XQ Institute is launching XQ: The Super School Project, a challenge to reimagine and design the next American high school. Harnessing the best of American ingenuity in cities and towns across the country, XQ aims to help spark a movement to rethink the American high school—an institution that was designed to meet the needs of the Industrial Revolution and hasn’t changed in more than a century.
“Our nation is radically different than it was 100 years ago. Nearly every aspect of our daily lives—from how we communicate to how we work and play—has changed dramatically,” said Laurene Powell Jobs, Chair of the board of XQ Institute. “But our high schools have stayed frozen in time. Together, we have an opportunity to help fuel a movement for students, to inspire great high schools, and even to rethink school itself. Our passion at XQ is to help educators everywhere foster students who are curious, engaged, and creative—armed with the new literacies, knowledge, and skills needed to thrive,” she added. “To do that, we must use our collective imagination.”
From the Model T to the Tesla and the switchboard to the smart phone—everything has changed except for how we prepare our kids for the future. XQ: The Super School Project is a rallying call to America to change the outdated model that has failed to prepare our students for the demands of the global economy, and an open call to every community to rethink high school for today and tomorrow. XQ Institute will provide a fund of $50 million to support at least five selected schools over the next five years. It will also partner with them to provide expert support and guidance to turn their ideas into real Super Schools that can inspire the country.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7611851-xq-institute-super-school-project/
Goodwill Industries International is teaming up with Sony Pictures Entertainment for the release of the animated film, Hotel Transylvania 2, to encourage people across the United States and Canada to do their Halloween shopping at Goodwill’s more than 3,000 stores or online at shopgoodwill.com®. Goodwill and Sony Pictures unite with the message, “Be Your Own Monster,” urging consumers to make Goodwill their Halloween Headquarters for creating unique, affordable costumes -- even costumes based on one of the movie’s characters, such as Dracula, Mavis or Frank. When costume seekers shop at Goodwill, they help people in their communities get job training, earn jobs and access other community-based services. Sony Pictures Animation’s “Hotel Transylvania 2” will be released in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 25, 2015.
The partnership includes a radio and television campaign, which will join the Goodwill brand with the world of “Hotel Transylvania 2.” Characters from the film are featured in the ads, encouraging people to shop at Goodwill for Halloween. There will also be partnership events in up to 50 markets across the nation. Shoppers can support Goodwill by making it their go-to Halloween destination, and the revenues from their purchases will help fund employment services in their local communities. Visit goodwill.org/Halloween to learn more about local partnership events, to generate costume ideas and more.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7057251-goodwill-sony-pictures-unemployment/
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-powered charity dedicated to funding childhood cancer research, announces its Kids Are Special: Let’s Treat Them That Way national campaign. Focused on celebrating kids and giving them the happy childhoods they deserve, the campaign highlights the need for finding treatments that are specifically designed for kids with cancer.
With this bold new initiative, St. Baldrick’s looks to change the narrative around pediatric cancers, by showing kids as their truest selves – fun-loving, carefree, refreshingly honest, and always a little goofy. St. Baldrick’s puts the emphasis back on kids, while disempowering the label of “cancer.” All communication is strategically designed to remind us all that as adults we have the power to give kids happy childhoods free from cancer by helping to fund the best research worldwide. The campaign includes TV, print, radio, digital, and billboard placements featuring real kids doing kid-like things; from playing with their food to getting caught with paint on their faces, all with the message: Kids Are Special: Let’s Treat Them That Way.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7610752-st-baldricks-kids-are-special/
Three of the Internet’s most beloved pets are teaming up to help the millions of cats and dogs in shelters and rescue groups across the country find loving homes. Fashion icon Toast Meets World, globally recognized pianist Keyboard Cat and life of the party Hamilton Pug are lending their star power to “Start A Story. Adopt,” a new public service advertising (PSA) campaign from The Shelter Pet Project, a collaborative effort between Maddie’s Fund®, The Humane Society of the United States and the Ad Council.
Toast Meets World, Keyboard Cat and Hamilton Pug receive millions of views, likes and shares on social media, but most people don’t know they were adopted. Created pro bono by J. Walter Thompson New York, these new PSAs share these pets’ unique stories, which all began in shelters and rescue groups, and highlight the special bonds between the pets and their families. Prospective owners are encouraged to visit TheShelterPetProject.org to learn more about the adoption process and search for adoptable pets at shelters and rescue groups near them. Adoption advocates are also encouraged to support the effort on social media by using the hashtag #StartAStoryAdopt to share stories of how their shelter pets changed their lives for the better and to encourage others to start their own stories by adopting an amazing shelter dog or cat today.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7747051-ad-council-shelter-pets-project/
According to a new survey from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Ad Council, one in three millennials (34 percent) ranked saving as their number one goal for the year – ahead of living a healthy lifestyle (20 percent), paying off debt (19 percent), and losing weight (14 percent). But while saving was a top priority, a majority of millennials attributed their lack of saving to impulse buying (65 percent).
For older millennials, those born between the early 1980’s and early 1990’s, saving is crucial as they work towards major milestones in their lives. When asked what they were saving money towards, respondents sought to secure their future by saving for an emergency fund (40 percent), saving for retirement (22 percent) or starting a family (15 percent). They also reported saving for larger purchases like a vacation (36 percent), a new house (27 percent), a car (26 percent), home improvements (20 percent), or a wedding (8 percent). To provide Americans aged 25 to 34 with the tips and tools to take control of their personal finances, AICPA and the Ad Council’s national advertising campaign, Feed the Pig, is continuing to collaborate with new partners to deliver this critical content in a relevant and engaging way.
“Many young adults think saving is impossible,” said Gregory Anton, CPA, CGMA, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission. “While low salaries and high debt levels can certainly be barriers to saving, the key is to create a budget and stick to it. Establishing a disciplined saving strategy early in life and avoiding missteps will reap substantial long-term dividends.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7790851-ad-council-feed-the-pig/
With the help of President George H.W. Bush, Bass Pro Shops and representatives of the States of Texas and Florida, RBFF and the George H.W. Bush Vamos a Pescar™ Education Fund has announced the very first grant donations to organizations bringing conservation, education and fishing and boating experiences to Hispanic families. A total of $50,000 in grants were awarded last week during a ceremony at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, TX.
The George H.W. Bush Vamos a Pescar™ Education Fund was founded by RBFF in 2014, with an initial $125,000 donation by Bass Pro Shops Founder and CEO Johnny Morris, in honor of President George H.W. Bush’s milestone 90th birthday. The mission of the Education Fund is to bring hands-on fishing and boating experiences, along with conservation activities, to Hispanic families across the United States. This event announces the first grants made in furtherance of this mission.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7806451-vamos-a-pescar-ghwb-fund/
ConnXus, a supplier diversity technology platform, today announced that it has closed $5 million in Series “A” funding, led by Techstars Ventures, Serious Change L.P. and Impact America Fund.
“This round of funding will significantly accelerate ConnXus’ long-term impact on generating sustainable and diverse supply chains,” said Rod Robinson, CEO and founder of ConnXus. “To date we’ve raised $10 million in investments, including participation from Techstars Ventures, CincyTech, Serious Change L.P., Impact America Fund, and several private angel investors.”
ConnXus’ cloud-based, supplier diversity sustainability dashboards open the door for procurement, supplier diversity, and supply chain professionals to access a wealth of global supply chain analytics. Robinson believes Techstars and the other investors are the right investors for the company to disrupt and add imperative value to the $10-billion supply chain and procurement software market.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7834951-connxus-five-million-series-a/
In 2011, PetSafe® brand launched its nationwide Bark for Your Park program to help communities build their own off-leash dog parks. In order to help even more communities this year, PetSafe brand is restructuring the contest into a grant-giving program and increasing the number of awards from five to 25.
“In the past five years, we’ve given away over $850,000 to communities to build dog parks of their own, but now we want to help communities during every stage of development,” said Tracy Mulder, marketing manager, PetSafe brand. “Our new Bark for Your Park program is expanding to not only help break ground on new parks, but also help fund maintenance and improvements for existing parks.”
Communities can submit a grant application now through June 30, 2016 on www.petsafe.net/barkforyourpark. The applications will be reviewed by an internal committee and PetSafe brand will award five new park grants valuing $25,000 each, 10 park makeover grants valuing $10,000 each, and 10 park maintenance grants valuing $5,000 each. This year’s award recipients will receive a combination of funds and commercial-grade dog park equipment from UltraSite, a PlayCore Company. The winning communities will be announced over a 5-week period during August through September.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7827752-petsafe-dogs-bark-for-your-park/
The Astana Economic Forum 2016 is to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan on May 25-26. The theme of the AEF - "New economic reality: diversification, innovation and knowledge economy" - is related to global changes in the world determined by the development of a new economic reality and a number of challenges in geopolitics, the economy and financial systems.
This year AEF is organized by the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, the “Economic Research Institute” JSC, and the "Economic Initiatives Fund of Kazakhstan" CF.
The Forum will host 20 events which are focused on four main subthemes: global economy, economic diversification, innovation and technology, and knowledge economy.
AEF 2016 expects 3,000 delegates, including renowned politicians, international economists, Nobel Prize winners, heads of international organizations and representatives of influential media to attend.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7847451-astana-economic-forum-new-economic-reality/
Planetary Resources, Inc., the asteroid mining company, announced today that it has secured US$21.1 million in Series A funding. The capital will be used to deploy and operate Ceres, an advanced Earth observation business that features the first commercial infrared and hyperspectral sensor platform to better understand and manage humanity’s natural resources. The funding was led by Bryan Johnson and the OS FUND; and joined by Idea Bulb Ventures; Tencant; Vast Ventures; Grishin Robotics; Conversion Capital; The Seraph Group; Space Angels Network, a syndication of investors from Angel.co; and Larry Page. Earth observation will be another aspect of Planetary Resources’ operations in addition to prospecting and mining asteroids.
Conceived from the company’s vision for the exploration and utilization of asteroid resources, Ceres will leverage Planetary Resources’ Arkyd spacecraft to deliver affordable, on-demand Earth intelligence of our natural resources on any spot on the planet. While typical satellite imagery provides only a picture, Ceres will provide actionable data with higher spectral resolutions – going beyond what the human eye can see – by measuring thermographic properties and detecting the composition of materials on Earth’s surface. The midwave-infrared sensor is the first ever commercial capability from space to offer thermographic mapping and night-imaging, and the hyperspectral sensor includes an unprecedented 40 color bands in the visible to near-infrared spectrum.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7847251-planetary-resources-ceres/
Soy consumption is up 14 percent since 2011,26 yet confusion lingers over soy’s role in everything from human health to food production. To clear up misperceptions, the United Soybean Board (USB) busts five common soy myths with science-backed facts on SoyConnection.com/soy-wisdom.
1) Eating soy does not increase breast cancer risk.
Clinical studies show soy isoflavone exposure does not adversely affect breast tissue as assessed by markers of breast cancer risk, such as breast cell proliferation.1–7 The American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society say that women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer can safely consume soyfoods. In fact, the World Cancer Research Fund International has identified a link between soy consumption and an improved survival of breast cancer patients.8-9
“Not only does evidence indicate soyfoods may benefit women with breast cancer, but consuming soy when young helps prevent the onset of this disease later in life27-30,” stated Mark Messina, Ph.D., who has dedicated the past 30 years to understanding the health effects of soyfoods.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7877951-united-soybean-board-top-soy-myths/
On Charity Day, The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund – in conjunction with Cantor Fitzgerald and its affiliate BGC Partners – commemorates our 658 colleagues and 61 Eurobrokers employees who perished on September 11, 2001.
Started by the Fund’s President and Co-Founder Edie Lutnick and with the ongoing support of Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, Charity Day is our Firm’s way of turning a tragic day into one that is dedicated to helping others in our community.
The Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund gives 100% of our global revenues on Charity Day to the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund and dozens of charities around the world. Last year’s Charity Day raised approximately $12 million for hundreds of charities. Since its inception, Charity Day has raised approximately $125 million globally.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7899331-cantor-fitzgerald-bgc-partners-charity-day/
