• Article

    Choose Digital CTO: Seek ‘solid team players’

    Published August 13, 2014 by

    Above: Mario Cruz, right, at Startup Grind. Photo: Carolina Wilson. Knight Foundation supports Startup Grind Miami, part of a global community, to expand South Florida’s network for entrepreneurs. Mario Cruz, co-founder and CTO of Choose Digital, grew up wanting to be a lawyer—until he discovered he hated writing.  Now an entrepreneur and technologist, he shared his startup story Tuesday night at Venture Hive thanks to host Startup Grind Miami. Choose Digital, which Cruz founded with CEO Stephen Humphreys in 2011, is a digital marketplace that allows members to redeem points or miles for the latest music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks and eBooks. The Miami-based company has allowed companies such as SkyMall, Marriott and United Airlines to include digital content as part of their sales and marketing strategies. Cruz said that his startup success could be attributed in part to a rule he coined when considering who to have on his team: “No heroes; no zeros.”
  • Article

    Thought leaders explore future of open Internet during Aspen forum

    Published August 13, 2014 by

    Photo: The Aspen Instiute Roundtable on Net Neutrality this week. Credit: Aspen Institute. Despite the Internet being essential to life as we know it in 2014, only a small percentage of people understand how it really works. Without business and policy leaders who “get it,” misguided decisions about how the network is governed and regulated could mean fewer people have full, unfettered and reliable access to a tool that has opened up avenues for expression, education, economic opportunity and more.  About 30 top thinkers on Internet issues — technologists, policymakers, business and nonprofit leaders — gathered at the Aspen Institute in Colorado this week to consider the Internet’s future during the 2014 Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS). What is the system we have now? How open is it, really? How can regulation of the Internet and its “pipes” help or hurt its potential?   
  • Article

    Artists U teaches artists how to make a life

    Published August 13, 2014 by

    By Nicole Rupersburg This story was originally published in the Knight-funded Creative Exchange. For more stories of community transformation through the arts, please visit Creative Exchange at SpringboardExchange.org. The hardest thing about making a life as an artist is actually making a life as an artist. That's where Artists U...
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    Civic innovators share ideas on shaping communities in new ‘Knight Cities’ podcast

    Published August 13, 2014 by

    This week, we launch “Knight Cities,” a new weekly podcast that focuses on the people and ideas shaping our cities. Theaster Gates – Chicago-based visual artist, actor, singer, restaurateur, activist, academician and all-around urban transformer – is our first guest. The conversation with Theaster embodies all the reasons I wanted to start this series. Theaster’s work is remarkable in so many ways, but it’s not always easy to decipher what’s going on, even when you visit the Grand Crossing neighborhood where much of his work is centered. And it’s certainly not easy to understand how he does it. That’s why a conversation with Theaster is so valuable. He is the best interpreter of his own work.
  • Article

    UIX invites urban innovators to exchange ideas in Detroit

    Published August 13, 2014 by

    Claire Nelson is the director of Urban Innovation Exchange and Matthew Lewis is the managing editor of Model D. Urban Innovation Exchange is supported by Knight Foundation. All photos by UIX Detroit. What’s next for your city? This is the question Urban Innovation Exchange (UIX) will be asking at its first national convening Sept.  24-26 in Detroit, bringing together innovators from cities across the U.S. to share catalytic small-scale projects that are transforming neighborhoods. What kind of small-scale projects are we talking about? Makerspaces and incubators, art parks and pop-up markets, green alleys and urban farms. Places made by and for the people who live there. Why are small projects a big deal for cities? Increasingly, more research and reporting suggest that the implementation of small-scale projects just might have a larger potential collective impact than any single top-down approach to revitalization.
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    Locust closes out unique summer programming

    Published August 12, 2014 by

    The surprising results at the Locust LAB. There’s one more week to catch the results of Locust Projects’ unique summer programming, culminating with a closing reception and exhibit on Saturday. For the fifth year in a row, Locust invited a group of high school students, chosen...
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    Harvey B. Gantt Center celebrates 40 Years

    Published August 12, 2014 by

    By Bonita Buford, Harvey B. Gantt Center In 1974, on a sweltering day in late August, an outdoor festival heralded the launch of a concept to celebrate and recognize the historical, cultural and societal contributions of African Americans in Charlotte, North Carolina. This Afro-American Cultural and Service Center represented the...
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    Artistic expression gives Miami students a ‘motivational edge’

    Published August 12, 2014 by

    Photo: The Motivational Edge's second annual student showcase took place Aug. 10 at The Stage. Students engaged in lyrical expression performances to showcase the past eight weeks of instruction from the program. Pictured: Dwayne Dopson, Ryan Everett, Rudy Sablon (director of programs), Axel Sierra and Tarrell Newell. Credit: Carolina Wilson. Tarrell Newell, a rising senior at Miami Jackson Senior High School, wants to attend Full Sale University in Winter Park, Fla., to study music management and sound engineering. It’s an aspiration that’s been nurtured by The Motivational Edge, a nonprofit after-school program that uses the arts to inspire youth toward educational achievement. “The Motivational Edge is literally the best place in the world. It’s my second home,” Newell said. “The art bonds us, and the instructors are interested in you before themselves.” Newell has trained since January with the organization’s Art of Creative Writing and Lyrical Expression program, which received $50,000 in the 2013 Knight Arts Challenge. On Friday, about 20 youth from The Motivational Edge community demonstrated their skills in singing, dancing or drawing during the second annual student showcase at The Stage in the Miami Design District.