mary will have a presentation on global

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Conversation about giving a speech on global warming between 2 people

What is the conversation about.

Jennifer is going to be giving a speech on Global Warming, and she is very nervous about the whole thing. Mary her friend is trying to calm Jennifer down by giving her some useful tips on how to deliver a good speech to an audience.

Conversation about going a speech on global warming

Jennifer: I will have to give a presentation on global warming on Friday, and I am so nervous.

Mary: There are a lot of things you can do to make you feel more confident and less nervous.

Jennifer: What should I do, Mary?

Mary: First of all, you need to understand the subject matter thoroughly. You need to know what is global warming, what causes global warming, and what people should do to abate the effects  of global warming.

Jennifer: I have done a lot of research on the subject, and I know I can answer any questions I  will receive from the audience.

Mary: The next thing that you need is an outline of your presentation. You should think about how to effectively present the subject matter.

Jennifer: You mean what I should talk about, or more precisely the sequence of my presentation?

Mary: Yes, what you should present first, second, third…

Jennifer: If that is the case, then I already have an outline. To make it easy for my audience to follow the presentation, I intend to post the outline on the board at all time during my speech.

Mary: Good idea! By the way, do you have any facts to back you up? For example, change of climate, yearly disasters…

Jennifer: No, I have not thought about that. I better get some statistics from the Internet. I  should not have any problems since the Internet has all kinds of data.

Mary: Good. It is easier to convince people and to hold their attention with actual data. It would be even better if you show some pictures along the way. Do you have any?

Jennifer: No, it is another thing to add to my To Do list. I guess I will need at least two or three pictures to persuade people about the dangers of global warming.

Mary: Pictures will keep your audience from being bored. In order for you to succeed, you need to keep them interested and involved.

Jennifer: What else do I need? Is there anything else I can do to help me relax and be at ease during my presentation?

Mary: You need to practice your presentation. Just pretend that you are standing in front of your audience and start to give your speech.

Jennifer: Pretending is one thing; actually giving a speech is another thing.

Mary: Think positive. Tell yourself that you can do it without any problems.

Jennifer: I guess I can look at this as a presentation of my point of view to my friends. I mean a lot of my friends. I mean all the friends that I have made since kindergarten, plus all the relatives that I have on both my mother and father’s sides.

Mary: If you are really prepared, it will be a piece of cake. You will be able to speak with ease and confidence, and you will be amazed by how well you can express yourself.

Jennifer: I need to do this presentation really well. This is my first presentation in front of a big audience, and it is so important to me.

Mary: This is only the beginning, Jennifer. Being able to express your ideas with confidence and clarity is one of the best skills to possess.

Jennifer: You are absolutely right. I will take time to practice and to learn to relax and express myself really well. Wish me luck, Mary!

Mary: I know you. You can do it. Good luck, Jennifer!

Expressions used in the conversation about goiving a speech on global warming

Give a presentation

Global warming

I am so nervous

Make you feel more confident

Understand the subject matter thoroughly

Abate the effects

Sequence of the presentation

Follow a presentation

At all time

Change of climate

Convince people

Hold somebody’s attention

Keep the audience from being bored

Think positive

Tell yourself

Piece of cake

You are absolutely right

Take time to do something

Express oneself

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How Do We Know About the Presentation of Mary?

When we celebrate the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we give honor and respect to the Purest Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness

Marge Fenelon, November 21, 2023 – National Catholic Register

It’s easy to conceptualize the Presentation of the Lord because we find it in Scripture. Luke’s Gospel tells of the Holy Family’s journey to the Temple when Jesus was 8 days old. According to Jewish custom, Jesus was to be circumcised and Mary purified. There Mary and Joseph meet the prophets Anna and Simeon, who recognized the Child as the Messiah who would bring about the fall and rise of many, become a sign of contradiction and the cause of a sword that would one day pierce Mary’s heart. We celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord annually on Feb. 2.

The Presentation of Mary, however, is not found in Scripture. Instead, we learn about Mary’s presentation from accounts that have come to us from apostolic times. What we know is found mainly in Chapter 7 of the  Protoevangelium of James , which has been dated by historians before the year A.D. 200.

The Protoevangelium of James was ostensibly written by the apostle of the same name. It gives a detailed account in which Mary’s father, Joachim, tells his wife, Anna, that he wishes to bring their daughter to the Temple and consecrate her to God. Anna responds that they should wait until Mary is 3 years old so that she will not need her parents as much. On the agreed day for Mary to be taken to the Temple, Hebrew virgins accompanied the family with burning lamps. The Temple priest received Mary, kissed her, and blessed her. According to James’ writing, the priest then proclaimed, “The Lord has magnified thy name in all generations. In thee, the Lord will manifest his redemption to the sons of Israel.” After that, Mary was placed on the third step of the Temple and danced with joy. All the House of Israel loved Mary, and she was nurtured from then on in the Temple while her parents returned to their Nazareth home, glorifying God.

The celebration of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary grew slowly over the years. On Nov. 21, 543, Emperor Justinian dedicated a church to Mary in the Temple area of Jerusalem. Many of the early church Fathers celebrated this feast day, such as St. Germanus and St. John Damascene. In 1373, it was formally celebrated in Avignon, France, and in 1472, Pope Sixtus IV extended it to the universal Church. The Byzantine Church considers Mary’s Presentation one of the 12 great feasts of the liturgical year.

In 1974, Pope Paul VI wrote about this feast in his encyclical Marialis Cultus , saying, “despite its apocryphal content, it presents lofty and exemplary values and carries on the venerable traditions having their origins in the Eastern churches.”

The Memorial of the Presentation of Mary has been noted in the Church since its early years and yet is easily forgotten or misunderstood. Since it’s classified as a memorial and not a solemnity or holy day of obligation, it doesn’t draw much attention to itself other than a special opening prayer in the Mass. With this memorial, we celebrate the fact that God chose to dwell in Mary in a unique way. In response, she placed her whole self at his service. By our Baptism, God invites us, too, into his service.

But there’s more to celebrating the Presentation of Mary! This feast gives us cause for great joy since Mary is truly our Mother, given to us by Christ as he hung dying on the Cross. Because we are part of her Son’s body, she loves us with as much devotion and tenderness as she loves Jesus. When we celebrate Mary’s Presentation, we are giving Mary the honor she deserves and witnessing to her perfect purity as the Virgin of Nazareth, the Mother of God, and our Mother.

Sts. Joachim and Anne surrendered their only daughter to God so that she would be completely free to follow his holy will. Although they loved her dearly, they knew that in the Temple Mary would always be near the Holy of Holies, surrounded by an atmosphere of godliness and grace. She would be instructed in Scripture and the history of the Jewish people. She would be under the guardianship and tutelage of the holy women of the Temple who had given their lives to God. One of them, Scripture scholars believe, was Anna — the woman who prophesied at the Presentation of Our Lord. In the Temple, Mary would be completely focused on God and well prepared for becoming the Mother of the Savior and Mother of the Body of Christ.

When we celebrate the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we remember the tremendous sacrifice Sts. Joachim and Anne made for our sakes. We give honor and respect to the Purest Virgin, who is an example for all of us in our struggle for holiness. It is a privilege and an opportunity to express our gratitude for the gift of a pure, tender and always-loving Mother.

Marge Steinhage Fenelon is an award-winning author, international speaker, and professional life coach. She has written several books on Marian devotion and Catholic spirituality. As life coach, she is passionate about helping others grow personally and spiritually. Her podcast, Simply Holy, airs on many popular podcast platforms. Learn more about Marge at MargeFenelon.com .

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Joyful Mysteries, Transformed: Mary’s Presentation Changes Everything

The November 21 Feast of the Presentation of Mary changes the picture of Mary’s life most of us have, considerably.

The feast has been celebrated since the early days of Christianity, especially in the East. The Western Church has been less dedicated to the feast, and now we stress that this is the anniversary of Saint Mary’s church in Jerusalem rather than risk “ celebrating something that never happened .”

But Doctor of the Church St. Alphonsus Ligouri delights in the story of Mary being Presented in the Temple as a small child then living there, being educated in Scripture. Michael Hesemann in 2011’s Mary of Nazareth suggests that key evidence supports this ancient tradition.

The Church is no stranger to the custom of girls being raised in this way.

I imagine Mary’s life in ancient Jerusalem being not unlike the life of St. Gertrude the Great in 13th century Germany. Gertrude began her education in the Benedictine convent in her childhood, and lived her life by the prayer bells of the convent, learning Scripture, including the leading commentators, and doing chores in the Abbey.

Mary would have been deeply steeped in scripture as well, understanding the implications of the Old Testament prophecies and reciting the Psalms, including Psalm 24: “One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life, to gaze on the LORD’s beauty.”

Imagining Mary’s story with this background changes our understanding of her who life — starting with the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.

First, the Annunciation, and Mary’s relationship with Joseph, becomes clearer.

In The Nativity Story (2005), The Star (2017) and   Journey to Bethlehem (2023) envisions Mary and Joseph’s marriage in a conventionally romantic way. But if she grew up in the Temple, we can imagine her story differently.

Think of each line from Luke’s account of the Annunciation with Mary’s Temple background in mind.

The angel Gabriel is sent “to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.” If Mary’s parents had presented her to live in the Temple when she was very young and they were very old, then the story of her betrothal is in large part a matter of Mary being provided for upon leaving the Temple.

The angel tells Mary that she will conceive and bear a son “and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” A girl educated in the Temple, Mary would have known exactly what that means: She was to be the mother of the messiah.

Mary responds : “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” That response is strange for a woman betrothed to be married, but it makes much more sense if we know she has made a special commitment to celibacy — as someone presented in the Temple would have done — and if it is a commitment she intends to keep.

Mary says , “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” If she had lived in the Temple, then that phrase was literally true about her: She spent her childhood helping in the Lord’s house.

Second, the Visitation story makes a new kind of sense.

In the Gospel, after being told that she will be the mother of the Lord, the Blessed Mother is told that her cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Temple priest Zechariah, is pregnant. She goes in haste to help.

I always pictured this as a girl who has grown up helping around her house going to another house to help out. But her Temple background would make this the story of a helper who is uniquely suited for the role of serving a Temple priest’s household.

And a girl educated in the Temple would have had the rich knowledge of Scripture necessary to compose the Magnificat .

Even the Nativity of Jesus takes on a new dimension.

Bethlehem, just outside Jerusalem, was a city of sheep and shepherds — appropriately enough for David’s town — because many sheep were needed for families participating in the Temple sacrifice.

We might forget how the constant sacrifices that happened in the Temple must have made it a place where many animals were kept and much blood had to be dealt with at all times. But a girl who grew up there certainly wouldn’t forget it.

So it would have been especially poignant for Mary to travel so close to her childhood home to give birth among the animals and to be visited by shepherds.

And whether she lived in the Temple or not, after the crucifixion, the significance would not be lost on the Blessed Mother that the Lamb of God entered the world where so many sacrificial lambs had also been born.  You see this aspect of the story emphasized in the Gospel written by John, who lived with her.

Of course, her Presentation would also lend more significance to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

I have always thought of the moment when the holy man Simeon sees the baby Jesus as a miracle of recognition: Simeon knew Jesus at first sight. But if Mary spent her childhood at the Temple, it is not hard to imagine that he had seen her before.

In fact, pious legends speak of how her holiness was obvious to the Rabbis and helpers at the Temple. When Simeon sees the child, it is possible that he recognizes Christ’s significance in part because he already knows her significance — and that when he prophesies that a sword will pierce Mary’s heart, he may be sharing a prophecy he has had for a long time.

And we are explicitly told that Anna, who also praised the baby Jesus, had lived a long time in the Temple . If Mary had also, then surely Anna knew her — maybe very well.

But the most poignant connection of all is the Finding in the Temple.

When Joseph and Mary finally find the boy Jesus after having lost him for three days, he says “Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house?”

If Mary had grown up in or near the Temple she would have personally known no other home than this as a child herself.  So instead of imagining that Jesus’ words simply meant, “God is my true Father. Of course I would be here!” We could maybe imagine they also mean: “This place is your home, too. Isn’t this where you would go?”

In the end, we can understand Mary’s special relationship with the Temple no matter where she grew up.

Mary is compared to the Ark of the Covenant, and she is the first and best example of the Christian understanding that “your body is a temple.”

Whether she lived there or not, she loved the Temple, and felt the full power of Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts. … They are happy, who dwell in your house, for ever singing your praise.”

A version of this appeared at Aleteia . Image: Presentation of the Virgin by Titian – Accademia – Venice 2016

Tom Hoopes, author of The Rosary of Saint John Paul II and The Fatima Family Handbook , is writer in residence at Benedictine College in Kansas and hosts The Extraordinary Story podcast about the life of Christ. A former reporter in the Washington, D.C., area, he served as press secretary of the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee Chairman and spent 10 years as executive editor of the National Catholic Register newspaper and Faith & Family magazine . His work frequently appears in Catholic publications such as Aleteia.org and the Register . He and his wife, April, have nine children and live in Atchison, Kansas.

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Presentation of Mary: The meeting place of human and divine

by Joyce Meyer

International Liaison, Global Sisters Report

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and the feast of Mary being presented in the Temple is celebrated November 21, within the same week. Of course the feast is special to the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but it is a feast that has iconic implications for all of us. It is a story of family and all the cultural implications and complications this involves; it is a story of a family’s relationship to God; it is a story of a female figure important not only to Christians but Muslims and Jews as well; and it is also an icon of the cosmos.

Although not found in Scripture, the story of Mary's presentation is an apocryphal story appearing in other early Christian writings. Anna and Joaquim, Mary's parents, presented her in the Temple as a gesture of gratitude to God for the end of a painful time in their lives. This "miracle" child, according to the Protoevangelicum of James, was the answer to infertility of a couple who waited with longing and prayer for a child. According to the Islamic version, which I discovered in a 2003 edition of The Economist , Anna and Joaquim were finally "expecting a child who would perform unique services to God and were therefore surprised when the baby turned out to be a girl." In this rendition of the story, Anna and Joaquim's response to the prophecy and gift was a promise to give Mary over to Temple life until she was at least 14 years old and engaged to Joseph, a widower. The Christian story gives details of Joaquim making announcement that Mary, at 2 years of age, should be taken to the Temple as they had promised, but Anna determined that they needed to wait. So, after dialogue, on her 3rd birthday Anna and Joaquim sadly took Mary to the Temple, accompanied by other young women. The Temple priest Zacharia, named in both the Christian and Muslim stories, received her. He lifted her up to the third temple step and as he set her down, she danced with joy for the Lord. The Islam story tells of Zacharia bringing the child food and finding that God had already sent nourishment, making it clear how receptive she was to God.

The tradition of Mary being accompanied by virgins on her way to the temple has both Christian and Jewish roots, because according to author Dr. Taylor Marshall, Temple virgins in Jerusalem were common. They "formed an altar guild that fulfilled the necessary tasks at the temples that included sewing and creating vestments, washing vestments of priests with would be stained regularly by animal blood, preparing liturgical linen, weaving the veil of the Temple and most importantly, liturgical prayer." Dr. Taylor cites a variety of Scriptural accounts to support this tradition: Exodus 38:8, 1 Samuel 2:22, Numbers 4:23 and 8:24, and others.

It is believed that this feast of Mary was first celebrated in Syria, one of the earliest birthplaces of Christianity. It was promoted through monasteries in Southern Italy in the ninth century and spread to other places including France under Pope Gregory XI. It became a universal church feast in 1472, taken away in 1568, and restored again in 1585 as a memorial feast in the Western church. Today, the feast is still celebrated in the eastern churches, but the country where it started is under threat. Centuries of Christian religious traditions are being lost, as ancient religious sites are destroyed and people are forced to either leave their countries or convert to a radical form of Islam.

I never paid much attention to early church history or eastern Christian churches until I visited Ethiopia and encountered Orthodox Christianity still being practiced in its ancient forms. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity was brought from Egypt, but was later enculturated and became an independent form. Visiting an Orthodox monastery of nuns in 2006 was a close-up experience of ancient practice. I was welcomed by the sister in charge of the monastery, dressed in a long black habit with a long, black veil falling around her shoulders from a kind of pill-box-shaped hat. We went first to see the chapel, a place of worship very unlike our usual Catholic chapels. There was no Eucharistic tabernacle, but instead there were icons and large hand painted pictures of Jesus, Mary and the saints surrounding the few stools where the sisters sat for prayer.

I learned from the sister that the Eucharist was celebrated rarely, and later discovered that Eucharist and Communion are not common for any of the Orthodox communities. Instead, fasting and prayer are central to their prayer life. Usually, only elders and children receive Communion as they are usually the "most pure." Sexually active persons pray the liturgical prayers, but do not receive Communion.

Sister and I then walked out to the farm where the nuns raise cows for milk, chickens for eggs and meat, and till gardens for vegetables. This group of 10 nuns was very poor. To earn a little income, they provide a small, poorly furnished kindergarten for about a dozen children and weave fabrics that they sew into table cloths. The nuns doing the weaving had not been trained, and so the results were not well executed. Sister explained that they were hoping to get help from another monastery to increase their sales. Our last stop was the monastery dining room where we were invited to drink tea. To my amazement, one of the nuns in the room spoke American English. She was an African American woman who had come to learn how to be a Coptic Orthodox nun. Her plan was to return to the United States and start her own monastery. I never did learn if her dream became reality, but there are a number of Orthodox congregations in the United States who still practice the ancient rites of various rites of Orthodoxy

The iconic story of Anna, Joaquim and Mary also sparked memories of the recent Synod on the Family and Pope Francis' call to all of us to be merciful to the complicated lives of families worldwide. I was thinking about Anna and Joaquim, wanting a child and yet being unsuccessful to conceive. Most of us know such families and the pain they endure as they try to decide what to do. Now days with all the gynecological technologies available, it is still not simple to discern God's will in such circumstances. Anna and Joaquin's struggle to be faithful to their promise to give up their child for a time to the Temple was not an easy one either. Again, how many stories have we heard, even in our day, of parents in many places of the world who want to provide a future for their children but at times cannot even afford to feed them and so give them up to the care of others? Seeking the right husband for their daughter, Anna and Joaquim were confronted with finding Mary unexpectedly pregnant, most certainly another complication. None of these situations that Anna and Joaquim experienced is foreign to families in the world today, either because of custom, poverty or unforeseen circumstances. Pope Francis reminds all of us that harsh judgements have no place when people are struggling to raise their children in the best way possible with all the pressures of society and culture they endure.

Mary's generous self-giving of her life to God is not only an icon of generosity and self-giving for women consecrated in religious life, but for mothers as well as they remember Mary only stayed in the Temple for about three years before she was engaged to Joseph and became a mother herself. This story of Mary's presentation in the Temple is an icon for all of us, female and male, consecrated in Baptism to give our lives completely over to God and to live in dance of joy, gratitude and fruitfulness in the midst of all life's complexities.

Lastly, this story of Mary's presentation in the Temple even has cosmic implications found in Jewish cosmic mythology. According to Sr. Mary Coloe, PBVM, a Scripture scholar, Genesis 2:8 presents us with a creation event describing the place of the Temple in Jewish belief. She notes that "all the waters of the earth have their origins in the heavens and flow down to touch the earth at the place where the temple stands. The temple rests upon the fissure above the great abyss, which is the source of the creative waters." For the Jews, the Temple represented God's act of creation. Exodus 40 describes the tabernacle of the Temple being built in seven stages replicating the seven days of creation. "The tabernacle is equal to the creation of the world," is a quote from Midrash Tanhuman 11.2 according to Margaret Barker, a Scripture scholar. Mary's presentation places her in this temple of creation — she becoming the beginning of a new creation.

Somehow this simple image of Mary's presentation in the Temple is archetypal. It touches something deep in us humans that reaches across the diversity of three major religious traditions. Its layers of meaning connect us to creation of the cosmos; reveal human vulnerability experienced in family bonds and unite us as one family in belief that human life is holy from the earliest moments of our existence. And in these moments of awareness we experience the Joy of Mary who not only entered theTemple, but became the Temple, the meeting place of human and divine, a transformation that is our call as well.

• Acknowledgements and gratitude to Mary Coloe, PBVM: Presented in the Temple of God's Glory ; Dr. Taylor Marshall: Did Jewish Temple Virgins Exist and was Mary a Temple Virgin? ; The Economist , Dec. 18, 2003 (no author given): "A Mary for All."

[Joyce Meyer, PBVM, is international liaison to women religious outside of the United States for Global Sisters Report .]

Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation Further Commit to the Prevention and Elimination of Global Gender-Based Violence

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Commitment to Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence and Renewed Partnerships with UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and CARE Underline the Brand’s Mission to Protect Women and Girls around the World

DALLAS, TX (November 24, 2021) – In recognition of the upcoming International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women kicking off the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation today announced a renewed, joint commitment to the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence by joining the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence. The commitment—which the organizations made public during UN Women’s recent Generation Equality Forum in Paris—is just the latest step the storied beauty brand and its charitable arm have made in the interest of improving the lives of women everywhere.

The Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence, co-led by UN Women and by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund), among other leaders, is a powerful global movement mobilizing governments, international organizations, philanthropies, and the private sector to deliver transformational progress towards the elimination of gender-based violence through four concrete actions:

• Creating enabling policy, legal and resource environments;
• Scaling up evidence driven prevention programming;
• Scaling up comprehensive, accessible, and quality services for survivors;
• Enabling and empowering autonomous girl-led and women’s rights organizations to exercise their expertise.

A goal of the Generation Equality Gender-Based Violence Action Coalition is to have 550 million more women and girls live in countries with laws and policies prohibiting all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls by 2026, among others. During the Forum, UN Women committed to amplifying support and funding to women’s rights organizations by working with partners to secure a minimum of 100 million USD in grants to be allocated through the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) over the next five years.

“There is a gender-based violence global emergency . “Violence experienced by women and girls is significantly underreported—but it’s estimated that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 adolescent girls have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner. We must take action now. Since 2000, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation has awarded more than $58 million to domestic violence shelters. Our commitment to the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence will allow us to stretch that aid even further.” Ryan Rogers, Chief Investment Officer for Mary Kay Inc., and Vice President of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation SM Board of Directors

“Since 1963, Mary Kay has made a commitment to improving the lives of girls and women everywhere . We’re honored to join governments, the private sector, and NGOs across the world with similar aspirations in this pledge to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence. Achieving real equity will transform the world as we know it—investing in women is the most powerful good that we can do to effect meaningful change.” Melinda Foster Sellers , Chief People Officer of Mary Kay Inc .

Last year, Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation joined forces with the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) and CARE, two champions of women’s rights, to further their mission to achieve a world free from violence against women.

Since 1996, the UN Trust Fund has supported 609 organizations for a total value of $198 million in 140 countries and territories, investing in innovative and evidence-based civil society-led solutions and life-changing initiatives at the national and local levels. Through its partnership with the UN Trust Fund, Mary Kay has contributed to funding life-changing projects to protect women and girls in 68 countries and territories in 2021.

In 2021, the UN Trust Fund marks its 25 th anniversary of grant-giving, support, and commitment to strengthening civil society and women’s rights organizations. For its anniversary, the Fund invites everyone to take action and join the cause through its crowdfunding challenge, #Give25forUNTF25 , to ensure civil society and women’s rights organizations are resourced with long-term and flexible funding.

“The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation have joined forces to achieve the ambition of Sustainable Development Goal 5 and ending violence against women by ensuring long term, core and flexible funding to women’s rights organizations around the world who are first responders to women and girls survivors . As the world continues to experience multiple and coinciding crises, associated with increasing rates of violence against women, threatening gains in women’s rights, public-private partnerships are as important as ever to enable lasting results for women and girls around the world.” Vesna Jaric, Officer-In- Charge, UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women

Established in 1945, CARE is an international humanitarian organization working around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, achieve social justice and fight for women and girls. Women and girls are a core focus of CARE because evidence shows that addressing gender inequalities is key to effectively responding to crises, overcoming poverty, and ensuring all people live with dignity and security. In 2020, Mary Kay entered a global partnership with CARE to support the organization’s Crisis Response Campaign and commitment to eradicate gender-based violence everywhere including humanitarian settings.

“It is impossible for women and girls to achieve equality when violence and sexual harassment threaten their security every day . Across the world, cases of gender-based violence have risen significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, with calls to helplines increasing 5X in some countries and women locked in with abusers.  Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation are partnering with CARE to ensure we can reduce the risk of gender-based violence and provide comprehensive care for survivors. During 16 Days of Activism, we’re asking the public to join us in answering the call and advocating for structural and social change to end violence against women around the world.” Michelle Nunn, President and CEO of CARE

Mary Kay Inc. and the Mary Kay Ash Foundation join women’s rights advocates the world over in celebrating the 25 th anniversary of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and the 75 th anniversary of CARE.

The global theme, set by the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign, for this 2021’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2021, is  “Orange the world: End violence against women now!”

About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her beauty company 58 years ago with three goals: develop rewarding opportunities for women, offer irresistible products, and make the world a better place. That dream has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar company with millions of independent sales force members in nearly 40 countries. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skin care, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay is committed to empowering women and their families by partnering with organizations from around the world, focusing on supporting cancer research, protecting survivors from domestic abuse, beautifying our communities, and encouraging children to follow their dreams. Mary Kay Ash’s original vision continues to shine—one lipstick at a time. Learn more at MaryKay.com .

About The Mary Kay Ash Foundation SM Guided by Mary Kay Ash’s dream to enrich the lives of women everywhere, The Mary Kay Ash Foundation SM  raises and distributes funds to invest in breakthrough cancer research to find a cure for women-related cancers and ending domestic violence against women. Since 1996, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation SM  has contributed more than $80 million to organizations aligned with its two-fold mission. In addition, the Foundation supports awareness initiatives, community outreach programs, and advocates for legislation to ensure women are healthy and safe. Together, we can make the world better for women. To learn more about how to educate, advocate, volunteer and donate, and join life-saving work to support and empower women, visit  marykayfoundation.org , find us on  Facebook  and  Instagram , or follow us on  Twitter .

About United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund), managed by UN Women on behalf of the UN system, is the only global grant-making mechanism exclusively dedicated to eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls. In the 25 years of its existence, it has supported 609 organizations, investing in innovative and evidence-based civil society-led solutions and life-changing projects. The projects funded focus on preventing violence, implementing laws and policies to address and eliminate violence against women and girls, and improving access to essential services for survivors. Learn more at  untf.unwomen.org  and follow us on  Facebook ,  Instagram  and  Twitter .

About CARE  Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package ® , CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE has more than seven decades of experience delivering emergency aid during times of crisis. Our emergency responses focus on the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women. Last year CARE worked in 100 countries and reached close to 70 million people around the world. To learn more, visit  www.care.org .

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William & Mary’s Global Research Institute to explore changing role of U.S. alliances

By Kerrie Rushton

The global balance of power is shifting — and U.S. policy must change with it. In an event on Feb. 16, the College of William & Mary’s Global Research Institute (GRI) will bring together more than 50 nationally recognized foreign policy experts from academia, think tanks, and government to explore the changing role of alliances in U.S. foreign policy.

Professor Barry Posen, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies program and a renowned expert on U.S. grand strategy and national security, and Kori Schake, senior fellow and director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, will serve as keynote speakers. 

“The conference will tackle tough questions, including debates over the extent of U.S. engagement in the Russia-Ukraine War,” Jessica Trisko Darden, director of GRI’s Security and Foreign Policy Initiative, told the  Virginia   Gazette . “We hope that by bringing a variety of perspectives to campus, the Foreign Policy Initiative will contribute to vigorous and informed debate about the future direction of U.S. foreign policy, the nature of U.S. alliances and the United States’ role in the world.”

William & Mary students will have the opportunity to play a part in this week’s conversation. Indeed, one of GRI’s primary objectives is to enhance opportunities for students to interact with foreign policy practitioners and influencers and to engage in research opportunities in the areas of international security and U.S. foreign policy.

Since its founding in 2008, more than 50 unique external partners — including the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) — have invested in GRI. Today, more than 60 faculty and staff and more than 200 students conduct applied research with project collaborators that include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the United Nations. 

Register  for the event.  Read  more about the Charles Koch Foundation’s support for GRI. 

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CES Press Release General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra to Deliver Opening Keynote at CES 2022

The  Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®  today announced that General Motors (GM) Chair and CEO Mary Barra will deliver the opening keynote at CES® 2022 , the world's most influential technology event. Barra will return to the CES keynote stage, sharing GM’s vision for mass adoption of electric vehicles. She will show how technology and the all-electric era will create opportunities for mobility experiences to serve the planet and the people.   The automotive sector is tracking for record growth at  CES® 2022 , with companies from around the world using CES to launch products, share their vision and conduct face-to-face meetings. More than 180 companies from the transportation and vehicle tech industry have committed to the show, including GM, Daimler AG, Fisker, Hyundai Motor Company, Toyota, Waymo and more. "CES is the global stage for brands to showcase their commitment to driving change,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Mary Barra disrupted an industry at an inflection point by showing the potential of an all-electric future. GM stock hit an all-time high following the show. We are thrilled for her return at CES 2022 and look forward to hearing the progress GM has made towards an all-electric future and its vision for how this technology will benefit our planet.” Barra has served as CEO of GM since Jan. 15, 2014 and Chair of the GM Board of Directors since Jan. 4, 2016. Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity – time. She began her career with GM in 1980 as a co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division and has since held various roles within the company, including executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing & Supply Chain, vice president of Global Human Resources, and vice president of Global Manufacturing Engineering. Barra joins recently confirmed T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert as a keynote speaker. The CES keynote schedule will be updated regularly as keynote speakers are announced. Top visionaries and thought leaders will speak and share insights on premiere technologies during CES 2022. Attendees will be able to view the keynotes in Las Vegas and through the digital experience, giving the world a front row seat to experience the future of technology. 

Owned and produced by CTA,  CES 2022  will convene the tech industry in-person and digitally, Jan. 5-8, 2022, with Media Days taking place Jan. 3-4, 2022. Global audiences will have access to major brands and startups, as well as the world’s most-influential leaders and industry advocates. For over 50 years, CES has been the global stage for innovation, and CES 2022 will provide an opportunity for companies from around the world, both large and small, to launch products, build brands and form partnerships. Visit  CES.tech  for all CES 2022 updates, including registration details , and the  media page  for all press resources.

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Why do we celebrate Mary’s presentation?

It is true that scholars debate the authenticity of the feast of the Presentation of Mary, which finds its origin in the apocryphal work  The Protoevangelium of James . As a devotee of the Marian biographies published by Maximus the Confessor, Venerable Maria of Agreda and Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, I can affirm each gives an account of Mary’s presentation in the temple at the age of 3. Rather than dwelling on the historicity of today’s event, though, let’s lend our meditation to the feast itself — more specifically: Why do we celebrate Mary’s presentation? The answer is straightforward: The life of Mary provides an example for us, especially in our own spiritual lives. Christians can appropriate spiritual insights for ourselves from the feast of Mary’s Presentation.

The importance of pilgrimage

Tradition believes that Joachim and Anne were barren, and for that reason people of the biblical era would have viewed the couple with suspicion and looked down on them. Like any other couple hoping to conceive, Joachim and Anne prayed to God, asking for the blessing of a child. God heard their prayer, and they were grateful to Him. The story of Joachim and Anne like the Old Testament account of the barren Hannah, who begged God for a child and later gave birth to Samuel. Maximus the Confessor, draws out the similarity in his  The Life of the Virgin , comparing the name Hannah and Anna. The Presentation of Mary reminds us of Hannah’s willingness to offer Samuel back to God because Joachim and Anne bring the child Mary to the temple in a similar fashion at the age of 3.

Joachim, Anne and Mary lived in Nazareth, meaning if they presented Mary in the temple they had to go on a pilgrimage. Many Catholics go on pilgrimage. 2017 was a popular year for pilgrimage because of the centennial anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. There are pilgrimage sites all over the world, including the Holy Land, Marian apparition sites and shrines to saints. A person might go on pilgrimage because of their fascination with a place or story of a saint, or to ask God for a special favor. The Presentation of Mary reminds us that we can go on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, to give thanks to God for a blessing received. In their gratitude, Joachim and Anne pledged to dedicate Mary to God and give her to His service in the temple. To carry this out, it meant they had to make sacrifice and go on pilgrimage.

 Mary’s choice for God

The Presentation of Mary also highlights the fact Mary chooses God at this point in her life, even if at such a young age. On Dec. 8 the Church celebrates Mary’s preservation from Original sin, called her Immaculate Conception. We could say that God chose Mary, as he foresaw the merits of Christ’s cross and applied them to Mary. But the Presentation allows Mary to exercise her free will and choose to live her life devoted to God. Mary’s choice lends us an example to follow. Each day is an opportunity for us to renew and recommit ourselves to the Lord’s service, just as she did in the temple.

Mary’s preparation for Advent

The biographies of Mary suggest Mary remained in the temple after her Presentation. This means she dedicated herself in service to the temple and to whatever tasks she was assigned. It was a time of spiritual formation. She heard the word of God proclaimed, including the prophecies that would be fulfilled through her. Perhaps hearing the story of Hannah and Samuel resonated with her as she would later make Hannah’s prayer her own in the Magnificat. She also would have spent much time in personal prayer, living in the presence of the Holy of Holies only to receive the All Holy One within her very being at the Annunciation. Catholics can look back and see Mary’s time in the temple, from the age of 3 to 12, as a time of advent and preparation. God called her to be there, and, in turn, she chose God. Because of this, God prepared her to receive the savior of the world. The celebration of Mary’s presentation in the temple is an anticipation of the Advent we commence around the time of this feast. Throughout the holy season of Advent, with Mary we can listen to the prophecies, watch and pray for the coming of the Dawn from on high.

The historical details of Mary’s presentation should not be our primary concern in celebrating her feast. The tradition of observing it reminds us that Mary lived her life for God, and we should too. She is the model of the Church, and in her life we find the example for how to live our own.

Fr. Looney is a priest of the diocese of Green Bay.

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• Mary Meeker’s most important trends on the internet

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Share All sharing options for: Mary Meeker’s most important trends on the internet

It’s the holiday season for data nerds: That is, Mary Meeker is delivering her annual Internet Trends Report — the most highly anticipated slide deck in Silicon Valley — again at Code Conference 2019.

The general partner at venture capital firm Bond Capital delivered a rapid-fire 333-page slideshow that looked back at every important internet trend in the last year and looked forward about what these trends tell us to expect in the year ahead. The “Queen of the Internet” and former Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner touched on everything from accelerating internet ad spend in the US to the growth of digital delivery services in Latin America.

But 333 pages is a lot of data to wade through. So Recode has pulled out some of the significant and most interesting trends in Meeker’s report. (You can find the full slide deck at the bottom of this story.)

• Some 51 percent of the world — 3.8 billion people — were internet users last year, up from 49 percent (3.6 billion) in 2017. Growth slowed to about 6 percent in 2018 because so many people have come online that new users are harder to come by. Sales of smartphones — which are the primary internet access point for many people across the globe — are declining as much of the world that is going to be online already is.
• As of last week, seven out of 10 of the world’s most valuable companies by market cap are tech companies, with only Berkshire Hathaway, Visa, and Johnson & Johnson making the Top 10 as non-tech companies:
• Berkshire Hathaway
• Johnson & Johnson
• E-commerce is now 15 percent of retail sales. Its growth has slowed — up 12.4 percent in Q1 compared with a year earlier — but still towers over growth in regular retail, which was just 2 percent in Q1.
• Internet ad spending accelerated in the US, up 22 percent in 2018. Most of the spending is still on Google and Facebook, but companies like Amazon and Twitter are getting a growing share. Some 62 percent of all digital display ad buying is for programmatic ads, which will continue to grow.
• Customer acquisition costs — the marketing spending necessary to attract each new customer — is going up. That’s unsustainable because in some cases it surpasses the long-term revenue those customers will bring. Meeker suggests cheaper ways to acquire customers, like free trials and unpaid tiers.
• There are a number of problems ahead for targeted advertising, including GDPR impact and other regulation, as well as pushes for more privacy from hardware and software companies like Apple and Facebook.
• Americans are spending more time with digital media than ever: 6.3 hours a day in 2018, up 7 percent from the year before. Most of that growth is coming from mobile and other connected devices, while time spent on computers declines. People are also getting more concerned about time spent online, as more than a quarter of US adults say they’re “almost constantly online.”
• Innovation at tech companies outside the US has remained robust. Popular areas include fulfillment, delivery, and payments.
• Images are increasingly the means by which people communicate, as technology developments like faster wifi and better phone cameras have encouraged a surge in image taking. More than 50 percent of Twitter impressions now involve posts with images, video or other media; Twitter used to be text-only.
• The number of interactive gamers worldwide grew 6 percent to 2.4 billion people last year, as interactive games like Fortnite become the new social media for certain people. The number of people who watch those games — rather than participate — is swelling, too.
• As privacy becomes a bigger selling point, expect more options to make your online communications safe. In Q1, 87 percent of global web traffic was encrypted, up from 53 percent three years ago.
• The internet will become more of a cesspool: Getting rid of problematic content becomes more difficult on a large scale, and the very nature of internet communication allows that content to be amplified much more than before. Some issues: 42 percent of US teens have experienced offensive name-calling online, terrorists are being radicalized on sites like YouTube, and social media has encouraged increased political polarization.
• Of the top 25 most valuable tech companies, 60 percent were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants. They employed 1.9 million people last year. New stricter immigration laws could negatively impact the tech industry and perhaps prevent our next Elon Musk from getting to the US.
• Health care is steadily becoming more digitized. Expect more telemedicine and on-demand consultations.

Recode and Vox have joined forces to uncover and explain how our digital world is changing — and changing us. Subscribe to Recode podcasts to hear Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka lead the tough conversations the technology industry needs today.

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Angel Mary On How We Need To Adjust To The Future Of Work

Karen Mangia

12 Min Read

Leaders build trust when they communicate information timely and respect privacy. When any decision impacts the team, the longer it takes to announce it with plans, the less trust your team has for you. As a leader, delays in sharing crucial information can create low confidence in the team and encourage assumptions to take hold of worker imagination. That’s why sending updates consistently will prevent rumors and toxic energy from forming in a workplace.

We are all competing in an attention economy. From pings and dings to blinks and rings, companies and content constantly compete for our limited time and attention. How do great leaders turn down the noise and tune in to the messages that matter most? What does it take to be heard above the noise? And how do we create communication that cultivates community and connectedness in a distributed, distracted world? To address these questions, we started an interview series called “Can You Hear Me Now?: Top Five Strategies Leaders Use to Diminish Distractions & Win in the Attention Economy.” As a part of this interview series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Angel Mary.

Angel Mary is a motivational leadership speaker and the CEO of Star Trak Investments LLC. Angel Mary has spanned her career through various sectors such as government, finance, food service, real estate, and finally healthcare, where she fast-tracked climbing the corporate ladder from entry-level to C-Suite in under 5 years. As a senior leader implementing strategic change initiatives enterprise-wide, Angel seeks to bridge the gap between the people and the processes needed to success. Motivated to share her success and challenges through her career, Angel also started the Career Path Angel Show, an inspiring podcast dedicated to sharing diverse experiences, tips, and lessons for the next generation of young professionals as they decide on their own future career moves.

Thank you for making time to visit with us. Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. What is one of your most memorable moments, and what made it memorable?

The first time I realized I love strategic leadership operations was when the hospital tasked my department to create a workflow to convert antiquated paper medical records into scanned electronic medical records. The brainstorming sessions our boss pulled us into to pick our brains as a team was truly exhilarating. Until that moment, I was doing transactional work. But during this meeting, I and other colleagues needed to problem solve a high level multi department issue and document that into an official workflow. Our brainstorming sessions were so fruitful and engaging, I hardly noticed 3 hours went by in our initial pow-wow. After documenting it all, and implementing successfully, our project procedures became best practices in the health system and replicated by dozens of hospitals. Being a part of this initial project years ago was not only a proud moment, but also one where I recognized my innate desire to work in strategic leadership and change management.

What is the most unexpected twist in your career story, and what did you discover from your detour?

People can really make or break the job! One of the hardest decisions I had to make was when I walked away from working in a well paying and highly visible position as a contract specialist. The work was so meaningful to me since I was able to work with CEOs as well as administrators. It gave me exposure to work that not only pushed me to hone my skills further, but also to understand a whole sector of the population being served by the non-profit sector. Homelessness was being solved by the funds I was writing the contracts up for and I found meaning in the work. But ultimately a toxic manager destroyed the dream to work in the position long term. Until that point, I did not realize how important it was for me to have a supportive manager. It led me to scrutinize my own leadership skills and ensure I never give off the same negativity to my team that I experienced myself.

According to a recent Harvard Business School study , the most essential communication skill for leaders is the ability to adapt their communication style. How do you adapt your communication style?

Communication is an art form. It requires consistent attention and finesse. Most leaders are often in the position where they need to introduce new projects and initiatives. The truth is there is no one size fits all approach to sharing communication. The right way to adapt is to ensure the right information is shared timely with the people it matters to most. For example, I had an employee who was highly anxious of changes in the department. Any time a huge new sweeping change would occur, before I would announce it to the whole department, I would pull this employee aside and reveal and reassure them of the changes. By doing this one action, I was able to prevent the department meeting later from becoming a negative discourse. This neutralized the employee who often is the loudest negative voice and it allowed me to manage the messaging for the rest of the team.

Clarity is critical as well. What lessons have you learned about how to communicate with clarity in our distributed world of work?

Clear defined roles are integral for your teams to be successful. Any time I had a new member join, I make sure to put time on my calendar to not only introduce myself, but also share the objectives of the companies and goals of the department. Once I moved into more senior roles, I trained my mid-level managers to do the same. We are not managing robots but people. It is important to have a personable relationship with your team to ensure you have the open door policy in place for them to feel comfortable coming immediately with any issues as they arise. Having the door open, and with no punitive actions for revealing concerns, allows for a more transparent work environment where employees feel engaged and supported.

We often discover what works by experiencing what doesn’t. Tell us about a time when your communication didn’t lead to the desired results and what you learned from the experience.

An important lesson for any leader coming over a team of people is to readdress expectations. In one of my first management positions, an employee who often shirked responsibilities made teamwork nearly impossible for the rest of the group. When I pulled the employee in, I started by giving a formal warning before asking if they were aware of the expectations. The employee promptly went to HR and complained they were never formally told of the expectations. After reassessing, I realized it was my fault for not setting the stage of expectation from the moment I walked in the door. After that, I always set expectation meetings early on to ensure everyone is on the same page.

What advice would you offer to other leaders who are struggling to have their messages heard and actioned?

Building trust is the most important part of becoming a leader. If your team does not trust you to lead and protect them, they will be less likely to take your direction and input or even respect you. The ways to build trust include scheduling one on one times with your direct reports, reviewing the expectations of task and areas where you can provide support, and keeping your word. There is nothing worse than making a promise and not delivering. Employees are not forgiving and do not forget if they were forgotten or led astray. That’s why having the desire to see your team do just as well as you do is important. Leadership is about inspiring others to WANT to follow your lead. That begins with relationship building and trust.

Leading a distributed team requires a different communication cadence and style from leading a team in person. What are five strategies any leader can deploy to improve communication and clarity when leading a distributed workforce? Please share a story or example for each of you can.

1 . Set Clear Expectations!

Your ability to ensure that your team understands their roles, what is expected from them, who their contacts are, how much they should be contributing, and what the goals are for the company is all on your shoulders. If you are the captain of a ship, you ensure everyone on the ship knows what part they play in the big picture or else your ship will sink! Likewise, your ability to clarify your expectations to your teams is extremely important. Otherwise you may waste resources when multiple people are working on the same project creating redundancies.

2 . Put Weekly 1:1s on your calendar.

Understanding the pulse of your people is up to you. Just as important as it is to have a meeting with everyone to set expectations and status, it is imperative to have 1:1 meetings with your managers and direct reports. Why? The truth about leadership communication is that often we need to be listening actively to steer our people in the right direction. Having a positive push from the boss is often enough encouragement to keep an employee engaged. Likewise, being ignored for your efforts can eventually lead to your best employees leaving for recognition elsewhere.

3 . Find Ways to Build Community Virtually and/or In Person

Fostering a relationship building positive environment is a leader’s responsibility. Find ways to keep your team engaged outside just the work. Some leaders take their team out for lunch. Others are virtual and too far for meals together so they do fun teambuilding type games. Some offices have a friendly competition between departments on positive habit building initiatives. For example, I recall when working at the hospital having an interdepartmental pedometer challenge. Not only did the teams have some friendly competitive spirit, but boosting exercise and wellness helped individuals build up their own health profiles. Do not underestimate the benefits of teambuilding. These types of non-work activities that encourage team unity carries over into the workplace as well.

4 . Communicate Timely

5 . Make it a priority to share success

The new world of remote work means we need to make a real effort to share team successes. It drives the point home of the relevancy of putting on the calendar and success meeting. This means changing the culture to celebrate projects moving forward or special efforts made to win new business or build stakeholder relationships. Ideally putting these on the calendar early to mid-week will propel the team forward to the end of the week.

What are the three most effective strategies to diminish distractions when there is so much competing for attention?

Great leaders who are effective communicators know they need to be focused on times without interruption.

The good strategy is to move away from distractions. Keep your focus on the only project you are working on. Schedule and block out your calendar for time for work that needs to be completed. In the office, this also means closing the door to your office or putting up a do not disturb sign so people know you are not available as well. Clearing yourself from being available helps you stay focused. This requires a little preparation and planning, but your productivity will increase. Once you sit down and begin, be sure to silence those notifications on your phone too.

What is one skill you would advise every leader to invest in to become a better communicator?

A big part of being an effective communicator is understanding how to talk in front of large groups. It can absolutely paralyze individuals who are extremely articulate but have a fear of public speaking. Practicing in front of groups regularly is a great way to hone this skill. I highly recommend professional speaking clubs like Toastmasters International where you can practice and train before you need to give presentations at your company.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

After the pandemic, people have become far more isolated. The lack of interaction has created a lot of anxiety in people around the world. It would be amazing to have a wellness movement connecting people around the world, so their loneliness and isolation is minimized. Most people want to engage with others but lack the confidence to do it. If we can all work to step outside our comfort zones to reach out to one another, I believe the world can become a better place.

How can our readers stay connected with you?

Tune in to one of the following podcast players (Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, iheartRadio, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Audible) to listen to the Career Path Angel Show podcast where I both interview and also do solo discussions on all topics related to business and career. You can also follow me on Linkedin, Instagram and Tiktok @CareerPathAngel.

Thank you for these great insights! We wish you continued success.

Festival History

For over a decade the W&M Global Film Festival has brought the William & Mary and Williamsburg communities together for an annual celebration of film and live performances.

• 2020 – 13th Annual Program Trailer Festival Recap
• 2019 – 12th Annual Program Trailer Festival Recap
• 2018 – 11th Annual Program Trailer Festival Recap
• 2017 – 10th Anniversary Program Trailer Festival Recap
• 2016 – Film & Community Program Trailer
• 2015 – Film & Renewal Program Trailer
• 2014 – Journeys & Passages  Program Trailer
• 2013 – Film & Youth  Program Trailer
• 2012 – Film & The City  Program Trailer
• 2011 – SUPER/natural  Program Trailer
• 2010 – Global Film & Music  Program Trailer
• 2009 – Global Film & Migration  Program Trailer
• 2008 – When The Movies Come To Town: Williamsburg & Film History

Mission Statement

We host the William & Mary Global Film Festival to celebrate and foster a better understanding of film’s place within the world.

The festival takes place annually at the Kimball Theatre and brings world cultures to Williamsburg through film. The GFF is a four-day event featuring screenings of international, student, and alumni-produced films, live performances, presentations, guest filmmakers, and receptions. All festival events are open to the public.

The Global Film Festival maintains these core goals:

• Promote the appreciation and understanding of film as a powerful global medium of expression and communication.

• Reach beyond the usual cinema multiplex offerings to support and generate exposure to global film alternatives.

• Showcase foreign, student, alumni, and American-produced motion pictures and live performances that illustrate the dynamics of local, national, and global film.

• Bring together international filmmakers, performers, artists, and scholars to present their work and participate in dialogues with community audiences.

• Engage community audiences in shared experiences, bringing together students, faculty, and a diversity of residents of Williamsburg and the broader Tidewater region.

• Offer a weekend-long gala event that promotes reflection, celebration, and greater understanding of film and the diversity of our local communities and the world.

• Generate a uniquely dynamic component of W&M’s Film & Media Studies curriculum that combines exposure to global film and the international film distribution network of festivals, practical film and festival production experience, public scholarship, and community outreach and event planning.

• Contribute to William and Mary’s priorities as a public liberal arts university and institution of higher education, in particular: internationalization, undergraduate experience-based learning, and community engagement.

The festival’s ultimate goal is to inspire discovery, learning, and conversation while supporting the cultural appreciation of a regional audience.

This Mission Statement was created by festival founder Tim Barnard and his students in the production of the 2007 Global Film Festival, as initially supported by the W&M Reves Center.

Student Programs

W&m youth filmmaking institute.

The W&M Youth Filmmaking Institute presents Williamsburg area middle and high school students an opportunity to learn about the filmmaking process and get hands-on experience. The WMYFI program includes presentations and workshops led by William & Mary staff and undergraduate students culminating in a free, public screening of all student group film projects. More information is available at the program website .

During the 24 Speed filmmaking competition, William & Mary students are given 24 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film. Each team is assigned a required genre, prop, and line of dialogue that must be used in the film. The films that beat the clock and meet the deadline will premiere in a free screening during the festival weekend. Prizes will be awarded to the best films including the Audience Award and the Jury Award.

More information on 24 Speed is available here .