During a Twitch stream, xQc was temporarily granted the title of Grandmaster while playing online blitz matches on chess.com.

During a Twitch stream, xQc was granted the title of Grandmaster while playing online blitz matches on chess.com. The promotion was quite shocking as the coveted "GM" rank is only held by an elite few. On that note, xQcwas only sitting at a 589 rating, typical for chess beginners. For perspective, actual chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamurahas a 3214 blitz ranking currently number 1 on the leaderboards.

Overall, the chess community has proventhat they are more than ready to deal with the new attention that Twitch has driven the sport. The streamer's sudden promotion was likely alighthearted prankset upby chess.com admins, especially considering that xQcis fairly new to the sport and only playing for fun. Additionally, chess.com even added xQc to their list of Grandmasterson a separate page only to be eventually removed after the fun died down.

Certain chess personalities emerged as vocal opponents tothe recent attention Hikaru and xQc generated through their collaboration. Nevertheless,many of these "chess elitists" have come around. Ben Finegold recently made amends for his earlier insults, apologizing to xQc fansand showing some respectable sportsmanship. Oh, and the powerhouse known as Magnus Carlsen is starting to warm up to the platform.

Sources: Twitch, Chess.com

NEXT: Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura Is Demolishing Opponents On Twitch

Speedrunner Breaks Super Mario 64 Previous World Record In Emotional Stream With Family

Andrew Penney is a writer for TheGamer. A bit of musical expatriate, he studied musicology and trumpet performance in college, but found his love for writing about gaming and streaming too alluring to stay away from. Some of his favorite games include Homeworld, Warcraft III, Starcraft 2, Apex Legends, Katana Zero, and Bastion. When not hunched over a keyboard furiously typing, you'd likely find him engulfed in anime or Apex avoiding the sun entirely.

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Chess.com Jokingly Promoted xQc To Grandmaster | TheGamer - TheGamer

The Players

The field of eight includes Jos Ral Capablanca, the former World Champion, and Alexander Alekhine, the reigning World Champion who is now reigning again. We remember: In 1935 Dr. Alekhine played a World Championship match against Max Euwe, a Dutch teacher of Mathematics. Alekhine was not in good shape and lost the match and his title.

Alexander Alekhine

Chess was already popular in the Netherlands but after Euwe's win it became a national passion. The last game of the 1935 match, in which Euwe secured the title, was attended by 6000 (!) spectators.

Max Euwe

But the new world champion Euwe granted his predecessor Alekhine a rematch which Alekhine had demanded when agreeing to the match. Alekhine's predecessor Capablanca, who lost the title in 1927, is still waiting for a rematch.

Jos Ral Capablanca

In the second match against Euwe Alekhine took things much more seriously. He changed his unhealthy lifestyle at least for a time and seemed to be focused and concentrated during the rematch. Max Euwe also takes part in the AVRO tournament and therefore three of the eight players are or were world champions. At first, Euwe was afraid that he had to teach in the morning but he managed to get a vacation for the tournament.

Though Alekhine is a tremendous player only a few people would have been willing to bet on him before the rematch against Euwe. But Alekhine's victory in the match makes the old question of determining a challenger to the world champion more complicated again. The world champion has always determined against whom he will play for the title but this often leads to unsatisfying results.

After winning the title Euwe wanted to put the organization of the World Championships into the hands of FIDE, the World Chess Federation and at the FIDE Congress in 1937 a proposal was made to organize a candidates' tournament to determine the challenger. The Dutch radio station AVRO was willing to sponsor such a tournament. However, this proposal did not find a majority and instead the delegates decided that Salo Flohr should be the official candidate for the world championship.

Salo Flohr

Salo Flohr has a tragic family history. He was born in 1908 in Horodenka, which back then was part of Austro-Hungary but now is part of the new Poland. Flohr's parents and six brothers died in an anti-Jewish pogrom in his hometown. Flohr fled to Prague and grew up with a brother at foster parents and later became a naturazlized Czech. He learned chess in the Prague cafs but probably brought his talent with him.

At the Chess Olympiads in Warsaw in 1935 and in Stockholm in 1937 Flohr played on board one for Czechoslovakia and in both Olympiads he was the best player of the whole tournament. Flohr would certainly be a worthy challenger but while he arrangements for a world championship match against Alekhine were discussed Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia made Flohr a refugee again and brought all plans for a match against Alekhine to a halt.

Unlike Euwe, Alekhine does not want to have anything to do with the FIDE, and prefers to negotiate here and there and with various players. He will also negotiate about the conditions of a possible title match with the winner of the AVRO tournament, but he will not grant the winner the automatic right to play for title. Thus, AVRO is one of the strongest if not the strongest tournaments in the history of chess but it is not a candidates tournament.

A possible contender for the crown is the 27-year old Mikhail Botvinnik from the Soviet Union who also starts in the AVRO tournament. He has had a number of successes in the past and enjoys the reputation of being a formidable theoretician and positional player who also knows how to attack and how to play the endgame.

Mikhail Botvinnik

Another promising young player is the 22-year old Estonian Paul Keres who is not only an outstanding chess talent but also a very good tennis player.

Paul Keres

Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky present the United States. Fine, just turned 24, and is a good friend of Dr. Euwe and at the world championship 1937 Fine was Euwe's second. Fine currently lives in the Netherlands and despite his relatively young age he has already managed to be married twice. After a divorce from his first wife he married the reporter Emma Thea Keesing.

Reuben Fine

Reshevsky also comes from the US but was born in Orzokow which back then was part of Russia and is now in Poland. In 1920 Reshevsky's parents emigrated with their many children to the USA. Reshevsky is a kind of wunderkind and as a child he was already able to defeat strong masters and to give simultaneous performances. But later Reshevsky interrupted his chess career to study business administration and became an accountant by profession. Only at the beginning of this decade he returned to tournament chess.

Samuel Reshevsky

In chess we are facing a generational change. Capablanca is almost 50 years of age, although he has recently rejuvenated himself in a way: three weeks ago he married a Russian princess in the USA, and he is now spending his honeymoon in the Netherlands. Alekhine is also not very far from 50 and at 37 years of age Euwe is no longer young. They have to compete with young players such as Botvinnik and Keres and it is certainly only a matter of time before Alekhine loses his title.

The tournament is not played in one place and one city, but travels from round to round to different cities. At noon, the players travel from their hotel in Amsterdam, the Amstel Hotel, to the respective tournament location. Usually, they will take the train but when the tournament comes to Groningen the players will fly. After the round the players return to Amsterdam but often they will have no time to rest because they will have to play their adjourned games on the next day. A tough schedule that might favour the younger players.

The Amstel Hotel

Sponsor of the tournament is the "Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep" (The General Broadcasting Association), founded in 1923 and the first Dutch radio station. AVRO broadcasts on the Hilversum station and shares the space with the station of the socialist-oriented "Vereeniging van Arbeiders Radio Amateurs" (VARA) and the Protestant station VPRO.

The house of AVRO in Hilversum

Modern technology

The chess tournament's journey through the country will certainly help to promote the AVRO channel. The format has tradition. After all, the World Championship match between Euwe and Alekhine was played in different places, and last year, AVRO organised a simultaneous tour with Lasker and Bogoljubow that visited the major cities of the Netherlands and attracted hundreds of spectators in each city.

More and more households have a radio receiver, a development that has a lot of positive sides but can also be frightening. Last month a man by the name of Orson Welles demonstrated in the USA how easily people can be influenced by false information. In a radio show Welles managed to make his listeners believe that the earth would be attacked by aliens. Many of his listeners took the well-done fictitious account for real and fled their homes in panic.

But you can also use the new media in a different way.

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has been regularly broadcasting such recordings for a few years now, even though hardly anyone owns a device to receive the signals yet.

Cinematography seems to be much more real than the radio, at least in some ways but also comes with the danger of propagande. For example, Leni Riefenstahl, a young German dancer, actress and director just released Olympia, a two-part film about the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, in which Riefenstahl shows the Olympic competitions in unique pictures that have never been seen before.

Adolf Hitler himself had invited Riefenstahl to film the Olympics in Berlin and there are sources that indicate that Olympia was secretly funded by the Third Reich and it is certainly no coincidence that Olympia premiered for Hitler's 49th birthday in 1938.

In fact, Riefenstahl has close ties to the National Socialists and is said to be a good friend of Hitler. Hitler gave Riefenstahl the opportunity to direct "The Victory of Faith" (Der Sieg des Glaubens), a propaganda film about the fifth Nuremberg Rally in 1933, and in 1935 Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) was released, a propaganda film about the 1934 rally in Nuremberg. Riefenstahl then completed this trilogy withDay of Freedom: Our Armed Forces ("Tag der Freiheit: Unsere Wehrmacht"), a propagandistic portrait of the German Wehrmacht.

The opening ceremony of the AVRO Tournament was much less dramatic and spectacular. Girls in the national costumes of the players greeted each player with the exception of Capablanca, who had not yet arrived in their national language with the words: "Dear countryman! You are about to go into battle and fight for the honour of our country. It will be a fight with the noblest weapons imaginable and I wish you victory from my heart. Fight this fight with nobility and courage. I bring you greetings on behalf of all those who will breathlessly watch the battle. May you fare well. We have placed our hopes in you."

Gustaaf de Clercq, president of the AVRO, then drew lots. The tournament of the world's best players can begin.

Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

See the article here:

The eight best players in the world meet at the AVRO Tournament - Chessbase News

Lately, Twitch has served as the primary medium for fans to observe and interact with some of the world's top chess players and it's awesome.

Lately, Twitch has served as the primary medium for fans to observe and interact with some of the world's top chess players and it's been awesome. Sure, this is nothing new, but things are heating up now that top chess personalities have demonstrated renewed interest in showcasing their skills on the platform. It seems that fans are more interested in the sport than ever before with associatedYouTube videos, Twitch streams, and Twitter activity at an all-time high.

One of the most significant game-changers that led to this chess takeover was xQc's collaboration with Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamuraabout two months ago. Fans were eager to see Hikaru run a coaching session with xQc, so the two made it happen. Since then, xQc has continuallyenjoyed chess on stream while Hikaru has rolled with the fresh exposure.

It could be argued that chess is flirting with the danger, slowlygetting sucked into the black hole of Twitch-drama. There has been some light scuffles as of late, but nothing too serious yet. Hopefully, chess manages to avoid the platform's drama trap and remains wholesome. To recap, here are somekey players on the board.

A blitz chess specialist, Hikaru is an infectious personality. He runs a channel that is equal parts entertaining and educational; either way, his streams arehighly-interactive and fun. Hikaru presents as a very open-minded player, willing to attempt some goofy activities and ready to collaborate with anyone.

RELATED:Chess.com Jokingly Promoted xQc To Grandmaster

The Botez sisters bring a huge amount of energy to the game. The eldest, Alexandra Botez, is an Woman FIDE Master and 5-time Canadian National Girls Champion. The youngest, Andrea Botez, is also a competitive chess player (former Team Canada) with a big personality. Their channel also features Woman Grandmaster title-holder Qiyu Zhou, also a former Team Canada player.

BenFinegold is another Grandmaster and veteran increating chess-based media.He has recently been painted as the chess-scene villain due to some edgy remarks directed towards Hikaru and xQc's audience. Regardless, he has a loyal fanbase that vouches for his invaluable contributions to chess education.

Magnus Carlsen is the highest-rated chess player in the world, revered by any and all familiar with the sport. Hailing from Norway, Carlsen does't hide his confidence in playing chessandregularly dominates his competition in tournaments. Although he seems to have vocal disdain for streaming on Twitch, he might just be warming up to it.

Chess has risen on the platform so rapidly that Twitch itself has responded. Currently, a Twitch Rivals event is scheduled in July, adding to the overall hype.Its precursor event,PogChamps, has been scheduled for June. The collaboration will include hosts Alexandra Botez/Hikaru Nakamura, multiple Twitch streamers as competitors, and Chess.com as the medium.

Seeing chess personalities emerge on the platform is fantastic; fans get to see the sport from a more personal perspective. Consequently, many are actively attempting to stir up drama between them, but in reality they are all quite civil even friendly. Sure, chess could just be the flavor of the month on Twitch, but I hope it's here to stay for a while.

Sources: Twitch, YouTube

NEXT:Chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura Is Demolishing Opponents On Twitch

Call Of Duty: Warzone Should Allow Player Color Preferences

Andrew Penney is a writer for TheGamer. A bit of musical expatriate, he studied musicology and trumpet performance in college, but found his love for writing about gaming and streaming too alluring to stay away from. Some of his favorite games include Homeworld, Warcraft III, Starcraft 2, Apex Legends, Katana Zero, and Bastion. When not hunched over a keyboard furiously typing, you'd likely find him engulfed in anime or Apex avoiding the sun entirely.

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Twitch Is Breathing New Life Into Chess | TheGamer - TheGamer

Parveen Babi was considered as one of the most glamorous stars of the 70s and 80s. She had a westernised image that perhaps came in the way of her getting roles that depicted her as a girl-next-door as filmmakers were keen to bank on her Eurasian good looks. She was one of the highest-paid heroines of her era and appeared with Amitabh Bachchan in eight films, all of them being superhits. She was known for her item numbers. Numbers like Jawaani Jaaneman and Raat baaqi baat Baaqi in Namak Halaal, and Pyaar karne wale in Shaan still remain popular today. She was being featured on the covers of all major film magazines. Apart from her good looks, she was known for her bohemian lifestyle. She always spoke her mind and never hid her affairs and lived life on her own terms. Parveen Babi created a stir when she joined beau Kabir Bedi in Italy on the sets of Sandokan. Kabir became an international star when he agreed to be part of the Italian serial Sandokan. Directed by Sergio Sollima, it was based upon the novels of Emilio Salgari featuring the pirate hero Sandokan. They were two beautiful people very much in love and the European press, who had been hailing him as a sort of superstar from India, played up their relationship. It was widely reported and they even merited covers in Italian and Spanish media. Their romance was intense but short-lived. He was increasingly becoming popular in Europe and was seemingly flooded with work. After Sandokan he even signed an adventure film calledThe Black Corsair (1976), where he reportedly played a pirate. She was one of the most sought after heroines of the time and couldnt afford to give her Bollywood career a miss. Its said she had around 40 films lined up when she left and producers in Mumbai gave a collective sigh of relief when she came back. Her career soon picked up and she was back to top again, it was as if the two years with Kabir had never happened. A long-distance relationship seemed out of the question, as Kabir was already married to Protima Bedi at the time. However, it was said that their marriage was already on the rocks. Protima reportedly admitted that she considered her marriage to be over and hence she didnt mind his having a fling with Parveen. In an interview, Protima stated that when Kabir finally left, she felt a sense of relief. She mentioned he had been trying to get away from her and Parveen came into her life at the right time.

Parveen didnt regret leaving him. She understood that things wouldnt have worked out between them in the long run, especially when his career was very much centred in Europe and when he wanted to be away from Promita. She said she had her own life and could never consent to roam around the world in his shadow. She later reportedly started a relationship with director Mahesh Bhatt. Both were spiritually inclined at the time and used to visit UG Krishnamurti and Osho in his company. Sadly, it was during her relationship with Mahesh Bhatt that first signs of schizophrenia began to appear.

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Blast from the past: When Parveen Babi suddenly joined Kabir Bedi in Italy - Filmfare

Leading Natural Herbal Products Brand Helps Connect People, Plants and Planet Through its Gaia Roots Small Grants Program

Gaia Herbs, a leading natural herbal products brand in the United States, is now accepting applications for $5,000 grants via its social impact program, the Gaia Herbs Roots Initiative (Gaia Roots). Open through July 31, the program is exclusive to organizations based in the United States that are working to increase herbal access to drive community empowerment and health. The four winners of the $5,000 grants will be announced in August.

"Gaia Herbs has a strong foundation of advocating for farmer prosperity and environmental regeneration through our Gaia Roots program," said Alison Czeczuga, Sustainability and Social Impact Manager of Gaia Herbs. "This year, we have broadened the emphasis for our small grants program to focus on projects expanding herbal access to underserved communities, supporting health and personal empowerment in these regions. There is a critical need in this area and our grants program will help communities develop and strengthen programs that bring herbs and herbal products to marginalized populations in a time when they are most urgently needed."

"This year within Western North Carolina, weve given away over 16,500 certified organic vegetable and medicinal herb seedlings to both non-profits who are fighting food insecurity, as well as our own employees. The Gaia Herbs Farm provides for not only our supply chain in creating herbal products, but also for our team and communities. In seeking to expand that powerful impact beyond the footprint of our own land, Gaia Roots was born," said Angela McElwee, President and CEO of Gaia Herbs. "Our Gaia Roots small grants program represents the heart of our social impact work, enabling us to connect people and plants in meaningful, empowering ways. As a Certified B Corporation, we remain committed to using business as a force for good and are proud to be able to award financial grants to organizations providing greater herbal access to those in need."

The Gaia Roots small grants program is open to U.S.-based social enterprises, non-profit organizations, small businesses, individual herbalists, and naturopaths. To apply for the small grants program, focusing on projects supporting herbal access, organizations must complete the official application and provide a quarterly progress report on their project. In an effort to advance herbal knowledge and education, establishments must also be willing to allow Gaia Herbs to share its story. Examples of the types of projects that the initiative will fund include herbal educational programs, free clinics, mobile clinics, herbal farming and community garden projects.

Gaia Roots was created to form partnerships with like-minded, purpose-driven individuals and organizations to develop programs that have a positive social and environmental impact in communities throughout the world. Guided by our purpose of connecting people, plants, and planet to create healing, our work is focused on the three key pillars of this initiative:

All Gaia Herbs products are sold through natural and independently owned health food stores across the nation as well as through gaiaherbs.com and other trusted online retail sites. To find a store near you, visit gaiaherbs.com/stores.

About Gaia Herbs

Since 1987, Gaia Herbs has been connecting plants, people, and planet to create healing. Today, Gaia Herbs is a leading herbal brand in North America with more than 200 liquid extracts, functional powders, teas, and patented Liquid Phyto-Caps. Our dedication to quality and integrity is unparalleled and meticulously proven by science. We use organic methods to cultivate more than 3 million plants each year on our farm, and we screen the plants in our analytical laboratory to pinpoint the exact right time to harvest and extract in our state of-the-art processing facility. All of that leads to products exceptional in their purity and integrity. We offer the industrys first comprehensive herb traceability program, meetyourherbs.com, which allows us to share complete transparency with our customers. We are proud to be a Certified B Corporation using business as a force for good. Our mission to nurture healthy connections with nature extends beyond our herbs through the Gaia Herbs Roots Initiative, which champions environmental and social sustainability on our farm, our community, and around the world. Learn more at gaiaherbs.com and join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200601005532/en/

Contacts

Alyssa Hayes Rachel Kay Public Relations 929.337.0638 Alyssa@rkpr.net

Link:
Gaia Herbs Offers Grants to Organizations Expanding Herbal Access for Underserved Populations in the United States - Yahoo Finance

Amidst a global pandemic and growing research which suggests women are severely affected by COVID-19, it's an opportunity to make big strides in our effort to address larger societal issues such as equality and justice, reproductive rights, poverty and domestic issues like financial abuse, as well as income security and retirement. It is estimated that 46% of women are "not too confident" or "not at all confident" about their ability to live comfortably after retirement, compared to only 31% of men who feel that way.

After my husband died unexpectedly, leaving me a 31-year-old widow with two small children, I realized that all women need to have a firm financial identity. I also found my voice in raising awareness about women's financial empowerment and issues such as financial abuse, as well as the importance of gender equality, diversity and financial inclusion. Women's rights have become my passion, and I realize that, globally, we can't fully achieve holistically wealthy communities if women don't have access to the same opportunities to thrive and be successful. This is especially the case, given through COVID-19. Indeed, women can't be fully empowered, if they're not financially empowered.

Financial abuse is often the first sign of dating violence and domestic abuse. However, it hasn't received the attention and profile that it ought to. According to Allstate Financial, one in four women experience domestic violence in the United States. 99% of those cases also include financial abuse. Financial abuse is one of the main reasons why victims are unable to leave an abusive partner or have to return to one as abusers typically control the finances to ensure that their victims can't leave.

As a trained Economist and bestselling author of Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity and Happiness, I have embraced a mission of raising awareness of female economic empowerment. After all, women can't be fully empowered if they're not financially empowered.

Financial abuse is the act of controlling someone's ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources. Those who are abused financially may be manipulated and sabotaged and thereby prevented from working. Victims of financial abuse may also have restricted access to their own money or bank accounts or have their funds stolen by the abuser. When they do have money, they often have to account for every penny they spend.

Financial abuse is one of the main reasons why victims are unable to leave an abusive partner or have to return to one as abusers typically control the finances to ensure that their victims can't leave.

In this video, I discuss the signs of financial abuse and outline some strategies to overcome it.

Violence against women and women's economic security are highly-interlined. Public policies that enable increased pay equity to boost women's access to resources and support, including counseling, will be effective.

Equally as important as educating women about recognizing the signs of financial abuse is giving them the skills to protect themselves from it. This has to start in high schools and universities. We can't afford to wait until after it happens. This is why the messages and strategies outlined in my book, Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity and Happiness, are so important to teach women how to create an empowered financial identity that protects them from abuse, boosts their confidence and leads to improved mental, emotional and spiritual health. A key part of this strategy is embracing a "Holistic Wealth Mindset," and this stems from the "Holistic Wealth Method," which I've also developed. Having a curriculum designed to introduce students to the signs and strategies to overcome financial abuse is key.

Empowering women financially is critical to preventing financial abuse. Gender-based violence is rooted in gender inequality. Violence against women and women's economic security are highly intertwined. According to WomenAct, "Abuse often results in economic costs for survivors, including health costs, lost wages, and relocation expenses. Survivors can experience long -term economic consequences that make it difficult to rebuild economic security and resilience, including barriers such as debt, poor credit, housing instability and a diminished ability to work." Initiatives that enable increased pay equity to boost women's access to resources as well as supports, including counseling, will be effective.

In this video, I discuss developing personal mission statements for women.

The Holistic Wealth Development Index that's presented in my book Holistic Wealth, contains a modern framework that allows public policy experts a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of public policy interventions. It is a model that allows societies to develop resilience in the face of setbacks. As a result, it encompasses a model for societal resilience that is also necessary for societal growth. It takes into consideration the necessary supports that are required for individuals to be able to achieve holistic wealth even in the face of adversity, tragedy, and setbacks (including domestic and financial abuse). A more resilient society is a more prosperous and successful and holistically wealthy society. The Holistic Wealth Development approach is the counter theory we need in a time of urgent human problems and economic and social inequality.

Empowering women financially is critical to preventing financial abuse.

My approach also entails a list of holistic wealth functionalitiesand the idea that societies that embrace holistic wealth for all embrace these opportunities for individuals without humiliation and loss of dignity, as is the case in domestic and financial abuse. In times like these, where we are faced with a crisis, the choices we make now will affect the holistic wealth of generations to come.

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Women Cant Be Fully Empowered If Theyre Not Financially Empowered. Heres Why. - SWAAY

LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Healthfully, an enterprisehealthcaresolutions provider that addresses multiple health and wellnesstouchpointsin the patient journey, andNextGate, the global leader in healthcare enterprise identification,today announced a strategic partnership to meet increasing consumer demand for reliable access to personal health data.

Healthcare organizations rely on Healthfully's comprehensive platform to simplify the health experience for all involved.Its ability to provide communication between caregivers and patients, deliver targeted health programs, and much more all depend on accurate patient data from a variety of sources. By integrating NextGate's cloud-based Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI), Healthfully's personal health and wellness record gains robust patient identity matching technology.

NextGate's market-leading EMPI solution, which manages patient identities for more than two-thirds of the U.S. population, seamlessly links data across the continuum for a trusted, unified health record.

"Incomplete or inaccurate data in one's health record can be detrimental to patient safety and a major impediment to patient empowerment," said Andy Aroditis, CEO of NextGate. "We commend Healthfully for prioritizing patient identification as a key component to consumer engagement and data access so individuals can make the most informed decisions about their health."

"Our solution integrates, clinical, social, wellness and patient-generated information," said Paul Viskovich, CEO of Healthfully. "Leveraging NextGate's EMPI as part of the Healthfully platform will give our users access to trusted, high-quality health data for informed decision-making, better outcomes, and a greater patient experience."

About Healthfully

Healthfully simplifies the healthcare experience for everyone, so patients can get the care they need, the support they want, and the inspiration to achieve better health. The company provides enterprise organizations with a white-labeled, digital consumer health platform to engage and empower people on their health and wellness journey. The platform blends compelling and valuable functions, intelligence, and content for patients, consumers, and communities, creating a great patient experience and helping achieve the goals of value-based care and population health management. For more information, please visit http://www.healthfully.io.

About NextGate

With over 200 customers in four countries, NextGate is the global leader in healthcare enterprise identification. Committed to helping organizations overcome the clinical, operational, and financial challenges that result from duplicate records and disparate data, our full suite of identity matching solutions connects the entire healthcare ecosystem to drive critical improvements in quality, efficiency, and safety. NextGate's market-leading EMPI currently manages 300 million lives and is deployed by the nation's most successful healthcare systems and health information exchanges. For more information, visit http://www.nextgate.com.

Media Contacts:

Don Fallati Marketing, Healthfully Inc. don@healthfully.io 914-833-9157

Stephanie Fraser Director of Communications and Media Relations, NextGate c: 734-233-1483 | o: 734-399-9336 stephanie.fraser@nextgate.com

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Healthfully and NextGate Partner to Give Patients Safe, Reliable Access to Personal Health Data - thepress.net

June 3, 2020

By: Leslie Pollard, Oakwood University

On May 31, 2020, Oakwood University president Leslie Pollard wrote the following letter to the schools community following the death of George Floyd. Oakwood University is an historically Black Seventh-day Adventist school in Huntsville, Alabama, United States.Editors

Since I first shared my feelings about recent eventsin our nationon last Thursday morning [May 28, 2020] during the InsideOakwood radio segment,Ihavecontinued toreflect on the tragic circumstances that led to the death of Mr. George Floyd.The only words and emotions that come to mindareanger, outrage, andexhaustion.Exhaustion because we can only wonder how longwe will asBlackpeople have to grapple with the incessant devaluation ofBlack lives.

Anger, because on a personal note I am angry at the relentless psychological and physical assaults upon people of color. Yes, I am angry the one emotion that is usedby society to stereotypically dismiss the voices of angry black men and angry black women.I am angry about Mr. Floyds murder.And Im outraged when Ifeelforever doomed to wonder whether black young men will survive a routine traffic stop.Im outraged,wondering whetheryoung Blackwomen willbe safe in their own homes or strolling through Central Park.It is almost impossibletobean African -American andnothave, or to not know someone who has had negative encounters involving race everything from being followed in stores, tobeing pulled over while driving a luxury car, or driving in a certain area, tobeingignored indepartmentstoresbecause you dont fit thewealthprofile of otherpatrons...and the list goes on.

But in the wake of Mr. Floyds unnecessary andsenselessdeath, I am also determined.I am determined that the Oakwood community will continue to be a center of empowerment and witness to the lives and work of a generation of student standard bearers. Students who will, in the words of Jesus love theleast of these (Mat. 25:40). I am determined that the faith that has guided OakwoodUniversitysince 1896, and the cultural legacy handed to us as a Historically Black College and University, will continueto produce generations of Black attorneys,physicians,social workers,dentists,teachers, mediaand business professionals thatcombatthe ills ofour people perpetuatedby systems of oppression.Amidgreatturmoilwe must remainfocusedonour continued intellectual and moral development. I am determined that the least of these will be able to financially accessan Oakwoodeducation, so that from the blood-soaked sod of this former slave plantation, a new generation of moral activists will be launched.Greatthinkers will leaveOakwoodssacred groundstonot simply make a dollar,but to make a difference. Mr. Floyd, and all of the Mr. Floyds of the past 400 years, deserve this commitment from our institution. Moral passivityis notan option!

The Oakwood University community extendsour sympathiesto the family of Mr. George Floyd, and all of the other families who have been touched by the tragedy of unexpected and unnecessary death.We further call upon the thousands of devoted law-enforcement officers, who everyday serve and protect communities, to decry andjoin efforts toroot out this violence perpetrated by bad actors in blue from the police forces across our land.And to the parents who entrust their treasure to Oakwood University, be assured that our impactful work with your young people has only just begun. To the administrators, faculty, staff, and alumni of Oakwood University, we commend you for standing strong on behalf of the ministry of justice on our campusevery day.

Finally, to the students of Oakwood University, be it resolved, that youare thegeneration who will pick up the torch handed to you by the pioneers of civil justice, and we who lead and serve at Oakwood will facilitate your indispensable work and witness. This is your moment!Let no one tell you that the work of standing for the right, though the heavens fall is incompatible with the life of faith! Those voices, however sincere, are misguided, because He has [already] shown you, O man, what is good.And what does the Lord require of thee,but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?(Mic. 6:6-8). May God bless you, and may God bless the transformative work and mission of Oakwood University!

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'I am determined Oakwood will continue to be a center of empowerment and witness.' - Adventist Review

NEW DELHI: Education across levels is the best form of empowerment that can be extended to women to positively impact the state of their being, their status and position in the society and build a solid foundation for their holistic growth and development. With an aim to create an ecosystem that empowers women and equips them with knowledge, skills and self-confidence, UPES has declared 2020 as the Year of Womens Empowerment and has launched Shakti.

Despite constituting 48 per cent of Indias population, women are often underrepresented in institutions of higher learning, particularly in STEM courses. Lack of financial resources is one of the major reasons that prevents girl students from pursuing quality higher education and fulfilling their dreams. To equip girls with quality education and training to boost their participation across levels, the University has, among other key initiatives, also announced an unconditional 25% scholarship on tuition fees of complete program duration to all female students applying for all under-graduate and postgraduate courses starting with the session of 2020.

Students also benefit from a cutting-edge learning management system, Engineering+, Coursera, advanced labs, learned faculty, international exposure, and top-notch recruiters. With over 150 specialisations taught in the eight schools of UPES, students can easily opt for the course of their choice.

Beyond the scholarship, UPES has also been working towards empowering women of all age groups through its CSR wing. It has undertaken several initiatives that help women focus on their development through formal education, skill training, and personality grooming. The Shakti program part of the Shakti initiative trains women in adaptive skills, business and professional communication, emotional intelligence, and team management. Five modules, each meticulously designed for holistic development, cover areas of personal assessment, leadership training, and personal branding.

Having declared 2020 as the Year of Women Empowerment, UPES is committed to providing world-class, industry-ready education and an inclusive social and academic environment that inspires girls to strive for their ambitions, lead by example, and break the glass ceiling.

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UPES has given more Shakti to all girl students with 25 percent scholarship - Careers360

Sponsored content: Thank You for the Rain, a film about a Kenyan farmers struggle, has helped to catalyse change nationally and internationally

A documentary, which follows a struggling family fighting the impacts of climate change, has become a case study for how a films impact can bring about a global movement and a real change within communities.

Released in 2017, Thank You for the Rain is the personal story of a Kenyan farmers journey from hardship to empowerment in the rapidly changing climate of his home.

When documentary filmmaker Julia Dahr approached Kisilu Musya to see if he would be interested in telling his story, he agreed, but with one condition; he wanted to shoot parts of the film himself in video-diary format.

In one scene, Kisilu examines the damage done to his land after a bad storm and the camera lingers on him; the other season we were crying, no rain now we are talking of flood. Everything is being contradicted.

With interjections like this, Kisilu becomes a compelling narrator throughout the film. This gives the documentary a far more personal touch than most climate change films and inspires audiences by linking climate action to powerful human themes of community and family.

With time and after training I learnt that there was something I could do to adapt and contribute to a better planet, which is what inspired me to start planting trees and reach out to my community members, said Kisilu.

I agreed to be filmed because I understood that that was how my story and the work I am doing could reach everyone around the world and inspire future generations, he added.

Kisilus farm, where he grows mango trees and crops like cassava, relies on increasingly unpredictable weather for irrigation. The rest of his community has been facing similar climate-induced challenges, but it was Kisilu who helped them understand the problem and explore solutions.

Kisilu began mobilizing his community through small group conversations and training sessions on climate-smart agriculture. These progressed slowly at first, but with the help of the film, he has since turned these local activities into a national movement across Kenya. The film has been screened in hundreds of secondary schools, at many community gatherings, and in several national government ministries.

Having received a $325,000 grant from the Climate Justice Resilience Fund, Docubox, the East African Documentary Film Fund, has been working to expand the documentarys impact and social change strategy, using it as a springboard for action, both on policy advocacy and grassroots initiatives.

The films story tackles one of the biggest global human threats of our time, which is also an injustice, said Emily Wanja, Thank You for the Rains impact producer, who has worked to implement and run the advocacy campaign based on the film.

Our campaign goal has been to sustainably manage climate change and achieve climate justice, as those who have done the least in contributing to the effects of climate change suffer the most she added.

The campaign has aimed to build on Kisilus initial work in his community and bring grassroot climate resilience to the national and global climate agenda. In addition to screenings by Docubox in Kenya and nearby Tanzania, the film has been screened in over 50 countries.

Kisilu has spoken at both Cop21 and Cop23 two UN annual climate change summits as well as at TED in 2018. In Stockholm, he gave a presentation at the EAT Forum, a global platform for food system transformation, where he was able to talk about his work as a farmer battling climate change.

Members of Kisilus Kyavonda CBO (Community Based Organisation) work on climate resilience and adaptation activities (Photo: Julie Lunde Lillester)

The personal story that Kisilu tells has helped international governments and stakeholders realise the need to include voices of those most impacted by climate change in decision and policymaking conversations.

Docuboxs campaign also worked to engage local leaders in implementing resilient farming methods such as water harvesting and drought resistant crop and seed variations. Community group discussions have been key for making these changes, using the film as a conversation starter.

In Kitui county, Docuboxs campaign led to the first ever meeting between Kisilus local community group and the county leadership. The community was able to discuss specific ideas for county interventions that would reach the communities in the region hardest hit by both drought and flooding.

Perhaps the most tangible impact the films campaign has had, has been the construction of an earth dam in Mutomo, Kisilus village. Once complete, the earth dam will be a stable source of water for the roughly 1,750 people who live locally.

Although its been three years since the films release, Thank You for the Rain continues to be shown all around the world as a tool to create awareness on the climate crisis and the injustice it brings with it.

The film is important because it tells a story about a proactive man and community leader in Kenya, but also in the way it is created through collaboration with Kisilu and with a focus on his intimate video diary footage, said Dahr.

It strips away the layers between the family and the audience and allows his point of view and inner reflections to be at the centre, she added.

Thank You for the Rain provides an example of how a personal climate story grounded in unique experience can engage audiences and inspire action.

Moreover, by actively building a campaign around the film, Kisilu, Dahr, and Wanja have magnified the power of a social change documentary to bring about important conversations, strong relationships, and concrete actions.

This post was sponsored by theClimate Justice Resilience Fund.See oureditorial guidelinesfor what this means.

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How a Kenyan climate change documentary inspired the world - Climate Home