage colleagues to attend future versions.