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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
The best and brightest come together to tackle society's toughest challenges
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is working to eradicate disease, improve education, and address the needs of their local community.
Michelle Gant
Have you ever wished you could solve some of society's toughest challenges? That's exactly why the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) was founded.
Established in 2015 by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, the organization's mission is to build a better future for everyone. CZI is working to eradicate disease, improve education, and address the needs of their local community.
Since its launch, CZI has awarded around $4.8 billion in grants to organizations whose work aligns with these values.
The past year brought many challenges, but none that CZI wasn't ready to face with their partners. In their just-released 2022 annual letter, Chan and Zuckerberg highlight the "community of builders" who are helping them make progress.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Annual Letter 2022www.youtube.com
Through the organization's work in science, education, and within local communities, CZI pairs technology with grantmaking to help achieve its mission. In 2022, this meant a focus on research and building tools for scientists and teachers.
"We have engineers building incredible tools, educators strengthening their connections with students, scientists deepening our understanding of human biology, and advocates on the ground building movements in their communities," said Zuckerberg.
CZI joined leaders in science, technology and academia to launch two new scientific institutes with the goal of pursuing moonshot scientific challenges. One institute is focused on studying the basis of intelligence in natural and artificial systems, and the other is developing technologies to observe the biological processes happening inside our cells.
The organization also created the Science Diversity Leadership Award, a program designed to increase diversity in STEM. It aims to recognize and further the leadership and scientific accomplishments of biomedical researchers who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. In total since it started, CZI has funded researchers from 31 countries who are working to accelerate our understanding of health and disease.
In the education space, CZI put well-being in support of academic achievement front and center by furthering research on how students learn and develop. They also committed $4 million to organizations that support teacher well-being because when teachers succeed, students succeed.
Locally in the San Francisco Bay Area, CZI supported over 60 organizations that are helping advance access to housing, healthcare, education, and other social support. With partners, they're also advancing solutions to make housing more affordable in California. This includes working with Partnership for the Bay's Future, which has already produced and preserved nearly 4,000 homes in the Bay Area.
To learn more about CZI's impact over the last 12 months, read the 2022 Annual Letter here.
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Astronaut shares the profound 'big lie' he realized after seeing the Earth from space
This change in perspective could change humanity.
via Rubén Moreno Montolíu/Flickr
Our home, from space.
Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it's a place where "borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen."
The overview effect makes man's squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.
In a compelling interview with Big Think, astronaut, author and humanitarian Ron Garan explains how if more of us developed this planetary perspective we could fix much of what ails humanity and the planet.
Garan has spent 178 days in space and traveled more than 71 million miles in 2,842 orbits. From high above, he realized that the planet is a lot more fragile than he thought.
"When I looked out the window of the International Space Station, I saw the paparazzi-like flashes of lightning storms, I saw dancing curtains of auroras that seemed so close it was as if we could reach out and touch them. And I saw the unbelievable thinness of our planet's atmosphere. In that moment, I was hit with the sobering realization that that paper-thin layer keeps every living thing on our planet alive," Garan said in the video.
"I saw an iridescent biosphere teeming with life," he continues. "I didn't see the economy. But since our human-made systems treat everything, including the very life-support systems of our planet, as the wholly owned subsidiary of the global economy, it's obvious from the vantage point of space that we're living a lie."
It was at that moment he realized that humanity needs to reevaluate its priorities.
"We need to move from thinking economy, society, planet to planet, society, economy. That's when we're going to continue our evolutionary process," he added.
Garan says that we are paying a very "high price" as a civilization for our inability to develop a more planetary perspective and that it's a big reason why we're failing to solve many of our problems. Even though our economic activity may improve quality of life on one end, it's also disasterous for the planet that sustains our lives.
It's like cutting off our nose to spite our face.
Actor William Shatner had a similar experience to Garan's when he traveled into space.
"It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered," Shatner wrote. "The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna … things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind."
"We're not going to have peace on Earth until we recognize the basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality," Garan said.
However dire the situation looks from the surface of Earth, the astronaut has hope that we can collectively evolve in consciousness and wake up and embrace a larger reality. "And when we can evolve beyond a two-dimensional us versus them mindset, and embrace the true multi-dimensional reality of the universe that we live in, that's when we're going to no longer be floating in darkness … and it's a future that we would all want to be a part of. That's our true calling."
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Why do people stay in abusive relationships? This heartbreaking analogy helps explain.
When people learn of an abusive relationship, the common question that surfaces is "If it was so bad, why didn't you just leave?"
Mark Shrayber
Photo from Burst taken by Avelino Calvary Martinez
Abusive relationships can be more complicated than just leaving.
Chloe Dykstra has spoken out about the painful reality of being in an abusive relationship.
In a post on Medium in June 2018, beloved gamer, actress, model, and cosplayer Dykstra wrote about the harrowing experience of being in a long-term abusive relationship.
"One day, I met someone at a convention and ended up falling for a man almost 20 years my senior," Dykstra wrote. "It wasn't the first time I'd found myself in a relationship with an older man; I've always joked about my daddy issues, and thought that with age came stability and wisdom. Welp."
From there, Dykstra details the horrors of that relationship. Within the first two weeks, she was isolated from her friends, given a curfew, and told not to speak in public.
Quickly, the relationship turned into one of fear — "I was terrified to piss him off — so I did what he said," she wrote — and then became assaultive. Dykstra revealed she developed an eating disorder. Then, when she suffered an ectopic pregnancy and either had to have surgery or risk death, she said her fear of having to tell her partner she was pregnant was stronger than her fear of death.
Cosplay star Chloe Dykstra says she endured 'long-term abuse' from ex-boyfriend
Dykstra is shining an important light on why people stay in abusive relationships.
When people learn of an abusive relationship, the common question that surfaces is "If it was so bad, why didn't you just leave?" The answer to this question is complex in general and often has nothing to do with a person's strength. Often, it doesn't even seem like there's a choice.
Dykstra's answer to this question paints a painful picture of why escaping an abusive relationship can feel impossible:
"I believed that, to borrow an analogy from a friend, if I kept digging I would find water. And sometimes I did. Just enough to sustain me. And when you're dying of thirst, that water is the best water you'll ever drink. When you're alienated from your friends, there's no one to tell you that there's a drinking fountain 20 feet away. And when your self-worth reaches such depths after years of being treated like you're worthless, you might find you think you deserve that sort of treatment, and no one else will love you."
Her story has clearly resonated with people far and wide.
Dykstra's main goals were to create closure and warn others about how surprisingly common abuse can be. According to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, more than 10 million people are abused by an intimate partner annually. On an average day, approximately 20,000 calls are placed to domestic violence hotlines.
The stigma of being trapped in an abusive relationship is slowly disappearing. The overwhelming support Dykstra has been shown is a sign that progress is moving in the right direction — but there's so much work yet to to be done.
You can reach the NCADV in the link below:
NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
ncadv.org
NCADV is the voice of victims and survivors. We are the catalyst for changing society to have zero tolerance for domestic violence. We do this by affecting public policy, increasing understanding of the impact of domestic violence, and providing programs and education that drive that change.
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Rehearsal footage from 'We Are the World' shows how incredibly talented everyone was in the '80s
Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, man oh man.
via Wikimedia Commons and Wikimedia Commons
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote "We Are the World."
From 1983 to 1985, more than 1 million people in Ethiopia died from extreme famine. A few months after a BBC report on the famine that triggered the U.K. Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?," the biggest stars in the American music industry came together in 1985 to record a charity single to help those suffering in Ethiopia, Sudan and other impoverished African countries.
The collection of entertainers called themselves USA for Africa, and their single, "We Are the World," sold more than 7 million records worldwide and has generated $60 million over the past 37 years.
The song was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones. The vocals were recorded after the American Music Awards in Los Angeles on January 28, 1985, in a single 8 p.m. to 8 a.m session at Hollywood's A&M Recording Studios.
The list of those who appear on the song is impressive: Dan Aykroyd, Harry Belafonte, Lindsey Buckingham, Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Sheila E., Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall, James Ingram, Jackie Jackson, LaToya Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Michael Jackson, Randy Jackson, Tito Jackson, Al Jarreau, Waylon Jennings, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis and the News, Mario Cipollina, John Colla, Bill Gibson, Chris Hayes, Sean Hopper, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson, John Oates, Jeffrey Osborne, Steve Perry, The Pointer Sisters, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder.
A video going viral on TikTok shows behind-the-scenes footage of the entertainers singing the song and what's incredible is just how great their voices are. Even though it's just a run-through, every one of them sounds pitch-perfect. It's a great reminder that in 1985, you had to really know how to sing to be a famous singer.
In a post-autotune world, it's hard to know which singers can actually sing and sadly, not a lot of people care if they can.
When Michael Jackson hits the line, "We're down and out, there is no hope at all," in the bridge, it's spine-tingling. It's believed that Prince was supposed to appear on the song but didn't show up at the session, so Huey Lewis got his line.
@musicvarietyclips
Replying to @jhcharcoots more rehearsal footage (notice Lionel "fix" Kenny's part) #wearetheworld #rehearsal #80s
A funny video from the sessions is always making the rounds on social media. Bob Dylan looks completely out of place in a room full of flashy '80s celebrities and appears to have no idea what everyone is singing. Dylan's "mood" in the room has become a universal representation of what it feels like to be part of a group project without having read the book.
\u201cCurrent mood: Bob Dylan singing We Are The World\n#shouldntyoubewriting #phdoggammit #TRENT #trentuniversity @TrentUniversity\u201d
— Basilisk (@Basilisk) 1670918460
The USA for Africa project didn't stop with "We Are the World." Since 1985, it has raised more than $100 million for people struggling with poverty and malnutrition in Africa and the U.S. It also encouraged many to become an agent of change in their own right.
"'We Are the World' motivated millions to become activists in their own way. Their bold, individual and collective power brought change to their communities and beyond. Lives were transformed," Marcia Thomas, USA for Africa's executive director said. "Access to food, education, health care and peace became a reality for many who had been left out. 'We Are the World' became a movement…your movement. And… it still resonates."
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PTSD can affect anyone. Here's how you can help.
An estimated 8 percent of the population will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime.
Helping those affected by PTSD.
Up to 8% of the American population will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime, according to the National Center for PTSD.
As much as people might not want to discuss it, traumatic experiences are not rare. In fact, recent data suggests that 60% of men and 50% of women will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.
For a long time, it was believed that only those who had served in the military could develop PTSD, but that's simply not true.
The reality is that, while it may be more prevalent among certain groups,PTSD can affect anyone who's experienced a traumatic event. It's important to be able to speak about it clearly and openly, without fear or condemnation, in order to promote understanding and healing.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is one piece of the puzzle.
Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash
Today, more treatments exist for PTSD than ever before.
The medical and psychological communities are finding new and effective ways of treating the disorder. For example, therapies involving virtual reality and paintball have shown to be promising in treating veterans. Both are methods where an individual is exposed to the triggers of their symptoms in a safe and controllable way.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (where one learns to think more realistically and logically) and eye movement desensitization reprocessing (in which an individual relives the traumatic experience in small doses and while remaining firmly in reality) can also be effective in treating the disorder. But therapy, no matter how effective, is only one piece of the puzzle.
Helping those with PTSD must also include compassion. Here's how to be an ally.
It's likely that you know someone who's experienced PTSD. It's also likely that you didn't know how to think or react to the disorder.
Confusion (and even judgment) are normal responses. After all, most of us aren't trained therapists. But you don't have to be a mental health professional to help a friend or loved one who's experiencing PTSD.
There's no one right thing to say to someone who's experiencing the disorder. The best thing you can do is just be there. While it may seem helpful to offer wisdom or offer suggestions for how your loved ones can "move on" or "get over it," that's actually counter-intuitive.
Helpful therapy is important.
Photo by Omar Lopez on Unsplash
Those living with PTSD are already under a great deal of pressure. Suggesting therapy is helpful, but trying to make your loved one see "the good side of things" or "remember that this is all part of a bigger plan" is likely to create even more guilt and stress rather than prompt action. PTSD is painful and it's serious, but it's never a sign of weakness.
Respecting boundaries is also important. It's up to the individual when they choose to talk about their trauma. Nobody should force it or take it personally if they don't.
Show up, listen, care. These things are enough. More importantly, they're important steps toward ending stigma and helping our loved ones heal.
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