Andrew Nikou, ANF, supports Pharrell Williams’ new social venture YELLOW as one of judges for its inaugural initiative
ANF Founder Andrew Nikou is proud to support Pharrell Williams’ new social venture YELLOW as one of three judges for its inaugural initiative, the Summer of Innovation.
The Summer of Innovation is about encouraging kids to explore their interests with an entrepreneurial mindset and to make a positive difference in their communities, while competing for prize packages that include the support to actually bring their ideas to life.
Whether it is with a new business idea, art or music project, a unique invention, or a helpful service, this campaign is focused on challenging kids to find problems that matter, and then to solve them. YELLOW’s mission is to educate all forms of learners by embracing and building upon their diverse strengths, encouraging innovation, and empowering them with the skills to be successful in an ever-changing world.
Andrew joins Virginia Beach native, multi-Grammy Award-Winning producer and philanthropist Pharrell in serving and improving the lives of those disconnected and left-behind through innovative and bold (re)thinking of how we deliver education to our youth.
“Every child has a creative talent for problem solving. I’m honored to be one of YELLOW’s Summer of Innovation judges and can’t wait to see all of the ideas kids come up with!”
To register for summer of innovation, visit summerofinnovation.org. Remember, the deadline to submit your pitch is August 14th.
Follow Team Yellow on:
• Facebook: @teamyelloworg
• Instagram: @team_yellow
• Twitter: @yelloworg
Collaboration to Deliver Personalized, Interactive, Economic, and Behavioral Lessons to Youth Worldwide
LOS ANGELES, CA – October 21, 2019 – MobLab Inc. (“MobLab”), a provider of interactive economics and behavioral games that help students learn and personalize their education decisions, announced today that the Andrew Nikou Foundation (“ANF”) of entrepreneur Andrew Nikou, is partnering with and investing in MobLab. The new partnership and investment will expand MobLab’s platform to provide more students with access to an educational experience that works for their learning style and needs. This investment mirrors the impact and mission of ANF that values humanity and scalability.
“I’m inspired by scalable ideas that help people maximize their full potential, which is why I’m investing in MobLab,” shared Andrew Nikou, ANF Founder. “With MobLab technology available to more people, we can envision helping a broad range of people, such as students in underserved communities who can get experience in what it’s like to run a small business, or bringing to life economic concepts for young people who dream of serving their communities with that knowledge.”
“We really look forward to working with Andrew and his team in using education as a powerful way to bridge academic gaps—and eventually—inequality gaps,” said Walter Yuan, Founder and CEO of MobLab. “With the support of the Andrew Nikou Foundation, the team is now equipped to expand our portfolio of interactive behavioral and economic games as a direct-to-consumer product to improve economic understanding and financial literacy for young children worldwide.”
Pharrell Williams Creates Winning XPRIZE Concept at Visioneering Summit
XPRIZE celebrates 25 years of innovation at annual Visioneering Summit of global philanthropists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders, focusing on the environment and healthy living
LOS ANGELES (October 8, 2019) — While celebrating its 25th anniversary, XPRIZE, the global leading platform for innovation and impact through incentive competitions, announced five winning concepts during Visioneering 2019, the foundation’s annual gathering to design and evaluate future competitions.
During Visioneering, over 50 XPRIZE designs were proposed, with five XPRIZE concepts winning in the categories of food and agriculture, human health and longevity sponsored by Anthem, waste and circular economy sponsored by Intel, and housing and infrastructure. In the finals, the crowd voted the Charter Communities concept in the housing and infrastructure category as the top winner. The Charter Communities XPRIZE team was led by visionary artist, producer, songwriter, philanthropist and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams and supported by the Andrew Nikou Foundation and philanthropists like John-Paul Dejoria. The XPRIZE concept proposed a competition to create transformational public housing alternatives that will provide a self-sustaining life beyond subsidized housing. This latest prize idea adds to the legacy of XPRIZE, which has launched 17 competitions and offered more than $150M in prize funds since its inception 25 years ago.
During Visioneering, over $15M was pledged by philanthropists at the event to support XPRIZE and prize development.
Blackstone LaunchPad Alumnus Launches Book ‘Adversity to Advantage: How to Overcome Bullying & Find Entrepreneurial Success’
Randy Ginsburg ’19 recently launched a book titled “Adversity to Advantage: How to Overcome Bullying & Find Entrepreneurial Success.” Ginsburg, a graduate of the Whitman School, earned a double major in entrepreneurship and marketing and is an alumnus of the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars (LaunchPad) at Syracuse University Libraries program. The book was written to inspire those who were bullied with wisdom and advice from a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who have overcome that negative experience and used it as a stepping stone for personal and entrepreneurial growth.
“I wrote the book out of a desire to create, but also to prove myself to all the people who mistreated me or doubted me in the past,” Ginsburg says. “Not only have my experiences with bullying helped me find my passion for entrepreneurship, but they also provided me with a chip on my shoulder that constantly fuels my fire to succeed.” The book is available through Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.
According to research cited in Ginsburg’s book, every seven minutes a child is bullied and one out of every three students in the United States has been targeted at school. Although conventional wisdom says that bullying is exclusively detrimental to one’s health, studies show that 47 percent of victims report a positive effect on their adult lives. The book shares stories of successful entrepreneurs’ bullying experiences, including: Tom Ford, who beat bullying to launch one of the world’s largest fashion houses and reinvent himself as an award-winning filmmaker; Elon Musk, whose familiarity with pain helped him to start PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX; and Andrew Nikou, who defeated bullies and went on to found OpenGate Capital, a multi-billion-dollar global private equity firm.