Carmelo Anthony Founds M7 Tech Partners

Carmelo Anthony has decided to co-found a company, M7 Tech Partners, that will invest in technology start-ups. The NY Times says:

The idea that turned Carmelo Anthony into a venture capitalist came to him during practice with the Knicks last season.

The basketball star became interested in the sophisticated sensors that players had recently started wearing to track their performance …

The average basketball player has a career of five seasons. After playing many athletes have little money and no skill set other than playing basketball. I’m glad to see that Carmelo Anthony is building a financial foundation to make sure that he and his family will be financially secure after retirement from basketball.

Bloomberg reports that Anthony said:

“We are actively looking for ventures with strong leaders creating breakthrough products that resonate with consumers,” he said. “I particularly have my eye on companies that are involved with wearable technology and connected devices – these will be huge areas for the future.”

Investing in tech start-ups is a tough field, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on M7 Tech Partners. I wonder if M7 will actively pursue Black and/or Latino tech start-ups?

 

Latino Author Summit 2014

This year that Latino Author Summit was held at CSU San Bernardino. There were authors, there were activities for the kidlets, there was singing, there was dancing and there were plenty of workshops.

Financial education speaker and author Shay Olivarria speaks during the panel on financial education for Latino youth.

The panelists pose for a photo at the Latino Author Summit.

Financial Institutions Owned by People of Color

Did you know that there are 28 financial institutions owned by Black people? How about that there are 33 owned by Latinos? 86 owned by Asians and 19 owned by Native Americans? If you want to use your funds to grow your community then using a financial institution owned by communities of color might be right up your alley.

Check out the whole list here.

Passport Day 2012

Shay visited Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka in 2011.

Why is there a photo of Shay standing in a train station in Tokyo? Saturday, March 10th is Passport Day! The company is named “Bigger Than Your Block” for a reason. We believe that travel is an integral part of education. We’re encouraging everyone to go get your passport tomorrow (even if you don’t know where you’d like to go or if you don’t have the money to pay for it) because taking that first step will start changing your mindset.

Officially, Passport Day is “On Saturday, March 10 only, apply for your U.S. passport at a Regional Passport Agency without an appointment. You will be able to apply for standard processing (4-6 weeks) or pay an additional $60 for expedited processing (2-3 weeks, door-to-door).”

Necessites un Passport de America?

Applying to a  get a passport is SUPER easy. You just bring your birth certificate, two regulation sized photos (get ’em at AAA for about $10), a photo ID and pay your fee. Beware: the office is going to take your birth certificate (they will mail it back to you with your passport). The whole thing will last about 5 minutes and you’ll end up with the ability to travel the world!

U.S. Dept. of State website:

First-time applicants

Renewals

Minors (under 16)

Shay at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France in 2006.

Now, Americans can get a passport (for the WORLD!) and a card to travel to Canada and Mexico for about $25. When I was a kid, I started a file with all the the places I wanted to visit. It took me a while to get started (I was 27) but I’ve managed to visit 9 counties on 3 continents. I wish I would have known it was this easy a loooong time ago.

Read more about it at:
I’m Black & I Travel
Los Angeles Times

 

Happy travels!

 

 

$10,000 Scholarship for Student Committed to Community Service

Applications are now being accepted for The Dr. Alma S. Adams Scholarship for Outreach and Health Communications to reduce tobacco use among what the American Legacy Foundation calls “Priority Populations.” Priority populations are those populations who are disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry, or who often lack the tools and resources to combat smoking in their communities. Identified priority populations are Native Americans/Alsaka Natives, Hispanics, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Low SES, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities.

The Adams scholarship will award a total of $10,000 annually for up to two candidates to pursue undergraduate or graduate studies at an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. The scholarship, named for founding Legacy board member, Dr. Alma S. Adams, will be awarded to individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to community service or used the visual arts or media to convey culturally-appropriate health messages on behalf of a disadvantaged population.

Applications will be accepted from December 15, 2008 until April 30, 2009. Awardees will be notified by June 30, 2009.

Awardees will be notified by June 30. For more information, email:adamsscholarship@americanlegacy.org.

Scholarships for Construction Majors

Case Construction Equipment today announced its sponsorship of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association’s Scholarship Foundation. This non-profit organization provides financial support for high school seniors entering higher education and undergraduate students to complete construction-related degrees. These are the people who will build our roads, bridges, schools, homes and infrastructure. We are proud to be a sponsor of the HACIA Scholarship Foundation, and we applaud their efforts to support Hispanic students.

For Case Construction Equipment career information, please visit www.cnh.com and click on “Careers,” then click on “North America.”

For more information on the HACIA Scholarship Foundation, please call 312/666-5910, or visit www.haciaworks.org.

Scholarships available at PCC for Latino students

PASADENA – The Pasadena City College President’s Latino Advisory Committee has established four $1,000 scholarships for PCC students through the PCC Latino Scholarship Fund.

To be eligible for the scholarship, an individual must, in addition to the requirements, be a full-time student with a GPA of 2.5 or higher, demonstrate financial need, show an understanding of Latino culture and be involved in extracurricular activities.

The application is available online on the PLAC Website at http://www.pasadena.edu/about/president/plac.cfm.

Applications can be submitted to the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (L114) by April 17.

Selected students will be notified by May 1.

From San Gabriel Tribune

Dallas Grant to Attend SMU’s Youth Symposium

From Hispanic Grants.net

Are you Hispanic and in high school or know someone who is? 200 Hispanic high school students will get the chance of a lifetime to attend the Dallas Hispanic Youth Symposium at Southern Methodist University.

Program highlights include:

• Workshops on how to prepare for, apply to, and finance college – taught by college admissions counselors!
• Career workshops that introduce students to engineering, science, math, and more!
• “Issues to Action” – Workshops focusing on the role of community involvement and public policy with competitions and prizes for actionable solutions
• $14,000 in scholarship monies – Awarded to winners of the art competition, essay competition, talent competition, and speech competition! (Participation is not mandatory.)
• “Hispanic Heroes” – Breakout group meetings with Hispanic role models from the community. 90% of symposia attendees leave the program with a mentor!
• College and career fair

What are you waiting for, make this a priority for you and all your friends. SMU is such a nice campus, you may even want to attend school there as well. Si Se Puede!