View allAll Photos Tagged mission-driven
Collared Sparrowhawk
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It was out circling over an open paddock when it dropped altitude and headed at high speed toward a treeline.
I lost sight through the trees.
Lights in Love at Save-on-Foods on Cambie Street, Vancouver.
Did someone swipe a case of Orange Zevia?
Zevia is a brand with a global mission, driven by a core set of values, offering zero sugar beverages supporting a better-for-you lifestyle - not to suggest making a handsome profit too.
"The Rise of Mission-Driven Media And How New York is Leading the Charge" on Day 4 of Internet Week New York 2014, May 22, 2014 in New York. INSIDER IMAGES/Andrew Kelly (UNITED STATES)
Peter Koechley Co-Founder, Upworthy, and Anya Kamenetz, Lead Education Blogger, NPR, participate in "Upworthy: Lessons Learned From the Front Lines of Mission-Driven Media" on Day 4 of Internet Week New York 2014, May 22, 2014 in New York. INSIDER IMAGES/Andrew Kelly (UNITED STATES)
Draupadi Kuravanchi tells the tale of Draupadi’s dark quest to subvert the plans of the hundred Kauravas to eliminate their cousins, the Pandavas. Draupadi takes the form of a Kuratti in order to prevent them from carrying out funeral rites for her five husbands. The Kuratti is a member of the Kuravar clan famous for its fortune telling, knowledge of indigenous medicine and traditional tattoos. The six young actors and dancers include two girls – a historic innovation in a traditionally male-only form of theatre.
Bio:
Kattaikkuttu is the theatre of the rural people in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. It speaks their language and is acted by performers who share similar social and cultural backgrounds with the spectators.The Kattaikkuttu Sangam is a social mission driven performing arts organisation that uses the integration of liberal education and the performing arts to promote and contemporize Kattaikkuttu and ensure sustainable careers for its professional performers. The Kattaikkuttu Sangam is managed by and for professional Kattaikkuttu performers whose core business is the Kattaikkuttu theatre.
For further information please see also:
Website: www.kattaikkuttu.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Kattaikkuttu.Theatre
Video-clips: vimeo.com/35152600 and vimeo.com/118780763
Peter Koechley Co-Founder, Upworthy, and Anya Kamenetz, Lead Education Blogger, NPR, participate in "Upworthy: Lessons Learned From the Front Lines of Mission-Driven Media" on Day 4 of Internet Week New York 2014, May 22, 2014 in New York. INSIDER IMAGES/Andrew Kelly (UNITED STATES)
From the latest Wolfe Research report with Future Ventures' Steve Jurvetson (excerpts from the conference call transcript posted with permission from interviewer Steven Milunovich):
"I think the companies we like to invest in that are creating disruptive change have a bold star on their horizon, a vision, a dream, that is potentially unique to them. It is certainly not mainstream, and in some cases most people would disagree that it's even possible. It's just too big of a dream. Yet it can motivate employees, customers, and partners like nothing else. Like Apple felt in the early days, with a messianic sense of mission. We love that. This is the purpose-driven company, the mission-driven business writ large.
As companies scale, the mission also has an interesting effect of unifying folks over a timescale. What do I mean by this? If you take the other end of the spectrum, imagine a big business that has absolutely no mission, no purpose, no vision of where it's going. It's saying: "We just want to maximize shareholder value." Imagine that was its mission statement. People will then debate endlessly over what timeframe — because the things that would maximize shareholder value in the current month or the current quarter are probably not the same things that would maximize shareholder value over ten years. Both may be legitimate goals, but it's not obvious to all which to prioritize.
When you are purpose-driven or mission-driven, you have this incredible ability to operate as if you were a small team. I think team size is fundamentally correlated with success in any creative endeavor, whether it's venture capital investing, entrepreneurial success, programming teams at Google or in academic settings. Whenever you get more than seven people, productivity goes through the floor. Three to five people is the ideal, there are a number of studies that have shown this. We somehow lose sight of that. I think it could be one of the simple reasons why small companies succeed and why small venture funds outperform large ones.
I rely on entrepreneurs to open my eyes to future inevitabilities. For example, autonomous cars. When I first rode in a Google X autonomous car in 2011, it was this incredible eye-opening experience. I just didn't see it coming, it was like peeking into the future. It also happened to me when I first got in a pure electric car, which was one of the prototype builds for the Tesla Roadster. Like my experience with the autonomous car, it hits you like a bolt of obviousness that 500 years from now there is no way we would not be driving autonomous electric vehicles everywhere. It is much easier in my opinion to forecast meaningful change the farther out you look.
MEAT
"I can't imagine that 50 years from now we'll slaughter animals for food in the United States. We’ve gone a thousand years without any fundamental change in how we manufacture meats. Imagine if there was a much better way, I mean making steak, chicken, and salmon fillets without any of the inefficiency problems. Raising animals uses 33% of global arable land and water, 41% in the United States. It is one of the major sources of greenhouse gases, especially methane, which in the short term is the worst of the greenhouse gases.
What's an alternative? Companies like Memphis Meats are growing meat—not substitute meat, not plant meat, but meat from cells. They take some stem cells from the organism, grow, proliferate, and immortalize them. That's done routinely in the pharma industry. It scales up very well in three dimensions, much like fermentation itself. Then you differentiate those cells into skeletal muscle by growing them on a scaffold — some edible collagen or aerogel — and you get meat, real meat. You can improve on that by blending or texturing. You could make something 10x better than Wagyu beef for much less cost. But initially they are just making the traditional meat products.
I believe we are in an era of accelerating technological change. We always have been, we just haven’t noticed the pattern. The change cycle is shrinking from generations to successive graduating classes, and I think that's leading to a renaissance of opportunities in enormous markets. Think about agriculture and how little progress and disruptive change there's been. Imagine large disruptors coming into every industry. Our job as investors is to try to figure out when and where that's happening."
Design that Matters
Our Mission
Our mission is to create products that improve the services of social enterprises in developing countries. DtM leverages the skills and intellectual capital of hundreds of volunteers in academia and industry to create breakthrough solutions for communities in need. Our goal is to empower our clients to deliver a better quality of service and a better quality of life to one million beneficiaries in the next five years.
Statement of Need
By World Bank estimates, two-thirds of the world population lives on less than $2 per day. These communities lack access to such basic necessities as clean water, affordable health care and basic education. They lack stable housing and employment opportunities. In many cases, they are not participants in the cash economy.
These disadvantages produce a vicious cycle for the world’s poor that results in sub-standard living conditions, which can hinder them from participating in activities that transcend daily survival. In order for these individuals to improve their quality of life—through productive work, community organization and political participation—they must receive more than direct charity and aid. The poor must be given the tools and opportunities to improve themselves, their families and their communities. This is the issue that social entrepreneurs address in serving those at the “bottom of the pyramid.”
Social entrepreneurs are change agents for the social sector. They are mission-driven, determined to achieve results and committed to maintaining accountability to the communities they serve. According to Ashoka founder Bill Drayton: “An entrepreneur plows the field” and “weakens the idea that change isn’t possible.” Social entrepreneurs effect systemic transformation by tackling not only the problem at hand, but also the roots of that problem. What’s more, social entrepreneurs are usually more effective in addressing root causes than are supranational NGOs because they are better integrated into the societies they serve, and know the specific needs of their beneficiaries.
The challenge that many social enterprises in the developing world face is a lack of access to financing, information technology, consulting services and other forms of intellectual capital, without which they are inhibited in their growth and efficiency. These social enterprises can offer better services and scale more quickly if provided access to better products, particularly those designed specifically for their needs. Design that Matters was created to provide this service.
Organizational History
In 2001, graduate students at the MIT Media Lab launched Design that Matters as a design studio and seminar course for fellow students looking to connect their education to real needs in poor communities. The DtM founders believed that the university system could become a catalyst for the creation of new tools to better serve basic needs in developing countries. The seminar course was a smash success, but proved difficult to scale as an extracurricular student project. In 2003, Timothy Prestero and Neil Cantor committed themselves to the concept full-time, and launched DtM as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and a low-cost design company serving the developing world.
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The StartingBloc Fellowship begins with the Institute for Social Innovation. The Institute is a five-day transformative experience where leaders get the education, inspiration, and connections that they need to increase their impact.
At the Institute, Candidates (students and young professionals aged 20-29) are provided with the training, education, and networks necessary to accelerate their careers. StartingBloc Educators are experts and leaders in their respective fields, and they work with Candidates to demonstrate how to blend social and economic impact.
During the Institute, Candidates learn about social entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship (working within systems), cross sector partnerships and sustainability. Sessions are led by top academics, corporate innovators, social entrepreneurs, activists and government officials. The curriculum provides a fresh look at global issues and enables our Fellows to affect change at all levels.
As part of the Institute, Candidates also participate in the Social Innovation Competition (SIC) during which they consult on a real social innovation case challenge for a company or organization. Following successful completion of the Institute, Candidates graduate into the Fellowship and join our existing network of 1500 Fellows across the world.
In 2011, the Institutes are bringing together 330 Fellows at three locations: Los Angeles (110 Fellows), Boston (110 Fellows) and New York (110 Fellows).
Los Angeles Institute :: February 17 – 21, 2011
Boston Institute :: March 17 – 21, 2011
New York Institute :: May 26 - 30, 2011
Applications are now closed for the 2011 Institutes. Excited to get a jump on 2012? Leave us your name or nominate a friend to apply. Applications for the 2012 Institutes will open on September 15, 2011.
Two parachutists from the 920th Rescue Wing drift through an overcast sky at Cocoa Beach Airshow 2025, their silhouettes sharply defined against the dramatic cloudscape. Suspended beneath deployed canopies, they embody the precision and courage of airborne operations. This image captures the quiet intensity of descent, framed by moody skies and mission-driven motion.
My latest photography is now available for purchase at crsimages.pixels.com/, featuring prints, framed art, and more from my curated collections.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Mounts Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is Palm Beach County's oldest and largest public garden with over 6,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants from six continents, including plants native to Florida, exotic trees, tropical fruit, herbs, citrus and palms. Mounts Botanical is part of the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Department, in partnership with the University of Florida / IFAS and the nonprofit Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden, Inc.
Botanical plantings began shortly after the Mounts Building was built and opened in 1954. Then Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Director, Marvin Mounts, desired to create a tropical fruit tree arboretum on the adjacent three acres. This vision was never realized, but many tropical fruits were planted and a few remain to this day.
In 1975 Clayton Hutcheson, Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Director, had a vision of creating a Horticultural Learning Center on the three acres surrounding the Mounts Building, which housed the Extension Service. This initiative was successfully supported by many local plant-focused organizations and volunteers and was created in 1983.[4] Today’s Garden was formed by a public-private partnership of Palm Beach County and the Friends of Mounts Horticultural Learning Center in 1985. Ten additional acres were added to the property in 1985, bringing the total acreage to fourteen. In 1986, the Friends voted to officially change the name to Mounts Botanical Garden for a more clear understanding of the organization and its mission driven purpose.
In 2004, the Friends funded a research grant to the University of Florida to produce a Master Plan to guide the Garden’s future development. During 2004 and 2005 Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma destroyed 70% of the property’s mature tree canopy and virtually shattered the original Garden. Since 2006, The Friends and Palm Beach County have restored both the lost tree canopy and the Garden.
Windows on the Floating World – Blume Tropical Wetland Garden officially opened on June 18, 2017. Designed by artists Mags Harries and Lajos Héder, in collaboration with WGI’s landscape architecture division, Windows on the Floating World features open-gridded, 4-foot wide walkways on the surface of the wetlands to give visitors the feeling of “walking on water.” Within these walks are four “windows” planted with aquatics and changed out with rotating and seasonal botanical exhibits growing from submerged containers.
The Garden of Tranquility was opened in the Spring of 2018. This serene garden experience was created by natural elements of stone, wood (bamboo) and living plant materials in an artistic Asian inspired fashion. The garden simulates a Zen-like garden although it is not meant to be authentic or of strictly Japanese elements.
Gardens
The Edible Gardens contain dooryard tropical fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and consumable flowers
Butterfly Garden, where you will commonly find a dozen or so different species of butterflies at any given time
Rainbow Garden, arranged in a spectrum of color hues, this full sun garden showcases a wide variety of plants that grow well in Palm Beach County
Dry Stream Bed, allows water a cleansing path flowing through the landscape
Edible Garden, offers a wide variety of tropical fruits, seasonal vegetables, flowers and herbs that can be successfully grown in South Florida
Herb Garden of Well Being, showcases plants that have made our lives better though taste, cosmetics, teas, medicinal use, dyes, ceremonies and folk remedies
Tropical Foliage Border, non-woody tropicals in two gently curving borders reliant on foliage color has a visual impact that lasts year-round
Garden of Extremes, features plants and materials often unique to extremes such as light and weather conditions
Rose and Fragrance Garden, pleases the eye while fragrance adds another level of indulgence
Zimmerman Color and Shade Island, provides color in the shade through foliage, diverse texture and flowers
Tropical Forest, lush foliage and ferns provide a feeling of a tropical forest, outdoor or living conservatory
Tropical Cottage Garden, traditional elements include an abundance of colorful flowering perennials, annuals and vines, cascading over arbors and trellises
Begonia Garden, highlights this popular plant which grows in the tropics along edges of forests or river banks
Florida Native Plant Garden, comprises a Native Plant Initiative demonstrating the wide variety of plants native to South Florida in a traditional, easy to understand landscape design
Mediterranean Garden, shows how to successfully grow Mediterranean plants or very reasonable substitutes that will thrive in the South Florida climate
O’Keeffe Rain Garden, demonstrates how we can improve the quality of all runoff water in our region
Trial Garden, where we evaluate plants for how well they will perform for the average gardener or landscape
Gazebo Garden, covered in dappled shade, foliage and flower color, this is the setting for many of the weddings held in the Garden
Garden of Tranquility, peaceful zen inspired sun garden
Windows on the Floating World, transports visitors to a unique water garden, complete with seasonal water plants and waterfalls
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The population was 117,415 at the 2020 census. West Palm Beach is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,138,333 people in 2020. It is the oldest incorporated municipality in the South Florida area, incorporated as a city two years before Miami in November 1894. West Palm Beach is located approximately 68 miles (109 km) north of Downtown Miami.
The history of West Palm Beach, Florida, began more than 5,000 years ago with the arrival of the first aboriginal natives. Native American tribes such as the Jaegas inhabited the area. Though control of Florida changed among Spain, England, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, the area remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century. By the 1870s and 1880s, non-Native American settlers had inhabited areas in the vicinity of West Palm Beach and referred to the settlement as "Lake Worth Country". However, the population remained very small until the arrival of Henry Flagler in the 1890s. Flagler constructed hotels and resorts in Palm Beach to create a travel destination for affluent tourists, who could travel there via his railroad beginning in 1894.
Flagler originally intended for West Palm Beach to serve as a residential area for the workers at his hotels in Palm Beach. In 1893, George W. Potter surveyed and platted the original 48 blocks of the city. West Palm Beach would be incorporated as a town on November 5, 1894, before becoming a city in 1903. Upon the establishment of Palm Beach County in 1909, West Palm Beach received the designation of county seat. The city developed much more rapidly during the 1920s land boom, which saw a nearly four-fold increase in population between 1920 and 1927 and the construction of many of the city's historical buildings and neighborhoods. However, the 1928 hurricane – which devastated the city – and end of the land boom ushered the area into an era of economic decline just prior to the onset of the Great Depression.
West Palm Beach experienced an economic rebound in the post-World War II years, as veterans who trained at Morrison Field vacationed or relocated to the area. The city also markedly expanded westward in the 1950s and 1960s, with thousands of acres of wetlands drained and filled. In the latter decade, a municipal stadium, auditorium, and mall were built on the newly drained and filled land. Commercial development west of the original city boundaries led to urban decay in downtown by the 1980s. However, the beautification of Clematis Street beginning in the early 1990s, and the opening of CityPlace in 2000 led to a revitalized downtown area. In 2018, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the city had a population of 111,398.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Jaegas settled in modern-day Palm Beach County as many as 5,000 years ago. The first contact between Native Americans in the area and Europeans occurred in 1513 upon Juan Ponce de León's landfall at the Jupiter Inlet. Europeans encountered a thriving native population, the Mayaimi in the Lake Okeechobee Basin, while the Jaegas and Ais resided east of Lake Okeechobee and along the east coast north of the Tequestas. When the Spanish arrived, there were perhaps about 20,000 Native Americans in South Florida. The native peoples had all but been wiped out through war, enslavement, or European diseases, by the time the English gained control of Florida in 1763. Other native people from Alabama and Georgia moved into Florida in the early 18th century. They were of varied ancestry, but Europeans called them all Creeks. In Florida, they were known as the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians. American settlers and Seminoles fought against each other due to land and escaped slaves, who were granted protection by the Seminoles. They resisted the government's efforts to move them to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles and the United States government fought with each other in three wars between 1818 and 1858. By the end of the third war, very few Seminoles remained in Florida.
The area that was to become West Palm Beach was settled in the late 1870s and 1880s by a few hundred settlers who called the vicinity "Lake Worth Country". These settlers were a diverse community from different parts of the United States and the world. They included founding families such as the Potters and the Lainharts, who would go on to become leading members of the business community in the fledgling city. Irving R. Henry filed the first homestead claim in 1880, claiming 131 acres (53 ha). Henry would later sell the land to Captain O. S. Porter. The first non-Native American settlers in Palm Beach County resided around Lake Worth, – an enclosed freshwater lake at the time – named after Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who served in the Second Seminole War in 1842. Reverend Elbridge Gale and his son are believed to have constructed the first log cabin on the western shore of Lake Worth, located near where the intersection of 29th Street and Poinsettia Avenue stands today. Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment to the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River.
In 1890, the United States Census counted over 200 people settled along Lake Worth in the vicinity of what would become West Palm Beach. The area at this time also boasted a hotel, the "Cocoanut House", a church, and a post office. Henry Flagler, who was instrumental to Palm Beach County's development in the late 19th century and early 20th century, first visited in 1892, describing the area as a "veritable paradise". The first newspaper in the area, The Gazetteer, began publication in 1893, but the paper ceased printing issues after burning in a downtown fire in 1896. Additionally, West Palm Beach's first business, Lainhart and Potter Lumber Company, and the first bank, Dade County State Bank, were both established in 1893. That year, Flagler began planning a city to house the employees working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach.
Flagler paid two area settlers, Porter and Louie Hillhouse, a combined sum of $45,000 for the original town site. Flagler hired George W. Potter, Dade County's first surveyor, to set aside 48 blocks for development stretching from Clear Lake to Lake Worth, an area that would later become West Palm Beach. The east-to-west oriented streets were named alphabetically from north to south – Althea, Banyan, Clematis, Datura, Evernia, Fern – while some of the north-to-south roads were called Lantana, Narcissus, Olive, Poinsettia, Rosemary, and Tamarind. Most of these names are still used today. Over in Palm Beach, construction began on the Royal Poinciana Hotel on May 1, 1893. The lots in West Palm Beach were auctioned off in the ballroom of the Royal Poinciana on February 4, 1894, one week before the hotel opened for business. In late March, Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway reached West Palm Beach.
On November 5, 1894, residents met at the "Calaboose", which served as the first jail and police station. The building formerly stood at Clematis Street and Poinsettia, now Dixie Highway. The 78 people there voted on a motion to incorporate, with 77 in favor and 1 against. They also decided to name the municipality "West Palm Beach", originally a town. This made West Palm Beach the first incorporated municipality in the county and in Southeast Florida. On the following day, 78 people also met to vote on the new town officers. Voters elected John S. Earman as the first mayor, while Henry J. Burkhardt, E. H. Dimick, J. M. Garland, H. T. Grant, J. F. Lamond, and George Zapf became the town's first aldermen. Eli Sims and W. L. Tolbert were chosen to be town clerk and town marshal, respectively. Later in November 1894, the Flagler Alerts, an all-volunteer fire department, was established as the first fire department in the city.
Although Flagler intended for the West Palm Beach area to be the southern terminus of his railroad, the track was extended farther southward to Miami after two severe freezes in the winter of 1894–95. The Weather Bureau office, then located in Jupiter, recorded temperatures of 24 and 27 °F (−4 and −3 °C) on December 29, 1894, and February 9, 1895, respectively. Though the railroad continued southward to Miami and eventually to Key West, Flagler and his workers continued building structures in the early years of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. Completion of a railroad bridge across Lake Worth in 1895 allowed passengers to directly reach Palm Beach from West Palm Beach. A census conducted that year reported a population of 1,192 people. However, the town's population decreased by more than half during the second half of the 1890s due to damage to the citrus industry caused by the aforementioned freezes, a brief cessation in construction activity, and national recessions.
At the V-shaped split at the east end of Clematis Street, "City Park" (later known as Flagler Park) was constructed, which contained a bandstand, a field for impromptu baseball games, and by 1896, a free "reading room". Two large fires devastated downtown West Palm Beach in early 1896. On January 2, an overheated stove at Midway Plaisance Saloon and Restaurant resulted in a fire that spread across all of Banyan Street. The next fire occurred on February 20, ignited after a man accidentally knocked over an oil lamp. Much of Narcissus Street burned, including the building housing The Gazetteer, which never resumed publication. The fire led to stricter building codes, with structures required to be made of bricks. Wilmon Whilldin, who served as mayor from 1898 to 1899, led a transition away from tents and shanty homes. He also emphasized the importance of more dwellings, parks, shade trees, and sanitation.
By the turn of the century, West Palm Beach had electrical and telephone service, a library, a sewer system, a pumping station, and paved roads. The 1900 Census indicated a population of 564. The library was established that year. Charles John Clarke, owner of the Palm Beach Yacht Club, donated the two-story building to be used as the library. Other donations allowed the building to be transported across the Lake Worth Lagoon via barge. The building replaced the reading room at City Park. By 1903, the town council submitted a city charter to the Florida Legislature, which was approved on July 21.
In September, a hurricane made landfall near Fort Lauderdale. As inclement weather conditions began arriving in West Palm Beach, businesses suspended their normal operations and people boarded up buildings, even as strong winds arrived. Many buildings lost their roofs, and much debris, including roofing materials, branches, paper, and driftwood, littered the streets. As northeast winds reached their peak late on September 11 and early on September 12, parts of buildings blew away. In the African-American section of the city, several buildings were destroyed. Just one of the four churches stood after the hurricane. Despite the hurricane, the city continued to grow, with newer businesses and more people arriving.
Banyan Street, originally the only location where alcohol was sold, gained an infamous reputation for its brothels, gambling halls, and saloons, which included an incident in 1895 in which Mayor Earman was arrested and charged with public intoxication while accompanying a prostitute. He was acquitted of the charges. By 1904, some local women called Carrie Nation, a radical temperance movement member notorious for attacking alcohol-serving establishments with a hatchet. However, there is no indication of her ravaging the saloons on Banyan Street. During the following years, the road's continuously poor reputation resulted in it being renamed First Street in 1925, which was reverted to Banyan Street in 1989.[26] The city's first fire department building and city hall opened in 1905 at the northeast corner of Datura Street and Poinsetta Street (modern day U.S. Route 1, also known as Dixie Highway). In 1909, Palm Beach County was formed by the Florida State Legislature, carved out of the northern portion of Dade County. West Palm Beach became the county seat. That same year, the West Palm Beach Telephone Company, the area's first telephone service, was incorporated with 65 customers.
According to the 1910 United States Census, the population of West Palm Beach was 1,743. Prior to the 1910s, many African Americans in the area lived in a segregated section of Palm Beach called the "Styx", with an estimated population of 2,000 at its peak. However, between 1910 and 1912, African Americans were evicted from the Styx. Urban legend states that the Styx was burned down by Flager's white laborers, as the shanty town was viewed as an eyesore. However, there is much evidence to refute this theory. Most of the displaced residents relocated to the northern end of West Palm Beach, in neighborhoods today known as Northwest, Pleasant City, and Freshwater.
After the passage of the Dick Act in 1903, Florida became the first state to establish its own National Guard. In 1914, a unit was established in West Palm Beach. Personnel from this unit were deployed to the Mexico–United States border from July 1916 to March 1917 and for service in Europe in October 1917.
In 1916, a neo-classical county courthouse was opened. Prior to the opening of the courthouse, county business was conducted at a school building located at Clematis Avenue and Poinsettia Street. The building underwent renovations in the 1950s and 1960s. It was used as the county courthouse until a new courthouse opened in 1995. The Board of County Commissioners agreed in 2002 to return the historic courthouse to its original design. Restoration was completed in March 2008 at a cost of just over $18 million. Today, the original courthouse houses the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.
The Palm Beach Post became a daily newspaper in January 1916, after publishing weekly editions since its founding in 1909. Based in West Palm Beach, the paper is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the county. As of November 2017, The Palm Beach Post ranked as the fifth largest newspaper by circulation in the state of Florida, behind only the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, and Tampa Bay Times.
The West Palm Beach Canal opened in 1917. The canal stretched from the Lake Worth Lagoon westward to Twenty Mile Bend and then northwestward to Canal Point, where it enters Lake Okeechobee. The canal lowered Lake Okeechobee and allowed land to be drained for agriculture, while also allowing easier transportation of crops to the coast. The city capitalized on this development and built a new canal branch and dock facilities, boat slips, a turning basin, and warehouses. West Palm Beach soon became the county's shopping center for pineapple, sugar cane, and winter vegetables.
By the 1910s, a movement to transition to a council–manager government gained enough momentum to allow a vote in 1919. Under the proposal, the citizens would elect members of the city council, who would in turn select the mayor. On August 29, 1919, voters approved the proposal by 201–82. The proposal also called for a primary for the election of city commissioners to be held within three weeks. The rules for the primary stated the top three vote-getters were elected to the city council. David F. Dunkle became the first mayor under this system, with his inauguration occurring on September 22, 1919.
Although construction slowed dramatically during World War I, West Palm Beach and the state of Florida, unlike most of the nation, was not hit as hard by the Post–World War I recession, as the completion of major roadways such as Dixie Highway and the milder climate attracted middle-class tourists. Investors and realtors heavily promoted living and vacationing in Florida. The city grew rapidly in the 1920s as part of the Florida land boom. The population of West Palm Beach quadrupled from 1920 to 1927, coupled with significant growth in businesses and public services. Property values also rose significantly, from $13.6 million in 1920 to $61 million in 1925.
All areas of West Palm Beach east of Australian Avenue had been platted by 1927, although sections north of 36th Street and south of Southern Boulevard remained mostly undeveloped. Many of the city's landmark structures and preserved neighborhoods were constructed in the 1920s. For example, during this time, the Harvey and Clarke architectural firm – formed by Henry Stephen Harvey (the Mayor of West Palm Beach from 1924 to 1926) and L. Philips Clarke in 1921 – designed several structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Alfred J. Comeau House, American National Bank Building, Comeau Building, Dixie Court Hotel (demolished in 1990), Guaranty Building and Pine Ridge Hospital. Several waterfront hotels were built in the 1920s, including the Royal Palm, El Verano, and Pennsylvania. Other notable projects constructed during this era included Good Samaritan Hospital and the Seaboard Airline Railroad Station. Additionally, the city opened its first permanent library on January 26, 1924, named the Memorial Library in honor of those who died during World War I.
See also: Effects of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in Florida
The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane devastated West Palm Beach. The city observed at least 10 in (250 mm) of rainfall. Among the buildings destroyed included a furniture store, pharmacy, warehouse, hotel, school, an ironworks, and the fire station. All of the theaters in the city suffered severe damage or destruction. Generally, wood-frame buildings fared poorly and many other structures lost their roofs, while the few concrete-built structures remained standing. Skylights at the county courthouse and city hall shattered, damaging documents and records. Only one business on Clematis Street escaped serious damage, while two buildings remained standing on the north side of Banyan Boulevard (then known as First Street) between Dixie Highway and Olive Avenue, owing to the frail construction of the business buildings in that section of the city. The latter, considered the auto row of West Palm Beach, was reduced to "a mass of debris", according to The New York Times. Partially destruction of the hospital led to a temporary hospital being set up in the Pennsylvania Hotel, which itself suffered damage after the chimney crashed through 14 floors. At the city library, more than half of the books were destroyed and the floor was covered with about 2 ft (0.61 m) of water and mud. Waves washed up mounds of sand and debris across Banyan Boulevard, Clematis Street, and Datura Street, to Olive Avenue.
The buildings used by The Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Times suffered severe damage, though both companies continued to publish newspapers with little interruption. The Central Farmers Trust Company, the city's only bank, was deroofed and flooded. Prior to the storm, the American Legion building was designated as the headquarters for the Red Cross, but the building was severely damaged, forcing the Red Cross to relocate its relief post to another building. At Palm Beach High School, then located where the Dreyfoos School of the Arts stands today, the clock tower collapsed. The storm deroofed most buildings at Saint Ann's Catholic Church, while Bradley Hall Towers suffered total destruction. At Flamingo Park, one of the worst hit areas of the city, many homes suffered damage, while a shopping center on Lake Avenue experienced near complete destruction. In contrast, the El Cid and Northwood neighborhoods generally experienced only superficial impact. Fallen pine trees blocked many streets in Vedado. At Bacon Park, the area west of Parker Avenue was desolate.
Many homes also experienced damage in the African-American section of the city, where most dwellings were built of discarded material. On one street, only two houses did not lose either their walls or roof. Strong winds tossed cars and walls down the streets. During the storm, about 100 people ran to a trash incinerator, a concrete-reinforced building. Local Black churches suffered significant damage. Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church lost many bricks on its front facade, much of the metal grillwork around the entrances, and its roof.. The storm destroyed Payne Chapel AME Church, while St. Patrick's Catholic Church received about $40,000 in damage. According to county coroner T. M. Rickards, the streets were "shoulder-deep in debris. The suffering throughout was beyond words." Throughout the city, the storm destroyed 1,711 homes and damaged 6,369 others, leaving about 2,100 families homeless. Additionally, the hurricane demolished 268 businesses and impacted 490 others. In all, damage totaled approximately $13.8 million and 11 deaths occurred.
Farther inland, the hurricane is believed to have killed at least 2,500 people in cities just southeast of Lake Okeechobee, particularly in Bean City, Belle Glade, Chosen, Pahokee, and South Bay. After the storm, at least 743 bodies were brought to West Palm Beach for burial. Due to racial segregation, all but eight of the victims that received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery were white. The remaining 674 bodies who were black or of an unidentifiable race were mass buried at a site near the junction of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue, which was the city's paupers cemetery. After the burials were complete, Mayor Vincent Oaksmith proclaimed an hour of mourning on October 1 for those who died during the storm. At the pauper's cemetery, a funeral service was hosted by several local clergymen and attended by about 3,000 people, including educator Mary McLeod Bethune. A memorial was placed at Woodlawn Cemetery on behalf of the victims of the storm, but no such marker was placed at the paupers cemetery mass burial site until 2003, around the 75th anniversary of the storm.
The economic decline and the storm combined caused further skepticism among potential investors and buyers of land in the area. As a result, property values plummeted. During the end of the 1920s, several banks and hotels throughout the county declared bankruptcy or were sold to new owners, Palm Beach Bank and Trust. In October 1929, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, initiating the Great Depression. Real estate costs in West Palm Beach dropped 53 percent to $41.6 million between 1929 and 1930 and further to only $18.2 million by 1935. Twelve banks failed in Palm Beach County by 1930. However, houses continued to be constructed by the private sector. Also in despite of the economic turmoil, the population continued to increase, albeit at a far slower rate than the previous decades. Between 1920 and 1930, the city's population went from 8,659 to 26,610, a 207.3% increase. However, from 1930 to 1940, the population of the city increased from 26,610 to 33,693, or 26.6%.
In 1933, Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) was established in West Palm Beach at Palm Beach High School, which is now Dreyfoos School of the Arts, becoming the first junior college in Florida. County school superintendent Joe Youngblood and Palm Beach High School principal Howell Watkins were instrumental in founding the college. Watkins was selected to be the college's first dean. Initially, the college's goal was to provide additional training to local high school graduates who were unable to find jobs during the Great Depression. The college would move out of its original building in 1948 and later to its current main campus in Lake Worth in 1956. PBJC eventually expanded to five campuses – Belle Glade (1972), Boca Raton (1983), Loxahatchee Groves (2017), and Palm Beach Gardens (1980). The college was renamed Palm Beach Community College in 1988 and then Palm Beach State College in 2010.[61]
After learning to fly an airplane in 1932, Grace Morrison began an effort to gain support for a public airport in Palm Beach County. Construction began in the mid-1930s and costed about $180,000 to build. Morrison died in a car accident in Titusville a few months before the airport opened in 1936. In its early years, the airport was called Morrison Field in her honor. The inaugural flight from Morrison Field was piloted by Dick Merrill. Due to poor weather conditions in Pennsylvania, the plane had to crash land near Matamoras. Also in 1936, WJNO-AM 1290 (then WJNO - 1230 AM) signed on, becoming West Palm Beach's first radio station.
During World War II, Florida's long coastline became vulnerable to attack. German U-boats sank dozens of merchant ships and oil tankers just off the coast of Palm Beach, which was under black out conditions to minimize night visibility to German U-boats. The U.S. Army Air Corps (a forerunner of the United States Air Force) established an Air Transport Command post at Morrison Field. The army constructed barracks, hangars, and other buildings to support about 3,000 soldiers. Throughout the course of the war, over 45,000 pilots trained or flew out of the command post, many in preparation for the Normandy landings. The 313th Material Squadron was moved from Miami Municipal Airport to Morrison Field in April 1942, with approximately 1,000 men working around the clock in order to repair and test aircraft before they were put into service. In 1947, Morrison Field was deactivated and returned to the possession of Palm Beach County.[66] Morrison Field was renamed Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA) later that year.
Late on August 26, 1949, a Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Lake Worth. In West Palm Beach, the hurricane produced sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and gusts up to 130 mph (210 km/h) at PBIA. The airport itself suffered about $1 million in damage, with several hangars destroyed and 16 planes ruined and 5 others affected. Additionally, 15 C-46s suffered damage. Throughout West Palm Beach, about 2,000 homes out of about 7,000 in the city were damaged. It was estimated that the hurricane caused more than $4 million in damage in West Palm Beach.
As a result of the Korean War, PBIA again became a military post in 1951. Temporarily renamed Palm Beach Air Force Base, nearly 23,000 Air Force personnel trained at the base during the Korean War. The federal government proposed keeping Palm Beach Air Force Base as a permanent military facility, but ultimately decided to return it to Palm Beach County control in 1959, and the name was reverted to Palm Beach International Airport.
The 1950s saw another boom in population, partly due to the return of many soldiers and airmen who had served or trained in the area during World War II. Also, the advent of air conditioning encouraged growth, as year-round living in a tropical climate became more acceptable to northerners. West Palm Beach became the nation's fourth fastest growing metropolitan areas during the 1950s; the city's borders spread west of Military Trail and south to Lake Clarke Shores. Between 1949 and 1962, property values rose from $72 million to $147.5 million, while the population in 1950 was 43,612 and increased about 30% by 1960. In 1955, using a $18 million bond issue, the City of West Palm Beach upgraded its sewer system and purchased the water treatment plant (then owned by Henry Flagler's estate) and land to the west of the city's boundaries, including 20 sq mi (52 km2) of wetlands (from Flagler Water Systems) and an additional 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) of land previously owned by Flagler's Model Land Company.
About two year later, the city sold about 5,500 acres (2,200 ha) of that land for $4.35 million to Perini Corporation of Massachusetts president Louis R. Perini, Sr. In order to transform the wetlands into dry land, Perini hired Gee and Jensen Engineers, who used approximately 30,000,000 cubic yards (23,000,000 m3) of fill to complete the task. Perini constructed the Roosevelt Estates neighborhood for middle class African-Americans. Additionally, Perini changed the name of 12th Street to Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and extended it westward. The road was curved southwestward to eventually connect with Okeechobee Boulevard. Perini would also construct the first section of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County in 1966, from Okeechobee Boulevard to 45th Street.
In the 1960s, Perini sold much of the land back to the city of West Palm Beach. The city, in turn, built West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in 1963, the West Palm Beach Auditorium in 1965, and the Palm Beach Mall in 1967. On October 26, 1967, the Palm Beach Mall opened along Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard between Interstate 95 and Congress Avenue. The opening ceremony included a ribbon-cutting by Governor Claude Kirk, Mayor Reid Moore Jr., and Miss USA 1967 winner Cheryl Patton. About 40,000 visited the mall on its opening day. Upon opening, the mall contained 87 stores over a 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) area. The mall gradually began to draw businesses and patrons away from downtown, especially when Burdines left downtown in 1979.
The 1950s and 1960s also saw the opening of the Palm Beach Zoo (then known as the Dreher Park Zoo) in 1957 and the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium in 1961. The first shopping plaza in Palm Beach County, the Palm Coast Plaza, opened in 1959 along Dixie Highway near the city's southern boundary. At the time, it was considered "the largest and most complete shopping center between Miami and Jacksonville". The city of West Palm Beach opened a new library at the east end of Clematis Street on April 30, 1962, to replace the Memorial Library. In 1968, Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA), an accredited, private Christian university, began at a downtown local church, before opening a campus in the 1980s.
On January 19, 1977, West Palm Beach recorded its first ever snowfall event, as part of a cold wave episode. Snow fell between 6:10 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., but hardly any accumulation was measured, as the snow almost immediately melted or was blown away after touchdown. PBIA also recorded temperatures as low as 27 °F (−3 °C).
By the 1980s, downtown West Palm Beach had become notorious for crime, poverty, and vacant and dilapidated businesses and houses. Then-United States Senator Lawton Chiles referred to the area as a "war zone" during his visit in September 1987, while local politicians were not optimistic about the future of downtown. The city had the highest crime rate for a city of its size in the late 1980s. Crack USA: County Under Siege, a 1989 documentary film about the crack epidemic, was filmed in West Palm Beach.
In 1986, private investors David C. Paladino and Henry J. Rolfs presented a 20-year, $433 million project to revitalize the western side of downtown. The proposal included plans 3,700,000 sq ft (340,000 m2) for offices, 1,900,000 sq ft (180,000 m2) for retail stores, 800 hotel rooms, and 700 housing units. Paladino and Rolfs purchased and razed properties across 77 acres (31 ha) of land – more than 300 properties – adjacent to Okeechobee Boulevard for about $40 million, with the exception of First United Methodist Church, which later became the Harriet Himmel Theater. The duo donated 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land for development of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in 1992. However, by the early 1990s, the project was discontinued after Rolfs exhausted his personal fortune and due to defaulted loans, foreclosures, lawsuits, and a recession.
After several decades under the Council–manager government, public opinion shifted in favor of electing a strong mayor and having a mayor–council government by the early 1990s. Under one proposal, the mayor would be elected to a four-year term and be eligible for re-election once, the city manager and mayor would share administrative duties, and the mayor would receive the power to veto commission votes, which could be overridden by a 4–1 vote. Additionally, the mayor would be authorized to line-item veto the budget, initiate investigations, and supervise contracts and purchases involving more than $5,000. After a successful petition drive, this proposal would be listed on the ballot as Question 2. In response, the city commission submitted Question 1, which effectively added a weak mayor. In this proposal, the difference versus Question 2 is that the city manager would retain administrative authority, the mayor would vote with city commissioners only in the event of a tie, and the mayor could not veto votes by the city commission. In the referendum for mayor, voters were required to vote yes or no on Question 1 and Question 2. If both received a majority of yes votes, the question with more votes passed. The election was held on March 12, 1991. Both propositions received a majority of the votes. Question 1 received 2,944 yes votes versus 2,665 no votes, a margin of 52.6%–47.4%. Question 2 passed by a margin of 65.7%–34.3% and a vote total of 3,779–1,972. Therefore, Question 2 prevailed, allowing citizens of West Palm Beach to directly elect a strong mayor.
The first general election for Mayor of West Palm Beach since the late 1910s occurred on November 5, 1991. Candidates included attorney and former state representative Joel T. Daves III, city senior planner Jim Exline, Nancy M. Graham, Josephine Stenson Grund, property management company owner Michael D. Hyman, and former Palm Beach County commissioner Bill Medlen. Graham and Hyman received 34.3% and 24.9% of the vote, respectively, allowing them to advance to a run-off election held on November 19. Graham defeated Hyman by a margin of 55.8%–44.2%. She was sworn in as the city's first strong mayor on November 21.
During the campaign, Graham vowed for improvements to downtown. Much of the renovations in downtown began after a $18.2 million bond was issued to the city in October 1992, with $4 million allotted to the waterfront. Among the first projects was a beautification of Clematis Street, which was complete in December 1993. Over the previous six months, benches, sidewalks, and trees were replaced. The project resulted in several businesses moving to Clematis Street. Architect Dan Kiley was hired for several of the waterfront projects, including building an amphitheater, remodeling the library, and designing an interactive water fountain at Flagler Park.
The plan for building the amphitheater would require the city to spend about $1 million for construction, as well as $171,400 for the demolition of a Holiday Inn. The building was chosen because it had remained vacant and gutted since 1986, while plans for reselling or remodeling the building for a different use fell through. A nearby bank agreed to finance most of the cost of purchasing the building, allowing the city to acquire the hotel for only $1,000. Controlled Demolition, Inc. was hired for the demolition, which was scheduled for December 31, 1993, about 10 seconds before midnight. More than 20,000 people attended the explosion event, which was triggered by about 300 sticks of dynamite. Graham sold $25 tickets for a close-up view of the explosion. Revenue from tickets and donations totaled almost $1 million.
Among the most ambitious efforts to rejuvenate economic activity in downtown West Palm Beach was CityPlace. After the city reacquired the land formerly proposed for the Downtown/Uptown project by eminent domain and a multi-million dollar loan in 1995, the city began appealing to large architectural firms to develop the site Of the three proposed bid, the city commission chose CityPlace by a vote of 5–1 on October 9, 1996.[100] The $375 million project called for an 18 to 24 screen movie theater and a number of restaurants, upscale stores, apartments, and office buildings, all centered around the historical First United Methodist Church, which later became the Harriet Himmel Theatre. Overall, about 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) of land development was approved. In return, the city agreed to invest $75 million for construction of streets, parking garages, and plazas, with $20 million already borrowed for purchasing land. Construction began in 1998, with stores expected to open in November 1999, though CityPlace would actually open in October 2000.
CityPlace opened to the public on October 27, 2000, with 31 stores and 1 restaurant opening during the first weekend. Barnes & Noble, Macy's, and a Muvico Parisian 20 and IMAX theater served as the original anchors. The initial focus of CityPlace involved attracting many high-end stores as tenants, though emphasis shifted to home furnishings during the housing bubble. By the Great Recession, the scope turned heavily toward dining and entertainment establishments becoming tenants. Related Companies re-branded CityPlace as "Rosemary Square" in April 2019. The company intends to transform Rosemary Square from a lifestyle center to a more urban-like environment, using $550 million to construct new restaurants, a new mixed-use luxury residential tower, a new hotel, and an office tower containing 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2) of space. Some asphalt roads were replaced with gray and white pavers and converted to create more pedestrian-walking space. The shopping center would later be re-named The Square. In 2023, the movie theater was demolished; Related Companies intends to construct two office towers in its place and add a 455-seat IMAX theater.
As the county seat of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach entered the national spotlight during the 2000 presidential election. According to the results officially certified by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, George W. Bush very narrowly carried the state of Florida over Al Gore – by 537 votes. Both candidates needed to win the state of Florida in order to secure at least 270 electoral votes, and thereby prevail in the presidential election. The close results and Palm Beach County's controversial butterfly ballot led to a notorious recount. Among those serving on the canvassing board included former West Palm Beach mayor Carol Roberts. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court decided in Bush v. Gore on December 12, 2000, that Harris's tally would stand, awarding Bush the 25 electoral votes of Florida and the presidential election.
In 2004 and 2005, several tropical cyclones impacted Palm Beach County, including hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma. West Palm Beach was affected most by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, with the eye passing directly over the city at Category 2 intensity. Wilma produced hurricane-force winds and gusts up to 101 mph (163 km/h) at the Palm Beach International Airport. Throughout the city, 1,194 businesses suffered minor damage and 105 others experienced severe impact, while one was destroyed. A total of 6,036 homes received some degree of damage from the storm, while 16 were completely demolished. Additionally, 20 city government buildings were damaged. Overall, damage in West Palm Beach totaled approximately $425.8 million, with $267.4 million in damage to businesses, $153.1 million to residences, and $5.3 million to public property.
In the spring of 2009, City Center opened for business at the corner of Clematis Street and Dixie Highway. Constructed at a cost of approximately $154 million, the complex included a new library and city hall, while several city departments relocated to the complex. The city opened the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach on April 13, 2009 at City Center, replacing the original library at the east end of Clematis Street. The original library was demolished later that year for construction of a waterfront park and pavilion, which opened to the public in February 2010. The Mandel Public Library is approximately 2.5 times larger than the former library. The library currently circulates more than 800,000 items and has over 100,000 registered card holders.
The 2010 United States Census counted a population of 99,919 people in West Palm Beach. With the number being just 81 short of 100,000, then-outgoing mayor Lois Frankel indicated the potential for challenging the tally, as having a population of at least 100,000 would entitle the city to additional grants. Additionally, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the city had a population of 100,665 people on April 1, 2010. However, the city government apparently did not challenge the 99,919 population figure, as it remains in the official census records.
Although CityPlace revitalized downtown, it also contributed to the demise of the Palm Beach Mall. After a significant decline in foot traffic and tenants, as well as failed attempts to lure big box stores such as Bass Pro and IKEA to the mall, it was demolished in 2013. Palm Beach Outlets, designed and operated by New England Development, opened in February 2014 at the same location. The 460,000 sq ft (43,000 m2) outlet mall, comprising more than 100 stores, is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue.
With the closure of the municipal stadium in 1997 (and its subsequent demolition in 2002), West Palm Beach had lost its ability to host spring training for a Major League Baseball. However, with the opening of the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in 2017, spring training returned to the city after a 20-year hiatus. The 6,500 seat stadium hosts the spring training events for the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. In its inaugural year, 55,881 people attended Astros training games. However, in 2018, attendance increased to 67,931 people as a result of the Astros' 2017 World Series championship.
The high-speed train Brightline opened its first two stations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in January 2018, with a Miami station opened in May of that year.[127] Brightline extended its service to Orlando in 2023.
Against the vibrant backdrop of sTARTUp Day in Tartu — where thousands of innovators, founders, mentors and investors gather each year — something special took place that truly captured the spirit of mission-driven entrepreneurship. On a crisp winter day, the Zebra ScaleUp Pitching Day brought together the boldest early-stage companies from across the Central Baltic region to share their visions for sustainable growth and impact.
Sixteen passionate founders stepped onto the stage, each weaving stories of innovation, resilience, purpose and potential. They spoke not just about products and business models — but about purpose-led growth, where sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand, reflecting the core ethos of the Zebra ScaleUp programme.
At the judges’ table: Lars Ling, bringing decades of entrepreneurial experience, offered thoughtful feedback and encouragement. His presence was a testament to the calibre of both the event and the founders pitching — bridging insight with inspiration for the next wave of change-makers.
From deep tech and cleantech solutions, to creative digital services and social-impact ventures, the day was a celebration of ambition with purpose — a reminder that great ideas can shape a more sustainable tomorrow.
Startup Day: www.startupday.ee/
Photos and videos courtersy of Lars Ling.
© 2008-2026 Lars Ling / CleanTech Region Group. All rights reserved.
Fair Grinds Coffeehouse is New Orleans' only 100% Fair Trade coffeehouse - exclusively serving Fair Trade coffee, tea, and chocolate. Our mission is to serve our local community by providing delicious coffee, a full cafe menu, and a space for neighbors to meet and exchange ideas. Fair Grinds Coffeehouse is a mission driven enterprise, and all proceeds go directly to support community organizing in Central and South America. fairgrinds.com/
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Mounts Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is Palm Beach County's oldest and largest public garden with over 6,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants from six continents, including plants native to Florida, exotic trees, tropical fruit, herbs, citrus and palms. Mounts Botanical is part of the Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Department, in partnership with the University of Florida / IFAS and the nonprofit Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden, Inc.
Botanical plantings began shortly after the Mounts Building was built and opened in 1954. Then Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Director, Marvin Mounts, desired to create a tropical fruit tree arboretum on the adjacent three acres. This vision was never realized, but many tropical fruits were planted and a few remain to this day.
In 1975 Clayton Hutcheson, Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Director, had a vision of creating a Horticultural Learning Center on the three acres surrounding the Mounts Building, which housed the Extension Service. This initiative was successfully supported by many local plant-focused organizations and volunteers and was created in 1983.[4] Today’s Garden was formed by a public-private partnership of Palm Beach County and the Friends of Mounts Horticultural Learning Center in 1985. Ten additional acres were added to the property in 1985, bringing the total acreage to fourteen. In 1986, the Friends voted to officially change the name to Mounts Botanical Garden for a more clear understanding of the organization and its mission driven purpose.
In 2004, the Friends funded a research grant to the University of Florida to produce a Master Plan to guide the Garden’s future development. During 2004 and 2005 Hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma destroyed 70% of the property’s mature tree canopy and virtually shattered the original Garden. Since 2006, The Friends and Palm Beach County have restored both the lost tree canopy and the Garden.
Windows on the Floating World – Blume Tropical Wetland Garden officially opened on June 18, 2017. Designed by artists Mags Harries and Lajos Héder, in collaboration with WGI’s landscape architecture division, Windows on the Floating World features open-gridded, 4-foot wide walkways on the surface of the wetlands to give visitors the feeling of “walking on water.” Within these walks are four “windows” planted with aquatics and changed out with rotating and seasonal botanical exhibits growing from submerged containers.
The Garden of Tranquility was opened in the Spring of 2018. This serene garden experience was created by natural elements of stone, wood (bamboo) and living plant materials in an artistic Asian inspired fashion. The garden simulates a Zen-like garden although it is not meant to be authentic or of strictly Japanese elements.
Gardens
The Edible Gardens contain dooryard tropical fruit trees, vegetables, herbs and consumable flowers
Butterfly Garden, where you will commonly find a dozen or so different species of butterflies at any given time
Rainbow Garden, arranged in a spectrum of color hues, this full sun garden showcases a wide variety of plants that grow well in Palm Beach County
Dry Stream Bed, allows water a cleansing path flowing through the landscape
Edible Garden, offers a wide variety of tropical fruits, seasonal vegetables, flowers and herbs that can be successfully grown in South Florida
Herb Garden of Well Being, showcases plants that have made our lives better though taste, cosmetics, teas, medicinal use, dyes, ceremonies and folk remedies
Tropical Foliage Border, non-woody tropicals in two gently curving borders reliant on foliage color has a visual impact that lasts year-round
Garden of Extremes, features plants and materials often unique to extremes such as light and weather conditions
Rose and Fragrance Garden, pleases the eye while fragrance adds another level of indulgence
Zimmerman Color and Shade Island, provides color in the shade through foliage, diverse texture and flowers
Tropical Forest, lush foliage and ferns provide a feeling of a tropical forest, outdoor or living conservatory
Tropical Cottage Garden, traditional elements include an abundance of colorful flowering perennials, annuals and vines, cascading over arbors and trellises
Begonia Garden, highlights this popular plant which grows in the tropics along edges of forests or river banks
Florida Native Plant Garden, comprises a Native Plant Initiative demonstrating the wide variety of plants native to South Florida in a traditional, easy to understand landscape design
Mediterranean Garden, shows how to successfully grow Mediterranean plants or very reasonable substitutes that will thrive in the South Florida climate
O’Keeffe Rain Garden, demonstrates how we can improve the quality of all runoff water in our region
Trial Garden, where we evaluate plants for how well they will perform for the average gardener or landscape
Gazebo Garden, covered in dappled shade, foliage and flower color, this is the setting for many of the weddings held in the Garden
Garden of Tranquility, peaceful zen inspired sun garden
Windows on the Floating World, transports visitors to a unique water garden, complete with seasonal water plants and waterfalls
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The population was 117,415 at the 2020 census. West Palm Beach is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,138,333 people in 2020. It is the oldest incorporated municipality in the South Florida area, incorporated as a city two years before Miami in November 1894. West Palm Beach is located approximately 68 miles (109 km) north of Downtown Miami.
The history of West Palm Beach, Florida, began more than 5,000 years ago with the arrival of the first aboriginal natives. Native American tribes such as the Jaegas inhabited the area. Though control of Florida changed among Spain, England, the United States, and the Confederate States of America, the area remained largely undeveloped until the 20th century. By the 1870s and 1880s, non-Native American settlers had inhabited areas in the vicinity of West Palm Beach and referred to the settlement as "Lake Worth Country". However, the population remained very small until the arrival of Henry Flagler in the 1890s. Flagler constructed hotels and resorts in Palm Beach to create a travel destination for affluent tourists, who could travel there via his railroad beginning in 1894.
Flagler originally intended for West Palm Beach to serve as a residential area for the workers at his hotels in Palm Beach. In 1893, George W. Potter surveyed and platted the original 48 blocks of the city. West Palm Beach would be incorporated as a town on November 5, 1894, before becoming a city in 1903. Upon the establishment of Palm Beach County in 1909, West Palm Beach received the designation of county seat. The city developed much more rapidly during the 1920s land boom, which saw a nearly four-fold increase in population between 1920 and 1927 and the construction of many of the city's historical buildings and neighborhoods. However, the 1928 hurricane – which devastated the city – and end of the land boom ushered the area into an era of economic decline just prior to the onset of the Great Depression.
West Palm Beach experienced an economic rebound in the post-World War II years, as veterans who trained at Morrison Field vacationed or relocated to the area. The city also markedly expanded westward in the 1950s and 1960s, with thousands of acres of wetlands drained and filled. In the latter decade, a municipal stadium, auditorium, and mall were built on the newly drained and filled land. Commercial development west of the original city boundaries led to urban decay in downtown by the 1980s. However, the beautification of Clematis Street beginning in the early 1990s, and the opening of CityPlace in 2000 led to a revitalized downtown area. In 2018, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the city had a population of 111,398.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Jaegas settled in modern-day Palm Beach County as many as 5,000 years ago. The first contact between Native Americans in the area and Europeans occurred in 1513 upon Juan Ponce de León's landfall at the Jupiter Inlet. Europeans encountered a thriving native population, the Mayaimi in the Lake Okeechobee Basin, while the Jaegas and Ais resided east of Lake Okeechobee and along the east coast north of the Tequestas. When the Spanish arrived, there were perhaps about 20,000 Native Americans in South Florida. The native peoples had all but been wiped out through war, enslavement, or European diseases, by the time the English gained control of Florida in 1763. Other native people from Alabama and Georgia moved into Florida in the early 18th century. They were of varied ancestry, but Europeans called them all Creeks. In Florida, they were known as the Seminole and Miccosukee Indians. American settlers and Seminoles fought against each other due to land and escaped slaves, who were granted protection by the Seminoles. They resisted the government's efforts to move them to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles and the United States government fought with each other in three wars between 1818 and 1858. By the end of the third war, very few Seminoles remained in Florida.
The area that was to become West Palm Beach was settled in the late 1870s and 1880s by a few hundred settlers who called the vicinity "Lake Worth Country". These settlers were a diverse community from different parts of the United States and the world. They included founding families such as the Potters and the Lainharts, who would go on to become leading members of the business community in the fledgling city. Irving R. Henry filed the first homestead claim in 1880, claiming 131 acres (53 ha). Henry would later sell the land to Captain O. S. Porter. The first non-Native American settlers in Palm Beach County resided around Lake Worth, – an enclosed freshwater lake at the time – named after Colonel William Jenkins Worth, who served in the Second Seminole War in 1842. Reverend Elbridge Gale and his son are believed to have constructed the first log cabin on the western shore of Lake Worth, located near where the intersection of 29th Street and Poinsettia Avenue stands today. Most settlers engaged in the growing of tropical fruits and vegetables for shipment to the north via Lake Worth and the Indian River.
In 1890, the United States Census counted over 200 people settled along Lake Worth in the vicinity of what would become West Palm Beach. The area at this time also boasted a hotel, the "Cocoanut House", a church, and a post office. Henry Flagler, who was instrumental to Palm Beach County's development in the late 19th century and early 20th century, first visited in 1892, describing the area as a "veritable paradise". The first newspaper in the area, The Gazetteer, began publication in 1893, but the paper ceased printing issues after burning in a downtown fire in 1896. Additionally, West Palm Beach's first business, Lainhart and Potter Lumber Company, and the first bank, Dade County State Bank, were both established in 1893. That year, Flagler began planning a city to house the employees working in the two grand hotels on the neighboring island of Palm Beach.
Flagler paid two area settlers, Porter and Louie Hillhouse, a combined sum of $45,000 for the original town site. Flagler hired George W. Potter, Dade County's first surveyor, to set aside 48 blocks for development stretching from Clear Lake to Lake Worth, an area that would later become West Palm Beach. The east-to-west oriented streets were named alphabetically from north to south – Althea, Banyan, Clematis, Datura, Evernia, Fern – while some of the north-to-south roads were called Lantana, Narcissus, Olive, Poinsettia, Rosemary, and Tamarind. Most of these names are still used today. Over in Palm Beach, construction began on the Royal Poinciana Hotel on May 1, 1893. The lots in West Palm Beach were auctioned off in the ballroom of the Royal Poinciana on February 4, 1894, one week before the hotel opened for business. In late March, Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway reached West Palm Beach.
On November 5, 1894, residents met at the "Calaboose", which served as the first jail and police station. The building formerly stood at Clematis Street and Poinsettia, now Dixie Highway. The 78 people there voted on a motion to incorporate, with 77 in favor and 1 against. They also decided to name the municipality "West Palm Beach", originally a town. This made West Palm Beach the first incorporated municipality in the county and in Southeast Florida. On the following day, 78 people also met to vote on the new town officers. Voters elected John S. Earman as the first mayor, while Henry J. Burkhardt, E. H. Dimick, J. M. Garland, H. T. Grant, J. F. Lamond, and George Zapf became the town's first aldermen. Eli Sims and W. L. Tolbert were chosen to be town clerk and town marshal, respectively. Later in November 1894, the Flagler Alerts, an all-volunteer fire department, was established as the first fire department in the city.
Although Flagler intended for the West Palm Beach area to be the southern terminus of his railroad, the track was extended farther southward to Miami after two severe freezes in the winter of 1894–95. The Weather Bureau office, then located in Jupiter, recorded temperatures of 24 and 27 °F (−4 and −3 °C) on December 29, 1894, and February 9, 1895, respectively. Though the railroad continued southward to Miami and eventually to Key West, Flagler and his workers continued building structures in the early years of Palm Beach and West Palm Beach. Completion of a railroad bridge across Lake Worth in 1895 allowed passengers to directly reach Palm Beach from West Palm Beach. A census conducted that year reported a population of 1,192 people. However, the town's population decreased by more than half during the second half of the 1890s due to damage to the citrus industry caused by the aforementioned freezes, a brief cessation in construction activity, and national recessions.
At the V-shaped split at the east end of Clematis Street, "City Park" (later known as Flagler Park) was constructed, which contained a bandstand, a field for impromptu baseball games, and by 1896, a free "reading room". Two large fires devastated downtown West Palm Beach in early 1896. On January 2, an overheated stove at Midway Plaisance Saloon and Restaurant resulted in a fire that spread across all of Banyan Street. The next fire occurred on February 20, ignited after a man accidentally knocked over an oil lamp. Much of Narcissus Street burned, including the building housing The Gazetteer, which never resumed publication. The fire led to stricter building codes, with structures required to be made of bricks. Wilmon Whilldin, who served as mayor from 1898 to 1899, led a transition away from tents and shanty homes. He also emphasized the importance of more dwellings, parks, shade trees, and sanitation.
By the turn of the century, West Palm Beach had electrical and telephone service, a library, a sewer system, a pumping station, and paved roads. The 1900 Census indicated a population of 564. The library was established that year. Charles John Clarke, owner of the Palm Beach Yacht Club, donated the two-story building to be used as the library. Other donations allowed the building to be transported across the Lake Worth Lagoon via barge. The building replaced the reading room at City Park. By 1903, the town council submitted a city charter to the Florida Legislature, which was approved on July 21.
In September, a hurricane made landfall near Fort Lauderdale. As inclement weather conditions began arriving in West Palm Beach, businesses suspended their normal operations and people boarded up buildings, even as strong winds arrived. Many buildings lost their roofs, and much debris, including roofing materials, branches, paper, and driftwood, littered the streets. As northeast winds reached their peak late on September 11 and early on September 12, parts of buildings blew away. In the African-American section of the city, several buildings were destroyed. Just one of the four churches stood after the hurricane. Despite the hurricane, the city continued to grow, with newer businesses and more people arriving.
Banyan Street, originally the only location where alcohol was sold, gained an infamous reputation for its brothels, gambling halls, and saloons, which included an incident in 1895 in which Mayor Earman was arrested and charged with public intoxication while accompanying a prostitute. He was acquitted of the charges. By 1904, some local women called Carrie Nation, a radical temperance movement member notorious for attacking alcohol-serving establishments with a hatchet. However, there is no indication of her ravaging the saloons on Banyan Street. During the following years, the road's continuously poor reputation resulted in it being renamed First Street in 1925, which was reverted to Banyan Street in 1989.[26] The city's first fire department building and city hall opened in 1905 at the northeast corner of Datura Street and Poinsetta Street (modern day U.S. Route 1, also known as Dixie Highway). In 1909, Palm Beach County was formed by the Florida State Legislature, carved out of the northern portion of Dade County. West Palm Beach became the county seat. That same year, the West Palm Beach Telephone Company, the area's first telephone service, was incorporated with 65 customers.
According to the 1910 United States Census, the population of West Palm Beach was 1,743. Prior to the 1910s, many African Americans in the area lived in a segregated section of Palm Beach called the "Styx", with an estimated population of 2,000 at its peak. However, between 1910 and 1912, African Americans were evicted from the Styx. Urban legend states that the Styx was burned down by Flager's white laborers, as the shanty town was viewed as an eyesore. However, there is much evidence to refute this theory. Most of the displaced residents relocated to the northern end of West Palm Beach, in neighborhoods today known as Northwest, Pleasant City, and Freshwater.
After the passage of the Dick Act in 1903, Florida became the first state to establish its own National Guard. In 1914, a unit was established in West Palm Beach. Personnel from this unit were deployed to the Mexico–United States border from July 1916 to March 1917 and for service in Europe in October 1917.
In 1916, a neo-classical county courthouse was opened. Prior to the opening of the courthouse, county business was conducted at a school building located at Clematis Avenue and Poinsettia Street. The building underwent renovations in the 1950s and 1960s. It was used as the county courthouse until a new courthouse opened in 1995. The Board of County Commissioners agreed in 2002 to return the historic courthouse to its original design. Restoration was completed in March 2008 at a cost of just over $18 million. Today, the original courthouse houses the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.
The Palm Beach Post became a daily newspaper in January 1916, after publishing weekly editions since its founding in 1909. Based in West Palm Beach, the paper is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the county. As of November 2017, The Palm Beach Post ranked as the fifth largest newspaper by circulation in the state of Florida, behind only the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, and Tampa Bay Times.
The West Palm Beach Canal opened in 1917. The canal stretched from the Lake Worth Lagoon westward to Twenty Mile Bend and then northwestward to Canal Point, where it enters Lake Okeechobee. The canal lowered Lake Okeechobee and allowed land to be drained for agriculture, while also allowing easier transportation of crops to the coast. The city capitalized on this development and built a new canal branch and dock facilities, boat slips, a turning basin, and warehouses. West Palm Beach soon became the county's shopping center for pineapple, sugar cane, and winter vegetables.
By the 1910s, a movement to transition to a council–manager government gained enough momentum to allow a vote in 1919. Under the proposal, the citizens would elect members of the city council, who would in turn select the mayor. On August 29, 1919, voters approved the proposal by 201–82. The proposal also called for a primary for the election of city commissioners to be held within three weeks. The rules for the primary stated the top three vote-getters were elected to the city council. David F. Dunkle became the first mayor under this system, with his inauguration occurring on September 22, 1919.
Although construction slowed dramatically during World War I, West Palm Beach and the state of Florida, unlike most of the nation, was not hit as hard by the Post–World War I recession, as the completion of major roadways such as Dixie Highway and the milder climate attracted middle-class tourists. Investors and realtors heavily promoted living and vacationing in Florida. The city grew rapidly in the 1920s as part of the Florida land boom. The population of West Palm Beach quadrupled from 1920 to 1927, coupled with significant growth in businesses and public services. Property values also rose significantly, from $13.6 million in 1920 to $61 million in 1925.
All areas of West Palm Beach east of Australian Avenue had been platted by 1927, although sections north of 36th Street and south of Southern Boulevard remained mostly undeveloped. Many of the city's landmark structures and preserved neighborhoods were constructed in the 1920s. For example, during this time, the Harvey and Clarke architectural firm – formed by Henry Stephen Harvey (the Mayor of West Palm Beach from 1924 to 1926) and L. Philips Clarke in 1921 – designed several structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Alfred J. Comeau House, American National Bank Building, Comeau Building, Dixie Court Hotel (demolished in 1990), Guaranty Building and Pine Ridge Hospital. Several waterfront hotels were built in the 1920s, including the Royal Palm, El Verano, and Pennsylvania. Other notable projects constructed during this era included Good Samaritan Hospital and the Seaboard Airline Railroad Station. Additionally, the city opened its first permanent library on January 26, 1924, named the Memorial Library in honor of those who died during World War I.
See also: Effects of the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane in Florida
The 1928 Okeechobee hurricane devastated West Palm Beach. The city observed at least 10 in (250 mm) of rainfall. Among the buildings destroyed included a furniture store, pharmacy, warehouse, hotel, school, an ironworks, and the fire station. All of the theaters in the city suffered severe damage or destruction. Generally, wood-frame buildings fared poorly and many other structures lost their roofs, while the few concrete-built structures remained standing. Skylights at the county courthouse and city hall shattered, damaging documents and records. Only one business on Clematis Street escaped serious damage, while two buildings remained standing on the north side of Banyan Boulevard (then known as First Street) between Dixie Highway and Olive Avenue, owing to the frail construction of the business buildings in that section of the city. The latter, considered the auto row of West Palm Beach, was reduced to "a mass of debris", according to The New York Times. Partially destruction of the hospital led to a temporary hospital being set up in the Pennsylvania Hotel, which itself suffered damage after the chimney crashed through 14 floors. At the city library, more than half of the books were destroyed and the floor was covered with about 2 ft (0.61 m) of water and mud. Waves washed up mounds of sand and debris across Banyan Boulevard, Clematis Street, and Datura Street, to Olive Avenue.
The buildings used by The Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Times suffered severe damage, though both companies continued to publish newspapers with little interruption. The Central Farmers Trust Company, the city's only bank, was deroofed and flooded. Prior to the storm, the American Legion building was designated as the headquarters for the Red Cross, but the building was severely damaged, forcing the Red Cross to relocate its relief post to another building. At Palm Beach High School, then located where the Dreyfoos School of the Arts stands today, the clock tower collapsed. The storm deroofed most buildings at Saint Ann's Catholic Church, while Bradley Hall Towers suffered total destruction. At Flamingo Park, one of the worst hit areas of the city, many homes suffered damage, while a shopping center on Lake Avenue experienced near complete destruction. In contrast, the El Cid and Northwood neighborhoods generally experienced only superficial impact. Fallen pine trees blocked many streets in Vedado. At Bacon Park, the area west of Parker Avenue was desolate.
Many homes also experienced damage in the African-American section of the city, where most dwellings were built of discarded material. On one street, only two houses did not lose either their walls or roof. Strong winds tossed cars and walls down the streets. During the storm, about 100 people ran to a trash incinerator, a concrete-reinforced building. Local Black churches suffered significant damage. Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church lost many bricks on its front facade, much of the metal grillwork around the entrances, and its roof.. The storm destroyed Payne Chapel AME Church, while St. Patrick's Catholic Church received about $40,000 in damage. According to county coroner T. M. Rickards, the streets were "shoulder-deep in debris. The suffering throughout was beyond words." Throughout the city, the storm destroyed 1,711 homes and damaged 6,369 others, leaving about 2,100 families homeless. Additionally, the hurricane demolished 268 businesses and impacted 490 others. In all, damage totaled approximately $13.8 million and 11 deaths occurred.
Farther inland, the hurricane is believed to have killed at least 2,500 people in cities just southeast of Lake Okeechobee, particularly in Bean City, Belle Glade, Chosen, Pahokee, and South Bay. After the storm, at least 743 bodies were brought to West Palm Beach for burial. Due to racial segregation, all but eight of the victims that received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery were white. The remaining 674 bodies who were black or of an unidentifiable race were mass buried at a site near the junction of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue, which was the city's paupers cemetery. After the burials were complete, Mayor Vincent Oaksmith proclaimed an hour of mourning on October 1 for those who died during the storm. At the pauper's cemetery, a funeral service was hosted by several local clergymen and attended by about 3,000 people, including educator Mary McLeod Bethune. A memorial was placed at Woodlawn Cemetery on behalf of the victims of the storm, but no such marker was placed at the paupers cemetery mass burial site until 2003, around the 75th anniversary of the storm.
The economic decline and the storm combined caused further skepticism among potential investors and buyers of land in the area. As a result, property values plummeted. During the end of the 1920s, several banks and hotels throughout the county declared bankruptcy or were sold to new owners, Palm Beach Bank and Trust. In October 1929, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, initiating the Great Depression. Real estate costs in West Palm Beach dropped 53 percent to $41.6 million between 1929 and 1930 and further to only $18.2 million by 1935. Twelve banks failed in Palm Beach County by 1930. However, houses continued to be constructed by the private sector. Also in despite of the economic turmoil, the population continued to increase, albeit at a far slower rate than the previous decades. Between 1920 and 1930, the city's population went from 8,659 to 26,610, a 207.3% increase. However, from 1930 to 1940, the population of the city increased from 26,610 to 33,693, or 26.6%.
In 1933, Palm Beach Junior College (PBJC) was established in West Palm Beach at Palm Beach High School, which is now Dreyfoos School of the Arts, becoming the first junior college in Florida. County school superintendent Joe Youngblood and Palm Beach High School principal Howell Watkins were instrumental in founding the college. Watkins was selected to be the college's first dean. Initially, the college's goal was to provide additional training to local high school graduates who were unable to find jobs during the Great Depression. The college would move out of its original building in 1948 and later to its current main campus in Lake Worth in 1956. PBJC eventually expanded to five campuses – Belle Glade (1972), Boca Raton (1983), Loxahatchee Groves (2017), and Palm Beach Gardens (1980). The college was renamed Palm Beach Community College in 1988 and then Palm Beach State College in 2010.[61]
After learning to fly an airplane in 1932, Grace Morrison began an effort to gain support for a public airport in Palm Beach County. Construction began in the mid-1930s and costed about $180,000 to build. Morrison died in a car accident in Titusville a few months before the airport opened in 1936. In its early years, the airport was called Morrison Field in her honor. The inaugural flight from Morrison Field was piloted by Dick Merrill. Due to poor weather conditions in Pennsylvania, the plane had to crash land near Matamoras. Also in 1936, WJNO-AM 1290 (then WJNO - 1230 AM) signed on, becoming West Palm Beach's first radio station.
During World War II, Florida's long coastline became vulnerable to attack. German U-boats sank dozens of merchant ships and oil tankers just off the coast of Palm Beach, which was under black out conditions to minimize night visibility to German U-boats. The U.S. Army Air Corps (a forerunner of the United States Air Force) established an Air Transport Command post at Morrison Field. The army constructed barracks, hangars, and other buildings to support about 3,000 soldiers. Throughout the course of the war, over 45,000 pilots trained or flew out of the command post, many in preparation for the Normandy landings. The 313th Material Squadron was moved from Miami Municipal Airport to Morrison Field in April 1942, with approximately 1,000 men working around the clock in order to repair and test aircraft before they were put into service. In 1947, Morrison Field was deactivated and returned to the possession of Palm Beach County.[66] Morrison Field was renamed Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA) later that year.
Late on August 26, 1949, a Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Lake Worth. In West Palm Beach, the hurricane produced sustained winds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and gusts up to 130 mph (210 km/h) at PBIA. The airport itself suffered about $1 million in damage, with several hangars destroyed and 16 planes ruined and 5 others affected. Additionally, 15 C-46s suffered damage. Throughout West Palm Beach, about 2,000 homes out of about 7,000 in the city were damaged. It was estimated that the hurricane caused more than $4 million in damage in West Palm Beach.
As a result of the Korean War, PBIA again became a military post in 1951. Temporarily renamed Palm Beach Air Force Base, nearly 23,000 Air Force personnel trained at the base during the Korean War. The federal government proposed keeping Palm Beach Air Force Base as a permanent military facility, but ultimately decided to return it to Palm Beach County control in 1959, and the name was reverted to Palm Beach International Airport.
The 1950s saw another boom in population, partly due to the return of many soldiers and airmen who had served or trained in the area during World War II. Also, the advent of air conditioning encouraged growth, as year-round living in a tropical climate became more acceptable to northerners. West Palm Beach became the nation's fourth fastest growing metropolitan areas during the 1950s; the city's borders spread west of Military Trail and south to Lake Clarke Shores. Between 1949 and 1962, property values rose from $72 million to $147.5 million, while the population in 1950 was 43,612 and increased about 30% by 1960. In 1955, using a $18 million bond issue, the City of West Palm Beach upgraded its sewer system and purchased the water treatment plant (then owned by Henry Flagler's estate) and land to the west of the city's boundaries, including 20 sq mi (52 km2) of wetlands (from Flagler Water Systems) and an additional 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) of land previously owned by Flagler's Model Land Company.
About two year later, the city sold about 5,500 acres (2,200 ha) of that land for $4.35 million to Perini Corporation of Massachusetts president Louis R. Perini, Sr. In order to transform the wetlands into dry land, Perini hired Gee and Jensen Engineers, who used approximately 30,000,000 cubic yards (23,000,000 m3) of fill to complete the task. Perini constructed the Roosevelt Estates neighborhood for middle class African-Americans. Additionally, Perini changed the name of 12th Street to Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and extended it westward. The road was curved southwestward to eventually connect with Okeechobee Boulevard. Perini would also construct the first section of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County in 1966, from Okeechobee Boulevard to 45th Street.
In the 1960s, Perini sold much of the land back to the city of West Palm Beach. The city, in turn, built West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium in 1963, the West Palm Beach Auditorium in 1965, and the Palm Beach Mall in 1967. On October 26, 1967, the Palm Beach Mall opened along Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard between Interstate 95 and Congress Avenue. The opening ceremony included a ribbon-cutting by Governor Claude Kirk, Mayor Reid Moore Jr., and Miss USA 1967 winner Cheryl Patton. About 40,000 visited the mall on its opening day. Upon opening, the mall contained 87 stores over a 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) area. The mall gradually began to draw businesses and patrons away from downtown, especially when Burdines left downtown in 1979.
The 1950s and 1960s also saw the opening of the Palm Beach Zoo (then known as the Dreher Park Zoo) in 1957 and the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium in 1961. The first shopping plaza in Palm Beach County, the Palm Coast Plaza, opened in 1959 along Dixie Highway near the city's southern boundary. At the time, it was considered "the largest and most complete shopping center between Miami and Jacksonville". The city of West Palm Beach opened a new library at the east end of Clematis Street on April 30, 1962, to replace the Memorial Library. In 1968, Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA), an accredited, private Christian university, began at a downtown local church, before opening a campus in the 1980s.
On January 19, 1977, West Palm Beach recorded its first ever snowfall event, as part of a cold wave episode. Snow fell between 6:10 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., but hardly any accumulation was measured, as the snow almost immediately melted or was blown away after touchdown. PBIA also recorded temperatures as low as 27 °F (−3 °C).
By the 1980s, downtown West Palm Beach had become notorious for crime, poverty, and vacant and dilapidated businesses and houses. Then-United States Senator Lawton Chiles referred to the area as a "war zone" during his visit in September 1987, while local politicians were not optimistic about the future of downtown. The city had the highest crime rate for a city of its size in the late 1980s. Crack USA: County Under Siege, a 1989 documentary film about the crack epidemic, was filmed in West Palm Beach.
In 1986, private investors David C. Paladino and Henry J. Rolfs presented a 20-year, $433 million project to revitalize the western side of downtown. The proposal included plans 3,700,000 sq ft (340,000 m2) for offices, 1,900,000 sq ft (180,000 m2) for retail stores, 800 hotel rooms, and 700 housing units. Paladino and Rolfs purchased and razed properties across 77 acres (31 ha) of land – more than 300 properties – adjacent to Okeechobee Boulevard for about $40 million, with the exception of First United Methodist Church, which later became the Harriet Himmel Theater. The duo donated 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land for development of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in 1992. However, by the early 1990s, the project was discontinued after Rolfs exhausted his personal fortune and due to defaulted loans, foreclosures, lawsuits, and a recession.
After several decades under the Council–manager government, public opinion shifted in favor of electing a strong mayor and having a mayor–council government by the early 1990s. Under one proposal, the mayor would be elected to a four-year term and be eligible for re-election once, the city manager and mayor would share administrative duties, and the mayor would receive the power to veto commission votes, which could be overridden by a 4–1 vote. Additionally, the mayor would be authorized to line-item veto the budget, initiate investigations, and supervise contracts and purchases involving more than $5,000. After a successful petition drive, this proposal would be listed on the ballot as Question 2. In response, the city commission submitted Question 1, which effectively added a weak mayor. In this proposal, the difference versus Question 2 is that the city manager would retain administrative authority, the mayor would vote with city commissioners only in the event of a tie, and the mayor could not veto votes by the city commission. In the referendum for mayor, voters were required to vote yes or no on Question 1 and Question 2. If both received a majority of yes votes, the question with more votes passed. The election was held on March 12, 1991. Both propositions received a majority of the votes. Question 1 received 2,944 yes votes versus 2,665 no votes, a margin of 52.6%–47.4%. Question 2 passed by a margin of 65.7%–34.3% and a vote total of 3,779–1,972. Therefore, Question 2 prevailed, allowing citizens of West Palm Beach to directly elect a strong mayor.
The first general election for Mayor of West Palm Beach since the late 1910s occurred on November 5, 1991. Candidates included attorney and former state representative Joel T. Daves III, city senior planner Jim Exline, Nancy M. Graham, Josephine Stenson Grund, property management company owner Michael D. Hyman, and former Palm Beach County commissioner Bill Medlen. Graham and Hyman received 34.3% and 24.9% of the vote, respectively, allowing them to advance to a run-off election held on November 19. Graham defeated Hyman by a margin of 55.8%–44.2%. She was sworn in as the city's first strong mayor on November 21.
During the campaign, Graham vowed for improvements to downtown. Much of the renovations in downtown began after a $18.2 million bond was issued to the city in October 1992, with $4 million allotted to the waterfront. Among the first projects was a beautification of Clematis Street, which was complete in December 1993. Over the previous six months, benches, sidewalks, and trees were replaced. The project resulted in several businesses moving to Clematis Street. Architect Dan Kiley was hired for several of the waterfront projects, including building an amphitheater, remodeling the library, and designing an interactive water fountain at Flagler Park.
The plan for building the amphitheater would require the city to spend about $1 million for construction, as well as $171,400 for the demolition of a Holiday Inn. The building was chosen because it had remained vacant and gutted since 1986, while plans for reselling or remodeling the building for a different use fell through. A nearby bank agreed to finance most of the cost of purchasing the building, allowing the city to acquire the hotel for only $1,000. Controlled Demolition, Inc. was hired for the demolition, which was scheduled for December 31, 1993, about 10 seconds before midnight. More than 20,000 people attended the explosion event, which was triggered by about 300 sticks of dynamite. Graham sold $25 tickets for a close-up view of the explosion. Revenue from tickets and donations totaled almost $1 million.
Among the most ambitious efforts to rejuvenate economic activity in downtown West Palm Beach was CityPlace. After the city reacquired the land formerly proposed for the Downtown/Uptown project by eminent domain and a multi-million dollar loan in 1995, the city began appealing to large architectural firms to develop the site Of the three proposed bid, the city commission chose CityPlace by a vote of 5–1 on October 9, 1996.[100] The $375 million project called for an 18 to 24 screen movie theater and a number of restaurants, upscale stores, apartments, and office buildings, all centered around the historical First United Methodist Church, which later became the Harriet Himmel Theatre. Overall, about 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) of land development was approved. In return, the city agreed to invest $75 million for construction of streets, parking garages, and plazas, with $20 million already borrowed for purchasing land. Construction began in 1998, with stores expected to open in November 1999, though CityPlace would actually open in October 2000.
CityPlace opened to the public on October 27, 2000, with 31 stores and 1 restaurant opening during the first weekend. Barnes & Noble, Macy's, and a Muvico Parisian 20 and IMAX theater served as the original anchors. The initial focus of CityPlace involved attracting many high-end stores as tenants, though emphasis shifted to home furnishings during the housing bubble. By the Great Recession, the scope turned heavily toward dining and entertainment establishments becoming tenants. Related Companies re-branded CityPlace as "Rosemary Square" in April 2019. The company intends to transform Rosemary Square from a lifestyle center to a more urban-like environment, using $550 million to construct new restaurants, a new mixed-use luxury residential tower, a new hotel, and an office tower containing 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2) of space. Some asphalt roads were replaced with gray and white pavers and converted to create more pedestrian-walking space. The shopping center would later be re-named The Square. In 2023, the movie theater was demolished; Related Companies intends to construct two office towers in its place and add a 455-seat IMAX theater.
As the county seat of Palm Beach County, West Palm Beach entered the national spotlight during the 2000 presidential election. According to the results officially certified by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, George W. Bush very narrowly carried the state of Florida over Al Gore – by 537 votes. Both candidates needed to win the state of Florida in order to secure at least 270 electoral votes, and thereby prevail in the presidential election. The close results and Palm Beach County's controversial butterfly ballot led to a notorious recount. Among those serving on the canvassing board included former West Palm Beach mayor Carol Roberts. Ultimately, the United States Supreme Court decided in Bush v. Gore on December 12, 2000, that Harris's tally would stand, awarding Bush the 25 electoral votes of Florida and the presidential election.
In 2004 and 2005, several tropical cyclones impacted Palm Beach County, including hurricanes Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma. West Palm Beach was affected most by Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, with the eye passing directly over the city at Category 2 intensity. Wilma produced hurricane-force winds and gusts up to 101 mph (163 km/h) at the Palm Beach International Airport. Throughout the city, 1,194 businesses suffered minor damage and 105 others experienced severe impact, while one was destroyed. A total of 6,036 homes received some degree of damage from the storm, while 16 were completely demolished. Additionally, 20 city government buildings were damaged. Overall, damage in West Palm Beach totaled approximately $425.8 million, with $267.4 million in damage to businesses, $153.1 million to residences, and $5.3 million to public property.
In the spring of 2009, City Center opened for business at the corner of Clematis Street and Dixie Highway. Constructed at a cost of approximately $154 million, the complex included a new library and city hall, while several city departments relocated to the complex. The city opened the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach on April 13, 2009 at City Center, replacing the original library at the east end of Clematis Street. The original library was demolished later that year for construction of a waterfront park and pavilion, which opened to the public in February 2010. The Mandel Public Library is approximately 2.5 times larger than the former library. The library currently circulates more than 800,000 items and has over 100,000 registered card holders.
The 2010 United States Census counted a population of 99,919 people in West Palm Beach. With the number being just 81 short of 100,000, then-outgoing mayor Lois Frankel indicated the potential for challenging the tally, as having a population of at least 100,000 would entitle the city to additional grants. Additionally, the United States Census Bureau estimated that the city had a population of 100,665 people on April 1, 2010. However, the city government apparently did not challenge the 99,919 population figure, as it remains in the official census records.
Although CityPlace revitalized downtown, it also contributed to the demise of the Palm Beach Mall. After a significant decline in foot traffic and tenants, as well as failed attempts to lure big box stores such as Bass Pro and IKEA to the mall, it was demolished in 2013. Palm Beach Outlets, designed and operated by New England Development, opened in February 2014 at the same location. The 460,000 sq ft (43,000 m2) outlet mall, comprising more than 100 stores, is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue.
With the closure of the municipal stadium in 1997 (and its subsequent demolition in 2002), West Palm Beach had lost its ability to host spring training for a Major League Baseball. However, with the opening of the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in 2017, spring training returned to the city after a 20-year hiatus. The 6,500 seat stadium hosts the spring training events for the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. In its inaugural year, 55,881 people attended Astros training games. However, in 2018, attendance increased to 67,931 people as a result of the Astros' 2017 World Series championship.
The high-speed train Brightline opened its first two stations in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in January 2018, with a Miami station opened in May of that year.[127] Brightline extended its service to Orlando in 2023.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
The Sisters of Mercy continue to sponsor this renown health care facility. This old photo shows the Sisters Choir Stalls in the front portion of the Chapel. Divinity Health( formerly known as Catholic Healthcare West) is the health system that manages this Catholic Mission driven facility
www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-dropped-mask-mandate-public...
The Dropped Mask Mandate, Public Transport, and New COVID Variants: Here’s What Infectious Disease Experts Are Saying about This Mix
On April 18, a federal judge in Florida struck down the mask mandate that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enacted on January 29, 2021.
Now, individual transportation entities can make their own policies, which many already have. In less than 24 hours, United, Delta, Southwest, American, JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit and Frontier airlines all decreed masks optional, as did Amtrak. The New York Times reported that some travelers heard the news mid-flight and happily bared their faces. But while some Americans are exhaling in elation, others are concerned they're trapped in transit.
The decision to lift the mask mandate was a judicial one, not based on public health considerations. So where does that leave you when it comes to protecting yourself and others from infection?
The trouble with the timing
The masking change occurred just as Covid-19 subvariants BA.4, BA.5, and XE—plus more Omicron variants—are arriving on the heels of BA.2, which recently took the lead as the most dominant Covid-19 strain in the world. Read The New COVID-19 Variant, "BA.2"—Get 9 Facts Straight From Medical Specialists
The Covid-19 virus has continued to do exactly what viruses do: mutate and evolve. XE is a new hybrid variant of Omicron and BA.2 that was first spotted in the U.K. “XE is simply a recombinant version of BA.1 and BA.2, and although several countries have seen cases, this is not expected to be a major concern,” Robert Salata, MD, a professor of medicine at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH, tells The Healthy.
Meanwhile, Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 are circulating in several countries within Southern Africa and Europe, as the World Health Organization keeps its eyes on them.
The jury is still out on what these variants are capable of, Salata explains. “It is not clear yet if they are more transmissible or associated with more significant disease than BA.1 or BA.2.” His prediction? There will be an uptick in cases, but not as many as there were with the original Omicron strain. “Whether this will escalate beyond cases to include significant hospitalization and death remains to be seen,” he says.
Two additional variants—BA.2.12 and BA2.12.1—are now spreading in central New York and appear to be closely related to the BA.2 variant, he says.
So far, it seems that Omicron and its subvariants cause milder disease than their predecessors.
So...to mask or not to mask?
In a nutshell, the decision to mask or not to mask on public transportation and in transportation hubs is now up to each individual. That decision should be between you and your healthcare provider, and based on your personal risk profile. “If you’re in a high-risk group, I think you’d want to be more careful and keep wearing your mask and doing as much social distancing as possible,” says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “For those folks, we recommend that they continue to wear masks indoors, and that includes planes, trains, and buses.” This may also be true if you have a close loved one who is older or immunocompromised.
For anyone who's getting ready to board a flight, ventilation in planes is actually pretty good, despite how cramped you might feel, says S. Wesley Long, MD, PhD, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist. “I don’t think people should be unduly concerned.”
Of course, adds Long, anyone who wants to still has the right to wear a mask in peace—and in an interview with The Healthy, Robert G. Lahita MD, PhD, director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Disease at Saint Joseph Health in Paterson, NJ and author of Immunity Strong, says that may still be wise. “The American populous is waning as far as wearing masks and practicing social distancing and are not taking these variants—which seem to pop up every three days—very seriously,” Lahita says. Double-masking could make you feel greater assurance, especially aboard trains or buses, where good ventilation may not be such a sure thing.
Mutations will keep coming unless more people are vaccinated
Variants arise in places with significant numbers of non-vaccinated people, including underdeveloped parts of the world, Salata says. The Delta variant, for example, originated in India. “For the most part, having the primary series of two shots, along with a booster, does provide protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death,” says Salata. If you're considering the second booster (meaning your fourth Covid shot in total), Lahita suggests discussing the risks and benefits with your doctor.
It's important to remember: Covid-19 is still spreading
That said, SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, is still with us. The latest incarnation, BA.2, is even more contagious than its parent, Omicron, which already was “extraordinarily contagious,” says Schaffner.
Transmission is relatively low but starting to creep up and, in a statement issued the same day the ruling came down, the CDC emphasized that “traveling on public transportation increases the risk of getting and spreading Covid-19 . . . Wearing masks that completely cover the mouth and nose reduces the spread of Covid-19.”
Vaccinations are reducing severe cases
The good news is that while cases are trending up, hospitalizations and deaths are heading in the opposite direction. On April 15, the CDC reported that about 66 percent of Americans are now fully vaccinated, while 77.3 percent have at least one vaccine.
The new transportation ruling “is just another reason people need to be vaccinated and boosted and then, if they want, to wear a mask,” suggests Long.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/values-of-our-society-nursing-h...
'Values of our society': Nursing homes shut down, close wings amid COVID-19 staffing crunch
A 99-bed nursing home in one of Cleveland's poorest neighborhoods will close its doors in less than two months.
Like many nursing homes in urban and rural pockets of America, Eliza Bryant Village has struggled to maintain operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs are too high and reimbursement isn't enough. The home loses more than $100 each day for every resident covered by Medicaid, which represents about 95% of the home's population.
So the home that describes itself as the oldest, continually operating, African American-founded nursing home in the U.S. will close June 8. Most elderly residents, some having lived there for several years, already have found new facilities. As of April 15, 17 residents were still searching for their next home.
Danny Williams, president and CEO of Eliza Bryant Village, said the nonprofit home's financial pressure is emblematic of what ails so many nursing facilities nationwide.
“It’s a result of the values of our society – we just don’t value taking care of old, poor people,” said Williams. "If there's anything good that comes from this, it shines a light on the inequities in the system and may influence policymakers to take some action."
Eliza Bryant is among more than 300 homes that closed or are winding down operations since 2020, according to an analysis of federal data by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, an industry group that represents for-profit nursing homes.
Experts warn even more homes are at risk due to an inadequate system to pay for elder care, a relentless workforce shortage and the lingering effects of the pandemic.
Casting further uncertainly is the Biden administration’s sweeping reforms that would require minimum staffing levels and improved oversight of infection control. The administration's plan amounts to the most ambitious effort to address nursing home quality, safety and staffing in decades.
On April 11, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a $320 million pay cut that nursing home operators say will only exacerbate the industry’s challenges.
“Nursing home closures are devastating to residents, their families, staff and the entire health care system," said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. "The chronic underfunding of nursing homes combined with the ongoing toll of the pandemic and a historic labor shortage has been too much to bear for many facilities."
Nursing homes have struggled to attract workers for years, even before the pandemic. A 577-page report issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on April 6 cited decades of underfunding and a lack of accountability on how those funds are spent. One result has been low staff salaries and benefits that made nursing homes a "highly undesirable place of employment," the report said.
The industry's workforce problems accelerated when the pandemic caused lockdowns, inflation and an ultra-tight job market in which workers became more selective about taking new jobs. Others quit staff positions to take higher-paying gigs with staffing agencies that charged homes up to three times the pre-COVID-19 rates. One industry group urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate staffing agencies for price gouging.
It's why nursing homes in big cities and small towns likely will continue to shut down, close wings, or scale back operations, experts say.
“There’s going to be a hollowing out of nursing homes,” said Vincent Mor, a Brown University School of Public Health professor. “The issue of facilities closing is going to be a real factor. They'll close particularly in rural areas, and they'll close particularly in communities that mostly serve poor people.”
'Common story for rural America'
Heidi Thomas had a choice last fall when the Arapahoe, Nebraska, assisted living home where her husband Alan lived for five years announced it was shutting down on Dec. 31.
She could find a new nursing facility in a neighboring town. But she had no interest in driving 30 to 40 miles several times each week in this far-flung region of Southern Nebraska.
So she outfitted their home for Alan, who has Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, a disease that leads to irreversible mental decline. He does not require complex machines or devices, but he needs constant supervision.
Thomas hired two caregivers from the closed assisted living and nursing facility who watch him during the day while she works as a teacher.
“He doesn't have a lot of words anymore,” Thomas said. “But he did say that he was really happy to be home.”
The Arapahoe home was operated by Good Samaritan Society, which merged in 2019 with the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health. Good Samaritan last year shut down nursing facilities in two other Nebraska towns, Ravenna and Valentine.
The Sanford Health-affiliated centers were among 13 nursing homes or assisted living facilities that have closed in Nebraska since the beginning of 2021.
Homes that closed in rural Nebraska before the pandemic typically did so because they didn't have enough patients or residents to justify remaining open, said Jalene Carpenter, CEO of the Nebraska Health Care Association.
But since the beginning of the pandemic, "It has really been the reverse," Carpenter said. "They have residents to care for or they have (people) they would like to accept. They simply do not have the workforce."
Arapahoe Mayor John Koller said Good Samaritan Society's closing was "devastating" for the town of just over 1,000, where one-quarter of residents are over 65 and often lived their entire life in the community.
Many residents moved to homes in neighboring towns, making it more difficult for their Arapahoe family members to regularly visit. About 25 to 30 employees had to seek jobs at facilities as far as 60 miles away, Koller said.
The community was notified 60 days before the facility closed, the minimum under federal and state law, Koller said.
"In a town this size, if you lose any employment opportunities, it's difficult to recover," Koller said. "It's this common story for rural America. It just continues to erode."
Thomas trained to become a certified nurse assistant so she could work at the home and see her husband during the COVID-19 nursing home lockdowns. For 18 months, between her teaching and nursing assistant jobs, she worked every day. She knew the residents, some of whom had been there for years before they were forced to move farther from family.
"Nobody wants to be lonely," Thomas said. "And that's what happens when you get stuck somewhere where you don't know anybody."
Survey: 1 in 4 nursing homes halt admissions
In Wisconsin, a dozen nursing homes have closed facilities since the beginning of the pandemic, and three are winding down operations, according to LeadingAge Wisconsin.
The industry’s workforce shortage has rippled beyond closed homes. Dozens of homes have reduced the number of beds they operate because they don’t have enough workers. Nursing homes have shut down 2,116 beds at nursing facilities since 2020 – the equivalent of about 30 facilities with an average of 70 beds.
The staffing crunch means homes can’t handle everyone who seeks care, said John Sauer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin chapter of LeadingAge. A state economist told his group this year about 22,000 people in Wisconsin seeking full-time employment across all job sectors. At the time, Wisconsin nursing facilities had 23,000 job openings.
“It really is a herculean task to achieve higher staffing than we have now,” Sauer said.
LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services, including nursing homes, polled members nationwide this year and discovered similar results. About 26% of nonprofit homes said they were unable to admit new residents and 25% closed units or reduced available beds.
"There is a question about the long-term sustainability of some homes in some communities," said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge. "It may not be closing the home altogether, but many of our members have taken their beds offline, closed a wing, or converted it to something else."
The Biden administration’s proposal to mandate minimum staffing ratios would be difficult to meet unless accompanied by other significant fixes such as payment, regulatory and immigration reform, Sauer said. The latter could provide guest workers to regions with staff shortages, particularly in rural communities that struggle to draw enough workers.
“Is there support for higher staffing levels, especially in the mission-driven provider community? The answer is yes,” Sauer said. “We have to recognize that there's just no magic wand we can wave over the long-term care provider community to make that happen.”
The National Academies report described funding for long-term care as inadequate and fragmented. Among the proposed fixes: study and implement state demonstration programs with the goal of creating a new model to pay for long-term care. The report acknowledged such a benefit would be politically challenging. It did not estimate how much such a program might cost or propose how to pay for it.
Williams, of Cleveland's Eliza Bryant Village, said more equitable funding will be key for homes that serve a larger share of poor residents. His group will maintain other services on its 17-acre campus east of downtown, including an adult day program, at-home care, transportation and an elder justice center for seniors suffering physical, emotional, or financial abuse.
But the losses were far too great to maintain the nursing home.
"Nobody is going to fix it without government support," Williams said. "The fix is coming up with a fair reimbursement plan that covers the actual cost of care."
Blue School introduced the balanced learning concept that encourages students to explore different skill sets and helps them to learn in their best interest. With such an amazing concept of learning the Blue School is known as the best independent school in Manhattan. Visit our website for more information.
In the video we will be discussing the “why choose an independent private school” and in details we will be discussing
1- Involvement of parent
2- Personalise learning
3- Participation in co-curricular activities
4-High academic standards
5- Mission-driven community
The U.S. Embassy and AUT were excited to host Soraya Darabi in early September for the next Project Connect event. Soraya spoke in a firside chat with Michelle Dickinson at AUT University on September 1 on the topic “how to lead the audacious change needed to keep your company relevant”. Further details can be found at the-project.co.nz
Then in Wellington (sponsored by the Trans Tasman Business Circle and PWC - In a fireside chat with Diana Hardeman (founder of MilkMade Ice Cream, New York) Soraya Darabi provided insights into how successful leaders navigating change will keep companies on top of their game.
Soraya Darabi is the co-founder of Zady, a mission-driven content and commerce brand described best as “The Whole Foods of Fashion.” Zady creates and sells stylish, timeless, sustainably produced apparel and tells the story of each product, down to the raw materials.
Soraya began her career as Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social Media at The New York Times, where she kept her finger on the pulse of today’s ever-changing digital landscape. While at The Times, she positioned the global news leader on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, partnered with startups large and small, and established award winning campaigns. Following her tenure at The Times, she served as Product Lead for drop.io, an online collaboration service (acquired by Facebook). She went on to co-found the application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “App of the Year” (acquired by Open Table).
Soraya has been featured on the cover of Fast Company Magazine’s “Most Creative People in Business” issue and Brandweek’s “Digital” issue for her work in new media and entrepreneurship. She has sat on the digital board of General Electric, and advised C-suite executives in companies ranging from Disney to Time Inc. to GSMA on their digital and mobile strategy. She is a newly appointed World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader.” Soraya received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
(Staff Photos by Rob Mattson/Amherst College, Office of Communications) Amherst College juniors Sarah Jordan, Meghan McDonough and Khalil Flemming interview fellow junior and international student Khushy Aggarwal, as she talks about the spice collection amassed during her time here at Amherst, in the production studio space of Seeley Mudd, on the Amherst College campus in Amherst, Mass., Monday afternoon, April 13, 2015. The three producers are recording content for a video series called "Show & Tell," which "aims to close the gap between seeing and knowing, between surface and depth," and better understand those in the Amherst College community. The non-profit started by these three juniors, Pioneer Creative, was created as a mission-driven benefit to the community. They hope to "provide those who lack the necessary resources an opportunity to do the same." The collection of videos, as well as more information about Pioneer Creative, can be found at www.PioneerCreative.org.
Small Group Discussion: Social Enterprise: Measuring Impact in an Emerging Sector
Social enterprises, mission-driven organizations that use business models in their work, are expected to deliver a more diverse set of returns than standard businesses and non-profit organizations. While a business is primarily concerned with return on investment, a social enterprise must also balance social and environmental impact in their core programs. Measuring this impact is critical; it is essential for effective business management and resource allocation, and investors are unlikely to accept a lower financial return unless there are measurable impacts in areas like education, sustainability, or health. However, measuring the success of social enterprises and reporting these metrics is time-consuming and expensive, creating yet another barrier to entry for social entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs and investors alike need help navigating the measurement frameworks and identifying best practices for social enterprise.
In this session, participants will:
• Discuss best practices for measurement and assess existing frameworks like Impact Reporting & Investment Standards (IRIS).
• Examine the methods for reporting metrics to stakeholders and expanding transparency in the social enterprise space.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Before launching Fail Forward, Ashley worked in Cairo with the United Nations Environment Programme and as a management consultant in Vancouver, Canada. In both lines of work, Ashley saw a fear of failure inhibit innovation, adaptation, and general growth. In response, she launched both AdmittingFailure.com and the consulting firm, Fail Forward, to spark a shift in how civil society perceives and talks about failure, and to help organizations learn, innovate and build resilience. Since early 2011 Ashley has worked with organizations – from grantmakers and nonprofits to government and private sector companies – to use failure as a learning tool and culture driver to support and foster innovation. She is well known for building the Organizational Learning Team at Engineers Without Borders Canada, and continuing to lead the development of their annual Failure Report.
Her work on failure has received coverage in a wide range of media and news outlets, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Guardian, Harvard University’s Hauser Center for NonProfit Organizations, TED talks, BBC World, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail and, most recently in interview with Arlene Dickinson on CBC. Ashley was also the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Harvard Business Review and McKinsey Innovating Innovation Award.
Fail Forward is a mission-driven consulting organization founded by award-winning innovator Ashley Good, that aims to foster a culture of intelligent failure on both the individual and organizational level. By creating a safe space to openly discuss failure, and offering clients a set of tools and practices to deal with failure intelligently, Fail Forward helps organizations to turn failure into a catalyst for adaptation, innovation, and resilience. Founded in 2011, Fail Forward works with a variety of business and non-profit organizations, including Engineers Without Borders Canada and The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations. Ashley Good is a sought-after speaker who has traveled throughout Europe, Scandinavia and North America to share her ideas and practices on intelligent failure.
Sponsors: Cossette
Venue Partner: 401 Richmond (401Richmond.net/)
Breakfast Partner: Sense Appeal Coffee Roasters (senseappeal.ca/)
Merchandise Partner: Swipe Design (swipe.com)
Photos by Luana Suciu (luanasuciu.com)
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Mozilla is once again investing in Chattanooga's future. They are bringing their mission to" build a web where people know more, do more and do better" to our city with serious project funding for partnerships in the community that are mission driven to serve end user needs in education and workforce development
It's simple. Mozilla wants to fund project teams with the best viable ideas that take the power of the city's gig network and applies ways to improve learning platforms and workforce development . Many of these teams and projects will be forming at the kickoff. We've heard it described as a 'call-for-RFP meets hack-a-thon.' Organizers consider this kickoff event a community sprint for educators, technologists & community catalysts to come together to build the network that communities will need in the future.
Against the vibrant backdrop of sTARTUp Day in Tartu — where thousands of innovators, founders, mentors and investors gather each year — something special took place that truly captured the spirit of mission-driven entrepreneurship. On a crisp winter day, the Zebra ScaleUp Pitching Day brought together the boldest early-stage companies from across the Central Baltic region to share their visions for sustainable growth and impact.
Sixteen passionate founders stepped onto the stage, each weaving stories of innovation, resilience, purpose and potential. They spoke not just about products and business models — but about purpose-led growth, where sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand, reflecting the core ethos of the Zebra ScaleUp programme.
At the judges’ table: Lars Ling, bringing decades of entrepreneurial experience, offered thoughtful feedback and encouragement. His presence was a testament to the calibre of both the event and the founders pitching — bridging insight with inspiration for the next wave of change-makers.
From deep tech and cleantech solutions, to creative digital services and social-impact ventures, the day was a celebration of ambition with purpose — a reminder that great ideas can shape a more sustainable tomorrow.
Startup Day: www.startupday.ee/
Photos and videos courtersy of Lars Ling.
© 2008-2026 Lars Ling / CleanTech Region Group. All rights reserved.
"The Rise of Mission-Driven Media And How New York is Leading the Charge" on Day 4 of Internet Week New York 2014, May 22, 2014 in New York. INSIDER IMAGES/Andrew Kelly (UNITED STATES)
Small Group Discussion: Social Enterprise: Measuring Impact in an Emerging Sector
Social enterprises, mission-driven organizations that use business models in their work, are expected to deliver a more diverse set of returns than standard businesses and non-profit organizations. While a business is primarily concerned with return on investment, a social enterprise must also balance social and environmental impact in their core programs. Measuring this impact is critical; it is essential for effective business management and resource allocation, and investors are unlikely to accept a lower financial return unless there are measurable impacts in areas like education, sustainability, or health. However, measuring the success of social enterprises and reporting these metrics is time-consuming and expensive, creating yet another barrier to entry for social entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs and investors alike need help navigating the measurement frameworks and identifying best practices for social enterprise.
In this session, participants will:
• Discuss best practices for measurement and assess existing frameworks like Impact Reporting & Investment Standards (IRIS).
• Examine the methods for reporting metrics to stakeholders and expanding transparency in the social enterprise space.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Good place to start with securing my home network :P
Building, operating and securing the Global Information Grid (GIG) for the Department of Defense is a complex and ongoing challenge. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for Cyber Identity and Information Assurance has developed a strategy for meeting this challenge, which is available here: iase.disa.mil/policy-guidance/dasd_ciia__strategy_aug2009.... In the CIIA Strategy, the primary goal areas are as listed as follows :
1. Organize for unity of purpose and speed of action (shortened to "Organize" in the chart).
2. Enable secure mission driven access to information and services (shortened to "Enable" in the chart).
3. Anticipate and prevent successful attacks on data and networks (shortened to "Anticipate" in the chart).
4. Prepare for and operate through cyber degradation or attack (shortened to "Prepare" in the chart).
The U.S. Embassy and AUT were excited to host Soraya Darabi in early September for the next Project Connect event. Soraya spoke in a firside chat with Michelle Dickinson at AUT University on September 1 on the topic “how to lead the audacious change needed to keep your company relevant”. Further details can be found at the-project.co.nz
Then in Wellington (sponsored by the Trans Tasman Business Circle and PWC - In a fireside chat with Diana Hardeman (founder of MilkMade Ice Cream, New York) Soraya Darabi provided insights into how successful leaders navigating change will keep companies on top of their game.
Soraya Darabi is the co-founder of Zady, a mission-driven content and commerce brand described best as “The Whole Foods of Fashion.” Zady creates and sells stylish, timeless, sustainably produced apparel and tells the story of each product, down to the raw materials.
Soraya began her career as Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social Media at The New York Times, where she kept her finger on the pulse of today’s ever-changing digital landscape. While at The Times, she positioned the global news leader on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, partnered with startups large and small, and established award winning campaigns. Following her tenure at The Times, she served as Product Lead for drop.io, an online collaboration service (acquired by Facebook). She went on to co-found the application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “App of the Year” (acquired by Open Table).
Soraya has been featured on the cover of Fast Company Magazine’s “Most Creative People in Business” issue and Brandweek’s “Digital” issue for her work in new media and entrepreneurship. She has sat on the digital board of General Electric, and advised C-suite executives in companies ranging from Disney to Time Inc. to GSMA on their digital and mobile strategy. She is a newly appointed World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader.” Soraya received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Julia Hysell Ruther ’04 moderates a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good with panelists Louis Bosso ’04, Alexandra Geertz ’04 and Michael Tennant ’04 in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
Michael Tennant ’04 speaks during a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
Mozilla is once again investing in Chattanooga's future. They are bringing their mission to" build a web where people know more, do more and do better" to our city with serious project funding for partnerships in the community that are mission driven to serve end user needs in education and workforce development
It's simple. Mozilla wants to fund project teams with the best viable ideas that take the power of the city's gig network and applies ways to improve learning platforms and workforce development . Many of these teams and projects will be forming at the kickoff. We've heard it described as a 'call-for-RFP meets hack-a-thon.' Organizers consider this kickoff event a community sprint for educators, technologists & community catalysts to come together to build the network that communities will need in the future.
Michael Tennant ’04 speaks during a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
The audience smiles at remarks as Julia Hysell Ruther ’04 moderates a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good with panelists Louis Bosso ’04, Alexandra Geertz ’04 and Michael Tennant ’04 in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
Julia Hysell Ruther ’04 moderates a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good with panelists Alexandra Geertz ’04 and Michael Tennant ’04 in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
The auduience smiles at remarks as Julia Hysell Ruther ’04 moderates a discussion about Mission Driven + Social Good with panelists Louis Bosso ’04, Alexandra Geertz ’04 and Michael Tennant ’04 in Kirner-Johnson during Reunion Weekend at Hamilton College on Friday, June 7, 2019 in Clinton, NY. (PHOTO BY NANCY L. FORD)
The U.S. Embassy and AUT were excited to host Soraya Darabi in early September for the next Project Connect event. Soraya spoke in a firside chat with Michelle Dickinson at AUT University on September 1 on the topic “how to lead the audacious change needed to keep your company relevant”. Further details can be found at the-project.co.nz
Soraya Darabi is the co-founder of Zady, a mission-driven content and commerce brand described best as “The Whole Foods of Fashion.” Zady creates and sells stylish, timeless, sustainably produced apparel and tells the story of each product, down to the raw materials.
Soraya began her career as Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social Media at The New York Times, where she kept her finger on the pulse of today’s ever-changing digital landscape. While at The Times, she positioned the global news leader on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, partnered with startups large and small, and established award winning campaigns. Following her tenure at The Times, she served as Product Lead for drop.io, an online collaboration service (acquired by Facebook). She went on to co-found the application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “App of the Year” (acquired by Open Table).
Soraya has been featured on the cover of Fast Company Magazine’s “Most Creative People in Business” issue and Brandweek’s “Digital” issue for her work in new media and entrepreneurship. She has sat on the digital board of General Electric, and advised C-suite executives in companies ranging from Disney to Time Inc. to GSMA on their digital and mobile strategy. She is a newly appointed World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader.” Soraya received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Before launching Fail Forward, Ashley worked in Cairo with the United Nations Environment Programme and as a management consultant in Vancouver, Canada. In both lines of work, Ashley saw a fear of failure inhibit innovation, adaptation, and general growth. In response, she launched both AdmittingFailure.com and the consulting firm, Fail Forward, to spark a shift in how civil society perceives and talks about failure, and to help organizations learn, innovate and build resilience. Since early 2011 Ashley has worked with organizations – from grantmakers and nonprofits to government and private sector companies – to use failure as a learning tool and culture driver to support and foster innovation. She is well known for building the Organizational Learning Team at Engineers Without Borders Canada, and continuing to lead the development of their annual Failure Report.
Her work on failure has received coverage in a wide range of media and news outlets, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Guardian, Harvard University’s Hauser Center for NonProfit Organizations, TED talks, BBC World, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail and, most recently in interview with Arlene Dickinson on CBC. Ashley was also the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Harvard Business Review and McKinsey Innovating Innovation Award.
Fail Forward is a mission-driven consulting organization founded by award-winning innovator Ashley Good, that aims to foster a culture of intelligent failure on both the individual and organizational level. By creating a safe space to openly discuss failure, and offering clients a set of tools and practices to deal with failure intelligently, Fail Forward helps organizations to turn failure into a catalyst for adaptation, innovation, and resilience. Founded in 2011, Fail Forward works with a variety of business and non-profit organizations, including Engineers Without Borders Canada and The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations. Ashley Good is a sought-after speaker who has traveled throughout Europe, Scandinavia and North America to share her ideas and practices on intelligent failure.
Sponsors: Cossette
Venue Partner: 401 Richmond (401Richmond.net/)
Breakfast Partner: Sense Appeal Coffee Roasters (senseappeal.ca/)
Merchandise Partner: Swipe Design (swipe.com)
Photos by Luana Suciu (luanasuciu.com)
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Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
The U.S. Embassy and AUT were excited to host Soraya Darabi in early September for the next Project Connect event. Soraya spoke in a firside chat with Michelle Dickinson at AUT University on September 1 on the topic “how to lead the audacious change needed to keep your company relevant”. Further details can be found at the-project.co.nz
Then in Wellington (sponsored by the Trans Tasman Business Circle and PWC - In a fireside chat with Diana Hardeman (founder of MilkMade Ice Cream, New York) Soraya Darabi provided insights into how successful leaders navigating change will keep companies on top of their game.
Soraya Darabi is the co-founder of Zady, a mission-driven content and commerce brand described best as “The Whole Foods of Fashion.” Zady creates and sells stylish, timeless, sustainably produced apparel and tells the story of each product, down to the raw materials.
Soraya began her career as Manager of Digital Partnerships and Social Media at The New York Times, where she kept her finger on the pulse of today’s ever-changing digital landscape. While at The Times, she positioned the global news leader on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, partnered with startups large and small, and established award winning campaigns. Following her tenure at The Times, she served as Product Lead for drop.io, an online collaboration service (acquired by Facebook). She went on to co-found the application Foodspotting, named by Apple and Wired Magazine as an “App of the Year” (acquired by Open Table).
Soraya has been featured on the cover of Fast Company Magazine’s “Most Creative People in Business” issue and Brandweek’s “Digital” issue for her work in new media and entrepreneurship. She has sat on the digital board of General Electric, and advised C-suite executives in companies ranging from Disney to Time Inc. to GSMA on their digital and mobile strategy. She is a newly appointed World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader.” Soraya received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
September 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Empathy) with guest speaker Kevin Trapani, founder of The Redwoods Group.
We are at our best when we serve others. And business can and must be a powerful force to right wrongs and bring about positive social change.
These ideas have been the driving force behind the career of Kevin A. Trapani.
From founding The Redwoods Group —a mission-driven insurance company that has helped transform how YMCAs, JCCs, camps and other youth-serving organizations transport kids, guard their pools and prevent child sexual abuse—to testifying in-front of the US Senate in favor of the Paid Family Leave Act, Kevin believes that business leaders have a responsibility to give back, to help build the leaders of tomorrow, and to encourage policies that promote social justice and build stronger, fairer communities.
The title of his CreativeMornings talk: Empathy & Social Justice: How Serving Others Serves Us.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Myriad Media, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
Nursery Tour by Jana McClelland and her father, George McClelland. Jana is a partner in McCelland’s dairy with her mom and dad, Dora and George. She has a degree in Ag Business from Cal Poly. Jana manages the daily milking operation, sales and marketing for the butter, and sales and media for the u-pick pumpkin operation.
I love listening to George tell stories about the family farm! George's parents started milking six Brown Swiss cows in 1938, they separated the cream from the milk and bottled it under McClelland’s Dairy name with the slogan: “From She To Thee.”
George and his family are second and third generation farmers who are continuing a long tradition of dairy farming. Environmental stewardship is important to this generation’s vision for the farm and they have successfully transitioned the family farm to a thriving organic dairy business since 2000 and are investing in the health of the farm’s ecosystem and returning the investment back to their family and community by providing healthy organic dairy products. as members of Organic Valley's mission-driven cooperative that is created, owned, and managed by family farmers with the goal to save the family farm and protect the environment
FIELD NOTES:
Jana and George McClelland offered a guided tour of the calf nursery barn. They raise Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss cows.
• Calves are born out on pasture and stay with mom for the first day.
• Claves are born with no bacteria in their system so a bottle of colostrum containin good bacteria is brought out to the pasture for them to get good bacteria before they can be introduced to a bad bacteria.
• After a day in the pasture with their mothers, the calves are brought into the nursery and kept safe in cribs (the red pens behind Jana) until they are about two months old.
• Calves are go to the nursery for biosecurity reasons - they are not resistant to the disease and bacteria adult cows are.
• They closely monitor their health and make sure they are eating/drinking proper amounts - receiving the attention they need for being newborns in the nursery
• They are fed three times a day. They are started out on bottles and eventually taught how to drink out of a bucket.
• They are fed raw goat milk and good quality raw Jersey milk for the sick ones.
• They graduate to group pens, like elementary school because they learn a lot, hey learn how to lay in loafing stalls, how to eat together and socialize with the heard.
• They graduate from calf barn at about 5 months old (off to Junior High).
• They are just like humans, cows that eat well and experience less stress live longer, healthier lives, and animals in their care live in comfortable, safe, low-stress environment.
The Farm Discovery Tour: ov.coop/farmdiscovery
The McClelland Farm: www.mcclellandsdairy.com/FarmTours.htm
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