Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

Published on 05.07.2017 15h38 by Journal du Cameroun

The mantra

One of the most turbulent distractions to mainstream global issues is perhaps, youth radicalization and extremism. The deleterious effects of climate change and natural disasters have increased unsustainable socioeconomic practices. Unfortunately, global and local actors seem to misunderstand the potential and actual motivations surrounding this emerging phenomenon. The mantra of hunger and unemployment is dominating local and international debates on the question. But there is apparently more to the question of radicalization and extremism, in relation to hunger and youths unemployment, than it reaches mainstream understanding.

There is global awe about a suddenly obvious proliferation of youth subscription into insurgent activities often propelled by extremist ideologies. That is a known fact. Vis--vis present demographic transitions, there is an ever rising trend of misguided population movements from rural peripheries into urban metropolis leading to alarmingly loud concentration of desperate youths in city centres especially in Africa. To that effect, it is ever more imperative to identify the vulnerabilities upon which youth radicalization and extremism lies. The complications get even worse when we try to answer the question why youths are increasingly being agents of destruction instead of being productive members of their communities.

Different narratives

These trends have provoked several narratives from different development angels. But whether these narratives exist in cluster or not, the question at stake is as we feel the impacts of Boko haram insurgents in North East Nigeria and Far North of Cameroon, Alshabaab insurgents in almost all of Somalia including Kenya and beyond, and the Tuareg insurgent groups in Mali who are just about to completely retreat into the deserts, are these narratives based on old thinking or do they offer new thinking, new forms of measurement and research into the root causes of why youths are increasingly being radicalized and mobilized into extreme groups.

Much has been argued about tackling the unemployment crises that is keeping many youth idle and leaving them vulnerable as destructive agents rather than constructive ones. Other arguments have emerged about the question of alleviating youth poverty as a critical step to mitigating exposure of youths to radicalization through extremist groups. These assumptions are good, but it remains to be seen if the discussion will in fact lead to more research and a greater focus on evidence-based approaches tackling the root causes of the issues.Development efforts have often been driven by assumptions and not evidence, said Keith Proctor, a senior policy researcher atMercy Corps. In a summit held a few years ago at the White House about countering violent extremism, the U.S. government signaled that it was going to look with greater sophistication at the root causes of violence.

The causes of violence

There is no doubt that the narrative often held that poverty and unemployment were the primary motivators of violent extremism, but the factors that lead youths to become radicalized are much more complex. While not the crucial factor, jobs remain important, in part because unemployment, or underemployment, is illustrative of a number of other challenges. What about when youths perceive that they are shut out of important decisions and opportunities?Too often than not, during critical stages in youths lives, social and political exclusion can lead them to a point of anguish or hopelessness.

What were seeing is that its not just about jobs, its a broader marginalization, said Nicole Goldin, director of the Youth, Prosperity and Security Initiative at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies. As many misleading researches continue to Solutions must be genericlive on the old thinking, governments and stakeholders must be clear its not poverty alone that is leading youths into radicalization and extremism because while the vast majority of young Africans for the past half a century live in poverty and most of them are unemployed most of them are also very peaceful. In spite of the acknowledged exploitation of young people as canon fodders, the question of youths not finding identity, purpose and value in society is as important as any critical push factor. However, in all analysis than exist, it is hard to find any that is more important than the other.

Creating holistic approaches

African leaders from local and national levels are crisscrossing around the world looking for solutions to increasing violent conflicts resulting from increased involvement of young people into radicalized extreme groups. That is a sign of false hope. The push factors are self inflicted and solutions must be generic. Apart from push factors, pull factors such as personal rewards associated with membership of a radical group that offers economic gains than the governments does,that adds to ones fame and glory, and provides personal empowerment by owning a few dollars to buy a cell phone or appeal from religious ideology are critical inducements but relegated.

Often neglected are push factors such as corruption, weak governance to drive inclusive growth, lack of rule of law and social justice to address grievances, lack of social inclusion, grievances, a broader lack of opportunities that empower young people perceived marginalization. Disenfranchisement, government corruption, ethnic divisions and exposure to violence are all critical factors,said Proctor from Mercy Corps.

Any effective aversionofthis state of affairs in Africa particularly requires broad based understanding of the push and pull factors. Addressing the question of corruption as it affects the marginalized and disenfranchised groups in society is critical. Creating holistic approaches to identify critical incentives to radicalization and extremism, and developing comprehensive programs that include youths at all level particularly the question of making them to feel a sense of identity, purpose and value, and creating space where they become productive other than being destructive members of the community. This is the task that should keep our government officials waking up early in the morning and sleeping late into the night. It is the task we all should be behind.

Being a COP 23-Column of Era Environment by Tabi Joda

Tabi H. Joda is an entrepreneur, a youth activist from Cameroon and Nigeria. With a considerable working experience: he worked and still works with UN System, UN MDG, World Bank, NOWEI, MILDAS, FIFA etc. He has a Tertiary education in International Studies, Business Management and Information Technology, Development, Environmental Sustainability and Climate change. He is Multilingual and speaks English, French, Arabic, German, Hausa and Fulfulde. Since 2015, he has launched an initiative called plant a tree today to avert climate change.

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Addressing youth radicalization and extremism beyond hunger,unemploy't - Journalducameroun.com - English - (press release) (registration)

Jason Isbell wasnt afraid.

Not afraid to stand on stage and sing a raw love song about his wife as she stood by him. Not afraid to let the attention rest on his songs and therefore his most personal thoughts. Not afraid to bust into wildly flaring guitar solos, dueling with his bandmates. Not afraid to hit the big notes. Not afraid to reach deep into his catalog.

In front of 1,600 at SumTur Amphitheater on Wednesday, the country, rock and folk singer-songwriter worked through nearly two hours of music that featured the raw Cover Me Up, the blistering rock of Decoration Day or the empowerment of White Mans World.

Through his last three solo albums, Isbell has proved himself one of the best songwriters of a generation.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Songs are about families and feuds, old cars and new guitars and breakups and bad nights. They contain parental advice, stories about sobering up, memories of finding your place in the world and tales of breaking promises, sometimes to yourself.

Its real life stuff, which is why its so good.

And its all presented with a smooth voiced tinged with a slight Southern twang and some fine players, most of them from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is home to the favorite recording studios of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Isbells onetime band, the Drive-By Truckers.

Isbells set started with two songs from his latest album, The Nashville Sound, including the personal song Anxiety and then the rocking Hope the High Road, in which he says hes sick of singing about himself.

And thats Isbells catalog: Songs about his innermost thoughts and journey to get sober and be a good husband and father as well as stories about feuds, ruminations on the state of the world and stories about old cars.

Isbell played songs he wrote that were recorded by the Drive-By Truckers as well as a host of material from his latest three records.

Fans were glued to it all, but were especially appreciative of guitar jams such as Flying Over Water, Stockholm, Codeine and a cover of the Allman Brothers Whipping Post.

Isbell was joined by his band, the 400 Unit, which on Wednesday included his wife, vocalist and fiddler Amanda Shires. Isbell and Shires shared a lot of looks during the set, especially on songs explicitly about their relationship.

Shires stood next to Isbell as he strummed his signature song, Cover Me Up. About their budding relationship and his sobriety, the song saw the otherwise noisy amphitheater crowd grow silent as Isbells aching, powerful voice rang out into the night.

Eventually, Shires fiddle joined him to hold the sound until the entire band joined in to finish out the beautiful song.

Fans stood and cheered afterward, causing Isbell to stop for a moment and address them.

What a great bunch of people you are. Thank you so much for treating us so well, he said. What a great place. This is a wonderful spot for a show. Isbell went on to talk about his love of Omaha in particular.

This is a really great music town, he said. Its always exciting for us to come play music here. A lot of really wonderful songwriters and musicians have come from this part of the country, and we got a lot of friends here. Thank yall so much for being so kick-ass.

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With personal songs, Jason Isbell brings intimacy to amphitheater - Omaha World-Herald

Mikhail Karikis Love Is the Institution of Revolution July 1October 15, 2017

Casino Luxembourg Forum dart contemporain 41 Rue Notre Dame L-2240 Luxembourg

http://www.casino-luxembourg.lu Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Mikhail Karikiss practice embraces moving image, sound, performance, and other media, and emerges from his long-standing investigation of the voice as a sculptural material and a political agent. His works explore the energies that create collectivist dynamics, and are intended to resonate with peoples economic, cultural, psychological, and moral circumstances. He often collaborates with communities to orchestrate performances to film, in order to highlight alternative modes of human existence.

Love Is the Institution of Revolution features two projects by Karikis: Children of Unquiet (201315) and Aint Got No Fear (201617). Both focus on the voices of post-millennials and their visions of their own future in the wake of rapid deindustrialization in the West, specifically in Europe, and legacies of crises (from environmental to financial) inherited from the current power-holding classes.

Children of Unquiet takes place in the Devils Valley in Tuscany, Italy. This is the very location where sustainable energy production was invented a century ago, and where the first geothermal power station in the world was built. Until recently, five thousand workers and their families lived there in a group of villages designed by the architect Giovanni Michelucci. Following the introduction of automated and remote operation technologies, unemployment increased and prospects for the young became limited, resulting in rapid depopulationeven the abandonment of entire villages.

The centerpiece of Children of Unquiet is Karikiss film of the same title, which he produced in collaboration with 45 children from the region. The film orchestrates their takeover of a deserted village. Youngsters five to 12 years old burst into the eerie, depopulated site and nearby scorching, vaporous wasteland and turn it into a playground. They read about love, work, and the productivity manifested by insects, and sing along with the Earths roaring geothermal sounds and the incessant hum of factory drones that form the soundscape of their childhood.

For Aint Got No Fear, Karikis worked with teenagers who live in Grain, a remote industrial corner of southeast England. In response to the isolation of their village, and the consequent lack of places and opportunities to express themselves, they organized raves in a local forest, which were raided by the police.

Using as their beat the persistent crushing noises from the demolition of a nearby power plant, boys of eleven to thirteen years sing a rap song they wrote about their lives, in which they recall memories of their youth and imagine their future in general and old age in particular. Reminiscent of a grime video, the film offers glimpses into teenage experiences on the edges of urbanity, following the youths to their secret underground hideaways in disused military tunnels and capturing their rackety reclaiming of the site where the raves used to take place.

Children of Unquiet and Aint Got No Fear reveal ways in which youths reimagine industrial locations with a sense of spatial justice defined by friendship, collective agency, love, personal empowerment, and the thrill of subverting authority. By turns playful and meditative, spectacular and intimate, operatic and realist, these works resonatewith new waysof thinking about the destiny of territories scarred by industrial obsolescence, and hint at foreseeable or potential futures conjured up in the imaginationboth poetic and activistof the generation most affected by current social shifts.

Mikhail Karikis (b. Greece, 1975) lives and works in London. He has had recent solo shows at Carroll/Fletcher, London (2015-16) and The Gallery, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, UK (2015). Recent group shows include the British Art Show 8, various venues, UK (201517); the 19thBiennale of Sydney (2014);and Manifesta 9, Genk, Belgium (2012).

Love Is the Institution of Revolution is curated by Miguel Amado and Kevin Muhlen. The exhibition was initiated by Casino Luxembourg Forum dart contemporain and is organized in collaboration with Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK.

A short film about Mikhail Karikiss practice can be viewed online at CasinoChannel.

Press contact: Nadine Clemens, nadine.clemens [at] casino-luxembourg.lu

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Casino Luxembourg Forum d'art contemporain - E-Flux

09:43 Monday 03 July 2017

Putting customers in the driving seat will be increasing role of tech advances, writes Bill McDonald, MD for management consultancy Accenture in Scotland.

Just the way we watch the television shows how much empowerment of the individual has changed. And it speaks of the wider picture of how technology is no longer a take-it-or-leave-it template, but a bespoke service tailored to the individual.

Can you picture early television broadcasts? They were carefully scripted and delivered to present a highly curated programme, forcing us all to not only share the same worldview, but also to watch on the programme-makers terms.

READ MORE: Technology news

But the evolution of video has fundamentally changed both our view of the world and how we interact with it. In less than a century, weve moved to an online world with billions of viewpoints, coming from governments and businesses and more importantly from people, every one with a unique perspective. We now have a truly live culture where technologies like Periscope and Facebook Live mean anyone can broadcast what they want and tune in when they want on their terms.

It illustrates that the way we use technology today is to bend it to our own needs. Change may be endemic, but the key point is that we are now in control. Its no longer people who are adapting to technology rather, the technology is adapting to us.

In fact, every time an experience is personalised, or technology anticipates peoples needs and wants, we are being placed in the drivers seat to realise or satisfy those needs. In evolutionary terms, this is the technology age of human empowerment and it matters to business. With technology that truly responds to people, based on what they want, companies can evolve from being a supplier to become their customers partner.

London-based IntelligentX Brewing Company has developed an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system to continuously collect and incorporate customer feedback. It incorporates this into its thinking to brew new versions of the companys beers.

Our AI can have a conversation with all of our customers, and that gives us the feedback that allows our beer to evolve, says Rob McInerney, co-founder of IntelligentX. You can talk to the algorithm whenever or wherever youre drinking the beer.

His co-founder Hew Leith adds: Peoples tastes are changing faster than ever before And AI is the perfect way to respond.

This is how businesses will grow their role in peoples lives, and establish a place in the future of society: by being more than just a provider of products and services.

200 Voices: find out more about the people who have shaped Scotland

We could call it the hyper-personalisation of technology. And it can drive commercial success at the scale of entire industries, not just at the individual level. The digital leaders of the world are already making big calls in response.

Electronics giant Philips, for instance, is looking to transform healthcare to a connected, comprehensive experience thats both intertwined and accessible throughout peoples lives. Through apps and connected devices that integrate into peoples lives, it is possible for doctors and nurses to live alongside each patient, build a closer, more personal relationship, and provide comprehensive not just reactive care.

To patients, connected healthcare isnt an improvement because of the technology itself. The draw is the empowerment it gives individuals over their own health you only need to consider how wearable technologies are driving a tailored approach to personal fitness.

Meanwhile, companies like Philips are leading because their technology strategy focuses on the needs of the individual patient, on their terms.

As a business, therefore, becoming a true partner to people starts with technology. That said, the path ahead will have its challenges. These start with the matter of trust.

Barely one in two members of the public say they trust businesses to do whats right. Even fewer look on business leaders as credible sources of information. For people to value these new partnerships, companies must work to gain and keep trust.

One of the best ways to do this is by putting the power in the hands of customers, and that can be achieved by designing technology that works for them. That means an end to technology tools with power that is only unleashed when customers adapt to or learn to use them.

The good news is that technologys great new strength is in its growing humanity. Tools that interact with people, learn from those exchanges, and adapt for future interactions make the experience of using them all the more human.

To put these new adaptive technologies to use, businesses must adopt peoples goals as their own. Technology is an agent of change and now it can empower people in an interactive, collaborative way on each individuals own terms.

And when companies truly enable people to reach their goals, so will the companies themselves, contributing to the growth of society and the economy.

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Bill McDonald: Technology is now about empowering humans - The Scotsman

Robert Powell, Special for USA TODAY Published 7:00 a.m. ET July 5, 2017 | Updated 7:00 a.m. ET July 5, 2017

Many people think of their personal finances as something "cold" or analytical. Then they see those financial decisions outside of themselves and tend to avoid them.(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)

Making decisions about money isnt easy.

In fact, research suggests many people often neglect their personal finances, in part, because they feel those types of decisions are too "cold,"analytical, and unemotional for them, according to Jane Jeongin Park, a doctoral candidate University of Florida and co-author of Not My Type: Why Affective Decision-Makers Are Reluctant to Make Financial Decisions.

People feel that "financial decisions are 'not them,' "according to Parks, and her co-author Aner Sela, an associate professor at the University of Florida.

Given that, what might you do to make better decisions about their money?

Think outcome, not investment decision. Mentally re-frame financial activities in terms of desired life outcomes; lifestyle goals in retirement and dont think of them as financial investment decisions.

Why? "Because the term itself activates much of the negative baggage that is associated with financial decisions,"Park says.

Re-framing in this manner also reduces the tendency to avoid or delay such decisions.

Others agree with this tactic. "Re-frame the financial goal in terms of the outcome or emotional or personal meaning associated with an outcome,"says Ruth Lytton, director of the financial planning at Virginia Tech.

In their study, Park and Sela found that merely labeling a financial decision choosing annuities for retirement as "a decision about your life in retirement"instead of as "a decision about financial investments for retirement" dramatically decreased peoples tendency to avoid the task and the level of discomfort they experienced.

"This is something that people may also be able to do for themselves: namely, think about financial decisions in terms of the life outcomes they are supposed to serve, instead of focusing on their being 'financial,' "Park says.

Lytton shares this point of view. "Dont think about the annuity in terms of an investment but the satisfaction, reduction in stress, or benefit from 'regular'income that will support the goal of travel, golf, time with family, and the like,"Lytton says. In other words, focus on the 'end'result, not the interim of the research, ranking alternatives, decision making, and the like that may increase stress and lead to procrastination.

Focus on your vision. Motivation is what changes behavior, not knowledge. "Focus on your vision,"says Laura Mattia, the founder of the Womens Money Empowerment Network. "Put a picture of the house you want to buy on your computer or whatever it is that will motivate you and just keep working towards that goal. It may sound corny but it works like magic."

Be mindful."Realizing that ones subjective discomfort in the face of financial matters is simply a bias or an automatic association, and not an indication that one is unequipped to handle the decision itself, may encourage people to take action,"Park says.

How does it make you feel? Anyone that has tried to influence behavior knows that it is emotion that changes behavior, not intellect, says Mattia. "Investors should reframe their decisions in terms of howthey will make them feel in the long-run and how it will influence their lifestyle and their lives,"she says.

Lytton also says focusing on your feelings can help you make better financial decisions. Ask yourself: 'How will you feel'if, at 18, there are no savings to help your child attend college? How would you feel if there is money? What can you visualize?

"If the questions are phrased in a way to help (you) truly think and identify that emotion and the experience, that may be much more motivating than the daily coffee I have to give up now,"Lytton says. "We tend not be long-term thinkers, born out by lots of research, but if we can link the feelings of the future with the decision to be made today, it may be more motivational than the pain of immediate loss."

This should not be interpreted as manipulative or "guilt-inducing," she says. Rather, it's fundamentally about how to do we help people make decisions in their best interest. "We want to contextualize the decision, which makes it less scary and more urgent to deal with,"Lytton says.

Think values."I dont start with goals," says Mattia. "I like to talk about values. When you start with your life purpose, your values and your vision for your life, it opens up possibilities that may not have existed if you go directly to goals. It is motivational and inspiring."

MORE POWELL:

How to make your own financial wellness program

Why Facebook could ruin your retirement

How to keep earning a paycheck in retirement

Powell is editor of Retirement Weekly, contributes regularly to USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, TheStreet and MarketWatch. Got questions about money? Email Bob at rpowell@allthingsretirement.com.

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Powell: 5 ways to make financial decisions easier - USA TODAY

In the Oscar-nominated 2015 musical biopic Straight Outta Compton, the fortunes of gangsta rap group N.W.A. briefly intersected with Tupac Shakur.

It was a tantalising glimpse at one of the defining artists of a generation, who took hip hop by the scruff of its bling-laden neck in the 1980s and 1990s.

Director Benny Boom throws the microphone solely to Shakur in All Eyez On Me and fashions two decades of political activism, gang warfare and strife into an overlong and dull montage of a life cut tragically short in a drive-by shooting on the brightly lit Las Vegas strip.

Three screenwriters choose a clunky framing device to bring the central figure into woozy focus.

A nameless interviewer (Hill Harper) visits Shakur (Demetrius Shipp Jr) in Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995, where he is serving time after being convicted of first-degree sexual abuse.

I have it on good authority that the FBI has a 4,000-page file on you, smirks the interviewer.

Only 4,000 pages?! cockily replies the rapper.

That cocksure swagger fails to translate to Booms pedestrian picture, which never clearly conveys why US authorities might be gathering so much information on Shakur, and how a boy from humble origins in East Harlem impacted greatly on popular culture.

The framing device fractures chronology for anyone, like me, who isnt au fait with Shakurs musical canon.

In a series of flashbacks, Shakur recalls his formative years in New York City, watching police victimise his mother Afeni (Danai Gurira), who is a defiant and active member of the Black Panther Party.

When he later ends up behind bars, she instructs him to remain strong.

Your bodys in prison, not your mind, she growls.

He forms a close friendship with Jada Pinkett (Kat Graham) and joins the group Digital Underground before striking out on his own.

Scenes from music videos are faithfully recreated.

Ultimately, Shakur joins Death Row Records and forges a pact with the labels devil, Suge Knight (Dominic L Santana), who answers complaints from his artists with violence.

Gradually, Shakurs friendship with fellow performer Biggie Smalls (Jamal Woolard) deteriorates, lighting the fuse on the infamous east and west coast rap war.

All Eyez On Me is littered with lyrical one-liners Dont let something you do for 50 seconds get you 50 years but a clear sense of what made Shakur tick is absent.

Rather than lionising the singer turned actor, Booms picture portrays him as deeply disagreeable: arrogant, selfish and tragically myopic in his pursuit of fame.

His seminal songs including Brendas Got A Baby and Keep Ya Head Up profess personal empowerment and courage in the face of adversity.

Alas, Booms disappointing sermon delivers a lesson about the corruptive power of celebrity that we have heard many times before, and from more charismatic preachers.

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Review: All Eyez On Me (15) - Aberdeen Evening Express

During his high school years, Paul Gillingham participated in many outdoor programs and camps through the Siskiyou Family YMCA, including a raft guide course they offered. That course inspired Gillinghams love and respect for rivers and was a driving force behind his decision to develop the outdoor education program Rivers for All.

As a boy growing up in Siskiyou County, Paul Gillingham was surrounded by rivers. During his high school years, Gillingham participated in many outdoor programs and camps through the Siskiyou Family YMCA, including a raft guide course they offered. That course inspired Gillinghams love and respect for rivers and was a driving force behind his decision to develop the outdoor education program Rivers for All.

The mission of Rivers for All is to increase river access among local, under-served populations through low-cost, river-focused adventures that deepen connection to local watersheds and build leadership in our communities.

Having participated in cub scouts and boy scouts in his childhood for a combined ten years, Gillingham recalled that the skills he learned and fun he had with troop made him want to pursue more outdoor adventures. He also credits his father, Charlie Gillingham who volunteered countless hours to help with many boy scout troop activities with instilling a desire in him to help others.

After obtaining his raft guide certification through the Siskiyou Family YMCA, Gillingham worked at YMCA summer camps, taking campers on rafting adventures on Siskiyou rivers. Friends of his also worked as raft guides at the camps. After looking back on those times years later, Gillingham reflected, "Lots of youth groups came through the summer camp. Even though it was for them, we felt like we were the campers, and we learned a lot from them. We were super lucky."

Gillingham graduated from Yreka High School in 2008 and moved to Arcata, California, where he worked as a raft guide while obtaining his bachelors degree in environmental science from Humboldt State University. He was also co-director of a program through HSU called LEAP: Leadership Education Adventure Program. After earning his degree, Gillingham moved to White Salmon, Washington, and continued to work as a raft guide while honing other outdoor skills.

Though residents in Siskiyou County are accustomed to rivers - the Klamath, Salmon and Scott, just to name a few within the countys borders after Gillingham moved out of his hometown of Yreka, he witnessed firsthand that many youth lack easy access to rivers.He knew from countless hours spent enjoying rivers and all they have to offer, that those youth were missing out on the many lessons rivers can teach us.

Gillingham explained, Ive learned so much from rafting and being a guide: Humility, good judgment, decision making, personal empowerment, confidence ... the list goes on. The rush of navigating whitewater rapids helped Gillingham build upon other concepts that translate directly to the real world as well. I had to get comfortable with being scared, he said, and being OK with taking a risk and being OK with not taking a risk, too.

Out of his years of experience both learning and teaching in the outdoors, Gillingham said, "I wanted to create [Rivers for All] for other kids, as a way to give back."

With the help of his friend Heather and assistance from the nonprofit CultureSeed which helps passionate people raise money for projects and programs through seed funding Rivers for All was launched.

Rivers for All is currently working to raise $4,000 toward its goal for the 2017 summer season: To provide 60 local youth with a free rafting program on the White Salmon or Klickitat River in the Columbia River Gorge.

Three thousand dollars will go toward 60 youth rafting this 2017 summer, which equates to $65 per youth. As RFA acquires more gear and resources, the cost per youth will go down. The remaining $1,000 will go toward the printing cost of Rivers For All T-shirts which will be sold at rafting companies and RFA events which will generate more funds to help RFA expand its outreach.

Gillingham said he counts himself lucky to have grown up with so many opportunities for easy and free river access and that the more youth get to experience the joy and beauty of rivers firsthand, the better communities will come to understand the important role rivers play in our lives.

Rivers for Alls fundraising site notes, Local residents often dont have the same opportunities to connect with the rivers in their backyards yet they are the ones most connected to the health of our rivers. Youth that would benefit most from an "outdoor classroom often cant afford participating in recreation. We need your help to change that!

To donate to Rivers for All, visit generosity.com/education-fundraising/rivers-for-all-outdoor-education-program. More information can be found by visiting facebook.com/riversforall.

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Siskiyou native develops 'Rivers for All' program - Taft Midway Driller

Sunday, 25 June 2017, 7:25 pm Press Release: Kia Koe

New Political Party Offers Empowerment June 23 2017 Kia Koe Party Press Release Tags: Politics, voting and policies.

Newly launched political party Kia Koe offers empowerment through online submissions.

Best possible parliamentary democracy Empowering people by inclusion in policy development Role of law and justice is constantly reconsidered and reapproved Question and re-approve the various roles of Government re services and expenditure. Limit the role of government to only those functions necessary

As a newly fledged political platform, Kia Koe makes itself available to everyone including minors over the age of 12 while those under 16 are limited in what they can vote for. Nz.kiakoe.org provides a better approach for politics using four of six categories Information (Facts), Financial Info, Environment, Education, Health and Spiritual. Kia Koe is highly transparent, especially in all aspects of accounting. It has easy to use tools to enable the members in their choices. Kia Koes concept originator Chris Kernot says when people sign up for Kia Koe (which means 'You choose.') they can comment using the four categories for a more rounded outcome. This way it enables an effective parallel thinking process that helps commenting and most importantly policy decision making and ranking be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved, Kernot offers. Before you comment you must read all prior comments. I see that as essential in order to add a new view. By reading, embracing, including and refining views, policies take shape in Kia Koe. By ranking how important a policy is to you, it rises in the list. Kia Koe members can then rate their personal reaction to the policy from do not support to strongly support. By including a view called The Other Side of the Coin, members can consider both negative and positive views producing more balanced options or scenarios. This is creating opportunities for policy development at grass roots level across all sectors of society. It ensures current generations are responsible for the ownership of their own political direction. We are setting up platforms for our future custodians, our children, concludes Kernot. nz.kiakoe.org

Scoop Media

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New Political Party Offers Empowerment - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. More than 80 home service business owners, including plumbing, HVAC and electrical contractors, from across the U.S., Australia and New Zealand attended the CEO Warrior Circle Mastermind event Unleash the Beast June 13-16. This was the first event to take place at the new CEO Warrior 10,000-sq.ft. training facility.

CEO Warrioris a business consulting, training, and mentoring firm, providing tested and proven methods to defeat the roadblocks that prevent small to mid-sized businesses from achieving their ultimate success. The new training facility houses three separate training quarters, so different events can occur simultaneously. In addition to the Warrior Fast Track Academy and CEO Warrior Circle training events for business owners, there are new one- and two-day course offerings in leadership, sales, marketing, service management and customer service for staff members of all levels.

CEO Warrior Circle event draws business owners from the plumbing, HVAC and electrical industries.

This is going to take our warrior movement to the next level, said Mike Agugliaro, founder of CEO Warrior. We can now offer 10,000 square feet of the greatest business training on the planet. I saw a need for more training that would make a real difference and help business owners become warriors at home and at work.

According to Shayna Shadowen, owner and office manager of Service Detectives, Energy, Illinois, workshops are meant to help you better yourself personally. Shadowen has attended seven CEO Warrior events, starting in May 2016.

Shayna Shadowen and Judy Giannone.

Mike really helps you to face your fears and personal roadblocks head on, explained Shadowen. Every exercise is about learning and growing and bettering yourself. It doesn't matter if you have a service company, a dog training company, or a consignment company, it all boils down to becoming a better you. Then you take back your growth to your business and apply the practices in your everyday life. Your company can't fail.

What Mike has created in this CEO Warrior event is powerful beyond measure and this is built for serious CEOs interested in moving the needle of their service businesses, said O.P. Almaraz, CEO of Allied Restoration Services Inc., Los Angeles. After being a part of CEO Warrior for four months, my company had a record breaking $1,000,000 month. Mikes mentorship has propelled me to grow from $4 million to a projected $6.5 million in my first year. There is nothing more powerful than a changed mind.

Breakthrough limiting beliefs

Contractors stood holding a cup filled with water for as long as 25 minutes. This is tougher than what you realize.

The Warrior Circle event, Unleash the Beast, featured a combination of training sessions on leadership skills, proven business strategies and personal empowerment exercises. The CEO Warrior training system has a unique approach, inspired by Agugliaros straightforward style and martial arts training, to help business owners create mental focus, strategic thinking, resiliency, respect and a warrior spirit to take their own businesses to the next level. Business owners participated in personal empowerment activities such as fire walking, fight training and board breaking exercises.

This is a roll-up your sleeves, get dirty and get information type of event, said Agugliaro. Everybody has a bigger purpose in life, but at the end of the day, most people are not doing the things they need to do to fulfill their bigger purpose. When the attendees leave, they can take strategic steps to change their businesses, their relationships and their lives.

Agugliaro lead individuals through a meditation practice at the beginning of the event, so each person could dig deep and uncover within themselves unconscious barriers that are affecting their lives and businesses.

After the meditation practice and before diving into the first days empowerment activities, Agugliaro asked business owners to focus on a few critical ideas presented during the event and to focus on only those few not the many of ideas and to be candid during the event and play full out. Agugliaro also instituted that each team use a talking stick to improve communication.

Often times, people try to communicate a message when there is distraction happening, said Agugliaro. This can create confusion, which can be a shared issue. Once confusion is shared this can lead to delusion, and now the confused employees are stuck. Often people in this position end up frustrated and may even get angry this is a bad place to be.

A talking stick is a foundation for improved communication. The talking stick first creates boundaries only the person with the talking stick can talk, explained Agugliaro. Without boundaries you end up with something like Animal House.

Tuesdays empowerment activities consisted of the Weakest Link and breaking boards. The Weakest Link challenged business owners strength and balance. Business owners stood holding a cup of water with foam numb chucks for as long as possible. During the board breaking, everyone wrote down on their boards what is holding them back in business and life (hopefully they were able to uncover these barriers during the meditation earlier in the day). Agugliaro then lit the boards on fire each person taking their turn to break through their board with their bare hand, thus breaking through their limiting beliefs.

Candace Roulo breaks through a board on fire with assistance from Mike Agugliaro.

Motivation was key during these empowerment activities. At one point a business owner told their teammate, I have your back I am not going to let you fall.

After the activities Agugliaro asked, What would it be like if you said that [I have your back] at your business? How would that change the overall culture?

At the end of the day, teams shared their thoughts on what they learned the first day of the Warrior Circle event. Some of those thoughts include:

The second day of the CEO Warrior Circle Mastermind event, teams had more activities to complete, which included a fire walk at night.

Walking on fire is an amazing parallel to life, said Almaraz. Every human being was born with an immense amount of potential, yet somewhere in our adolescence we shirk ourselves to fit in. We condition our minds to think that we're not good enough or not worthy, so we stop trying new things. The inward self-reflection, before the firewalk, writing down our own limiting beliefs, and acknowledging our past does not determine our future this part of the fire walking practice is the ultimate game changer. And walking over hot coals, something that seemed impossible, is now my reality. And if I could do that, I can certainly breakthrough my past limiting beliefs!

I had my biggest breakthrough when we did the fire walk, said Kelley McKay, president of McKays Heating & Cooling. I had to be fearless to walk across the 1,200 degree coals, and when I entered that state of mind I realized that's the state of mind I should be entering when it comes to growing my business.

Dean Jackson talks marketing at the CEO Warrior Circle.

Create an experience for the customer

During the CEO Warrior Circle event, Agugliaro had a guest speaker, Marketing Guru Dean Jackson, visit to talk business and marketing strategies.

Jackson said business owners need to stop thinking of their business as one thing, but as three separate divisions: the Before Unit, During Unit and After Unit.

During the Before Unit we are looking to get into the customers home for the first time here and get them into home management, explained Jackson. While in the Before Unit you need to think with the end in mind. What is it that you want to do? What kinds of clients would you love to have? Here you identify your dream clients and target audience and figure out the range of budget for the Before Unit. How much would you pay to get these clients? Its important to narrow your focus here (segment and avatar) and select one target at a time.

Then there is the During Unit, when contractors deal with jobs all day long and create the experience for the customer, then they go to the next job. Jackson advised that contractors should look at all the customer calls that come in on a daily basis to find out how many are emergency calls and how many are proactive calls (when a contractor goes to a job to prevent emergencies from happening).

The During Unit is the core experience you have with the customer, said Jackson. Establish that when they have a need they will call you. While you are in their house you need to establish additional opportunities.

According to Jacksons and Agugliaros book Breakthrough DNA The Service Code; 8 Profit Activators You Can Trigger in Your Business Right Now, this is delivering a dream come true experience designed from the clients/customers perspective and providing an after sale service (even after you have already been paid).

Also while in the During Unit you need to establish that you are the customers plumber/HVAC tech for life. You need to say to your customer, While I am here lets do an HVAC audit. At this time contractors can point out potential issues that are coming down the road, which can be dealt with in a proactive away before there is an emergency.

You need to have the mindset that you will take the customer under your wing and give them opportunities to prevent problems, said Jackson. If you have a lot of repeat business this means that you are the customers person to call back. You created some sort of impression for this to happen. The greatest asset is being an incumbent in someones home.

And last, but not least, there is the After Unit, which focuses on nurturing lifetime relationships.

The After Unit is a thriving part of your business, explained Jackson. These customers already like and trust you.

According to Jackson this is where you nurture customers and referrals.

You always have to generate referrals, explained Jackson. How and why do referrals happen? The reality is people refer companies or other people they know because it makes them feel good. We are wired to share things and steer away from bad things.

My biggest take away from this event came from Dean Jackson, said McKay. He gave us a new way to think about our business. He explained a before unit, during unit and after unit. Viewing each individual step and creating a timeline of each step has opened my eyes to new ways of delivering the ultimate customer experience.

Brian Kurtz was also a guest speaker at the event. Kurtz has been a serial direct marketer for over 35 years. During his career, he was responsible for the mailing of close to 2 billion pieces of direct mail and the distribution of millions of impressions and promotions on a wide variety of offline and online media.

To download and read Breakthrough DNA The Service Code; 8 Profit Activators You Can Trigger in Your Business Right Now visit: http://breakthroughdna.com/.

CEO Warrior

CEO Warrior teaches business owners how to achieve wealth, freedom and market domination by using the tools and skills Mike Agugliaro, founder of CEO Warrior, used to build his home service business into a $32 million-plus business in 10 years. The Warrior system uses a unique approach to training, inspired by Mikes straightforward style and martial arts training to create mental focus, strategic thinking, resiliency, respect and warrior spirit to take business owners to the next level. CEO Warrior targets the specific areas each business needs to address, eliminate, enhance or add in order to reach their business goals and attain what every business owner want in the end: financial independence. For more information about CEO Warrior, visit CEOWARRIOR.com.

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Contractors Unleash their Beasts at CEO Warrior event held in new training facility - Contractor Mag

It was New Year's Day 2012, and Allison Fleece was feeling unmoored. On a whim, she e-mailed a group of her most intrepid friends. "This time next year," she wrote, "I want to be standing on the roof of Africa." The following winter, she was on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, exhausted and giddy, with nine women beside her. She turned to Danielle Thornton, a climbing buddy who would soon become her best friend. "This is what all travel should be like," she said.

The next year, Fleece and Thornton headed back to Kilimanjaro this time leading a group of 29 women from 11 countries on the first trip of WHOA Travel, their fledgling adventure-tour company for women. In their previous lives, Fleece, now 31, had been an education advisor and Thornton, 34, a creative director at an ad agency. But a few months after their Kilimanjaro expedition, they'd quit their jobs, Googled how to form an LLC, and launched a travel business. WHOA stands for Women High on Adventure or Women Hooked on Awesomeness, depending on whom you ask.

It's one of the latest additions to the growing list of women-only adventure companies outfitters that cater to a generation of female travelers who prefer surf weekends and mountain-climbing expeditions to the spa weekends of old. The idea goes back to the late 1970s, when women who'd come of age in the era of second-wave feminism began starting scrappy adventure programs, outdoorsy relatives of the feminist music festivals and conferences that were then sprouting up around the country. By the late 90s, upscale operators had joined the fray, courting luxury travelers often widowed or divorced retirees who had the time and money to travel but didn't want to be the loner in a group of couples. More recently, with a certain demographic of women rebranding feminism as less a political calling than a lifestyle choice one focused on personal empowerment and self-care female-centric travel companies are retooling and expanding once again.

"We were around back when women-only travel was kind of a joke," says Jennifer Haddow, who seven years ago took over Wild Women Expeditions, a Canada-based company founded in 1991. "People didn't really see why it was valuable." Now veteran outfitters like Haddow are diversifying their offerings to take advantage of a growing market. Wild Women has added horseback riding in Mongolia and cycling, trekking, and rafting in Thailand to its original roster of kayaking and canoeing trips in Ontario and British Columbia. Adventure Women, a 35-year-old Massachusetts company that changed hands last year, has begun catering to younger clients with its "adventurettes" bespoke getaways, like long weekends of riding, river floating, fine dining, and massages in Montana, for women who don't want a traditional bachelorette party in addition to its bucket-list journeys to places like Ireland and Nepal.

Some lifestyle companies outside the travel industry see all-female trips as a way to extend their brands. REI's recently expanded Outessa program brings women to different U.S. mountains for long weekends of yoga, hiking, and bonding. The sporting-goods giant has also ramped up its backpacking- and camping-centric REI Women's Adventures, which offer rugged outdoor experiences in locations ranging from Africa to America's national parks. For the crystals-and-Coachella crowd, the bohemian apparel brand Free People operates FP Escapes. Its wellness-focused itineraries, including superfood cooking classes in the Andes and yoga workshops in Yelapa, Mexico, come with cleanses, meditation rituals, new-moon ceremonies, and Instagram-ready accommodations like tepees and tree houses.

For some upstart outfitters, personal growth is as central to the mission as having fun. Damesly, founded last year, emphasizes professional networking and skill building, combining volcano hikes in Iceland and surfing lessons in Hawaii with workshops on topics like video editing. Fit & Fly Girl's health-focused retreats come with daily workout classes and nutritious meals. Explorer Chick has several offerings for beginners to develop wilderness survival skills and learn backpacking basics.

But for all the attention these programs devote to women's individual well-being, many also emphasize social responsibility and making lasting connections in the places they visit. "You can't just show up to sell women stuff. You have to be participating in the communities and engaged in their issues," says Wild Women's Haddow. "Clients respond to authenticity." For her company, that means striving to partner exclusively with women even in places like Nepal, where female guides are hard to find and supporting social-justice groups. On its Morocco trips, Adventure Women brings guests to a women's textile cooperative outside Fez to speak with the artisans about their lives and work. Before its Kilimanjaro treks, WHOA puts guests up at a nonprofit hotel that funds a primary school for area children; travelers' fees also help sponsor two local women to join the group on every climb. The company operates a similar program for its Machu Picchu treks.

Despite the wide range of experiences offered by these companies, all tend to attract travelers who, whatever their age or background, have reached a turning point in their lives. If you can handle whitewater rafting down a Peruvian river or summiting a 10,000-foot peak, a cross-country move or a divorce doesnt seem quite so insurmountable. Physical challenges expunge emotional pain, and many women find it more comfortable to tackle them in the company of their peers, even if theyre strangers.

Kelly Luck, 42, booked her Kilimanjaro trip with WHOA after a grueling battle with breast and thyroid cancer. On a cold, clear night this past March the 8th, International Women's Day Luck summited the mountain with 30 other women. "I don't think I could've done this with my husband," she says. "Being there with this powerful collective of women was the only way for me to go. It makes you so strong."

The kind of sisterhood Luck and Fleece both found on Kilimanjaro is one that more and more women seem to want. "We as a gender are done compartmentalizing ourselves," Fleece says. "We like to go out for a nice dinner in heels, but we can also put on hiking boots and camp on a mountain for seven days. And women are realizing that there are others out there who want the same thing."

Read more here:

Why Women Are Booking More Adventure Travel Than Ever - Travel+Leisure