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Saturday, August 21, 2021

Landlords look for an exit amid federal eviction moratorium (AP) When Ryan David bought three rental properties back in 2017, he expected the $1,000-a-month he was pocketing after expenses would be regular sources of income well into his retirement years. But then the pandemic hit and federal and state authorities imposed moratoriums on evictions. The unpaid rent began to mount. Then, just when he thought the worst was over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new moratorium, lasting until Oct. 3. David, the father of a 2 1/2-year-old who is expecting another child, fears the $2,000 he’s owed in back rent will quickly climb to thousands more. The latest moratorium “was the final gut punch,” said the 39-year-old, adding that he now plans to sell the apartments. Most evictions for unpaid rent have been halted since the early days of the pandemic and there are now more than 15 million people living in households that owe as much as $20 billion in back rent, according to the Aspen Institute. A majority of single-family rental home owners have been impacted, according to a survey from the National Rental Home Council, and 50% say they have tenants who have missed rent during the pandemic. Landlords, big and small, are most angry about the moratoriums, which they consider illegal. Many believe some tenants could have paid rent, if not for the moratorium. And the $47 billion in federal rental assistance that was supposed to make landlords whole has been slow to materialize. By July, only $3 billion of the first tranche of $25 billion had been distributed.

Student loans (WSJ) The Biden administration announced it will wipe out $5.8 billion in student loans held by 323,000 people who are permanently disabled. This means the Education Department will discharge loans for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities per Social Security Administration records. Currently there is $1.6 trillion held in student loan debt, much of which could be eliminated through executive action.

New England preps for 1st hurricane in 30 years with Henri (AP) New Englanders bracing for their first direct hit by a hurricane in 30 years began hauling boats out of the water and taking other precautions Friday as Tropical Storm Henri barreled toward the Northeast coast. Henri was expected to intensify into a hurricane by Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Impacts could be felt in New England states by Sunday, including on Cape Cod, which is teeming with tens of thousands of summer tourists. “This storm is extremely worrisome,” said Michael Finkelstein, police chief and emergency management director in East Lyme, Connecticut. “We haven’t been down this road in quite a while and there’s no doubt that we and the rest of New England would have some real difficulties with a direct hit from a hurricane.”

Booming Colo. town asks, ‘Where will water come from?’ (AP) “Go West, young man,″ Horace Greeley famously urged. The problem for the northern Colorado town that bears the 19th-century newspaper editor’s name: Too many people have heeded his advice. By the tens of thousands newcomers have been streaming into Greeley—so much so that the city and surrounding Weld County grew by more than 30% from 2010 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. And it’s not just Greeley. Figures released this month show that population growth continues unabated in the South and West, even as temperatures rise and droughts become more common. That in turn has set off a scramble of growing intensity in places like Greeley to find water for the current population, let alone those expected to arrive in coming years. “Everybody looks at the population growth and says, ‘Where is the water going to come from?’” [one local professor] said.

Everything’s Getting Bigger In Texas (AP, CNBC, Forbes) Texas has long been a popular destination for newcomers, thanks to cheaper land and housing, more job opportunities, lower taxes, and fewer regulations. There’s also the great weather, food, schools, and medical facilities, the abundant resources and year-round recreation and outdoor activities, artistic and cultural events, fairs, festivals, music venues, and the diverse and friendly people—you know, just to name a few. Texas has always been a business-friendly environment, which has certainly not been lost on tech and financial companies headquartered in strictly-regulated and high-priced states like California and New York. There are 237 corporate relocation and expansion projects in the works in Texas just since the pandemic hit. Tech giant Oracle moved its headquarters to Austin in late 2020; Tesla is building its new Gigafactory there, and Apple will have its second-largest campus there as well. Both Google and Facebook have satellite offices in Austin, and the file hosting services company Dropbox will be leaving San Francisco for Austin. Recently, the global real estate services firm CBRE and multinational financial services behemoth Charles Schwab moved their headquarters from California to the Dallas area. Hewlett Packard’s cofounders were two of the original grandfathers of Silicon Valley, who started their company in a Palo Alto garage in 1939. Now, the corporation is moving its headquarters from San Jose to Houston. And the number of mega-wealthy individuals who’ve moved to Texas are too numerous to mention. It’s not just big cities like Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio that are seeing an influx of people—bedroom communities are growing by leaps and bounds as well—places like New Braunfels, located in the Texas Hill Country, Conroe, 40 miles north of Houston, and McKinney, just 30 minutes up U.S. 75 from Dallas.

‘Bracing for the worst’ in Florida’s COVID-19 hot zone (AP) As quickly as one COVID patient is discharged, another waits for a bed in northeast Florida, the hot zone of the state’s latest surge. But the patients at Baptist Health’s five hospitals across Jacksonville are younger and getting sick from the virus faster than people did last summer. Baptist has over 500 COVID patients, more than twice the number they had at the peak of Florida’s July 2020 surge, and the onslaught isn’t letting up. Hospital officials are anxiously monitoring 10 forecast models, converting empty spaces, adding over 100 beds and “bracing for the worst,” said Dr. Timothy Groover, the hospitals’ interim chief medical officer.

Grace heads for a second hurricane hit on Mexican coast (AP) Hurricane Grace—temporarily knocked back to tropical storm force—headed Friday for a second landfall in Mexico, this time taking aim at the mainland’s Gulf coast after crashing through the country’s main tourist strip. The storm lost punch as it zipped across the Yucatan Peninsula, but it emerged late Thursday over the relatively warm Gulf of Mexico and was gaining energy. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Grace’s winds were back up to 70 mph (110 kph) early Friday and were expected to soon regain hurricane force. It was centered about 265 miles (425 kilometers) east of Tuxpan and was heading west at 16 mph (26 kph). The forecast track would take it toward a coastal region of small fishing towns and beach resorts between Tuxpan and Veracruz, likely Friday night or early Saturday, then over a mountain range toward the heart of the country and the greater Mexico City region. Forecasters said it could drop 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain, with more in a few isolated areas—bringing the threat of flash floods, mudslide and urban flooding.

“Self-determination 1, Human Rights 0” (Foreign Policy) Most Latin American governments offered little official support to the U.S. War in Afghanistan when it began in 2001. At the time, Venezuela put forward a blistering critique of meeting ��terror with more terror,” and then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro said U.S. opponents’ irregular warfare abilities could draw out the conflict for 20 years. Over the weekend, as the Afghan government collapsed and chaos engulfed Kabul’s airport, today’s leaders of Cuba and Venezuela echoed their critiques while foreign ministers of other Latin American countries diplomatically issued statements of concern about Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs. Chile and Mexico made plans to accept Afghan refugees, and several countries signed on to a joint international statement protecting Afghan women’s rights. To many in Latin America’s diplomatic and foreign-policy communities, the dark events in Afghanistan confirmed the importance of the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. The extended U.S. presence in Afghanistan was “the same mistake as always: trying to build democratic states through the use of force,” Colombian political scientist Sandra Guzmán wrote in El Tiempo. Many Latin Americans stressed that methods other than military interventions should be used to work toward human rights, even as they acknowledged how challenging it can be to make progress. “Self-determination 1, human rights 0 #Afghanistan,” tweeted Uruguayan political scientist Andrés Malamud after Kabul fell.

Afghanistan war unpopular amid chaotic pullout (AP) A significant majority of Americans doubt that the war in Afghanistan was worthwhile, even as the United States is more divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and national security, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Roughly two-thirds said they did not think America’s longest war was worth fighting, the poll shows. Meanwhile, 47% approve of Biden’s management of international affairs, while 52% approve of Biden on national security. The poll was conducted Aug. 12-16 as the two-decade war in Afghanistan ended with the Taliban returning to power and capturing the capital of Kabul. Biden has faced bipartisan condemnation in Washington for sparking a humanitarian crisis by being ill-prepared for the speed of the Taliban’s advance.

The U.S. Blew Billions in Afghanistan (Bloomberg) The rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s government to the Taliban fueled fears of a humanitarian disaster, sparked a political crisis for President Joe Biden and caused scenes of desperation at Kabul’s airport. It’s also raised questions about what happened to more than $1 trillion the U.S. spent trying to bring peace and stability to a country wracked by decades of war. While most of that money went to the U.S. military, billions of dollars got wasted along the way, in some cases aggravating efforts to build ties with the Afghan people Americans meant to be helping. A special watchdog set up by Congress spent the past 13 years documenting the successes and failures of America’s efforts in Afghanistan. While wars are always wasteful, the misspent American funds stand out because the U.S. had 20 years to shift course.

Western groups desperate to save Afghan workers left behind (AP) The Italian charity Pangea helped tens of thousands of Afghan women become self-supporting in the last 20 years. Now, dozens of its staff in Afghanistan are in hiding with their families amid reports that Taliban are going door-to-door in search of citizens who worked with Westerners. Pangea founder Luca Lo Presti has asked that 30 Afghan charity workers and their families be included on Italian flights that have carried 500 people to safety this week, but the requests were flatly refused. On Thursday, the military coordinator told him: “Not today.” Dozens of flights already have brought hundreds of Western nationals and Afghan workers to safety in Europe since the Taliban captured the capital of Kabul. Those lucky enough to be rescued from feared reprisals have mostly been Afghans who worked directly with foreign missions, along with their families. European countries also have pledged to evacuate people at special risk from the Taliban—feminists, political activists and journalists—but it is unclear exactly where the line is being drawn and how many Afghan nationals Western nations will be able to evacuate.

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Innovation Nation: How technology is taking the guesswork out of pricing crude oil

Canada has a rich history of innovation, but in the next few decades, powerful technological forces will transform the global economy. Large multinational companies have jumped out to a headstart in the race to succeed, and Canada runs the risk of falling behind. At stake is nothing less than our prosperity and economic well-being. The Financial Post set out explore what is needed for businesses to flourish and grow. You can find all of our coverage here.

Long before the debate over pipeline construction, the oil price differential, production curtailment and government-purchased rail cars dominated headlines, a pair of Toronto entrepreneurs were busy travelling from wellsite to wellsite in frigid northern Alberta, testing technology that has the potential to transform the conversation.

Ian Burgess and Nouman Ahmad had developed a system to help energy companies receive a fairer price for their product — a possible solution to the price differential problem that has plagued both conventional and unconventional oil and gas producers.

“On our very first hardware field test, I hit a whiteout storm driving north from Edmonton,” recalled Burgess with a laugh, “and my van full of equipment started to skid. I remember thinking ‘this could turn out to be a very expensive first trip.'” Fortunately, he was able to stay on the road.

Innovation Nation: Why has the government put a cap on innovation success?

Move over oil, Big Data is the new fuel to run the world

Innovation Nation: AI godfathers gave Canada an early edge — but we could end up being left in the dust

At that stage, Validere Technologies, as the two named their fledgling company, had just graduated from Silicon Valley’s prestigious Y Combinator seed accelerator, in the summer of 2016.

Through Y Combinator, the company received critical early stage capital from Clint Chao and Ammar Hanafi, partners at Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm Moment Ventures. “We invest in industry verticals outside the immediate sphere of Silicon Valley,” Hanafi said.

“When Nouman and Ian first presented to us, it was clear they were thinking big picture on how to effectively introduce leading edge AI powered IoT tech to the age-old world of oil and gas,” Chao added.

As crude oil moves from wellhead to refinery, custody transfer takes place an average of eleven times. Each time this happens, it mixes with different crude oil streams from different storage facilities as it moves progressively from smaller feeder pipelines to larger arterial trunklines, to eventually arriving at a refinery thousands of kilometres from where it was drilled.

Inevitably, the commodity’s composition changes.

Whenever there’s a compositional change, there is a good chance it’s no longer representative of what was sold — all crude oil is not created equal. “Of course, there are third party labs that do sporadic tests, but they aren’t done in the field or in real-time,” Burgess said.

Validere’s technology works in two stages. Validere 360 is a testing product, sold on a software as a service model. Alpha takes that data and uses artificial intelligence to suggest what to do with the oil once the information is known. “Whereas 360 is all about producing useful crude oil quality data through internet connected testing devices in the field, Alpha is about how to use that information over time, in the most optimal way, using our proprietary predictive AI engine,” Burgess said.

Once a pipeline company has a greater degree of confidence in the quality of the crude entering their system, it can then for example, redirect a sour (referring to crude oil’s hydrogen sulphide content) stream of oil into a more appropriate storage facility. “Our technology creates trust because if ever there is a custody transfer dispute, we can print out an audit form showing much more accurately how, at various points along the supply chain, the composition of the oil changed,” Ahmad said.

So how do a pair of energy-industry neophytes end up coming up with a possible solution to one of the Canadian oil industry’s most nettlesome problems?

After the 2013 disaster in Lac Mégantic, when an unattended freight train carrying crude oil from North Dakota rolled down a hill and derailed, causing a massive explosion that killed nearly 50 people, Burgess was awarded a research contract by the U.S. Department of Transportation to help it better understand what went wrong.

It was then that Burgess, who by age 24 had already graduated from Harvard with a PhD in Applied Physics, was first exposed to crude oil quality testing. It was also where the first of many iterations for Validere’s underlying technology was born. “After a while I started to realize there was a big problem in the oil and gas industry,” Burgess said.

A key finding in his research was the crude oil’s vapour pressure in the rail car tanks was off-spec — essentially the oil in the tanks shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Shortly after completing his work in 2014, Burgess met Ahmad, who had just recently exited a successful fintech startup focused on life insurance. A coffee here, a conversation there, and soon they agreed there was an opportunity in crude oil quality testing. “At the start we worked together without any formal agreements,” Ahmad said. “It was a time for us to explore whether we were capable of working together.”

They then entered a pitch competition at Harvard to work out their business plan, and yearning to return home, they then looked north to Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) — a seed-stage program for “massively scalable, science-based companies.” CDL is unique in that it employs a mentoring process, with the goal of maximizing equity-value creation.

Here they met Canadian tech investor T. Chen Fong. “From pretty well the moment we met Chen, he has been an invaluable adviser to us, and was one of our first significant investors,” said Ahmad, a former investment banker who immigrated as a child with his family to Canada.

They also met senior M&A lawyer turned Parkland Fuel Corporation executive Pierre Magnan. “CDL is great at bridging the gap between industry and academia,” said Magnan, who runs Parkland’s considerable Caribbean holdings from Grand Cayman. “And the Validere story is as much about gritty hard work as it is innovative tech.” Magnan sits on Validere’s board and was also an early investor.

Flash forward to October 2018 when Validere announced a $7-million round of financing led by Houston-based energy private equity firm Sallyport Investments, the family office for renowned U.S. energy executive Doug Foshee.

“In the six years we’ve been in business, close to 2,000 deals have come across my desk,” Managing Director Kyle Bethancourt, who came to Sallyport from the Blackstone Group, said. “In that time, we’ve only invested in thirteen deals. Validere being one of them.”

Ahmad and Burgess’s focus for the past several years has been to iterate Validere’s underlying technology, listen to the needs of their customers, and prime for scalability. “Now we’re at the stage where we can focus on growth rather than survival and build out the business,” Ahmad said.

Validere has successfully completed six platform deployments with large Canadian oil and gas clients, and now has more than 20 employees, with offices in Toronto, Calgary and Houston. The Toronto office is staffed with the company’s tech talent — a reflection of Toronto’s status as a global hub for artificial intelligence. The Calgary and Houston offices are staffed by Validere’s energy experts.

The market Validere is going after is global. “In Canada alone, every producer, midstreamer, and refiner wants to know the quality of the crude oil they’re buying and selling,” Fong said. A senior crude oil trader working for a Calgary-based midstream company agrees. “We blend our crude oil all the time and so we need to know what the composition is. To have that information in real-time would be tremendous.”

The same can be said for the United States’ energy industry — and that’s before considering the value of Validere’s technology to other hydrocarbons like natural gas and natural gas liquids. There are 18 frequently measured properties of crude oil — vapour pressure, colour, density, and so on. These properties, or variables, dictate the quality of oil being tested and its value.

“It is hugely important that the variability of crude oil stream characteristics is as well understood as possible,” said Tony Mate, a twenty-five-year veteran of Canada’s energy business with experience spanning finance, accounting, communications, and trading.

Mate currently works as CFO of Outlier Resources, a Calgary based private natural gas producer. “It can be a challenge to have the best possible data when extracted in extreme conditions, and any automation like this would certainly be worth a look.”

Success hasn’t come with challenges however, many of which are still on the horizon. “The sophistication and disruptive nature of their technology requires patiently educating their market,” said Fong. “That is their greatest challenge to scaling up, since they really don’t have any direct competitors.”

Not to say there aren’t competitors, however when Validere does compete for a client’s business, it’s typically over a feature here and there. “Never do we fully compete over our full suite of technology, and the insights we’re capable of producing,” Ahmad said.

But educating the market takes time, especially since Validere’s technology involves mission critical business decisions. “We’re certainly not operating in the consumer tech space where adoption tends to occur much faster,” Burgess said. “The more we demonstrate how our technology can save as much as $15 per barrel in lost revenue, in the field, in real time, adoption should occur in any business climate.”

But for the duo, one of the most satisfying aspects of their journey has been to help make the life of field operators that much easier.

“After my first trip into the field, I came away with a profound appreciation for how difficult many field operators’ jobs are,” said Burgess. “We exist to help those guys, and anyone along the crude oil supply chain, make smarter business decisions based on the quality of crude they are trading.”

Financial Post

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At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, companies quickly realized the old workplace benefits—on-site meals and dry-cleaning, anyone?—wouldn’t translate to remote work. Businesses raced to introduce benefits that their employees could take advantage of—and that would be most helpful— during the global crisis.

Now that the pandemic has reached the fall, companies are aiming to meet the changing needs of employees whose children are attending virtual school from home. These are some of the most innovative benefits tailored to the back-to-school season that businesses are now offering their employees.

Accenture

In August, consulting and tech firm Accenture introduced new school-day supervision for children ages 6 through 12 through a partnership with Bright Horizons. Accenture employees can pay $5 an hour—the company covers 75% of the cost—for their children to follow remote learning curriculums in a small group supervised by a proctor. The makeshift school day takes place at Mathnasium, Sylvan Learning, or Code Ninja locations, with supplemental activities available between classes.

Bank of America

Bank of America’s back-up childcare program for employees ended in mid-August; the bank followed up by introducing a daily childcare reimbursement of $75 or $100, depending on the employee’s salary, for children up to 12 years old and children with special needs through 21 years old through Dec. 31.

Through a partnership with Bright Horizons, similar to Accenture’s, Bank of America will provide workers with access to learning hubs and childcare. The company will also offer educational resources through Khan Academy, virtual field trips, and virtual after-school programs. Information on these resources will be available via a centralized hub for parents.

Carta

Fintech startup Carta this month announced a $10,000 annual stipend per employee to help with childcare for kids under 13 years old in both 2020 and 2021.

Citigroup

To its childcare offerings, which include back-up care and enrollment through Bright Horizons, Citi in August added nanny placement services for employees.

For the start of the school year, Citi introduced a service helping employees find caregivers trained in education who can supervise online learning and assistance finding tutors and other families to join small group learning outside the school setting. Citi offers a 10% discount on these services.

Dell Technologies

Dell expanded its longstanding “Connected Workplace” program offering flexibility for remote work to its full workforce in July.

For back-to-school, Dell is offering employees access to virtual learning pods, tutoring services, and help finding childcare providers also trained in education; the company provides some discounts and credits to employees. The company has also expanded its network of childcare centers from 1,000 to 2,400 locations to meet demand as parents search for in-person options with schools closed.

Fidelity Investments

Over the summer, the financial services company ran Fidelity Kids Camp, five weeks of virtual full-day summer activities for employees’ kids.

The company has since pivoted its online concierge service, which has long provided assistance with tasks like planning vacations or finding contractors, to more specifically address the needs of working parents. The service now finds information like where to buy face masks for children, what to make for lunch during the school day, and what availability is like at local daycares.

Intel

Technology company Intel in September switched its backup childcare offering to a monthly reimbursement program, offering employees between $75 and $300 a month to help with caregiving costs.

Earlier this year, the company added 80 hours of supplemental paid time off. The company also changed how its longstanding four- and eight-week sabbatical program for long-term employees can be used to allow for more time off during the pandemic.

KPMG

During the 2020 year, consulting firm KPMG has expanded a number of its existing benefits. The company quadrupled the number of days employees can use the firm’s backup care program; expanded its network of discounted one-on-one or small group tutoring, academic support, test prep, and homework assistance (discounts range from 10% to 30%); and expanded its network of childcare centers with discounted care available from 1,000 to 2,500 locations.

KPMG also created “learning pods” for employees, where parents throughout the organization can team up for virtual or in-person learning for small groups of school-age children.

The firm also has a few benefits it is set to introduce in the coming weeks, including a college coaching program and specialized coaching for employees with teenage children.

Microsoft

Microsoft is participating in a Bright Horizons arrangement similar to Accenture’s, offering “school-day supervision” to children of employees who are learning remotely.

Palo Alto Networks

Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks will provide $1,000 per year per employee that can be put toward benefits including health—like a gym membership—and education; those education benefits include tutoring assistance. The company has also introduced on-demand learning for employees.

Progress

Software company Progress has begun offering virtual events for families including a summer baking challenge inspired by the Netflix series Nailed It, art classes, virtual paint night, a “bring your kids to work” events.

Salesforce

Tech giant Salesforce has added six additional weeks of available time off for employees who are parents. The company has also clarified that parents will be able to work remotely past the August 2021 date currently pegged for the workforce’s return to the office is children’s schools remain closed.

ShipStation

Shipping software startup ShipStation specialized its virtual wellness series to focus on back to school, bringing in nutritionists to provide tips on healthy lunches and snacks alongside wellness experts leading webinars for parents about stress management.

SitterStream

SitterStream is a new startup providing 30- to 90-minute virtual babysitting and tutoring sessions. The companies Amazon, Alnylam, Sarepta, and Unum have signed on to offer SitterStream services to their employees, the startup says.

Synchrony

This summer, consumer financial services company Synchrony introduced Synchrony summer camps, virtual summer camp experiences for 3,700 children of employees.

This fall, the company is expanding that concept to “Synchrony after school,” similar virtual after-school programs for children, including homework help and extracurricular activities.

Wyzant

The tutoring marketplace Wyzant launched Wyzant for Business, an corporate benefit package allowing companies to subsidize at-home learning—for children or adults—for their employees.

More on the most powerful women in business from Fortune:

How this Black woman tech CEO learned to be “unapologetically ambitious”

Latinas vote at lower rates than other women. America Ferrera and Eva Longoria have a plan to close the turnout gap

“Don’t wait to be perfect”: 4 top startup tips from a unicorn’s founder and investor

Paris Hilton was the original influencer. Now a new documentary lets viewers see past the facade

Fortune’s 40 Under 40 for 2020

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Cory Booker

Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician, attorney, and author who has served as the junior United States Senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He was previously the 36th Mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013. Before that, Booker served on the Municipal Council of Newark for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002.

Booker was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Harrington Park, New Jersey. He attended Stanford University, where he received a BA in 1991 and then a master's degree a year later. He studied abroad at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, before attending Yale Law School. He won an upset victory for a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark in 1998, where he staged a 10-day hunger strike and briefly lived in a tent to draw attention to urban development issues in the city. He ran for mayor in 2002, but lost to incumbent Sharpe James; he ran again in 2006 and won against deputy mayor Ronald Rice. His first term saw to the doubling of affordable housing under development and the reduction of the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million. He was re-elected in 2010. He ran against Steve Lonegan in the 2013 U.S. Senate special election and subsequently won reelection in 2014 against Jeff Bell.

An advocate of social liberalism, Booker supports women's rights, affirmative action, same-sex marriage and single-payer healthcare. During his five years in office, Booker co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2013), tougher sanctions against Iran, the Bipartisan Budget Act (2013), the National Defense Authorization Act (2014), co-sponsored the Respect for Marriage Act (2014) and led the successful push to pass the First Step Act (2018). In 2017, he became the first sitting senator to testify against another when he testified against Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Early life and education

Booker was born on April 27, 1969, in Washington, D.C.; he grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey, 20 miles (32 km) north of Newark. His parents, Carolyn Rose (née Jordan) and Cary Alfred Booker, were among the first black executives at IBM. Booker has stated that he was raised in a religious household and that he and his family attended a small African Methodist Episcopal Church in New Jersey. Booker has Sierra Leonean ancestry, a fact which was presented to him on the PBS television program, Finding Your Roots.

Booker graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, where he played varsity football and was named to the 1986 USA Today All-USA high school football team. Booker went on to Stanford University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1991 and a Master of Arts in sociology the following year. While at Stanford, he played football as a tight end and was teammates with Brad Muster and Ed McCaffrey, and also made the All–Pacific-10 Academic team and was elected senior class president. In addition, Booker ran The Bridge Peer Counseling Center, a student-run crisis hotline, and organized help from Stanford students for youth in East Palo Alto, California.

After Stanford, Booker was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, where he earned an honors degree in United States history in 1994 as a member of The Queen's College. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Yale Law School, where he operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven, Connecticut. At Yale, Booker was a founding member of the Chai Society (now Shabtai), was a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and was active in the National Black Law Students Association.

Municipal Council of Newark

Contemplating advocacy work and a run for city council in Newark after graduating from law school, Booker lived in the city during his final year at Yale. After graduation, he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project. In 1998, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark, defeating four-term incumbent George Branch. To draw attention to the problems of open-air drug dealing and associated violence, he went on a 10-day hunger strike and lived in a tent and later in a motor home near drug-dealing areas of the city. Booker also proposed council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order, and the efficiency and transparency of city hall, but was regularly outvoted by all of his fellow councilors.

Mayor of Newark

Mayoral campaigns2002 election

On January 9, 2002, Booker announced his campaign for Mayor of Newark, rather than running for re-election as councilman; this pitted him against longtime incumbent Sharpe James. James, who had easily won election four consecutive times, saw Booker as a real threat, and responded with mudslinging, at one campaign event calling him "a Republican who took money from the KKK [and] Taliban ... [who's] collaborating with the Jews to take over Newark". In the campaign, James' supporters questioned Booker's suburban background, calling him a carpetbagger who was "not black enough" to understand the city. Booker lost the election on May 14, garnering 47% of the vote to James' 53%. The election was chronicled in the Oscar-nominated documentary Street Fight.

During the campaign, Booker founded the nonprofit organization Newark Now.

2006 election

Booker announced on February 11, 2006, that he would again run for mayor. Although incumbent Mayor Sharpe James filed paperwork to run for reelection, shortly thereafter he announced that he would instead cancel his bid to focus on his work as a State Senator, which he was originally elected to in 1999. At James's discretion, Deputy Mayor Ronald Rice decided to run as well. Booker's campaign outspent Rice's 25 to 1, for which Rice attacked him. In addition to raising over $6 million for the race, Booker attacked Rice as a "political crony" of James. Booker won the May 9 election with 72% of the vote. His slate of city council candidates, known as the "Booker Team", swept the council elections, giving Booker firm leadership of the city government.

2010 election

On April 3, 2010, Booker announced his campaign for reelection. At his announcement event, he remarked that a "united government" was crucial to progress, knowing his supporters in the city council faced tough reelections. Heavily favored to win, Booker faced former judge and Essex County prosecutor Clifford J. Minor, as well as two minor candidates. On May 11, Booker won reelection with 59% of the vote.

Tenure

Before taking office as mayor, Booker sued the James administration, seeking to terminate cut-rate land deals favoring two redevelopment agencies that had contributed to James's campaigns and listed James as a member of their advisory boards. Booker argued that the state's "pay-to-play" laws had been violated and that the land deals would cost the city more than $15 million in lost revenue. Specifically, Booker referenced a parcel at Broad and South Streets that would generate only $87,000 under the proposed land deals yet was valued at $3.7 million under then-current market rates. On June 20, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled in favor of Booker.

In late June 2006, before Booker took office, New Jersey investigators foiled a plot to assassinate Booker led by Bloods gang leaders inside four New Jersey state prisons. The motive for the plot was unclear, but was described variously as a response to the acrimonious campaign and to Booker's campaign promises to take a harder line on crime.

First term

Booker assumed office as Mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006. After his first week in office, he announced a 100-day plan to implement reforms in Newark. The proposed changes included increasing police forces, ending background checks for many city jobs to help former offenders find employment in the city, refurbishing police stations, improving city services, and expanding summer youth programs.

One of Booker's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. In furtherance of this, he appointed Garry McCarthy, former deputy commissioner of operations of the New York City Police Department, as director of the Newark Police Department. Crime reduction was such a central concern to the Booker administration that Booker, along with his security team, was known to personally patrol the streets of Newark until as late as 4 a.m.

Booker was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bipartisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". Booker was honored in October 2009 by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence with the Sarah Brady Visionary Award for his work in reducing gun violence. During his mayoralty, crime dropped significantly in Newark, which led the nation in violent crime reduction from 2006 to 2008. March 2010 marked Newark's first murder-free month in over 44 years, although murder and overall crime rates began to rise again after 2008. In addition to his crime-lowering initiatives, Booker doubled the amount of affordable housing under development and quadrupled the amount under pre-development, and reduced the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million.

After taking office, Booker voluntarily reduced his own salary twice, reducing his salary by 8% early in his first year as mayor. He also raised the salaries of many city workers. However, his administration imposed one-day-a-month furloughs for all non-uniformed employees from July through December 2010, as well as 2% pay cuts for managers and directors earning more than $100,000 a year. In 2008 and 2009, the City of Newark received the Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. In an effort to make government more accessible, Booker held regular open office hours during which city residents could meet with him personally to discuss their concerns. In 2010, Booker was among the finalists for the World Mayor prize, ultimately placing seventh. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2012 award.

In July 2010, Booker attended a dinner at a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he was seated with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, who had no known ties to Newark, announced in September 2010 that he was donating $100 million of his personal fortune to the Newark school system. According to an article in The New York Times, Booker and Zuckerberg continued their conversation about Booker's plans for Newark. The initial gift was made to start a foundation for education. The gift was formally announced when Booker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Zuckerberg appeared together on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The timing of Zuckerberg's donation was questioned by some as a move for damage control to his image, as it was announced on the opening day of the movie The Social Network, a film that painted an unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg. On her show, however, Winfrey told the audience that Zuckerberg and Booker had been in talks for months and had actually planned the announcement for the previous month, and that she and Booker had to force Zuckerberg to put his name to the donation, which he had wanted to make anonymously.

On October 10, 2010, Booker established Let's Move! Newark as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's national Let's Move! initiative against childhood obesity.

Booker gained national attention when, on December 28, 2010, a constituent used Twitter to ask him to send someone to her father's house to shovel his driveway, because her elderly father was going to attempt to do it himself. Booker responded by tweeting, "I will do it myself; where does he live?" Other people volunteered, including one person who offered his help on Twitter, and 20 minutes later Booker and some volunteers showed up and shoveled the man's driveway.

Second term

In October 2011, Booker expanded the Let's Move! Newark program to include Let's Move! Newark: Our Power, a four-month fitness challenge for Newark public school students run by public health advocate Jeff Halevy.

On April 12, 2012, Booker saved a woman from a house fire, suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hands in the process. Newark Fire Chief John Centanni said that Booker's actions possibly saved the woman's life. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of the shoreline areas of New Jersey and New York in late October 2012, Booker invited Newarkers without power to eat and sleep in his home. In February 2013, responding to a Twitter post, Booker helped a nervous constituent propose to his girlfriend. Booker rescued a dog from freezing temperatures in January 2013 and another dog that had been abandoned in a cage in July 2013.

On November 20, 2012, a melee occurred at a Newark City Council meeting attended by Booker. The nine-seat council was to vote on the successor to the seat vacated by newly elected U.S. Representative Donald M. Payne, Jr. Booker's opponents on the council, including Ras Baraka, sought to appoint John Sharpe James, son of the former mayor, while Booker and his supporters favored Shanique Speight. Booker attended the meeting to deal with the eventuality of the lack of a quorum or a tie vote, in which state law would allow him to cast a deciding vote. After Baraka was refused an opportunity to address the council by acting Council President Anibal Ramos, Jr., Baraka and two other council members walked away in protest. Booker cast the deciding vote for Speight. Supporters of James stormed the stage and were held back by riot police, who eventually used pepper spray on some members of the crowd. Baraka later blamed Booker for inciting the disturbance, while Booker refused comment to the media after the vote.

In December 2012, after discussions with a constituent about New Jersey's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Booker began a week-long challenge attempting to live on a food budget of $30 per week—the amount SNAP recipients receive. When critics noted that the very name of the SNAP program shows that it is intended to "supplement" an individual's food budget, not be its sole source, Booker replied that his aim was to spark a discussion about the reality that many Americans rely solely on food stamps to survive.

Newark Watershed

The Newark Watershed comprises 35,000 acres of pristine land and reservoirs that supply water to municipalities in northern New Jersey. A New Jersey State Comptroller report issued in February 2014 revealed irregularities and corruption within the Newark Watershed and Development Corporation, which was in the process of being dismantled after being taken over by the city during Booker's mayoralty.

Public opinion polling

Throughout Booker's mayoralty, Fairleigh Dickinson University's public opinion poll PublicMind asked New Jersey residents statewide whether or not they had heard of Mayor Booker and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him. The results are as follows:

March 2014

Name recognition: 88%

Favorable opinion: 47%

Unfavorable opinion: 23%

Legacy

Booker's mayoralty and celebrity drew much media attention to Newark. While he enjoyed high ratings from city residents, his legacy has received mixed reviews. During his tenure, millions of dollars were invested in downtown development, but underemployment and high murder rates continue to characterize many of the city's neighborhoods. Despite legal challenges initiated during his term, Newark Public Schools has remained under control of the state for nearly twenty years. Newark received $32 million in emergency state aid in 2011 and 2012, requiring a memorandum of understanding between Newark and the state that obligated the city to request and the state to approve appointments to city hall administrative positions.

While Mayor of Newark, Booker claimed in an interview that Newark's unemployment rate had fallen by two percentage points. This statement was rated "false" by PolitiFact, because he used data that had not been seasonally adjusted; the adjusted rate was 0.7 percentage points.

U.S. Senate

2013 election

On December 20, 2012, Booker announced that he would explore running for the U.S. Senate seat that was then occupied by Frank Lautenberg in the 2014 election, ending speculation that he would challenge Governor Chris Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election. On January 11, 2013, Booker filed papers to form a campaign committee, without announcing whether he would run. Roughly one month later, incumbent Lautenberg—then 89 years of age—announced that he would not seek reelection in 2014.

On June 3, Lautenberg died of viral pneumonia; five days later, Booker announced his intention to run for Lautenberg's seat in a 2013 special election. Booker announced his candidacy at two events: one in Newark and the other in Willingboro.

On August 13, 2013, Booker was declared the winner of the Democratic primary, with approximately 59% of the vote. On October 16, 2013, he defeated Republican Steve Lonegan in the general election, 54.9% to 44.0%, Booker is the first African-American to be elected to the Senate since Barack Obama in 2004. The night before his victory, Booker visited the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, where he offered his prayers and lit a vigil candle in memory of his father.

Booker resigned as Mayor of Newark on October 30, 2013 and was sworn in on October 31, 2013 as the junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He is the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey.

2014 election

On January 9, 2014, Brian D. Goldberg, a West Orange resident and New Jersey businessman, announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. On January 27, 2014, Freehold Township businessman Richard J. "Rich" Pezzullo announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. Pezzullo had previously run for the US Senate in 1996 as the Conservative Party candidate. On February 4, 2014, conservative political consultant Jeff Bell announced his bid for the nomination. Bell was the Republican Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 1978. Ramapo College professor Murray Sabrin, who ran for the Senate in 2000 and 2008, announced another run on February 13.

Bell won the Republican primary and received support from the conservative American Principles Fund, which ran a direct mail operation costing over $80,000, and the National Organization for Marriage, an organization opposed to same-sex marriage, which paid for $6,000 of automated calling. Booker defeated Bell in the general election, capturing 55.8% of the vote to Bell's 42.4%.

Tenure

On October 31, 2013, Booker was sworn into the Senate. In November 2013, Booker co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In December 2013, he was one of the original cosponsors of Bob Menéndez's Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would toughen sanctions against Iran. He also voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. In January 2014, he cosponsored the Respect for Marriage Act. In February 2014, Booker voted against the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013. In March, Booker pledged to meet with each of his Republican colleagues in the Senate in order to find common ground, and was spotted having dinner with Senator Ted Cruz in Washington.

Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Booker endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He was speculated as a potential vice presidential candidate during the primary and as the general election began, though Booker stated on June 16, 2016, that he was not being vetted. After the election, in which Donald Trump defeated Clinton, on January 11, 2017, Booker testified against Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, the first instance of a sitting senator testifying against another during a cabinet position confirmation hearing.

Booker was supportive of fellow New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez while Menendez faced trial on federal corruption and bribery charges. During the trial, Booker was a character witness for Menendez, giving him effusive praise. After the judge declared a mistrial, Booker argued that prosecutors ought not to take Menendez to trial again. When Menendez ran for re-election, Booker praised Menendez, saying he was "so grateful for Bob Menendez and that I get to work with him and stand beside him". Booker downplayed the corruption allegations, saying "to try to continue to try to throw this kind of mud at him, it's not going to stick. It didn't stick when the government tried to do it and it should not stick now."

Cory Booker was named as part of the "Hell-No Caucus" by Politico in 2018, along with Senators Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, given he voted "overwhelmingly to thwart his [Trump's] nominees for administration jobs", such as with Rex Tillerson, Betsy De Vos, and Mike Pompeo; all of the Senators were considered potential 2020 presidential contenders at this point in time.

In April 2018, following the FBI raid on the hotel room and offices of Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, Booker, together with Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham, and Thom Tillis, introduced new legislation to "limit President Trump's ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller". Termed the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the legislation would allow any special counsel, in this case Mueller, to receive an "expedited judicial review" in the 10 days following being dismissed to determine if said dismissal was suitable. If negative, the special counsel would be reinstated. At the same time, according to The Hill, the bill would "codify regulations" that a special counsel could be fired by only a senior Justice Department official, while having to provide reasons in writing.

On September 5, 2018, during the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, nominated by Trump to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, Booker questioned Kavanaugh on a series of E-mails marked "committee confidential", dating back to Kavanaugh's time in the office of the White House Counsel during the presidency of George W. Bush. The E-mails, which were released to the public by Booker's office the following day, show Kavanaugh and others in the Counsel's office discussing racial profiling as a means to combat terrorism, particularly after 9/11. Booker said that he was violating Senate rules in releasing the documents, with the penalty including possible expulsion from the Senate; he nonetheless defended his decision, referring to the process of producing documents for the hearing as a "sham" and challenging those who warned him about the consequences to "bring it on". Booker also described the release as "probably the closest I'll ever have in my life to an 'I am Spartacus' moment", referring to a line in the 1960 film, Spartacus. But committee chairman Chuck Grassley said the documents had already been cleared for public release the night before, and that Booker was not violating any rules, leading some Republicans to accuse Booker of engaging in "theatrics" and "histrionics". Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas mocked Booker in comments the following week, saying, "Honorable – if we could use that word about more people who are in public life, people who actually ask the questions at confirmation hearings, instead of 'Spartacus.'"

In November 2018, Booker co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (S.270), which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if protesting actions by the Israeli government.

Booker played a leading role in the push to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. Booker has introduced the Marijuana Justice Act which would legalize cannabis in the United States on the federal level, defund some law enforcement in jurisdictions that have shown racial bias in marijuana arrests, and increase funding to communities affected by the war on drugs.

Booker announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president in the 2020 election on February 1, 2019.

Committee assignments

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Committee on Environment and Public Works

Committee on Foreign Relations

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Committee on the Judiciary

Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet

Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security

Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard

Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security (Ranking Member)

Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife

Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight

Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy (Ranking Member)

Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism

Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations and Bilateral International Development

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus

Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus

2020 presidential campaign

On February 1, 2019, Booker announced his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election, the start of Black History Month. Before his announcement, he was widely speculated to run for president but expressed uncertainty as to whether he would run. The same month Booker announced his campaign, Governor Phil Murphy U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and every Democratic member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey endorsed Booker. Booker held a campaign kick off rally in Newark on April 13. After qualifying for the first five Democratic Party presidential debates, Booker failed to meet the polling thresholds to participate in the sixth debate that was held in December 2019. On January 13, Booker announced that he was ending his run at the Democratic nomination for president. In March 2020, Booker endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, over Senator Bernie Sanders, for president.

Political positions

Booker has been described as a liberal. Throughout his Senate career, Booker has amassed a liberal voting record. In a July 2013 Salon interview, Booker said that "there's nothing in that realm of progressive politics where you won't find me." In a September 2013 interview with The Grio, when asked if he considered himself a progressive, he stated that he is a Democrat and an American. Booker has the most pro-animal welfare voting record in the Senate year after year according to the Humane Society.

He supports long-term deficit reduction efforts to ensure economic prosperity, cap and trade taxation to combat climate change, and increased funding for education. He has spoken in favor of creating a federal jobs guarantee and baby bonds (low-risk savings accounts that minors get access to at age 18). In the Senate, he has emphasized issues of racial and social justice. He played a leading role in the push to pass the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. He supports ending the War on Drugs. Booker supports abortion rights and affirmative action. He also supports a single-payer health care plan: in September 2017, he joined Bernie Sanders and 14 other co-sponsors in submitting a single-payer health care plan to congress called the "Medicare for All" bill.

On foreign policy, Booker supports scaling down U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and is against intervention in Syria. After the US strike on Syria in April 2017, he criticized military action "without a clear plan" or authorization from Congress. He supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On Iran, Booker has stated the country poses a direct threat to American and Israeli security and feels all options should be on the table for dealing with the conflict. However, his decision to back the Iran nuclear deal framework damaged his long-term relationship with some Jewish voters and supporters. In an attempt to reduce the damage, he initiated an emergency summit for Jewish leaders, which some of his longstanding supporters did not attend.

Other activities

Obama association

In 2009, after Barack Obama became President of the United States, Booker was offered the leadership of the new White House Office of Urban Affairs. He turned the offer down, citing a commitment to Newark.

Booker generated controversy on May 12, 2012, when he appeared on Meet The Press as a surrogate for the reelection campaign of Barack Obama and made remarks that were critical of that campaign. Booker said that the attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating to me on both sides. It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright." The comments were subsequently used by the Romney campaign against Obama. Booker made follow-up comments clarifying that he believed Obama's attacks on Romney's record at Bain were legitimate but did not retract his point about attacking private equity in general. Two weeks later, Booker's communications director Anne Torres tendered her resignation, although she maintained it was unrelated to Meet the Press.

Affiliations and honors

Booker sits on the board of advisers of the political action committee Democrats for Education Reform. He is currently a member of the board of trustees at Teachers College, Columbia University, and was formerly a member of the Executive Committee at Yale Law School and the Board of Trustees at Stanford University.

In 2010, Booker received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards.

In May 2009, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Newark-based New Jersey Institute of Technology for "his outstanding career in public service as the Mayor of Newark". In May 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University, and was a commencement speaker that year as well. Booker received another honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in December 2010 from Yeshiva University for "his bold vision for Newark and setting a national standard for urban transformation". In June 2011, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and served as that year's commencement speaker at Williams College for the urban transformation of Newark. In May 2012, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Bard College and gave the commencement speech at the graduation. In 2010, Booker delivered the commencement addresses at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, on May 15; Columbia University's Teachers College in New York City on May 17; and Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, a week later on May 23, 2010. Booker gave the commencement address to New York Law School graduates on May 13, 2011, at Avery Fisher Hall (now David Geffen Hall) at Lincoln Center. Booker gave the commencement address at the University of Rhode Island in May 2011; he also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He delivered a commencement address to Stanford University graduates on June 17, 2012, at Stanford Stadium. He also received an honorary degree at Fairleigh Dickinson's 69th Commencement Ceremony in May 2012.

In May 2013, Booker gave the commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis and received an honorary doctorate of law.

On May 16, 2014, Booker gave the commencement speech for Ramapo College of New Jersey graduates at the IZOD Center.

During the 2016 presidential election, when Clinton had an illness described as "pneumonia", Donna Brazile, the then DNC interim chair, considered that her ideal replacement ticket would consist of Joe Biden and Cory Booker. However, the possibility of a divisive reaction and the possibility of "allowing Trump to capture votes in confusion" caused her to "not entertain any more thoughts of replacing Hillary".

Films

Booker's 2002 mayoral campaign, which he lost, was chronicled by filmmaker Marshall Curry in his documentary Street Fight. The film was nominated in 2005 for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Since 2009, Booker has starred in the documentary series Brick City. The series focuses on Booker and his efforts to improve Newark by reducing crime and bringing about economic renewal. Brick City won a Peabody Award in 2009 and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2010.

Booker contributed to the 2011 documentary Miss Representation and commented on the representations of women in politics within mass media.

Booker appeared in a scene in the 2015 Parks and Recreation episode "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" alongside Orrin Hatch.

Conan O'Brien "feud"

In the fall of 2009, Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien engaged in a satirical on-air and YouTube feud with Booker, with O'Brien jokingly insulting the City of Newark and Booker responding that he would ban O'Brien from the Newark airport. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the feud to end during a prepared comedy skit, telling Booker to chalk it up to a head injury suffered by O'Brien less than two weeks earlier. Booker then appeared on O'Brien's show and assured viewers that the feud was over and that he was actually a big fan of O'Brien, who agreed that every time he made a joke about Newark, he would donate $500 to the City of Newark, and also made a $50,000 donation to the Newark Now charity, which was matched by NBC Universal.

Waywire

In 2012, Booker and tech executives Sarah Ross and Nathan Richardson formed Waywire, a company focused on video sharing technology. Early investors included Oprah Winfrey, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Weiner, and Troy Carter. After Booker's relationship to Waywire was discussed in a front-page The New York Times story, board member Andrew Zucker stepped down from his position. Shortly thereafter, Waywire CEO Nathan Richardson departed the business as the company shifted its focus from content creation to content curation. In August 2013, Booker told NBC News he intended to resign from the Waywire board and put his holdings in a trust if elected to the Senate; by September, he had resigned his place on the board and donated his share of the company to charity. Waywire was sold to another video curation business the following month.

Book

In 2016, Booker wrote an autobiography, United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good.

In an article in HuffPost, Shmuly Yanklowitz said of the book:

If there is anything that Booker repeatedly returns to in United, it is that the myopia of contemporary politics leads citizens astray, and leaves them vulnerable to ignoring issues of tangible importance. "I believe that this broken system, which afflicts us all, will be repaired" writes Booker near the end of the book. To repeat an earlier point, what sets Senator Booker’s work apart from that of similar political books is that it seeks to elevate discourse rather than bring down opponents of the opposite partisan persuasion.

Personal life

Booker regularly exercises and has been a vegetarian since 1992, when he was a student at Oxford University in the UK. He abstains from alcohol and "has no known vices or addictions" other than coffee. In 2014, Booker began practicing a vegan diet and has expressed his vegan ethical philosophy and advocacy for animals. As of June 2016, Booker worshiped at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Booker has never been married, and in 2013 he was named one of Town & Country's "Top 40 Bachelors". Although he has generally tried to keep his personal life private, Booker has in the past described himself as a "straight male" and has said that he is trying to date more in hopes of finding someone to settle down with. He has been romantically linked to poet Cleo Wade. In March 2019, actress Rosario Dawson confirmed to TMZ that she was in a relationship with Booker.

In a 1992 column in The Stanford Daily, Booker admitted that as a teenager he had "hated gays". Booker has himself been the target of rumors about being gay and has generally refused to address these on principle, which he explained in 2013:

Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone says I'm gay, and I say, "So what does it matter if I am? So be it. I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the presumption that I'm straight."

In 1992, Booker recounted in his column for The Stanford Daily that as a 15-year-old kissing a friend on New Year's Eve, he reached for her breast, had his hand pushed away once, and then "reached [his] 'mark.'" The column described Booker's changed attitudes towards sexual relations and how "skewed attitudes" lead to rape. The Daily Caller and Fox News brought up the column during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings in September 2018.

From 1998 to 2006, Booker lived in Brick Towers, a troubled housing complex in Newark's Central Ward. In November 2006, as one of the last remaining tenants in Brick Towers, Booker left his apartment for the top unit in a three-story rental on Hawthorne Avenue in Newark's South Ward, an area described as "a drug- and gang-plagued neighborhood of boarded-up houses and empty lots". Brick Towers has since been demolished, and a new mixed-income development was built there in 2010.

Since 2013, Booker has lived in a townhouse he owns in the Lincoln Park section of Newark's Central Ward, also known as "the Coast" for its arts, jazz, and nightlife history.

Booker speaks Spanish; he attended a Spanish immersion program in Ecuador.

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Where in the World Is Planet3? An Educational Gaming CEO Seeks His Second Act

When Tim Kelly started Planet3 in 2013, he aimed for the stars. He envisioned a game-based educational platform used by teachers and students to learn about science and the environment.

He had the staff, as many as 35 employees with experience in game and curriculum development. He had the money, at least $13 million raised by July 2016. And he had interest from educators who wanted to try Planet3 in schools that included the Las Vegas area.

But at an all-hands meeting at the company’s Washington, D.C. headquarters in June 2017, Planet3 executives laid off the staff.

Some employees heard the news on a conference call. Others said they found out through email. Some employees hoped the company could turn around and stayed on without pay. “We had lost our way,” one former staff said. “It was pretty disheartening,” said another. The former employees asked not to be named out of concern for their careers.

In nearly two years since the layoffs, Kelly has not abandoned Planet3. He still has the platform, which he claims in an interview is complete. Now, he seeks distribution and strategic partners to help him get product into schools and homes, in the U.S. and internationally. He’s also in search of more capital for his product to realize its full potential.

“We want every student to be engaged as passionate stewards of Earth,” Kelly said. “We’re not giving up.”

Planet3’s Formative Years

Kelly founded Planet3 in 2013 to blend top-tier commercial game designers with instructional experts and create a digital platform to teach middle-school science. He based the content on the Next Generation Science Standards, a multi-state effort at K-12 science education content completed in 2013. Nineteen states and D.C. have adopted the standards while 21 states have standards based on the framework.

Planet3 found its biggest backer in Rob Roy, CEO of Las Vegas-area data center services company Switch, which invested $10 million in the company in 2015. Kelly met him through Planet3 co-founder Albert Yu-Min Lin when Lin received an award sponsored by Switch, Kelly told EdTech Digest at the time.

With vision and funds, Kelly assembled a star-studded cast of experts across the entertainment and education fields. Kelly himself had spent 30 years with the National Geographic Society. He became president in January 2011 and grew the science and education nonprofit beyond its print-based media roots and into TV and films.

His co-founders included Lin, a National Geographic explorer and research scientist at the University of California, San Diego, as well as Vijay Lakshman, publisher of more than 85 commercial games, among them popular titles that include “Crash Bandicoot,” “Spyro the Dragon” and “The Elder Scrolls: Arena.”

On the education side, the company enlisted Kelly McGrath, former head of K-12 science curriculum development at Pearson, who’d become Planet3’s chief operating officer. Esther Wojcicki, the esteemed journalism teacher at Palo Alto High School, joined in 2016 as the company’s chief learning officer.

A Promising Pilot in Nevada

That summer, Planet3 announced a pilot program with six school districts in Nevada, including Clark County School District, home to Las Vegas and the fifth largest school district in the U.S.

In the agreement with Clark County School District, nine middle schools agreed to the Planet3 pilot program from August 2016 to May 2017. Planet3 agreed to earth and life science curriculum with supplemental lesson plans and free 24-hour access to the platform for students, teachers and parents. The district agreed to provide infrastructure, feedback, and pay $15,000 for professional development for up to 40 teachers. If all went well, the district would consider a long-term relationship and delivering Planet3 products to all of the district’s middle and high schools.

In a December 2016 letter by Clark County Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky to Kelly about the pilot program, Skorkowsky noted that students enjoyed lessons about data literacy from the product’s visualizations and about science from real-world case studies. Students also liked the avatar-based 3-D games.

“I am very pleased to see that the Planet3 product has developed into a comprehensive and innovative curriculum,” Skorkowsky wrote. He concluded, “I look forward to observing the increasing excitement for science throughout the testing and research process and beyond.”

Signs looked good at this point. The company planned to incorporate the feedback to build a more complete product, slated to formally launch in all of the district’s middle and high schools in time for the fall 2017 school year.

Fundraisers Sidelined

There was just one problem—the company needed more money. At first, this didn’t seem like an issue. That year, the company received a $150,000 grant Small Business Innovation Research grant from the federal government to prototype its product in two classrooms. The same year, Switch gave Planet3 another $3 million in the form of a convertible note. Kelly had hoped the note would be part of a Series B round that totaled as much as $15 million.

“They wholeheartedly believed they were going to raise the money,” one former employee said. “There was never a doubt.”

But they were wrong. The rest of the funds never came, in part due to personal tragedies. In October 2016, Lin lost his right leg below the knee in an off-road vehicle accident. A few months later, Kelly sustained a brain aneurysm. Both Kelly and Lin had been public faces for the company and two primary fundraisers, now sidelined.

Lin has talked publicly about his accident, about how he stays positive and has adapted to his prosthetic. Kelly said he’s since made a full recovery.

The company’s primary backer also had a change of heart. In December 2016, Switch ended further financial support for Planet3, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With Planet3’s operating losses and “the release of a beta product that did not generate the projected sales activity,” Switch calculated a total write-down of $7.7 million for its Planet3 investment.

Switch did not respond to requests for comment. In June 2017, Planet3 laid off its staff.

A Most Difficult Game

The struggles of Planet3 are not unique to the educational game industry. Plenty of promising efforts have sputtered. Among those who tried include Osman Rashid, the co-founder of Chegg and Kno, who launched Galxyz in 2014 to build a science video games for grades three to 12.

Magnates from the gaming industry have attempted as well. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell started BrainRush in 2012. Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins raised $9.3 million by February 2014 for a game to teach kids social-emotional learning. Both efforts have largely gone dark.

The difficulty involved to build educational video games stems first from development costs, which many aspiring developers tend to underestimate, according to Dan White, CEO of Filament Games, which has created more than 160 learning games in its 14-year history. From White’s experience, it can cost well over six figures to build an educational game with the design and polish of mainstream commercial titles.

A further challenge awaits those who try to sell into schools. White says developers often wrestle with building a product that’s fun and engaging or a product that’s more direct in addressing a district’s academic standards. The struggle for developers is the right balance.

“Are we building a comprehensive curriculum, or are we building games?” he said. “Those two things by their nature can be mutually exclusive.”

Lessons Learned

Former employees said the company lacked a shared vision on the product it wanted to make. At times, employees thought they were building a comprehensive experience with a single narrative and storyline. At others, they were building a platform with multiple mini-games. To some of the former employees, the ideas resembled digital textbook with different chapters.

Kelly acknowledged back-and-forth about what the platform should look like but said the goal stayed the same. “When you design a product that breaks new ground, that involves some passionate debate,” he said. “Everyone had the absolute best intentions, and we ended up with a product that was well received by students and teachers."

What the product looked like, whether it was finished and how many teachers and students piloted it depends on who you ask. Former employees say what they had built resembled piecemeal appetizers of a grander product: seven modules, each that covered a lesson for science topics like plants and volcanoes. Kelly frames it differently, saying that a beta version of the platform had been completed by spring 2017.

The employees no longer with Planet3 said they learned a lot from the experience—especially the importance of having a tested product before raising capital.

For now, Tim Kelly is the last man on Planet3. After letting go of its staff, he has sought out partnerships and investors for the company. As Planet3, he has done some work overseas, including an augmented reality exhibits in Singapore. The rolodex of education and gaming experts that were once executives now act more as advisers. When there is product development work, that is handled through contractors.

Some former employees believe Kelly keeps the company alive as a matter of pride or financial obligation. Others believe he’s still driven by that original vision. If you ask Kelly, he’ll tell you he still believes in Planet3’s potential. “This could change the way students engage with science,” he said. “That’s a pretty important thing.”

Where in the World Is Planet3? An Educational Gaming CEO Seeks His Second Act published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[payment-providers]

New Post has been published on Payment-Providers.com

New Post has been published on https://payment-providers.com/headline-news-from-paymentsnews-com-september-6-2017/

Headline News from PaymentsNews.com - September 6, 2017

Headline News is brought to you by Glenbrook Partners. Glenbrook provides payments consulting and education services to payments professionals worldwide!

ON THE WEB

eMarketer Releases Latest Estimates for US Proximity Mobile Payments – eMarketer – “eMarketer estimates the value of US proximity mobile payment transactions will total $49.29 billion in 2017, up 78.1% from last year. Though the growth rate will remain in double digits through the forecast period, it will slow down to 23.9% in 2021. That year, US consumers will use their mobile phones to pay for $189.97 billion worth of goods and services at a physical point of sale (POS).”

JPMorgan Chase and United are unveiling a new travel-rewards credit card — with a twist – Business Insider – “The two companies, which have worked together for more than 30 years, have teamed up to create the United TravelBank Card, a hybrid offering that marries cash-back rewards and travel perks. Unlike the Sapphire Reserve, the TravelBank Card is an attempt at mass appeal, shedding exclusivity in favor of simplified, pragmatic rewards payouts that market research showed a strong demand for, according to Leslie Gillin, president of Co-Brand Cards at Chase.”

European Central Bank working on new fintech licensing guidelines – Independent – “The European Central Bank is working on new licensing guidelines that would also cover financial technology firms, Daniele Nouy, the ECB’s top bank supervisor told a conference on Wednesday.”

EMV-Accepting Merchant Locations Hit 2.3 Million in June, Visa Reports – Digital Transactions News – “The number of EMV chip card-accepting U.S. merchant locations reached 2.3 million in June, up from 2.02 million in March and an increase of 77% from 1.3 million in June 2016, according to new figures from Visa Inc.”

Safaricom targets Africa expansion via e-commerce – Mobile Word Live – “Collymore said the company would initially target neighbouring countries in East Africa, but was also considering expanding into West Africa. However, he suggested the plans might not extend to growing its presence as a mobile operator, as countries would consider this “as a bit more of a threat”.”

The Cryptocurrency Singularity – Medium – “With cryptocurrencies, I define the singularity to be the point where the cryptocurrency becomes as stable against the US Dollar.”

ON THE WIRES

MOBILE PAYMENTS RISE IN POPULARITY, REACHING TIPPING POINT IN SOME COUNTRIES, GLOBAL REPORT BY ACI WORLDWIDE FINDS – “On the eve of the third anniversary of the launch of Apple Pay, mobile wallet adoption is on the rise globally and consumers in the U.S. and Europe are catching up with those in fast-growing economies in Asia and Latin America where mobile wallets have already become the dominant payment platform, according to new benchmark data from the Global Consumer Survey: Consumer Trust and Security Perceptions published by ACI Worldwide and Aite.”

U.S. Businesses Spend $2.66 to Combat Every Dollar of Fraud, LexisNexis® 2017 True Cost of Fraud Finds – “This year, every dollar of fraud to merchants and firms in these sectors is estimated to cost $2.66 on average. For organizations selling digital goods and / or primarily transacting through remote channels, the cost is estimated to be even higher, at $3.48 per dollar of fraud, on average. The study also investigates fraud costs as a percentage of revenues, as reported by survey respondents, to be nearly 2 percent (1.90 percent) across retail, e-commerce, financial services and digital lending businesses. Businesses that sell digital goods and / or conduct transactions primarily through remote channels take an even harder hit to their bottom line at 2.51 percent of revenues.”

Customers Can Now Complete Banking Tasks with U.S. Bank Skill for Amazon Alexa – “U.S. Bank customers are among the first in the nation to be able to complete banking tasks, such as checking an account balance or making a payment to a U.S. Bank credit card, simply by speaking a command to an Amazon Alexa device. U.S. Bank is making the skill available to its customers after a successful employee pilot that took place this summer.”

Tesco unveils Tesco Pay+ – “Tesco has today announced that PayQwiq, the digital wallet app, is to be re-launched as Tesco Pay+. Further details about Tesco Pay+ will follow later in September. Launched in 2015, the PayQwiq digital wallet app allows customers to pay for their shopping in a simple and fast manner while at the same time collecting their Clubcard points.”

New Multi-Function Loyalty and Payments Card Gives Frequent Flyer Programs a Big Lift – “Unlike traditional co-branded airline credit cards available only to credit-worthy consumers who qualify, the integrated frequent flyer payment card is open to all airline customers, who simply need to load funds on the card and use it to make purchases anywhere in the world and accumulate loyalty points and air miles rewards. “

STMicroelectronics Cooperating with MediaTek to Integrate Industry-Leading NFC Technology into Mobile-Platform Designs – “STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, has announced the integration of its contactless NFC technology with MediaTek’s mobile platforms. This creates a complete solution for handset developers to design next-generation smartphones capable of supporting tightly integrated NFC mobile services.”

GLENBROOK PAYMENTS EDUCATION EVENTS

Understanding the accelerating pace of change in the payments industry has never been more important. Get the knowledge you need fast at one of our two day Payments Boot Camps. Our one day Insight Workshops follow each Boot Camp and are deep dives into key topics. Take a discount for attending all three days. Here’s our fall schedule:

Payments Boot Camp, October 3-4, 2017, San Jose, CA, Logistics

Payments Boot Camp, October 17-18, 2017, NYC, NY, Logistics

Payments Boot Camp, December 5-6, 2017, Palo Alto, CA, Logistics

Global Payments, October 5, 2017, San Jose, CA, Logistics

Digital Payments, October 19, 2017, NYC, NY, Logistics

Innovation in Payments, December 7, 2017, Palo Alto, CA, Logistics

For more, click here. We hope to see you soon!

Bring your colleagues along! Group discounts are available. For more information or to learn about our private workshops conducted at your location, contact Glenbrook’s Russ Jones.

UPDATES FROM GLENBROOK

Note: Headline News is compiled by Glenbrook Partners. Throughout the day, as we spot interesting developments, this post is updated. Do you have news to share? Tell us here: gotnews@paymentsnews.com!

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[topsolarpanels]

At Pear demo day, a who’s who of VCs, and plenty of fresh ideas

Pear, a popular seed-stage venture firm whose early bets include Guardant Health , Memebox, and Branch, hosted its fourth demo day in Woodside, Ca ., last Thursday, and though it was a scorchingly hot afternoon at a largely outdoor venue, a veritable who’s who of VCs presented up: Bryan Schreier of Sequoia Capital was there. So was Brian O’Malley of Accel Partners, another frequent guest. Others of the 120 other VCs in attendance included Shawn Carolan of Menlo Ventures, Shahin Farshchi of Lux Capital, Ann Miura-Ko of Floodgate, Maha Ibrahim of Canaan Partners, Bobby Yazdani of Cota Capital, Semil Shah of Haystack, Hunter Walk of Homebrew, James Currier of NFX Guild, and Josh Elman of Greylock Partners.

What everyone came to see was 15 teams, all of them roughly six months old or younger, and all led by current college student or recent graduates who’d been invited by Pear to build companies over ten weeks in its airy but cramped Palo Alto offices. It’s a nice deal for the founders, who receive an uncapped note of between $25,000 and $40,000, along with advice from people who know how to grow companies. Among those to speak with this summer’s crop: Dropbox cofounder and CEO Drew Houston.

These demo days are also a chance for Pear to showcase its ability to spot talent at the earliest stages. Satellite company Capella Space got its start in Pear’s summer program; it created a $12 million Series A round in May.

Viz, a startup that helps physicians identify anomalies in brain scans employing machine learning and which landed $7.5 million in Series A fund in May, was part of the line-up last year.( Pear asks to invest up to $250,000 when its summer teams create these first rounds .)

Because we know some of you like learning about these companies as prospective investments, to identify future tendencies, or simply to better understand the competition, we’re written up some of the nascent startups that presented. Meanwhile, here is the full line-up of companies, and a quick snapshot of what the display was like.

ImpriMed .

This startup, cofounded by a Korean founder with Ph.D. in bioengineering from Stanford, is working on an ambitious but super interesting customized narcotic exam for cancer patients. The focus is on delivering personalized medications, quickly. The whole thing is still very much in the prototype phase, but what the six-person squad has built is an inkjet printer that will be capable( it tells) of testing exponentially more narcotic combinings than is possible now — 96 drug combinations in 7 seconds, versus the average 16 combinings that they are able currently be tested in 30 minutes hour. Further, the printers are small enough to stored at hospitals, meaning physicians would no longer need to send patients’ cells to a lab for testing — a time-consuming endeavor.

The company said it plans to focus on blood cancers initially. It expects to expand into other cancers and infectious diseases later.

Fitbod .

Fitbod for iOS is trying to equip gym-goers with a deeply personalized workout scheme, allowing them to maximize the use of indoor gym equipment and practice effective strength-training by constructing personalized workout routines for them. It assigns different values for wearines, for example, or, if a user can’t perform a suggested exercising, that person is shown the coming four exerts. If a user misses a workout, it will accommodate how many situates of reps that person should do.

It doesn’t seem like a big idea, considering the many fitness apps already on the market. But Fitbod insisted that by using machine learning to track someone’s workout data and tailor a strength-training plan in real time for that individual’s physical capability, it can capture competitors’ users, as well as a slice of the market that isn’t using anything.

For some perspective on that market, there are 57 million people in the U.S. who work out at gyms and the other 25 million who buy equipment at home. The founders, who include one former high frequency merchant and an experienced product experience decorator, say they’re starting with the 30 million people who work out in weight rooms.

TeachFX

This company is trying to supercharge teachers’ work by providing them with automated feedback on such discussions that are happening in their classrooms. The idea here is that there isn’t a lot of active learn pas, in elementary schools, in high schools, and especially at colleges, yet a lot can be learned by tracking the frequency of questions an teacher asks, or how long he or she pauses, or who in the class is volunteering to speak and who isn’t.

TeachFx, started by one former high school English educator( with a Stanford MBA ), hope to address all of these issues via its its app, which utilizes machine learning and open source technologies to investigate a teacher’s class, then deliver metrics on aspects of their pedagogy. It looks for how much of their class was lecture versus debate, for example, and how much each student is participating. TeachFX is even trying to identify unconscious biases, something the technology should get better at doing as it builds up a database of classroom-related inputs.

FGspire

This company is building an AI-driven medical record platform that takes notes about patient encounters with doctors as might an observing nurse. The notion, as you might imagine, is to save physicians day so they can meet with more patients, shaving off the two hours spent documenting their visit with each patient( who they expend comparatively little time with right now ).

The team, which includes one AI researcher at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and another AI researcher at the Stanford Natural Language Processing Group, says it’s targeting veterinarians first, as they’re unfettered by the same regulations as apply to doctors who treat people. They also say that after running tests for the last six months, their first medical records platform is rolling out in Bay Area clinics this fall.

Via

Via is a global marketplace for short-term work experiences that last anywhere from four weeks to six months. The problem, as put forward by its founders( who happen to be sisters) are that young professionals aren’t fulfilled by their jobs. According to a 2016 Deloitte analyze, 25 percent of millennials would leave their task this year merely to do something different, and 66 percent would leave within the next three years. The reason, ostensibly: millennials crave experiences above all else.

Via’s solution? Short-term work experiences, often in far-flung cities, that complement millennials’ careers. Toward that end, the two-month-old company is already partnering with grad schools and U.S. companies to find a chance for the talented people who might otherwise be at risk of leaving for good. Current alternatives range from research projects for a fintech unicorn in Brazil to work at the largest solar energy company in Uganda.

Ozzy

The team is building what it’s calling a targeted outdoor ad platform — an “AdWords for the offline world.” How? By slapping internet connected screens atop ride-share vehicles. HotelTonight, for example, has been testing out a campaign that it runs between 8 pm and 2 a.m. on streets dotted with bars and restaurants. DoorDash and Instacart have also launched campaigns. In the future, tell Ozzy’s founders, you can see a wealth of scenarios, including a brand that’s opening its first retail store in township and wants to raise awareness that it’s coming, so advertises in the surrounding region of its new storefront.

Whether the service will take off is a question mark. Advertisers have become more metrics driven than ever before and it’s hard to imagine how Ozzy can prove that it’s converting passersby into clients. Still, outdoor ad expend is currently a $10 billion marketplace, and with smart execution, Ozzy can probably scale rapidly. After all, there are one million freelance drivers in the U.S. alone. A healthy percentage of them would undoubtedly be willing to throw some hardware atop their vehicles if doing so produces meaningful extra income for them.

Siren

Siren is a new food brand, one that’s trying to make room for itself in the crowded candy and snack bar industry. Its catch? Its products are induced use naturally occurring, gluten-free, grain-free, and non-GMO ingredients. It’s packaging is attractive, too, unsurprisingly.

For its inaugural line of products, Siren has developed a line of bite-sized snacks employing a blend of protein derived from peas.( We sampled three flavors — lemon poppyseed, cookie dough, and snickerdoodle, and we loved them, though our kids were slightly less keen on them .) The company said it sold out of its first production run of 10, 000 snack purses within a matter of weeks; now it’s offering its “bites” online through SirenSnacks.com.

Interestingly, Siren, like, Via, was founded by sisters. In this case, one sister, a graduate of both Brown and Stanford, formerly worked at Sonoma Brands, a food incubator and investor. The other has a degree in product engineering from Stanford and formerly worked for Google; Farmigo, a maker of software for CSAs; and Immaculate Baking, a “natural” brand known for its cookie dough. Immaculate was acquired by General Mills from several private equity investors in 2012.

Read more:

The post At Pear demo day, a who’s who of VCs, and plenty of fresh ideas appeared first on Top Rated Solar Panels.

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[pavcnica2017-blog]

Our trip to Nicaragua!

This summer, we're thrilled to be sending our fourth team to serve with Arms of Love in Jinotepe, Nicaragua! Below you'll find more info about the trip, what we'll be doing, and how you can partner with us.

We are happy to announce that the Palo Alto Vineyard Church is preparing to send a team for the 4thyear to serve alongside Arms of Love at their facility in Jinotepe, Nicaragua! We’re particularly excited this year because we have a great number of newcomers on the team. We are eager for them to experience God in a new way as we seek to serve and learn from our partners at Arms of Love. We also look forward to continuing to build on the relationships we have formed with the staff and see what God will do in our lives and in the lives of those we meet in Nicaragua.

WHAT IS ARMS OF LOVE?

Arms of Love was started in 1998 shortly after Nicaragua was devastated by Hurricane Mitch. Today, Arms of Love is in its 17th year of providing a home and support for at-risk children and youth at its two locations in Nicaragua and the Philippines.   More than 70 youth are regularly served on the Arms of Love multi-acre property in Jinotepe, Nicaragua. These kids come from all over Nicaragua and from a variety of situations. Some children had been living on the street - others were in families that did not have the means care for them. At Arms of Love they experience the protection, care, and vocational education they so desperately need from the home’s two dozen staff members. In addition, Arms of Love also provides support to children in their local community who still live with their families, but live in poverty. In this community care program kids come to AOL several times a week for a meal, help with their homework, and a chance to wash hands and brush their teeth.

For nine years now, the Palo Alto Vineyard has been a committed financial partner of the Arms of Love. Individual members of our church also support the ministry and sponsor children. In July, 2017, the Palo Alto Vineyard will send an 18 member team to support the staff in their work with the wonderful children of Nicaragua.

Nicaragua is located in the middle of Central America and is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Almost half of its population lives in extreme poverty and lives without easy access to clean water, electricity, medical care, and education.   Each year we are amazed and encouraged by the ways God touches and transforms our lives through service and encourages us by seeing Christ alive and working through our brothers and sisters in Christ in Nicaragua.

WHAT WILL OUR TEAM DO?

Our main goal is support the good work that the Nicaraguan staff is doing as they are the primary ministers. When they identify areas of need in the ministry, we seek to help address them. We are still planning this year’s trip, but in the past we have worked with Arms of Love on building projects (both on the Arms of Love Campus and in the surrounding community of Jinotepe), running community outreach events, doing activities, playing games, reading bible stories, or singing with the resident children and with the children in the community outreach program. We also have coordinated two-day, offsite staff retreats for the Arms of Love staff in Nicaragua.

All of these activities have deepened the relationships and partnership with the staff and child-ren/youth at Arms of Love that we have built over the years we have been sending teams there.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT US?

There many ways you can support us. We’d love your prayers, encouragement, and financial backing as we depart. We will have a prayer email list for people who are willing to pray for us and this trip. The total cost for our trip is $2700 per person. This will include travel, food, and board plus the cost for us to do important building projects for the ministry, run enrichment programs for the children, and run a staff retreat. A portion of this cost is covered by using a portion of Palo Alto Vineyard Church’s Mission fund. Each team member also pays $700 to help fund their own trip. We are seeking individual donations to cover the rest of cost of the trip, estimated at $10,000.

To contribute financially, please visit this link: http://www.pavineyard.org/nicaragua-trip/. If you'd like to pray for us and receive updates while we are on the trip please check this blog.

[newstfionline]

Volunteering together: how families can plan a vacation that gives back

Pamela Hawley, UniversalGiving, April 26, 2017

Summer is an important time with family. And oh, the planning that goes into it! Should it be a road trip to California, visiting Graceland in Tennessee, or hiking the Grand Tetons in Wyoming?

This year why not try something different? You can spend time in an activity that gives back--volunteering together. Volunteering as a family instills values in children that last a lifetime. A youth from a family in which at least one parent volunteers is almost twice as likely to volunteer as someone who doesn’t have that role model, according to a 2005 federal survey.

So what do you look for in a family volunteering trip? Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Include everyone in the planning. Have family meetings. Encourage each youth to research a cause, an activity, or a country he or she is interested in. You can make these learning discussions, understanding more about the world. Further, if children feel they’ve had a hand in planning, they’ll be more engaged.

Vet the possibilities. Ensure you find an organization that has been checked out and verified. You don’t want to show up to something that is well intentioned but poorly organized. You can ask for testimonials and speak with a longtime volunteer. Ask how long the group has been in existence and if it has a board. It will help you gain confidence.

Consider staying local. Before you head out of state, note that some of the best opportunities are in your own backyard--your neighborhood! When I started volunteering, I worked at soup kitchens and tutored underserved students in East Palo Alto, Calif. East Palo Alto was only seven minutes from my home, but the community had a completely different culture and differing needs. It was a great education.

Don’t necessarily think big. Your volunteering trip doesn’t have to be a month or even a week. Yes, you’ll gain more if you spend more time. You’ll also build stronger relationships with local people. But people today are busy. One idea is to have a “regular vacation,” and simply add a day of service. It helps the organization. You are helped, too.

Involve younger children. Kids don’t have to be teens to volunteer. They will follow their parents, even if that involves carrying a can of beans at a food bank to pack a meal for a family. It’s a good example for them, and they learn to serve early.

Hold a community event. When you return from a volunteering trip, host a casual dinner. Share photos and videos--and if you really want to go far, try cooking the local food of the place where you volunteered! Have family members present two to five minutes on what they learned or what was a meaningful moment. It’s a great way to engage your community and drum up more support for causes.

Regardless of your vacation, enjoy your time together. Perhaps this year you’ll decide to give back, for all or part of the trip. You can tangibly affect the quality of someone’s life through your service. And your family will be stronger for it.

Pamela Hawley is the founder and chief executive officer of UniversalGiving.

[inno-v]

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[inno-v]

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[blackkudos]

Cory Booker

Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and the junior United States Senator from New Jersey, in office since 2013. Previously he served as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013.

He attended Stanford University, where he played college football and received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Arts in sociology, before earning a Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford. Upon returning home, he received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Booker began his political career as a Newark city councilor from 1998 to 2002. He ran for mayor in 2002, but lost to incumbent Sharpe James; he ran again in 2006 and won against deputy mayor Ronald Rice. During his tenure as mayor, Booker's priorities were reducing crime and encouraging economic development projects. He gained a national reputation for his personal involvement in public service, particularly through his use of social media tools such as Twitter to connect with constituents.

Considered one of the most prominent Democrats in New Jersey, he became a candidate for the United States Senate in the 2013 special election to succeed Frank Lautenberg, who died in office. He won the Senate Democratic primary on August 13, 2013, and then won the general election against Steve Lonegan on October 16, 2013, becoming the first black U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Booker subsequently won the next regular election for the Senate seat against Jeff Bell in 2014.

Early life, education, and early career

Booker was born on April 27, 1969, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey, 20 miles (32 km) north of Newark, New Jersey. His parents, Carolyn Rose (née Jordan) and Cary Alfred Booker, were among the first black executives at IBM. Booker has stated that he was raised in a religious household, and that he and his family attended a small African Methodist Episcopal Church in New Jersey. One of Booker's maternal great-grandfathers was white, and Booker also has other European and Native American ancestry.

Booker graduated from Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, where he played varsity football and was named to the 1986 USA Today All-USA high school football team. Booker went on to Stanford University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1991 and a Master of Arts in sociology the following year. While at Stanford, he played football as a tight end and was teammates with Brad Muster and Ed McCaffrey, and also made the All–Pacific-10 Academic team and was elected senior class president. In addition, Booker ran The Bridge Peer Counseling Center, a student-run crisis hotline, and organized help from Stanford students for youth in East Palo Alto, California.

After Stanford, Booker was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford, where he earned an honors degree in United States history in 1994 as a member of The Queen's College. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Yale Law School, where he operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven, Connecticut. At Yale, Booker was a founding member of the Chai Society (now Shabtai), was a Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and was active in the National Black Law Students Association.

Newark City Council

Contemplating advocacy work and a run for city council in Newark after graduation from law school, Booker lived in the city during his final year at Yale. After graduation, he served as staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and program coordinator of the Newark Youth Project. In 1998, Booker won an upset victory for a seat on the Newark City Council, defeating four-term incumbent George Branch. To draw attention to the problems of open-air drug dealing and associated violence, he went on a 10-day hunger strike and lived in a tent and later in a motor home near drug-dealing areas of the city. Booker proposed council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order, and the efficiency and transparency of city hall, but was regularly outvoted by all of his fellow councilors.

Mayor of Newark

Mayoral campaigns2002 election

On January 9, 2002, Booker announced his campaign for mayor of Newark rather than running for re-election as councilman; this pitted him against longtime incumbent Sharpe James. James, who had easily won election four consecutive times, saw Booker as a real threat, and responded with mudslinging, at one campaign event calling him "a Republican who took money from the KKK [and] Taliban ... [who's] collaborating with the Jews to take over Newark". In the campaign, James' supporters questioned Booker's suburban background, calling him a carpetbagger who was "not black enough" to understand the city. Booker lost the election on May 14, garnering 47% of the vote to James' 53%. The election was chronicled in the Oscar-nominated documentary Street Fight.

2006 election

Booker announced on February 11, 2006, that he would again run for mayor. Although incumbent Mayor Sharpe James filed paperwork to run for reelection, shortly thereafter he announced that he would instead cancel his bid to focus on his work as a State Senator, which he was originally elected to in 1999. At James's discretion, Deputy Mayor Ronald Rice decided to run as well. Booker's campaign outspent Rice's 25 to 1, for which Rice attacked him. In addition to raising over $6 million for the race, Booker attacked Rice as a "political crony" of James. Booker won the May 9 election with 72% of the vote. His slate of city council candidates, known as the "Booker Team", swept the council elections, giving Booker firm leadership of the city government.

2010 election

On April 3, 2010, Booker announced his campaign for reelection. At his announcement event, he remarked that a "united government" was crucial to progress, knowing his supporters in the city council faced tough reelections. Heavily favored to win, Booker faced former judge and Essex County prosecutor Clifford J. Minor, as well as two minor candidates. On May 11, Booker won reelection with 59% of the vote, but with only seven of his nine council supporters winning reelection.

Tenure

Before taking office as mayor, Booker sued the James administration, seeking to terminate cut-rate land deals favoring two redevelopment agencies that had contributed to James's campaigns and listed James as a member of their advisory boards. Booker argued that the state's "pay-to-play" laws had been violated and that the land deals would cost the city more than $15 million in lost revenue. Specifically, Booker referenced a parcel at Broad and South Streets that would generate only $87,000 under the proposed land deals yet was valued at $3.7 million under then-current market rates. On June 20, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled in favor of Booker.

In late June 2006, before Booker took office, New Jersey investigators foiled a plot to assassinate Booker led by Bloods gang leaders inside four New Jersey state prisons. The motive for the plot was unclear, but was described variously as a response to the acrimonious campaign and to Booker's campaign promises to take a harder line on crime.

First term

Booker assumed office as mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006. After his first week in office, he announced a 100-day plan to implement reforms in Newark. The proposed changes included increasing police forces, ending background checks for many city jobs to help former offenders find employment in the city, refurbishing police stations, improving city services, and expanding summer youth programs.

One of Booker's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. In furtherance of this, he appointed Garry McCarthy, former deputy commissioner of operations of the New York City Police Department, as director of the Newark Police Department. Crime reduction was such a central concern to the Booker administration that Booker, along with his security team, was known to personally patrol the streets of Newark until as late as 4 a.m.

Booker is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bipartisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". Booker was honored in October 2009 by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence with the Sarah Brady Visionary Award for his work in reducing gun violence. During his mayoralty, crime dropped significantly in Newark, which led the nation in violent crime reduction from 2006 to 2008. March 2010 marked Newark's first murder-free month in over 44 years, although murder and overall crime rates began to rise again after 2008. In addition to his crime-lowering initiatives, Booker doubled the amount of affordable housing under development and quadrupled the amount under pre-development, and reduced the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million.

After taking office, Booker voluntarily reduced his own salary twice, reducing his salary by 8% early in his first year as mayor. He also raised the salaries of many city workers. However, his administration imposed one-day-a-month furloughs for all non-uniformed employees from July through December 2010, as well as 2% pay cuts for managers and directors earning more than $100,000 a year. In 2008 and 2009 the City of Newark received the Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. In an effort to make government more accessible, Booker held regular open office hours during which city residents can meet with him personally to discuss their concerns. In 2010, Booker was among the finalists for the World Mayor prize, ultimately placing seventh. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2012 award.

Second term

On October 10, 2010, Booker established Let's Move! Newark as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's national Let's Move! initiative against childhood obesity. In October 2011 he expanded the program to include Let’s Move! Newark: Our Power, a four-month fitness challenge for Newark public school students run by public health advocate Jeff Halevy.

Booker gained national attention when, on December 28, 2010, a constituent used Twitter to ask him to send someone to her father's house to shovel his driveway because her elderly father was going to attempt to do it himself. Booker responded by tweeting, "I will do it myself; where does he live?" Other people volunteered, including one person who offered his help on Twitter, and 20 minutes later Booker and some volunteers showed up and shoveled the man's driveway. On April 12, 2012, Booker saved a woman from a house fire, suffering smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his hands in the process. Newark Fire Chief John Centanni said that Booker's actions possibly saved the woman's life. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of the shoreline areas of New Jersey and New York in late October 2012, Booker invited Newarkers without power to eat and sleep in his home. In February 2013, responding to a Twitter post, Booker helped a nervous constituent propose to his girlfriend. Booker rescued a dog from freezing temperatures in January 2013 and another dog that had been abandoned in a cage in July 2013.

On November 20, 2012, a melee occurred at a Newark City Council meeting attended by Booker. The nine-seat council was to vote on the successor to the seat vacated by newly elected U.S. Representative Donald M. Payne, Jr. Booker's opponents on the council, including Ras Baraka, sought to appoint John Sharpe James, son of the former mayor, while Booker and his supporters favored Shanique Speight. Booker attended the meeting to deal with the eventuality of the lack of a quorum or a tie vote, in which state law would allow him to cast a deciding vote. After Baraka was refused an opportunity to address the council by acting Council President Anibal Ramos, Jr., Baraka and two other council members walked away in protest. Booker cast the deciding vote for Speight. Supporters of James stormed the stage and were held back by riot police, who eventually used pepper spray on some members of the crowd. Baraka later blamed Booker for inciting the disturbance, while Booker refused comment to the media after the vote.

In December 2012, after discussions with a constituent about New Jersey's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Booker began a week-long challenge attempting to live on a food budget of $30 per week—the amount SNAP recipients receive. When critics noted that the very name of the SNAP program shows that it is intended to "supplement" an individual's food budget, not be its sole source, Booker replied that his aim was to spark a discussion about the reality that many Americans rely solely on food stamps to survive.

Newark Watershed

The Newark Watershed comprises 35,000 acres of reservoirs and water treatment systems for more than 500,000 customers in northern New Jersey, including Newark and neighboring Belleville, Elizabeth, Bloomfield, and Nutley. It is considered one of the city's greatest assets. A New Jersey State Comptroller report issued in February 2014 revealed irregularities and corruption within the Newark Watershed and Development Corporation, which is in the process of being dismantled after being taken over by the city while on Booker's watch.

Public opinion polling

Throughout Booker's mayoralty, Fairleigh Dickinson University's public opinion poll PublicMind asked New Jersey residents statewide whether or not they had heard of Mayor Booker and whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him. The results are as follows:

March, 2014

Name recognition: 88%

Favorable opinion: 47%

Unfavorable opinion: 23%

Legacy

Booker's mayoralty and personal celebrity drew much media attention to Newark. While he enjoyed high ratings from city residents, his legacy has received mixed reviews. During his tenure, millions of dollars were invested in downtown development, but underemployment and high murder rates continue to characterize many of the city's neighborhoods. Despite legal challenges initiated during his term, Newark Public Schools has remained under control of the state for nearly twenty years. Newark received $32 million in emergency state aid in 2011 and 2012, requiring a memorandum of understanding between Newark and the state that obligates the city to request and the state to approve appointments to city hall administrative positions.

While mayor of Newark, Booker claimed in an interview that Newark’s unemployment rate had fallen by two percentage points. This statement was rated "false" by PolitiFact because he used data that had not been seasonally adjusted; the actual rate was 0.7 percentage points.

U.S. Senate

2013 election

On December 20, 2012, Booker announced that he would explore running for the U.S. Senate seat that was then occupied by Frank Lautenberg in the 2014 election, ending speculation that he would challenge Governor Chris Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election. On January 11, 2013, Booker filed papers to form a campaign committee, without announcing whether or not he would run. Roughly one month after declaring his interest in running for the Senate, incumbent Lautenberg announced that he would not seek reelection.

On June 3, Lautenberg died of viral pneumonia; five days later Booker announced his intention to run for Lautenberg's seat in the 2013 special election. Booker announced his candidacy at two events: one in Newark and the other in Willingboro.

On August 13, 2013, Booker was declared the winner of the Democratic primary, with approximately 59% of the vote. On October 16, 2013, he defeated Republican Steve Lonegan in the general election 55% to 44%, making him the first African-American U.S. Senator from New Jersey and the first African-American to be elected to the Senate since Barack Obama in 2004. The night before his victory, Booker visited the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, where he offered his prayers and lit a vigil in memory of his father.

Tenure

On October 31, 2013, Booker was sworn into the Senate.

In November 2013, Booker co-sponsored and voted for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. In December 2013, he was one of the original cosponsors of Bob Menéndez's Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013, which would toughen sanctions against Iran. He also voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. In January 2014, he cosponsored the Respect for Marriage Act. In February 2014, Booker voted against the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013.

Booker has pledged to meet with each of his Republican colleagues in the Senate in order to find common ground. In March, he was spotted having dinner with Senator Ted Cruz in Washington.

Booker has faced criticism on the left. Salon called him an avatar of the wealthy elite, a camera hog, and a political cipher.

Leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Booker endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. He was speculated as a potential vice presidential candidate during the primary and as the general election began, though Booker stated on June 16, 2016 that he was not being vetted. After the election, in which Donald Trump defeated Clinton, on January 11, 2017, Booker testified against Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, the first instance of a sitting senator testifying against another during a cabinet position confirmation hearing.

Booker was widely considered a potential candidate for the 2020 presidential election. On January 21, 2017, Booker ruled out a presidential bid, citing his intent to focus on the Trump administration. He repeated this on March 12, 2017, stating that he preferred to be a "person of purpose" and to focus on his duties as a senator.

Committee assignments

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Committee on Environment and Public Works

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance

Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness

Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security (Ranking Member)

Subcommittee on Oversight

Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health

Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife

2014 election

After being defeated in the 2013 special election, Steve Lonegan announced that he would not run again for the seat in the 2014 race. Presumed candidates for the Republican primary were Thomas Kean Jr., Jay Webber, Jon Bramnick, and Michael J. Doherty. On January 9, 2014, Brian D. Goldberg, a West Orange resident and New Jersey businessman, announced that he would seek the Republican nomination.

On February 4, 2014, conservative political consultant Jeff Bell announced his bid for the nomination. Bell won the Republican Primary and received significant support from the conservative American Principles Fund, which ran a direct mail operation costing over $80,000, and the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-same-sex marriage group, which paid for $6,000 of automated calling.

Booker defeated Bell, capturing 55.8% of the vote to Bell's 42.4%. Brendan W. Gill was Booker's campaign manager.

Political positions

He has been described as a liberal, a moderate, and a neoliberal. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey—has been described by a longtime friend as having a "libertarian bent." In a July 2013 Salon interview, Booker said that "there's nothing in that realm of progressive politics where you won't find me." However, in a September 2013 interview with The Grio, when asked if he considered himself a progressive, he avoided the term, saying he is a Democrat and an American. George Norcross III described Booker as "a new Democrat—a Democrat that's fiscally conservative yet socially progressive." In May 2012, Booker defended Bain Capital's record and criticized Obama's attack on private equity. In response, the Republican National Committee, created a petition called "I Stand With Cory Booker". He has also received criticism from both progressives and liberals, such as Ronald Rice and Rush Holt.

On social issues, Booker supports abortion rights and affirmative action He supports ending the War on Drugs. On economic issues, he supports long-term deficit reduction efforts to ensure economic prosperity, Cap and Trade taxation to combat climate change, and increased funding for education.

On foreign policy, Booker supports scaling down U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and is against intervention in Syria. After the US strike on Syria in April 2017, Booker criticized military action "without a clear plan" or authorization from Congress. He supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. On Iran, Booker has stated the country poses a direct threat to American and Israeli security and feels all options should be on the table for dealing with the conflict. However, his decision to back the Iran nuclear deal framework damaged his long-term relationship with Jewish voters and supporters. In an attempt to reduce the damage, Booker initiated an emergency summit for Jewish leaders, which some of his longstanding supporters did not attend.

Other activities

Obama association

In 2009, after Barack Obama became President of the United States, Booker was offered the leadership of the new White House Office of Urban Affairs. He turned the offer down, citing a commitment to Newark.

Booker generated controversy on May 12, 2012, when he appeared on Meet The Press as a surrogate for the reelection campaign of Barack Obama and made remarks that were critical of that campaign. Booker said that the attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating to me on both sides. It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright." The comments were subsequently used by the Romney campaign against Obama. Booker made follow-up comments clarifying that he believed Obama's attacks on Romney's record at Bain were legitimate but did not retract his point about attacking private equity in general. Two weeks later, Booker's communications director Anne Torres tendered her resignation, although she maintained it was unrelated to Meet the Press.

Affiliations and honors

Booker sits on the board of advisers of the political action committee Democrats for Education Reform. He is currently a member of the board of trustees at Teachers College, Columbia University, and was formerly a member of the Executive Committee at Yale Law School and the Board of Trustees at Stanford University.

In 2010, Booker received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by the Jefferson Awards.

In May 2009, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Newark-based New Jersey Institute of Technology for "his outstanding career in public service as the Mayor of Newark". In May 2009, he received an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University, and was a commencement speaker that year as well. Booker received another honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in December 2010 from Yeshiva University for "his bold vision for Newark and setting a national standard for urban transformation". In June 2011, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and served as that year's commencement speaker at Williams College for the urban transformation of Newark. In May 2012, Booker received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Bard College and gave the commencement speech at the graduation. In 2010, Booker delivered the commencement addresses at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, on May 15, Columbia University's Teachers College in New York City on May 17, and Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, a week later on May 23, 2010. Booker gave the commencement address to New York Law School graduates on May 13, 2011, at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Booker also gave the commencement address at the University of Rhode Island in May 2011; he also received an Honorary doctorate in Human Letters. He delivered a commencement address to Stanford University graduates on June 17, 2012, at Stanford Stadium. He also received an honorary degree at Fairleigh Dickinson's 69th Commencement Ceremony in May 2012. In May 2013, Booker gave the commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis and received an honorary doctorate of law. On May 16, 2014, Booker gave the commencement speech for Ramapo College of New Jersey graduates at the IZOD Center.

Films

Booker's 2002 mayoral campaign, which he lost, was chronicled by filmmaker Marshall Curry in his documentary Street Fight. The film was nominated in 2005 for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Since 2009, Booker has starred in the documentary series Brick City. The series focuses on Booker and his efforts to improve Newark by reducing crime and bringing about economic renewal. Brick City won a Peabody Award in 2009 and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 2010.

Booker contributed to the 2011 documentary Miss Representation and commented on the representations of women in politics within mass media.

Booker appeared in a scene in the Parks and Recreation episode "Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington" alongside Orrin Hatch.

Mark Zuckerberg donation

In July 2010, Booker attended a dinner at a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he was seated with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg, who had no known ties to Newark, announced in September 2010 that he was donating $100 million of his personal fortune to the Newark school system. According to an article in the New York Times, Booker and Zuckerberg continued their conversation about Booker's plans for Newark. The initial gift was made to start a foundation for education. The gift was formally announced when Booker, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Zuckerberg appeared together on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The timing of Zuckerberg's donation was questioned by some as a move for damage control to his image, as it was announced on the opening day of the movie The Social Network, a film that painted an unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg. On her show, however, Winfrey told the audience that Zuckerberg and Booker had been in talks for months and had actually planned the announcement for the previous month, and that she and Booker had to force Zuckerberg to put his name to the donation, which he had wanted to make anonymously.

Conan O'Brien "feud"

In the fall of 2009, Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien engaged in a satirical on-air and YouTube feud with Booker, with O'Brien jokingly insulting the City of Newark and Booker responding that he would ban O'Brien from the Newark airport. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the feud to end during a prepared comedy bit, telling Booker to chalk it up to a head injury suffered by O'Brien less than two weeks earlier. Booker then appeared on O'Brien's show and assured viewers that the feud was over and that he was actually a big fan of O'Brien, who agreed that every time he made a joke about Newark, he would donate $500 to the City of Newark, and also made a $50,000 donation to the Newark Now charity, which was matched by NBC Universal.

Waywire

In 2012, Booker and tech executives Sarah Ross and Nathan Richardson formed Waywire, a company focused on video sharing technology. Early investors included Oprah Winfrey, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Weiner, and Troy Carter. After Booker's relationship to Waywire was discussed in a front-page New York Times story, board member Andrew Zucker stepped down from his position. Shortly thereafter, Waywire CEO Nathan Richardson departed the business as the company shifted its focus from content creation to content curation. In August 2013, Booker told NBC News he intended to resign from the Waywire board and put his holdings in a trust if elected to the Senate; by September, he had resigned his place on the board and donated his share of the company to charity. Waywire was sold to another video curation business the following month.

Personal life

Booker regularly exercises and has been a vegetarian since 1992, when he was a student at Oxford. He abstains from alcohol and "has no known vices or addictions" other than books and coffee. In 2014, Booker began practicing a vegan diet and has expressed his vegan ethical philosophy and advocacy for animals.

Booker has never been married, and in 2013 he was named one of Town & Country’’s "Top 40 Bachelors". Although he has generally tried to keep his personal life private, Booker has in the past described himself as a "straight male" and has said that he is trying to date more in hopes of finding someone to settle down with. In a 1990 column in the Stanford Daily, Booker admitted that as a teenager he had "hated gays". Booker has himself been the target of rumors about being gay and has generally refused to address these on principle, which he explained in 2013:

Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone says I'm gay, and I say, "So what does it matter if I am? So be it. I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the presumption that I'm straight."

From 1998 to 2006, Booker lived in Brick Towers, a troubled housing complex in Newark's Central Ward. In November 2006, as one of the last remaining tenants in Brick Towers, Booker left his apartment for the top unit in a three-story rental on Hawthorne Avenue in Newark's South Ward, an area described as "a drug- and gang-plagued neighborhood of boarded-up houses and empty lots". Brick Towers has since been demolished, and a new mixed-income development was built there in 2010.

Wikipedia