PRINCETON, New Jersey, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Recently 400 of the of the nation’s preeminent educators, experts, policymakers, and fundraisers working on advancing Black male success in higher education gathered for a day-long symposium co-convened by ETS and the Children’s Defense Fund, to highlight the issues and discuss solutions. Videos of panel discussions and presentations from that event are now available online.

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The symposium, “Advancing Success for Black Men in College,” was the fourth and final in the series, “Promoting Promising Practices for Black Male Success,” which began by looking at the education attainment of Black boys from birth to nine, then middle school, high school and most recently college.

“The leaders from government, academia, civil rights organizations and corporations who gathered for this symposium would not have done so if they didn’t believe it was possible to chart a path forward for Black men in college,” says Walt MacDonald, President and CEO of ETS, who opened the event. “It was an inspiring and informative day filled with shining examples of students who have succeeded in the face of adversity as well as profiles of frontline programs that offer great hope, but also show it can be done. We’re pleased to share the wonderful presentations from the event.”  

“In five years, the majority of our children will be non-White. We need them if we are going to have a strong military, a strong workforce and are going to be able to compete and maintain our role in the world,” said Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Failing to invest in equal success for all children represents America’s greatest economic and military security threat. By talking about an action plan for how we’re going to save our Black boys, we are talking about an action plan for how we are going to save our country.”  

A highlight of the day was a panel presentation called “College Student Stories,” that featured four young men who defied the odds and became college success stories. The four, Sixto Cancel, Shawon Jackson, Javon Mullings and Marvin Perry, talked about finding the inspiration to strive for a college education, people and programs that helped them succeed, the financial challenges of going to college, choosing positive, supportive friends, navigating dating relationships in college and more.

Moderator Jeff Johnson of Illume Communications asked the group how they came to realize the importance of a college education. Cancel, who grew up in the foster care system and is now at Virginia Commonwealth University, said, “I saw the difference between people who made it out of the foster care system and those still in the neighborhood. I saw the difference was education. That access gave them a better quality of life. It enabled them to be self-reliant. Education did that for them. That’s the moment I realized that’s where I needed to be.”

Other panel discussions offered insights about policy changes that can increase access and raise the odds for college success, how to make college more affordable, and strategies to support college students so they make it through to graduation.

“When you look at most indicators of achievement, this is the group that comes in at the bottom most often,” said Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President, ETS Policy Evaluation Research Center. “We need to make progress, and your participation is important to that end,” he said, underscoring the symposium’s purpose of sharing ideas and strategies that work.

• See video of the day’s speakers and panel discussions.
• Search the Twitter hashtag #blackmenincollege to view live Tweets and photos sent by guests and participants throughout the day.
• See background from ETS, information about the symposium and a list of participants.

About ETS
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, and by conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC ® tests, the GRE ® tests and The Praxis Series ® assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide. www.ets.org

IRVING, Texas, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) announced a partnership with The Lincoln Motor Company as NSHMBA’s 2014 national Automotive Partner.

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Lincoln will be conference Co-lead at NSHMBA’s 25th Annual Conference & Career Expo in Philadelphia, PA on September 24 -27, 2014. Lincoln will be offering unique test drive experiences for all conference attendees. Lincoln will also be providing a vehicle lease giveaway to all participants during the conference. Lincoln has also expanded its support to NSHMBA with a pledge towards their MBA scholarship fund.

As part of this partnership, NSHMBA will also execute chapter events throughout Los Angeles and Miami featuring Lincoln vehicles. These events will take place starting August 1^st through December 31^st, 2014.

“In order for Hispanic business students and professionals to build successful careers in this ever-changing economy, they need professional advice on how to leverage the unique opportunities afforded to them,” said NSHMBA CEO Manny Gonzalez. “NSHMBA, alongside with Lincoln and our other sponsors, is here to provide professional development and as many opportunities as possible to succeed.”

“Our partnership with NSHMBA helps to illustrate our mutual admiration for excellence and achievement,” said David Rodriguez, Multicultural Marketing Manager, Lincoln Motor Company. “NSHMBA presents a powerful platform to demonstrate Lincoln’s commitment to create innovative, modern products for our passionate Hispanic consumers.”

About the National Society of Hispanic MBAs
National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA): formed in 1988, as a non-profit organization aiming to empower Hispanics to achieve their fullest educational, social, and earning potential. NSHMBA serves the Hispanic community and its constituents through a national network of 40 chapters and hundreds of community partners across the United States and Puerto Rico covering 100 percent of the Hispanic community. NSHMBA is dedicated to building and advancing Hispanic leadership, advocating the pursuit of higher education and providing its members with world-class professional development and career management programs. Visit www.nshmba.org.

About The Lincoln Motor Company
Lincoln is the luxury automotive brand of Ford Motor Company, committed to creating compelling vehicles with an exceptional ownership experience to match. Lincoln is in the process of introducing four all-new vehicles in the next four years. For more information about Lincoln, please visit media.lincoln.com or www.lincoln.com. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/Lincoln.

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — NutriBullet, LLC., a premiere health and wellness brand and creator of high-performance nutritional smoothie makers, has announced the launch of “The UNI Project” trailer, which previews a documentary offering sustainable solutions to the declining health of today’s teens. NutriBullet partnered with University High School (UNI) in Los Angeles, sending in a Registered Dietitian to work with teachers and students and providing them with vegetables, fresh fruit and NutriBullets to create a healthy daily breakfast.

Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy3sFhN64Po

“A staggering 66 percent of students enrolled in the project were overweight, which unfortunately is not far off the national average published by the CDC at 60%,” said NutriBullet’s in-house Registered Dietitian Sarah Lefkowitz. “We need to encourage students to start eating veggies every day to turn their health around in a big way. Making daily green smoothies is an easy and fun way to do that.”

The NutriBullet health team, led by Lefkowitz and Kerri Eich Reiners, the Director of Health and Environmental Sciences at UNI guided students in making their own daily vegetable and fruit-based smoothies over the course of three months. To measure the physical impact of the regimen, participating students had anthropomorphic data collected, including height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, and blood samples to test cholesterol levels at the beginning and end of the program.

The NutriBullet health team documented students’ daily activities, interactions and struggles. The 12-week study ended with astonishing results, including lowered cholesterol, weight loss, decreased waist size, reduced acne and a distinct improvement in overall health and well being among students. Thus, the UNI Project was born.

The success of this program inspired the NutriBullet health team to launch BeTheNextUNI, an opportunity to expand The UNI Project nationwide. This contest offers five schools the chance to receive $10,000 in funding towards their own program. In addition, they will receive NutriBullet units, The UNI Project 12-week Program Guidelines, ongoing guidance by the NutriBullet RDs, as well as possible blood work analysis.

“We live in a fast-paced world where most parents don’t have time to cook, and where adolescents are bombarded with wrong messages about what to eat,” explained David Wolfe, a Nutrition Expert who worked with teachers and students on The UNI Project. “It is no wonder teens are suffering from rapidly declining health and are more confused than ever about what healthy eating even means.”

For more information, submission guidelines and to learn more about the program and documentary, please click here.

About NutriBullet, LLC.:

The NutriBullet launched in March of 2012, providing a simple, quick, and delicious way to maximize fruit and vegetable intake on a daily basis. Sold in more than 70 countries worldwide, the NutriBullet has transformed the notion of eating healthy into a fun and easy task. Become one of the 10 million “NutriBlasters” revolutionizing their health with the NutriBullet to look and feel better than they have in years!