During 2007, we made a number of changes to further strengthen our sustainability governance structure.
A new senior level EHS Compliance and Sustainability Committee (C&SC) was formed with membership by senior leaders from across Genentech's business functions. Our previous Sustainability Steering Committee was disbanded and its activities have been incorporated into the C&SC. The C&SC meets regularly throughout the year and oversees EHS Compliance and Sustainability Program activities and effectiveness. The C&SC also provides strategic guidance, review and approval of Genentech EHS compliance and sustainability strategy, goals, work plans and reports. The C&SC reports periodically on its activities to Genentech's Chief Compliance Officer, who is also a member of Genentech's Executive Committee.
Reporting in to the C&SC are several issue-based working groups, including the Environmental Sustainability Team (EST). The EST comprises managers from various Genentech business functions and is chaired by the Director of Design Engineering. The team's mission is to help promote and maintain a culture of sustainability within Genentech and specifically to help ensure that Genentech manages natural resources in an efficient and sustainable manner. The team has a range of responsibilities, including proposing revisions to the company's sustainability goals for C&SC approval, identifying opportunities to integrate sustainability into Genentech's business processes, establishing appropriate metrics and monitoring performance. The team periodically reports to senior management via the C&SC on the effectiveness of Genentech's sustainability program.
Our Green Genes employee group provides a means for any Genentech employee to become actively involved in our sustainability efforts. Green Genes was founded in 2003 and now boasts nearly 500 members. During 2007, we initiated a number of steps to further strengthen the ability of Green Genes to actively participate in sustainability decision-making and added the Green Genes leader as a member of the EST. At the end of 2007, we designed a web based system to allow all Genentech employees to submit their sustainability ideas for evaluation within the sustainability governance structure.