“Always keep a positive thought, because a positive thought cannot be denied.”

This is the motto of The CityKids, a group of underprivileged youth in New York City who are empowering themselves to rise about circumstances and be positive role models for their peers through their participation in The CityKids Repertory, a traveling performing arts troupe. This program is sponsored by The CityKids Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, whose mission is to engage young people to positively change their own lives, their communities and the world through their participation in a variety of free, after-school, weekend and summer educational and artistic leadership development programs. These initiatives encourage youth to come up with their own solutions to issues that affect their daily lives, such as drugs, gangs, teen pregnancy and dating violence.

For the last two years, I have been fortunate enough to serve on CityKids Private Sector Partners (PSP), a junior board of the CityKids Foundation, whose aim is to connect CityKids with corporate, private and individual donors and to cultivate future CityKids board members. Every year, PSP organizes a series of fundraising and social events which financially support CityKids’ leadership programs for economically disadvantaged inner-city youth and build support for the Foundation’s mission among young professionals in New York.

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Todd Petzel of Offit Capital Advisors kicked off the Hedge World’s Managed Futures and Commodity Trading Conference last week at Chicago’s University Club. Buy side professionals gathered to discuss their investment options in the current crisis market. They listened as Petzel went through examples of failed investment approaches and the common factors each case shared.

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Contributed by Alana Elsner

2291498814_923636ac78_m.jpgA small bead drops from just below his hairline – picking up speed as it falls. Conscious of this, he wipes the sweat from his brow, trying to focus on the task set before him. Even the most nimble move could mean the difference between winning and losing- between life and death. As the old saying goes, “No guts, no glory.” As the moment nears, his heart beats faster. Adrenaline rushes through his veins. And finally, finally, comes the moment of truth. THE TRADE.

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Learn techniques on how to appear confident and credible in business situations. You will gain an understanding of how to enhance and release your potential.

Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

I have been planning a move to another state, where I don’t have a job yet. Should I just move and try to find a job when I’m there? Are employers more interested in candidates who are instate rather than long-distance?

Moving to a new geographic location without a job is obviously riskier than moving with a job in hand. However, while a long-distance job search poses unique challenges, you can be successful with enough planning.

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980808931_8986077489_m.jpgWarren Buffet gets to play Willy Wonka, as he facilitates the acquisition of chewing gum giant Wrigley by closely-held candy conglomerate Mars Corporation, maker of M&Ms, Snickers, Mars and Milky Way bars. The deal, announced on April 29, 2008, will involve Mars and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway teaming up to acquire Wrigley for $23 billion. Wrigley shareholders will receive $80 per share in the buyout, which represents a 28% premium over the share price at the market close on Friday. After the announcement of the news, Wrigley stock prices were on the rise.

The resulting privately-held company will be a major force in global candy markets. A spokesman for Mars indicated that the company plans to use the Wrigley brand to improve market penetration in fast growing areas Russia, Asia and India. Financing for this deal was provided by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, which was widely seen as a sign of confidence in the capital markets that these investment powerhouses were able to get behind this deal with significant financing.

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Contributed by Alana Elsner

From a student of the 1960s, to a single working mother, to Time’s “Hero for the Planet”, Joan Bavaria has certainly led an extraordinary life. “I was the generation of women who tried to do everything,” she explained. As founder and C.E.O. of Trillium Asset Management- one of the first and now oldest independent Socially Responsible Investment firms- Joan sits on numerous boards, has won various prizes, and even managed to start two non-profits- Ceres and the Social Investment Forum.

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Contributed by Jacqueline Church

 

61299014_c5d3918331_m.jpgThe Glass Hammer article Why Working Mothers Lie and the comments that followed it illustrate what can go wrong when work and family issues are mishandled at the workplace. The problem is not bias against working mothers, though it exists. It’s not preferential treatment for working parents, though this too exists. Accommodationist policies, entitlement attitudes, and how we measure employees’ contributions are all part of the problem. Another culprit is an institutional unwillingness to drop “either/or” thinking in favor of “both/and” thinking. As in, we can either support working moms or we can have good business results.

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Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s proposal to merge the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is not a new one.

Robert Litan, a senior fellow at the non-partisan think tank Brookings Institute, told the Chicago Tribune that the Bush administration is using the distress in capital markets as a way to finally get these ideas a public hearing.
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Contributed by Heather Cassell

FWE_E_Logo.JPGNora Denzel is very happy with her new seat on the board of directors of Overland Storage, a San Diego-based data storage company, she says.

Denzel, Senior Vice President of payroll services at Intuit, Inc., found her board seat with the assistance of BoardMatch, a program run by Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives (FEW&E), a Palo Alto-based organization for female executives.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” says Denzel, who serves on two committees on Overland Storage’s board and is also the FWE&E’s BoardMatch coordinator. She says that, since the inception of the program in 2006, she has conducted a dozen board searches and is one of two women who found a seat on a board in 2007 through the program.

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