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September 8, 2022

The University of Washington Board of Regents on Thursday approved a resolution to begin exiting all direct investments in fossil-fuel companies with the goal of complete divestiture by Fiscal Year 2027. The resolution includes a commitment not to renew indirect investments in funds primarily focusing on fossil-fuel extraction or reserves. Both commitments include allowances for firms contributing to the transition to sustainable energy.

The resolution also includes a goal of investing at least 2.5% of the UWs entire Consolidated Endowment Fund in climate-solutions companies or asset managers and a commitment to achieving net-zero emissions in the Universitys endowment fund by Fiscal Year 2050.

The Boards action puts the UW among the leaders in higher education and among a small group of public universities acting on climate change through its investments.

The Board of Regents recognizes the gravity and the urgency of the situation with respect to climate change. With this resolution, the Board wishes to avoid greenwashing and to take meaningful action, putting the University of Washington in the front ranks of universities addressing climate change through research, teaching, operations and investments, said David Zeeck, chair of the UW Board of Regents. This is an early step in a very important journey to reduce the UWs impact on the environment through our investments and operations. We want to thank both the petitioners for bringing this issue to the fore and the members of the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing for their considered, actionable recommendations.

The Boards directives acknowledge the need to act, the incomplete energy transition, lack of corporate disclosures of greenhouse gas emissions precluding measurement of portfolio emissions, and the Boards fiduciary duties to the people of Washington. The Board will receive annual reports on progress in sustainable investing and measuring portfolio emissions and will revisit these directives at regular intervals. Future investment reports to the Board will include measurement of portfolio emissions as soon as regulatory mandates or corporate disclosures make this possible with the goal of reducing portfolio emissions over time.

The resolution comes approximately 18 months after the UWs Institutional Climate Action group submitted a petition. The Board convened an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ASCRI) over the summer of 2021, and the committee met from September 2021 to April 2022. The committee presented its recommendations to the Board in May and the Board asked the University of Washington Investment Management Company (UWINCO) for its evaluation of the recommendations, which were presented in June. The Board will consider revised climate-investing guidelines at its November meeting.

This is an important step forward for UW in realizing the full impact of all of the ways we can be part of the solution to addressing climate change, said Ben Packard, chair of the ACSRI and executive director of EarthLab at the UW. Our investment portfolio, research, teaching and operations are all part of mitigating climate change and to making our communities more resilient. The ACSRI recommendations acknowledge UW Regents should take these steps to deliver on their fiduciary responsibility.

For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.

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UW Board of Regents votes to exit direct fossil fuel investments by 2027 - University of Washington

WILMINGTON, N.C., Sept. 8, 2022 / PRNewswire SaaS Alerts,the cybersecurity company purpose-built for managed service providers(MSPs) to protect and monetize their customers' core business SaaSapplications, announced today that it has secured a $22 million growth investment from global software investor Insight Partners to accelerate the growth of its SaaS Security monitoring and response platform.

The accelerated rate of SaaS Application adoption bybusinesses, driven by the need to provide collaboration and productivitytools to remote workforces and for more centralized and tightlycontrolled business data resources, has elevated awareness and criticalconcern for major threat vectors and security gaps that exist in SaaSApplication security. These security concerns present opportunities forMSPs to better safeguard their clients while offering SaaS securityservices that drive profitable new revenue streams.

SaaS Alerts was designed to help MSPs monitor and protect theircustomers' usage of today's most popular SaaS applications such asMicrosoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Dropbox and more and tosafeguard against security threats to a business' SaaS environment suchas data theft, data that's at risk due to unintentional employee mishapsand actions taken by bad actors.

"We couldn't be more excited to partner with Insight Partnersand we see their investment in SaaS Alerts as a monumental endorsementfor what we have built and what we intend to build as we collaborategoing forward," said Jim Lippie, CEO ofSaaS Alerts. "I'm very proud of our team for reaching this milestone andlook forward to working with Insight to continue to build value for ourMSP partners and stakeholders."

"SaaS applicationshave become essential for businesses of every size and MSPs need theability to better protect those applications on behalf of theircustomers. SaaS Alerts has pioneered SaaS security for MSPs and has aclear vision for how detecting and correlating abnormal user behaviorcan greatly impact the MSP industry," said Philine Huizing, Principal atInsight Partners. "We're excited to partner with SaaS Alerts as thecompany scales to address this unique opportunity."

About SaaS Alerts

SaaSAlerts is the cybersecurity company purpose-built for MSPs to protectand monetize customers' core SaaS business applications. SaaS Alertsoffers a unified, real-time monitoring platform for MSPs to protectagainst: data theft, data at risk and bad actors and integrates with themost popular SaaS Applications. Learn more at http://www.saasalerts.com.

About Insight Partners

InsightPartners is a global software investor partnering with high-growthtechnology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies thatare driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2022, the firm has over $80Bin regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested inmore than 700 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfoliocompanies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv,and Palo Alto. Insight's mission is to find, fund, and worksuccessfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical,hands-on software expertise to foster long-term success. InsightPartners meets great software leaders where they are in their growthjourney, from their first investment to IPO. For more information onInsight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

SOURCE: SaaS Alerts

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SaaS Alerts Secures $22M Investment from Insight Partners to Scale SaaS Security Monitoring and Response Platform - DARKReading

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silence Therapeutics plc, Nasdaq: SLN (Silence or the Company), a leader in the discovery, development and delivery of novel short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need, today announced that company management will participate in the following conferences:

Webcasts of the fireside chats can be accessed in the Investors section of the Silence website at http://www.silence-therapeutics.com.

About Silence TherapeuticsSilence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the bodys natural mechanism of RNA interference, or RNAi, to inhibit the expression of specific target genes thought to play a role in the pathology of diseases with significant unmet need. Silences proprietary mRNAi GOLD platform can be used to create siRNAs (short interfering RNAs) that precisely target and silence disease-associated genes in the liver, which represents a substantial opportunity. Silences wholly owned product candidates include SLN360 designed to address the high and prevalent unmet medical need in reducing cardiovascular risk in people born with high levels of lipoprotein(a) and SLN124 designed to address rare hematological diseases. Silence also maintains ongoing research and development collaborations with AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, and Hansoh Pharma, among others. For more information, please visit https://www.silence-therapeutics.com/.

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Silence Therapeutics to Participate in September Investment Conferences - Business Wire

Tech stocks suffered a rough 2022 after seeing strong gains last year. But some tech companies are good investments whether the stock market is in bear or bull territory. Among these are Apple (AAPL -0.96%) and Microsoft (MSFT 0.17%). They were once rivals during the rise of personal computers, but now are following different avenues to success.

The price appreciation of these stocks, even with this-year's downturn, illustrates why Apple and Microsoft are excellent investments. While both hit 52-week lows this year during 2022's tech sell-off, their stocks remain well above prices before the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020.

Data by YCharts.

In an ideal world, investors can own shares of both companies. But if you had to choose between these two tech heavyweights, a look at each reveals that one emerges as the better long-term investment.

One reason to invest in Apple is its impressive sales growth. Revenue rose an astounding 33% year over year in the company's fiscal 2021 and 6% in 2020, despite the onset of the pandemic forcing store closures amid widespread lockdowns.

This trend is continuing in 2022. In Apple's fiscal third quarter ended June 25, revenue reached $83 billion, a record for Q3 sales. Through nine months of its fiscal 2022, Apple hit net sales of $304.2 billion, compared to $282.5 billion last year, despite challenging macroeconomic headwinds such as inflation and supply chain constraints.

Apple's revenue growth is due to several reasons, with its hallmark hardware products leading the way. The popularity of Apple products reached record levels in Q3 as the company hit an all-time high in the number of adopted devices.

Among Apple's hardware products, the iPhone stands out. iPhone sales accounted for nearly half of Apple's Q3 revenue. But the company is also growing income from its digital offerings, such as its Apple-TV streaming service. These non-hardware products, grouped under the company's services segment, reached record Q3 revenue of $19.6 billion, up from last year's $17.5 billion.

Thanks in part to the company's streak of stock buybacks, Apple appeals to investors such as Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns nearly 895 million shares of Apple stock.Apple has repurchased shares of its stock for years,including 143 million shares in Q3, up from Q2's 137 million shares repurchased.

Like Apple, Microsoft is riding a wave of success, despite the pandemic and macroeconomic headwinds such as a strong U.S. dollar. The company wrapped up fiscal year 2022, ended June 30, with $198.3 billion in revenue, up 18% over 2021.In fact, Microsoft's year-over-year revenue growth rate has risen in recent years.

Data source: Microsoft. YOY = year-over-year.

Microsoft's revenue growth is due to its shift to cloud computing under Satya Nadella, who became CEO in 2014. The company's Microsoft Cloud revenue increased 32% year over year in fiscal 2022.

Microsoft offers an array of cloud-related solutions, from data storage to cloud-based software applications, and has successfully transitioned its ubiquitous Office products to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription model that generates a recurring revenue stream. In fiscal 2022, Office SaaS subscriptions grew 14% among its commercial customers and 15% with consumers.

Microsoft also boasts a strong balance sheet. The company exited its fiscal fourth quarter, ended June 30, with $364.8 billion in total assets, compared to $198.3 billion in total liabilities. Its Q4 cash and equivalents plus short-term investments were an impressive $104.8 billion.

While Apple and Microsoft possess many appealing elements, downsides exist. A new tax on stock buybacks could affect both companies' approaches to repurchasing shares.

Apple's reliance on iPhone sales can become a weakness. If the new iPhone 14 fails to maintain the iPhone's popularity with consumers, Apple's revenue will suffer. That's what happened in 2019. When iPhone sales softened that year, total revenue dropped 2% year over year despite sales increases in every other Apple product and service.

Similarly, Microsoft's dominance in the PC market, where its market share is a little over 76%, has become a weak point. As consumers spend more time on mobile devices, the importance of PCs has waned. Microsoft blamed a deteriorating PC market, combined with pandemic-induced production shutdowns in China, for Q4's 2% year-over-year decline in its Windows licensing revenue from PC manufacturers.

But unlike Apple's reliance on the iPhone, Microsoft is a more diversified business. The company's offerings include its expanding Xbox gaming division, which is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard, and digital advertising. The latter segment saw a 27% increase in fiscal 2022 revenueand recently acquired Netflix as a customer.

Moreover, Microsoft will benefit from cloud computing industry growth, which is forecast to expand from $706.6 billion last year to $1.3 trillion by 2025. And Microsoft's cloud business isn't a single product line like Apple's iPhone. Cloud computing consists of disparate areas essential to business clients, such as cybersecurity.

As a result, switching costs are high, helping Microsoft retain customers. These factors give Microsoft the edge as the better long-term investment.

Robert Izquierdo has positions in Activision Blizzard, Apple, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Activision Blizzard, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2023 $265 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Apple vs Microsoft: Which Stock Is the Better Long-Term Investment? - The Motley Fool

SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--True Global Ventures 4 Plus (TGV 4 Plus) Fund and TGV 4 Plus Follow On Fund (TGV 4 Plus FoF) today announce a US$17.2m convertible note investment into Animoca Brands out of a total raise of US$110m. Other investors included Boyu Capital, Singapores Sovereign Wealth Fund Temasek and GGV Capital. The investment comes after Animoca Brands second closing at a valuation of US$5.9 billion (based on Australian dollar exchange rates at the time), announced on July 12, 2022. The current investment is to further support Animoca Brands mission to deliver digital property rights to the world's gamers and Internet users, thereby creating a new asset class, play-to-earn economies, and a more equitable digital framework contributing to the building of the open metaverse.

TGV has been an early backer of Animoca Brands since early 2019 and has seen it achieve unicorn status in May 2021. Animoca Brands has derived much of its growth in value from the revenues of its blockchain projects and subsidiaries, as well as the over 340 investments it has made in the open metaverse.

Besides Animoca Brands, the TGV 4 Plus base fund has also invested in other leading companies such as The Sandbox (a subsidiary of Animoca Brands), Forge, Chromaway, Coinhouse, GCEX, Chronicled, Enjinstarter, Iomob and Dedoco and others.

Todays announcement marks the first investment made by the new TGV 4 Plus FoF, which focuses on investing a majority of its capital into selected TGV 4 Plus base fund companies. TGV 4 Plus Follow On Fund will consider making additional investments in other late stage web3 deals as the opportunities arise.

The TGV 4 Plus FoF completed its first closing in June 2022 for US$146m. TGV 4 Plus FoF has 15 General Partners (GP) who lead the fund and its Investment Committee, investing more than US$62m of their money into the fund. This represents a total GP commitment of over 40% of the total fund size and over US$4m per GP on average.

Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: We are honoured that the TGV 4 Plus Follow On Fund has chosen Animoca Brands as its first investment and are deeply grateful for TGVs continued support. Thanks to the shared network effect of the open metaverse, the funding of late stage companies like us also provides a boost to early stage growth, so we believe this is a positive development for the entire ecosystem.

TGV General Partner Duan Stojanovi adds, Im impressed by the number and quality of strategic acquisitions and investments that Animoca Brands has made. It is one of the big winners of the market correction, and is likely to emerge stronger from this down market similarly to how companies like Amazon emerged from the Dotcom crash.

Im happy to see the underlying business traction in the overall web3 ecosystem, led by many of Animoca Brands initiatives. Im also thrilled by the new senior management appointments who will complement the existing strong management team that will take the company to the next level, said TGV General Partner Kelly Choo.

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About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and ranked in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification that is working to advance digital property rights and contribute to the establishment of the open metaverse. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties

including Disney, WWE, Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, and TinyTap. Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 340 investments, including Colossal, Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, Star Atlas, and others. For more information: http://www.animocabrands.com.

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About True Global Ventures

TGV4 Plus Follow On Fund (TGV 4 Plus FoF) completed its first closing in June 2022 for US$146m. TGV 4 Plus FoF has 15 General Partners (GP) who lead the fund and its Investment Committee, investing more than US$62m of their money into the fund. This represents a total GP commitment of over 40% of the total fund size and over US$4m per GP on average.

TGV 4 Plus FoF focuses on investing a majority of its capital into selected TGV 4 Plus base fund companies. Existing portfolio companies include Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, Forge Global, Chromaway, Coinhouse, GCEX, Chronicled, Enjinstarter, Iomob and Dedoco. Portfolio companies leverage web3 technologies, incorporating blockchain as competitive advantages to drive change with proven products. TGV is a distributed fund with a presence in 20 cities, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Stockholm, Paris, Luxemburg, Madrid, Warsaw, New York, San Francisco, and Vancouver. For more information: http://www.tgv4plus.com.

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True Global Ventures 4 Plus Follow On Fund's First Investment is in web3 Leader Animoca Brands - Business Wire

Nearly every major industry is facing public pressure to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint, and the airline industry is no exception.

The commercial aviation industry is reported to be responsible for nearly 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In response, the industry has vowed to find ways to offset and reduce its carbon use, and those steps include making their planes more fuel efficient, making their routes more efficient and retiring gas-guzzling older models.

The aviation industry is built on innovation, and United Airlines (UAL) has now made a big move by investing in a company that it hopes will help reduce the companys overall environmental impact, while also potentially opening up new markets.

United Airlines has invested $15 million into the Embraer-backed Eve Air Mobility (ERJ) company, as reported by Airline Weekly. As part of the deal, United has ordered 200 of the companys electric air taxis, and has options on 200 more.

Also known as eVTOLs, these craft, which can typically hold four people, are capable of electric vertical takeoff and landing; think of them as smaller versions of helicopters that you can hail for citywide travel.

Uniteds plan is for the air taxis to connect airports to highly populated urban centers within roughly 60 miles of the airport. The goal is to make it so passengers can make those trips nearly carbon-free.

In a statement, United Airlines Ventures President Mike Leskinen said that eVTOLs are going to change the way we work and live and, in some cases, where we live, and The more we have studied this market the more convinced we are that this is going to revolutionize the commuter experience in densely populated urban areas.

This is decarbonizing the trip to and from the airport, he added. He equated the cost of an air taxi ride to roughly that of an Uber Black. So pricey, but not inaccessible.

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Eve could potentially begin delivering its vehicles to United in 2026.

It's not United's first investment in the space.In February of 2021, United placed an order for $1 billion of Archer Aviation's (ACHR) planned eVTOLs. Last month it made a $10 million pre-delivery payment to Archer which hopes to have the aircraft certified by the end of 2024.

United has been partnering with a number of different companieslatelyto find ways to reduce its carbon use. Its teamed up with the private bus operator Landline in its Denver location to offer trips between Breckenridge and Fort Collins, Colo, as lower costs and lower emissions, and last year it, along with Mesa Air Group, placed a potential 200-aircraft order with Gothenburg, Sweden-based Heart Aerospace for an electric 19-seat regional aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration has not certified any aircraft powered by electric propulsion for commercial flight.

United Airlines

The air taxi industry has been a closely watched upstart for a while now. Last year, Apple lost three engineers central to its ongoing self-driving car project to the Silicon Valley companies Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY) and Archer.

There are still a number of obstacles standing in the way of the air taxi industry, however. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has been extremely slow and deliberate in its actions in the wake of the botched certification of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. Two of the planes were involved in fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which were tied to automatic control system issues.

Many industry watchers are skeptical the airlines will get approval anytime soon for electric aircraft. There are also technology issues still to be worked out, including the development of an air traffic framework that will manage multiple small aircraft in crowded skies over big cities.

Still, many analysts are hopeful that whenever the taxis get flying, it could be a huge growth industry, as Morgan Stanley has estimated that the urban air mobility market could be worth as much as $1.5 trillion by 2040.

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United Airlines Makes Investment That Could Revolutionize Travel - TheStreet

In recent years, our nation has witnessed several of the worst wildfire seasons in history, public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, mass casualty events, and more. First responders are on the front lines leading the battle against each of these challengesand this is in addition to all the other everyday community emergencies. It is an awesome responsibility, to be sure, and it takes a toll. Thats why the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) continues to fulfill its mission to arm responders with cutting-edge technologies, tools, and information to allow them do their jobs safely and effectively.

S&T doesnt do this in a vacuum; rather, we bring together first responders from across disciplines and across the nation to find out what they need and why, then we focus the R&D community on affordable solutions and leverage responder feedback to develop and commercialize them.

S&Ts First Responder Resource Group (FRRG), representing a diversity of responder disciplines, roles, locations, and agency size, is particularly essential coming together to share knowledge and experience to highlight shared capability needs and the development of solutions. The recently-released Project Responder 6 (PR6) is the latest iteration of this effort: a comprehensive study of emergency response capability needs across changes in the operational environment. The outcomes of this report will guide S&T R&D and acquisition decisions for the responder community for years to come.

The FRRG is unique in that we ask first responders to share their individual experiences, challenges, and knowledge with us, so we at S&T can determine how to provide a solution, said Paul McDonagh, who leads the FRRG and S&Ts First Responder Disaster Resilience portfolio. We are working to make the responders better connected, protected, and fully aware, and that is making our communities safer and more resilient.

What S&T learned from FRRG members in gathering feedback for PR6 is that the lines between responder disciplines are blurring, and the final report reflects this reality. The traditional model of fire engine and squad car to the front yard, ambulance to the ER, is less and less applicable, more and more of the time, as we encounter mental illness, homelessness, and other social problems, said Jay Hagen, chief of the Bellevue (Washington) Fire Department. We need to morph our capabilities to address these issues. Our communities are going to demand we adapt, and to stay flexible, we will need technologies, tools, and guidance that will help us on the greatest number of missions possible. S&Ts FRRG has brought us into the discussion of whats possible.

Dr. Carol Cunningham, State Medical Director, Ohio Department of Public Safety, Division of EMS, agreed: What is unique about the Project Responder effort is information sharing across disciplines, nationwide. Some technologies and tools associated with firefighting, such as gloves and other PPE, are also applicable to the EMS operational environment.

And while it is critical for S&T to hear directly from these responders, forums like these are also important to the responders themselves, who get to hear from their peers about successes and challenges in states and communities across the U.S.

The networking we get from being connected within FRRG gives me a broader group of colleagues to reach out to whenever Im researching different technologies or have questions about their experiences, said Red Grasso, Director or the First Responder Emerging Technologies Program, North Carolina Department of Information Technology. PR6 has helped us find out the needs of responders without having to duplicate at the state level whats being done at the national level.

Direct engagement with S&Ts FRRG benefits state and local agencies to a degree that is difficult to achieve by any responder agency acting on its own. S&T has long been committed to providing this supportthe overall Project Responder effort has surveyed responder technology needs for nearly two decades so far and produced six reports.

PR6 is really an impressive collaboration between members of the first responder community. For over two decades, the Project Responder effort has been the foundation for guiding homeland security research to support the public safety community. Without the support of the first responder community, Project Responder would not be possible, said Dan Cotter, Executive Director of S&Ts Office of Science and Engineering.

The feedback gathered from responders over the years has resulted in more than just reports. For instance, thanks to S&Ts efforts, a key technology first envisioned in Project Responder 3 (PR3, 2014) has spurred industrywide innovation since.

Nothing illustrates better what S&Ts FRRG does in the Project Responder effort than the structure firefighting glove, said Steve Vandewalle, helicopter rescue medic with San Diego Fire Department. What I needed was a glove with thermal protection that was easily donned and doffed and that allowed me to use a touch screen. With industry partners, the Illinois Fire Academy, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Fire Protection Association, we went through six iterations of the glove. After we produced our glove, other glove manufacturers made improvements to stay competitive. The glove I have now is better, thanks to the collaboration S&T brought about.

Another set of innovations that resulted from Project Responder series includes S&Ts 3D tracking technology POINTER, which addresses the need to locate responders inside a structurea need that has been a high priority across all six iterations of Project Responder. Vandewalle calls POINTER the greatest success of the FRRGa game changer not only in the firefighting environment, but also for law enforcement, the tactical environment for high-risk warrants, mining collapses, and urban search and rescue. Phase II of POINTER, locating responders in outdoor and crowded environments, kicked off in July 2022. In conjunction with POINTER, S&T is now developing the Data Upload Mechanism for First Responders, which displays floor plans and other critical data for buildings, further enhancing responder safety.

Looking to the future, FRRG members discussed with us current R&D efforts they see as promising for their operations. The wearable chemical sensor, which warns responders of exposure to hazardous substances so that they can don the appropriate PPE, could eventually give way to a wearable device that detects a contagious pathogen and helps with disease tracing, offered Cunningham.

Two responders offered that emerging virtual tools are essential. Since fire prevention has improved so much, we now rely less on direct experience and more on simulations, lessons learned, shared platforms, video training tools, and the science of decision-making, said Hagen.

And for Rodney Reed, Assistant Chief, Operational Support for the Harris County (Texas) Fire Marshals Office, Virtual reality and augmented reality are valuable as training tools because they offer enhanced capabilities to responders in rural America who face the same threats as responders in metropolitan areas but have resource constraints.

One example of an existing S&T technology in this space that came out of a previous Project Responder report is the Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment (EDGE). Already commercialized, this free virtual training platform for coordinating the response to active shooter incidents, was the highest-priority capability need identified in PR3. More recently, EDGE has emerged as a tool to enhance school safety and can be used to prepare for a wide number of critical incidents as well. While EDGE continues to be a force multiplier in the virtual training environment, S&T also is continuing to explore technologies to expand and customize training offerings for complex incident command and management.

Beyond Project Responder, connecting the R&D community with first responders is a vital mission for S&T. They not only help S&T to chart a technology roadmap based on their current and future needs, but they also inform every step of the processfrom initial design to operationally field-testing prototypes to preparing to transition technologies to the commercial marketplace. And this is not a responsibility that the FRRG members take lightly. As Vandewalle sums it up, I believe it is our job as the FRRG to improve the state of the technology to benefit first responders. You cant find this kind of collaboration anywhere else.

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Strong Relationships with First Responders Are an Investment in R&D - HS Today - HSToday

Home / News / 2022 / Alumnae and Friends Drive $16.5 Million University-Wide Investment

September 7, 2022

Unprecedented burst of community support will establish new endowed professorships across five disciplines.

Brandeis has received five separate gifts totaling $16.5 million, a surge of investment that will be transformative in helping the university define its long-term academic priorities.

Of the gifts, four will support faculty chairs, one each in African and African American studies, mathematics, Israeli politics and society, and business. The fifth gift will create an endowed position to lead an integrated center for Jewish studies.

All five donations were made independently of one another, and three of the endowed professorships came from alumnae. It is inspiring to see alumnae playing such an important role in shaping our future and strengthening our academic endeavor, said President Ron Liebowitz. It speaks well to a growing culture of philanthropy and engagement here that we have foundations, individual philanthropists, and graduates all investing in the universitys future. We are grateful for this collective support.

Carol Fierke, GSAS PhD84, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, added that these endowed chairs will further distinguish Brandeis academic excellence and enrich the student experience.

This support will allow the university to recruit the highest caliber educators, attract and retain students demanding the most rigorous academic opportunities, and embolden our faculty to pursue new and emerging avenues of research, she said. Brandeis is already a leading voice in the most important academic conversations. Now, we are set up to contribute even more meaningfully to these dialogues, long into the future.

Heres what you need to know about the benefactors behind the five professorships and the impact their generosity will have for years to come.

Bonnie Berger 83, the Simons Professor of Mathematics at MIT and a former Brandeis trustee, and her husband, Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO and co-founder of Akamai Technologies and a professor of applied mathematics at MIT, have made a gift to establish a named junior professorship in the Department of Mathematics.

The Berger-Leighton Endowed Professorship will advance the departments research missions, enabling it to recruit high-caliber junior faculty and attract and retain more undergraduate and graduate students. The incumbent chairholder will be a distinguished junior faculty member of the department.

For Berger, endowing a chair carries personal significance, but shes most excited for what this means for the future of the department.

My time at Brandeis really helped shape my love of exploring and pushing the boundaries of mathematics, she said. We are so excited now to be able to help shape the future of mathematical study and research and inspire a new generation of mathematicians.

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A recent gift from Barbara E. Clarke, IBS MA91, a visionary economist, investor, and entrepreneur, will establish a Distinguished Brandeis Faculty Chair in Business at the Brandeis International Business School. A leading investor in women-led technology startups, Clarke is now investing in Brandeis, with the goal of increasing diversity among the schools faculty.

Specifically, the endowed fund will support a senior university faculty member who concentrates their teaching and research in the fields of business, finance, and economics, and who is from an historically underrepresented population relative to the field.

Clarke founded The Impact Seat in 2015. The Boston-based consultancy focuses on driving inclusive innovation. She also launched The Impact Seat Foundation last year to create a world in which women, particularly women of color, succeed as business leaders, according to the foundations website.

Clarke said her time at Brandeis was transformative.

My Brandeis experience helped launch my career and the universitys commitment to social justice still resonates with me today, said Clarke. The proof is in the data: Diverse teams consistently outperform monoculture teams. Its important for me to increase inclusion and representation in all industries, including higher education. This gift is a way to help achieve that goal while simultaneously giving back to Brandeis.

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As president of the Raymond Frankel Foundation, and daughter of its founder, Belinda Frankel played a key role in propelling forward a generous contribution to establish the Raymond Frankel Chair in Israeli Politics and Society in the Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

Our family could not be more proud in knowing that our fathers name will forever be linked with the Crown Center and Brandeis University in such an important way, said Frankel. The Frankel Chair in Israeli Politics and Society connects my fathers life-long passion for scholarship, Israels well-being, and deep thinking in matters of national security in countless ways that will greatly benefit students and scholars for many years to come.

The Crown Center conducts balanced and dispassionate research of the modern Middle East at the pinnacle of academic standards in order to help decision- and opinion-makers be better informed about the region. The centers research spans the 22 members of the Arab League as well as Turkey, Iran, and Israel, with a multi-disciplinary approach in its study of the politics, economics, history, security, sociology, and anthropology of the regions states and societies.

The university is additionally appreciative of Allan Myer, who serves on both the Crown Centers advisory board as well as on the board of the Frankel Foundation, for working to advance the missions of both organizations through this synergistic gift.

Shai Feldman, the founding director of the Crown Center, will serve as the first Frankel chair-holder and assume the position on September 1.

Read the full announcement

Brandeis will establish an endowed professorship in African and African American studies, the first in the departments 50-year history, thanks to a recent gift from Marta Kauffman 78, H20, an acclaimed television writer and producer best known for co-creating the hit sitcoms Friends and Grace and Frankie.

The Marta F. Kauffman 78 Professorship in African and African American Studies will support a distinguished scholar with a concentration in the study of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora.

In addition to aligning with the universitys Framework for the Future, the chair will also enable the department to recruit and retain high-caliber scholars and faculty for continued leadership in the field, allow for continued growth and investment in areas of critical need, provide a public platform for faculty leaders, and attract and retain more students with scholarship and civic participation opportunities.

Kauffman noted the true value of her support exists in the chance of really transforming, not only the school, but students lives.

These professors are teaching these students who then go out into the world and they do good work, and they run for office, and they teach other people, she said. Youre giving not only for the health and longevity of the department, but also for the future.

Read more about her gift

As philanthropic leaders and trustees of the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation, Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine have improved countless lives and communities through their support for social justice, health care, youth and education, and Jewish causes. The pair recently pledged their support to establish the Lavine Family Professor and Director of the Brandeis Center for Jewish Studies. In keeping with founding president Abram L. Sachars promise that Brandeis would be vitally concerned with Jewish studies, the new directorship will promote collaboration among faculty and researchers across campus who conduct research on and teach about Jewish history, culture, religion, politics, gender, business, and the state of Israel.

The time is ripe to bring together Brandeis unparalleled set of academic resources devoted to the study and professional practice of Jewish peoplehood, said Fierke, "that includes more than 35 faculty members and researchers, two degree-granting programs, and six research centers and institutes.The enhanced synergy between these disparate units will enhance the impact and reach of our academic mission."

The director will play a significant role in unifying these outstanding programs as they seek out answers to major questions related to the Jewish experience, engage the broader public in those explorations, and position Brandeis as the place where American Jewry turns to grapple with and better understand the most pressing issues they and Judaism at-large face.

Dave Eisenberg is the integrated marketing and content strategy manager with Brandeis University's Institutional Advancement team. Prior to joining Brandeis, he worked as a content specialist at Perkins School for the Blind, and before that, as a journalist. Outside of work, he enjoys playing guitar and is an avid runner.

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Alumnae and Friends Drive $16.5 Million University-Wide Investment - Brandeis alumni

Single-family rental properties have always been one of the most popular asset classes among real estate investors because of the steady demand and lower barriers to entry compared to multifamily and commercial properties.

Those barriers have grown significantly over the past several months as higher home prices and interest rates have brought housing affordability to its lowest level in 30 years.

The investment platform Arrived Homes, backed by Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, has given investors another option to invest in this asset class by offering shares of individual rental properties to retail investors.

The company handles all property management responsibilities so investors can collect quarterly distributions from the rental income and profit from any price appreciation when it sells the properties.

Earlier this year, Arrived Homes announced that it would also be offering shares of another type of real estate investment that has grown in popularity because of its strong potential for higher returns vacation rentals.

Its first batch of vacation rentals is now live on the platform with minimum investments of $100.

This announcement came shortly after Jeff Bezos made his second investment in Arrived Homes through the companys $25 million Series A round. Perhaps one of Bezos most widely talked about venture capital plays was his early investment in Airbnb during the vacation rental platforms Series B round, which points to the billionaire investors continued belief in the short-term rental market.

The first seven vacation rentals on the Arrived Homes platform are collectively valued at approximately $5 million. They are located in some of the most popular vacation destinations across the country, with the highest demand for short-term rentals through sites like Airbnb and VRBO.

The first batch of vacation rental properties includes The Mirage in Joshua Tree, CA, The Oasis in Nashville, TN, The Cardinal in Glendale, AZ, The Ace in Scottsdale, AZ, The Hammock in Clearwater, FL, The Orchard in Blue Ridge, GA and The Pointbreak in Panama City, FL.

Story continues

The first property, The Oasis, was offered to existing investors on the platform a day early, on September 8, 2022, and was fully funded in less than 30 minutes.

Arrived Homes has partnered with established vacation rental property managers and developers to oversee the homes' design, furnishing, and upkeep.

According to data from AirDNA, vacation rentals are responsible for 130% more revenue than traditional long-term rentals. Airbnb also just reported its strong quarter to date in terms of revenue and bookings.

According to Vacasas Vacation Rental Search Report, traffic and searches for vacation rentals more than doubled year over year. By spring 2021, searches were up 235%, and its number of users was up 116%.

Find more details about Arrived Homes and other fractional real estate investments on Benzinga Alternative Investments.

Photo: Courtesy of Arrived Homes

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Bezos-Backed Real Estate Investment Platform Capitalizing On Growing Demand For Vacation Rentals - Yahoo Finance

London, Sept. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This year, top Caribbean jurisdictions will be attending the 12th Edition of the IREX Residency and Citizenship Conclave at Le Meridian, New Delhi from 9 to 10 September 2022, to showcase their citizenship by investment (CBI) offerings.

The island nations of the Commonwealth of Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia will be represented at the conclave. The opportunity to better understand the investment opportunities for each country will be unpacked during the event, ensuring that potential investors are better equipped to make decisions.

The three countries will be represented by CS Global Partners, the worlds leading government advisory firm specialising in citizenship and residency solutions.

This years CBI Index, the most regarded and trusted source of ranking global CBI programmes ranked Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis and St Lucia in the top three for their CBI options.

Investing in any one of these countries offers international investors a gateway to access the worlds most important business hubs, stable currencies, quality education and health facilities. It opens doors to new entrepreneurial options, thanks to the abundance of financial opportunities across the globe. Fulfilling dreams of business expansion on an international scale and making connections to take your business to the next level are all possibilities with the dual citizenship options of these Caribbean nations.

A diverse mix of clientele from across the globe will attend this years event, the likes of which will include entrepreneurs, bankers, chartered accountants, wealth managers and financial experts to name but a few.

The conclave brings together global residency and citizenship consultants, legal consultants, government bodies, property developers and other stakeholders and connects them directly with potential clients.

The two-day event will allow immigration experts to present various international residency and citizenship programmes presented by different countries and experts will also be able to engage in one-on-one interactions at their respective booths in the exhibition hall throughout the day.

IREX is hosted annually and presents investment avenues for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) who intend to invest in alternative citizenships, real estate and premium luxury properties. The event attracts HNWIs from over 25 countries such as Australia, Canada, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and more.

Immigration experts will also help High Net Worth Individuals who seek alternative citizenship through investments to manage their finances through opportunities offered by the individual countries. St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and St Lucia offer the opportunity to obtain citizenship and diversify ones portfolio by making a contribution to the local economy.

Over the last decade or so, the primary motivations amongst CBI participants have been freedom of movement, tax benefits and lifestyle factors, such as better education.

Individuals applying for the Dominica CBI can make contributions to the Economic Diversification Fund and Real Estate. The former supports private as well as public projects within the country whereas the latter entails investment in approved real estate projects.

St Kitts and Nevis offers a wide range of CBI options such as the Sustainable Growth Fund. This option focuses on the aspect of the public and private real estate development.

Key investments in St Lucia include the National Economic Fund Investment and real estate amongst others. This diversification of investment options is advantageous because it enables investors to select suitable investments that are in line with their risk appetite.

India has become known as a country with the largest emigrant population in the world. Many High Net Worth Indians are looking for opportunities to get foreign residency and citizenship.

The IREX Residency and Citizenship Conclave serves as a convenient meeting platform and has been successful, year after year, in bringing international citizenship consultants face to face with prominent individuals and corporate investors, real estate agents, property marketing companies and professionals from all over India.

CS Global Partners works closely with the governments of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis and assists them in increasing their Foreign Direct Investment and developing and promoting their offers to generate inclusive wealth for their country and people while growing their global presence by ensuring the integrity and longevity of their CBI programmes. The revenues generated by the CBI Programmes are instrumental in furthering the developmental goals and aspirations of these Small Island Developing States.

CS Global Partners, prides itself on being a global specialist in residency and citizenship by investment (CBI) solutions and is one of the most prominent participants of the IREX Residency and Citizenship Conclave this year.Together with the three island nations they look forward to hosting attendees at their stands and showcasing the unique benefits they have to offer investors.

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Caribbean nations showcase Citizenship by Investment offerings at IREX Residency and Citizenship Conclave in New Delhi - CS Global Partners -...