by Raul Santa | Mar 13, 2020 | News & Updates
Dearest Friends & Partners,
We hope you are well. we know that everyone is feeling anxiety about COVID-19 and what it means for the communities where we live and work. I have spoken to many of you during the past few weeks about contingencies for large events and celebrations, as well as about the critical work to advocate and sustain programs for the most vulnerable members of our society.
At Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo this work has been top of mind. While we modify our travel and plans, we want to make sure you are aware of an important announcement regarding Internet Essentials. This is their signature corporate social responsibility initiative to close the digital divide and today nearly 10 million low income Americans use Comcast Internet Essentials for at-home broadband. As more moves online in the coming days and weeks, they have made program upgrades that we would like you to share with your network:
- We have increased speeds to 25/3 Mbps to better facilitate tele-work and distance learning as children and workers are home.
- 60 Days of Free Service — We are offering all low income Americans that do not have at-home broadband service the opportunity to sign up for 60 days of no-cost service, with the opportunity to sign up after for $9.95 per month or cancel service at no cost.
- Support is available in Spanish and ASL as well as other languages at www.internetessentials.com
- People can sign up by phone.
The full announcement is below. This is a real-time work in progress, and they are still working so that it is available across the Comcast footprint as early as Monday.
If you are working with seniors, school-aged children, whomever – this is an incredible tool to show them the value of at-home broadband and have them cross the digital divide. Please consider reaching out to your networks to show them how this is a way to complete the Census, sign up for alerts, register for government programs and benefits, as well as connect with family and friends during this time of social distancing.
D&P Creative Strategies,
on behalf of Comcast NBCUniversal-Telemundo
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Comcast Increases Access to and Speeds of Internet Essentials’ Low-Income Internet Service to Support Americans Through the Coronavirus Pandemic
Dana Strong, President, Consumer Services, Comcast Cable
March 12th, 2020 – As our country continues to manage the COVID-19 emergency, we recognize that our company plays an important role in helping our customers stay connected – to their families, their workplaces, their schools, and the latest information about the virus – through the Internet.
We also know that for millions of low-income Americans who don’t have Internet service at home, this uncertain time is going to be even more difficult to manage. As schools and businesses close and families are encouraged, or even mandated, to stay home, Internet connectivity becomes even more important.
At Comcast, we’ve been looking for ways to help through our Internet Essentials program, which is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption program for low-income Americans. Since 2011, it has connected millions of individuals to the Internet.
A hallmark of this program has been our flexibility in adjusting Internet Essentials to meet the needs of low-income residents in our footprint. So, effective Monday, we are putting in place two substantial program enhancements to help these families deal with this crisis.
- We will make it even easier for low-income families who live in a Comcast service area to sign up by offering new customers 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is normally available to all qualified low-income households for $9.95/month.
- Also, we are increasing Internet speeds for the Internet Essentials service from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps for all new and existing customers, which will be the speed of the service going forward. In this way, we will ensure that Internet Essentials customers will be able to use their Internet service for all their increased needs as a result of this health crisis.
We want to make it as fast and simple as possible to access this service:
- To receive the increased Internet speeds, existing customers will not need to do anything. The new speeds will be rolled out nationally over the next few days.
- We’ll send all new customers a free self-install kit that includes a cable modem with a Wi-Fi router. There will be no term contract or credit check and no shipping fee.
- To sign up, applicants can simply visit www.internetessentials.com. The accessible website also includes the option to video chat with customer service agents in American Sign Language. There are also two dedicated phone numbers 1-855-846-8376 for English and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.
We’re also reaching out to our thousands of governmental and nonprofit partners to help us spread the word. Our hope is that broader access and faster speeds will help all of our Internet Essentials customers more easily work from home, access educational resources, obtain important government health care alerts, and stay in contact with their families during this difficult time.
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by Raul Santa | Feb 18, 2020 | Affiliate News
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Journal Record has released its list of the 2020 Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs & Financial Stewardship Award honorees.
The 24 Most Admired CEO honorees, as well as four financial stewardship award honorees, will be recognized April 27 at The Journal Record’s 11th annual Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs & Financial Stewardship Awards event at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.
CEOs and CFOs will be recognized in three categories – public company, private company and nonprofit. An overall winner will be selected from each category and announced at this year’s event. Four of this year’s honorees will be inducted into the program’s Chain of Distinction, an honor reserved for three-time honorees. Those include Stacy Eads, Vahid Farzaneh, Sean Kouplen and Brad Poarch.
For the third year in a row, a Legacy Award will also be presented at the event to honor a president, CEO, chairperson or other prominent leader in business. The award recognizes lifetime achievement in leadership and honors individuals who are leaving a legacy through their work in Oklahoma.
All honorees will be profiled in a keepsake magazine that will serve as the program for the event and inserted into The Journal Record on April 28.
“It’s important we celebrate the achievements and outstanding leadership of the state’s leading CEOs,” said Russell Ray, editor of The Journal Record. “In addition to being captains of our most important industries, they are leaders in the state’s philanthropic efforts and architects of economic development.”
This year’s event partners are Cox Business and UMB Bank. Cigna is the video partner.
What follows is a list of the 2020 CEO honorees.
Brenda Jones Barwick, Jones PR
- Derek Blackshare, Blackshare Environmental Solutions
- Kyle Brownlee, Wymer Brownlee Wealth Strategies
- Richard Cook, Claims Management Resources
- Amy Downs, Allegiance Credit Union
- Stacy Eads Stacy, Eads LLC
- Vahid Farzaneh, Freestyle Creative
- Raul Font, Latino Community Development Agency
- Leigh Goodson, Tulsa Community College
- Dee Hays, Excellence Engineering LLC
- Lindsay Jordan, Write On Fundraising
- Sean Kouplen, Regent Bank
- Kitt Letcher, Better Business Bureau of Central Oklahoma
- Jennifer Lickteig, TBS Factoring
- John Lindsay, Helmerich & Payne
- Susan Lobsinger, Lobdock Impairment Detection
- Donna Miller, Purse Power Inc.
- David Nimmo, Chickasaw Nation Industries
- Brad Poarch, Cory’s AV
- Timila Rother, Crowe & Dunlevy
- Richie Splitt, Norman Regional Health System
- Pamela Timmons, Good Shepherd Clinic
- Matt Williamson, Clevyr Inc.
- Brian Wilson, Innovative Capital Management
The CFOs to be honored this year include:
- John Hart, Continental Resources
- Jeff Hendrix, 180 Medical
- Ken Hopkins, Norman Regional Health System
- Steve Lobsinger, Lobdock Impairment Detection
by Raul Santa | Feb 13, 2020 | Affiliate News
Esperanza, Inc. (meaning “hope”), began in the early 1980s as a community project to improve the educational opportunities for Hispanics by motivating and recognizing academic achievement through scholarships. As Ohio’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Hispanic educational achievement, its founders recognized the need to expand the services by adding programs to address more of the educational needs of the community. Esperanza awarded its first college scholarship in 1983. Since awarding just one college scholarship that first year, Esperanza has grown steadily to where it is now able to award over 100 college scholarships every year through the support of corporations, foundations, and individual donors.
Learn More
by Raul Santa | Feb 13, 2020 | Affiliate News
Mission
The mission of the Tejano Center for Community Concerns is to develop education, social, health, and community institutions that empower families to transform their lives.
Vision
The Tejano Center for Community Concerns will continuously strive to be the premier nonprofit organization in the state of Texas.
History
The Tejano Center for Community Concerns (Tejano Center) was established in 1992 on Houston’s East End, a predominantly Hispanic populated area. By serving as an agent for change that empowered neighborhood residents, the Tejano Center’s goal was to improve lives and create a sustained network of support and opportunity within the community.
The early Tejano Center pioneers realized that the way to respond to community needs was to provide a comprehensive array of social, educational, economic, and housing services. Since its beginnings, the Tejano Center’s programs and services have progressively expanded in large part through strategic partnerships with such entities as the City of Houston, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Texas Education Agency, Baylor College of Medicine, the Harris County Juvenile Probation Office, and the National Council of La Raza. In 2002, becoming aware of similar needs in the greater Brownsville, Texas area, the Tejano Center expanded its programs into that South Texas area by adding a fourth campus to its Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success.
READ MORE HERE
by Raul Santa | Jan 30, 2020 | News & Updates
I am pleased to announce that the Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations (PATHS-UP), a consortium of Texas A&M University (College Station, TX), Florida International University (Miami, FL), Rice University (Houston, TX), and the University of California – Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), is accepting applications for its paid summer research opportunities.
Please join us in this exciting research at this NSF-funded Engineering Research Center as we strive to change the paradigm for the health of underserved populations by developing revolutionary and cost-effective technologies and systems at the point-of-care.
Website for more information and to apply:
https://pathsup.org/reu/
Benefits:
– $4000 stipend
– Financial support for housing
– Travel support for out-of-area participants
Deadline: February 10, 2020 or until all positions are filled, but please apply early to be considered in the first rounds of funding decisions.
Students interested in conducting research in the following areas are encouraged to apply:
– Developing chemistry to detect biomarkers for heart disease or diabetes
– Developing paper fluidic or other microfluidics and hand-held devices that can read the chemistry on cartridges
– Developing wearable health devices, e.g., watch or ring, to monitor things like heart rates
– Working with underserved communities on the design and development of point-of-care medical devices
Eligibility:
– Undergraduates, US citizens or permanent residents, 18 years or older, who have completed their first year in engineering and the physical and mathematical sciences, but are not scheduled to graduate before December 2020.
Students from diverse groups traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering are encourage to apply.
Please let me know if you apply so I can follow up on your materials.
