|
We're excited to announce that Katie Hoffman -an impressive serial entrepreneur focused on finance and sustainability - has joined WWBT's Board of Directors!
Katie has spent her career focused on the long term solutions to address the climate crisis, something that she sees as deeply interwoven with the refugee crisis. Katie is a partner at the low carbon financial technology company Etho Capital, and an Entrepreneur in Residence at New Energy Nexus (California Clean Energy Fund) building a venture fund focused on clean technology. She has worked on policies to shift billions towards sustainable investment with California's largest public funds, including the University of California; and was a founding member of the Divest-Invest network which has $12T in assets under management pledged to move toward low carbon investments. Katie volunteers her time as co-chair of the NEXUS Global Energy & Environment group and a trustee of the American Renewable Energy Institute. She comes to the table passionate about building the bridge between sustainable development and displacement, and creating holistic solutions with WWBT.
0 Comments
WWBT is excited to announce it has partnered with actor Noah Centineo and his new lifestyle brand - Favored Nations. WWBT is now one of a select group of organizations that customers can choose as their “give back” upon checkout.
Noah has been a friend of the organization for years. We’re grateful for his partnership and his advocacy on behalf of refugees and the light he shines on the refugee crisis - a crisis that once held the world's attention but has since slowly fell out of the news cycles. Noah created Favored Nations as "a way to shift culture and human behavior to take better care of our planet and all of its inhabitants." Check them out and join their movement at FavoredNations.org. WWBT is thrilled to announce it has hired Stavros Mirogiannis to lead its operations on Lesvos, managing and coordinating sites, activities and partnerships.
Stavros previously served as manager of the 1,200 person Kara Tepe refugee camp on Lesvos from 2015 - 2019, where he was heralded for his emphasis on maintaining dignity and ensuring quality conditions. In a 2017 interview, Stavros was quoted as saying "“We don’t want people to think of themselves as refugees. This is a village, and everyone here is part of a community,” he said. “Our main objective at Kara Tepe is human dignity.” When his tenure as site manager ended in August 2019 amid a change in local government, the refugees staged a demonstration in protest, chanting “We need Stavros!”. The Kara Tepe residents even offered to pay his salary so he could remain by pooling their small monthly stipends. Stavros will now be managing a growing "campus" of community resources around the Moria refugee camp, with programming ran in partnership with locals, NGOs and the refugee community. The first property under his leadership, a health clinic, is set to open May 5. WWBT is thrilled to announce that business leader, impact investor and humanitarian Jay Rosenzweig has agreed to join the WWBT Board of Directors.
Jay has been immersed in global human rights causes for well over two decades. He is an active board member of Irwin Cotler's Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. As Jay puts it, “We combat hate, antisemitism and racism in all its forms. We speak out to prevent current and future genocides." Jay is internationally recognized for the Annual Rosenzweig Report on gender equality, which he has published for the past 15 years; and he is a partner in the global #movethedial movement, designed to advance women in technology. Regarding his appointment, Jay says, “I am deeply honored to take on this role and commit to do all I can to help WWBT deliver on its vital mission of creating safe and positive spaces for refugees living through the difficult experience of being displaced.”  Construction has begun at the new WWBT health clinic. We're anticipating it will be renovated and operational as soon as May 5! The new clinic is located just a 3 minute walk from Moria refugee camp and will focus on isolating and treating suspected COVID-19 cases among the camp's residents. The health clinic is the first of what will hopefully be many properties near Moria that WWBT transforms into helpful community resources, with programming done in partnership with locals, other NGOs, and the refugee community.
 Yesterday Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation, Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation, and Jack Dorsey announced they were making a significant grant to our partners at Team Humanity.
This means 2 of the 3 initiatives in our COVID-19 Fund are fully funded! ✔️🧼Sanitizers ✔️😷Masks All incoming donations will now solely support the 🏥Health Clinic, which is focused on isolating and treating suspected COVID-19 cases. Due to this amazing grant, we have only have another $6,700 left to raise.  Great news - we officially received the keys to our soon-to-be health clinic! We are partnering with a world-famous NGO (announcement soon) to isolate and treat suspected COVID-19 cases at the Moria refugee camp - this place will save lives!  Thank you to those who have contributed and made this vision come to life, ensuring this necessary resource will be in place.
If you'd like to contribute, you can do so via our website or the fundraiser we just put up on Facebook. Wishing you and your family continued health and safety.  😷 30K+ Masks Made!Team Humanity has done an incredible job scaling mask production. There are now enough for every one of the 25,000 refugees on Lesvos, and they will begin shipping masks for refugees stuck on the neighboring Aegean islands. 🕊️ Extending an Olive Branch!Team Humanity will also begin distributing the masks - manufactured by refugees - to the Greek locals. Tension prior to the pandemic had been high between the groups. It's an incredible gesture we hope builds a sense of unity. ✊ Almost Half Way!A generous donor just committed to providing $5,000 to the fund. That puts us close to $30K! 🦠 We'll Be Ready!The virus will most likely arrive in Moria at some point soon - it's already in other camps in Greece - but the resources we are providing now will save lives when the time comes. With Love & In Solidarity,
Zoë and Xander A quick update regarding the COVID-19 Emergency Fund we recently launched...  🏥 We have a clinic location!We've found the location for the health clinic faster than anticipated - and it's right next to the camp! We're signing the lease and sending the funds ($12K) needed to get it open asap.  😷 Funding for masks is strong!Team Humanity continues to crank out masks, and has found more external funding for the project! We're sending a small grant ($3K) to purchase more material and sewing machines. 🤲 Sanitizers are on their way!We're placing a large order ($8K) of hand sanitizers from a Dutch company, as part of a larger shipment they are sending to Lesvos. 💰 $23K raised and distributed!We're over 1/3 of the way there. We're so humbled and awed by the support thus far. ✊ We can do this!It's been amazing see people coming together to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. Thank you for your continued support.
 To protect the men, women and children refugees on Lesvos from COVID-19, we're launching an emergency response fund that will cover three projects...
If/when the virus does make it to Moria refugee camp, it could be disastrous - the camp is overcrowded with long food lines and minimal access to water and soap. Miraculously, the camp is yet to have a confirmed case. We must do everything we can to prevent it from spreading and increase resources available for health workers. We appreciate you leaning in if you can. You can learn more and donate here. With Love & In Solidarity, Zoë and Xander  |
Archives
April 2020
Categories |
RSS Feed