Haywood, Zelov, Kliwinski, Harrison and You Are BOOST: We Are BOOST October Calendar of Events at http://www.weareboost.org/.
Leading the way in green technology education and awareness, We Are Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (We Are BOOST) plans, promotes, and coordinates educational forums and public awareness events. We also develop customized training modules for public and private groups and leaders. To inquire about one or more of our Speakers, please call (206) 202-2883 or email speakers@weareboost.org.
Our Mission is to facilitate personal, organizational, and social empowerment through our consortium of academic and industry leaders by offering everday citizens innovative, yet practical ways to use green technology and sustainable design in everyday living. Our industry professionals also provide real estate developers and municipal officals technical assistance for incorporating green and sustainable features into their building plans and community design.
Here is a snapshot of some areas of focus our Bureau addresses:
Clean Indoor Air Quality
Community Outreach and Advisory
Earned Media Generation
Eco-Entreprenuership Education for Sustainability (K-12)
Emotional Intelligence
Entrepreneurship for Youth and Adults
Green Building
Historic Preservation, Adaptive Reuse & Sustainability
Leadership & Organizational Capacity Building
Smart Growth
Solar and Photovoltaic Energy Systems
Strategic Planning and Business Development
Sustainable Community Design
Sustainable Modern Metal Work and Functional Sculpture Art
Sustainability for Healthy Homes and Families
Urban Farming and Gardening
Urban Mobility
Whole Ecological Design
More GSS-SET Blog News coming sooon.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Haywood, Zelov, Kliwinski, Harrison and You Are BOOST: We Are BOOST October Calendar of Events at www.weareboost.org
Monday, September 8, 2008
Registration Still Open for Healthy You, Healthy Homes, Healthy Planet: Urban Structure and Green Design Eco-Lawn and Garden Party - Raindate Set Alsp
Saturday, September 13 Eco-Lawn & Garden Party Still Registering!
Anatasia Harrison, AIA, LEED-AP, IAQA - (Healthy Home, Healthy You, Healthy Planet)
Dominique Defranco Trio (live jazz)
Modern Metal Work (Sustainably Designed Functional Sculpture-Art)Yes, you & your family are having a BonFire with Pete Abram's FireBowl (see pic. above/center)
Green Light 2-Day (Vegetaian Cuisine: BBQ Tofu, Teriyaki Chicken, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Spring Mix Salad with Fresh vegetables & dressing, Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake and Fudge Brownies with Walnuts)
Barbara Stange (Assessing Personal and Family Health: Mind, Body, & Spirit)WHEN & WHERE:
Saturday, September 13: 3pm-dusk Lawn & Garden Party @ 2320 Stuyvesant Ave. in Trenton's Scenic West Ward
Register Today @ http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=z9e85qcab.0.0.l7p8upcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.weareboost.org%2F&id=preview RSVP Now @ info@weareboost.org. ONLY $12 per-person, $10 group-rate for 10 or more, children under 12 only $7, children under 5 FREE
Simply Print this Message & Register byMailing Check or Money Order to:
We Are BOOST
P.O. Box 104
Bordentown, New Jersey 08505
Or Visit http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=z9e85qcab.0.0.l7p8upcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.weareboost.org%2F&id=preview and print and mail downloadable Registration Form
Voice (206) 202-2883 Vision http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=z9e85qcab.0.0.l7p8upcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.weareboost.org%2F&id=preview Velocity: info@weareboost.org
RAIN DATE & LOCATION:
Sunday, September 14 Indoors @ Maxines' 2 Restaurant 3pm 'til dusk
@ 120 S. Warren Street - 2nd Floor @ Downtown Trenton
Monday, August 18, 2008
Urban Structure and Design, and Green Living Featured in Trenton
The photo directly above is a "Fire Bowl" crafted from recycled elevator rope! Peter Abrams of Modern Metal Work (pictured at right), will showcase many of his functional and sustainably-designed sculpture works at BOOST's and Simply Natural Living's Lawn and Garden party on Saturday, September 13 from 3PM until dusk at 2320 Stuyvesant Avenue in Trenton's scenic west ward.(Trenton, NJ) It is a collaboration featuring sustainable, healthy, environmentally friendly living ideas, as Modern Metal Work, WESKetch Architecture + Interiors, Inc., Simply Natural Living, We Are Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (We Are BOOST) , and the U.S. Green Building Council, New Jersey Chapter, invites everyone to our Lawn and Garden Party Saturday, September 13th, from 3pm until dusk, at 2320 Stuyvesant Avenue in Trenton's scenic West Ward. There will be presentations by featured guests and representatives from the sponsoring organizations, great food, and music. This event is a family affair, and the sponsors encourage parents to bring their children along.
The festivities will feature presentations by architect and indoor air quality expert Anastasia Harrison, AIA, LEED-AP, IAQA, Barbara Stange, owner of Simply Natural Living, and Tim Razzaq, founder and executive director of BOOST. Sculptor Peter Abrams, of Modern Metal Work, will unveil his latest work, made entirely of recycled materials. The Dominique DeFranco Trio will perform, providing a jazz-filled backdrop in which visitors can meet and talk with the presenters and sample vegetarian cuisine prepared by GreenLight 2-Day.
The past few months have been an exciting time for Stange, who recently moved her Simply Natural Living operation out of its retail space in a Ewing, NJ strip mall to operate exclusively online at www.simplynaturalliving.com. "Facing all the various nuisances, acknowledging that change is constant, we are moving with grace," said Stange about the transition. She will share valuable insight on how individuals and families can assess and improve their personal and family health by understanding the importance of that balance between mind, body, and spirit.
Anastasia Harrison is the first LEED-AP architect in New Jersey to earn an indoor air quality certification from the Indoor Air Quality Association. She will present an overview of a ten-part workshop series she has developed exclusively for BOOST, outlining such topics as "Living Healthier Starting Today", "From Recycling to FreeCycling", "Babies: What You Put on Goes In" and "Green Renovations and Fix-ups".
Peter Abrams' Modern Metal Work is a Trenton-Based company creating art out of recycled items such as elevator cable wire and various metals. Modern Metal Work also hosts an apprentice program in which Abrams teaches students the finer points of architecture and metalworking.
Since 2007, BOOST has planned, promoted, and coordinated over 50 forums, primarily in the Trenton-Mercer County region. It has concrete plans to hold meetings throughout the entire Tri State region, educating local groups and building relationships. They have developed a speakers' bureau that includes academics, architects, business owners and entrepreneurs as well as professionals and practitioners. Within this bureau, speakers have expertise in areas ranging from green building and sustainable community design to personal and organizational leadership capacity building.
The cost for this event is $12 for adults and $7 for children, age five to 12. Special group rates are available upon request. Please RSVP for this event before Friday, September 5th. To register, and find out more about this enlightening event, call (206) 202-2883, or visit www.gss-set,com/weareboost to obtain a printable registration form or email info@weareboost.org.
Friday, August 15, 2008
BOOST & Simply Natural Living to Collbarate on Forums
Increasingly, nonprofit, for-profits, and public organizations have been cooperating in producing and distributing a wide range of goods and services. Simply Natural Living is pleased to announce to you, our valued customers, that we are partnering with Tim Razzaq and Building Open Opportunity Structures Together, also known as BOOST.
BOOST is a creative community solutions organization that develops and utilizes innovative and customized strategies to build structured relationships between individuals, organizations, businesses, institutions and agencies that lead to beneficial social, economic, and educational outcomes and opportunities in under-served communities and emerging markets. BOOST compliments and enhances the work of Simply Natural Living by affording our company and its customers with access to leading-edge planning, promoting, and coordinating public awareness forums, customized workshops and seminars, conferences, on-going courses of instruction, and distribution of print and digital information. BOOST has an excellent Speakers’ Bureau made of some of the top professionals and practitioners in the fields of green building, sustainable community design, smart growth, and the emerging environmental economy.
As a Simply Natural Living customer and supporter, you will be receiving first-hand invitations to BOOST’s events and activities that will take place throughout the entire state of New Jersey and Philadelphia metropolitan region. For more information about BOOST, please visit their web site at www.weareboost.org and their blog at www.gss-set.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Save this Date: Saturday, September 13 for BOOST Fund Raiser:
"Typically my talks are very technical, involving percentages, actual material assemblies, detailed building system configurations, review of lists and checklists, etc... For BOOST I was able to bring my 'lesson' to the level in which the greatest good can come, changing the way in which people can live healthier lives RIGHT NOW..." says Anastasia Harrison, AIA, LEED, IAQA and the first licensed architect in the State of NJ to earn an Indoor Air Quality Environmentalist Certification.
This evening will be full of fun, food, good drink, and everyone will share experiences, understandings, and dialogues around the issue of sustainability and what everyday people can do to improve our quality of living while decreasing our negative impacts on the natural environment.
Live music, great food fare, like-minded individuals, and a scenic lawn party will be the backdrop for Anastasia Harrison's "Our Green Future: Healthy Homes and Families for Sustainability Made Simple", a talk designed to increase our collective appetites for collectively addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the human family.
So, please save this date, Saturday - September 13 - on your calendars and we will be launching our official invitation with all the details in mid-August.
Sincerely,
Tim Razzaq, Founder and Executive Director
Friday, July 11, 2008
History of Building Open Opportunity Structures Together: Recent Activities and 2008-09 Agenda
Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (BOOST) is the brainchild of Mr. Timothy Razzaq. After spending 20 plus years working in other non-profit organizations seeking to better his community, Mr. Razzaq started his own endeavor to enhance the well being of his fellow citizens. While spending time with the Latino Community Land Trust, Old Trenton Neighborhood Coalition and the Hanover Street Civic Association, Mr. Razzaq formulated the ideas and goals that would officially become BOOST in 2005.
Mr. Razzaq formed BOOST as a direct result of redevelopment efforts in the Trenton neighborhood that failed to better the opportunities for local residents (stakeholders). Mr. Razzaq recognized that while millions of dollars are spent rehabilitating buildings and roads (hard structures), little, if any, money is spent bettering the community environment for the local population (soft structures). BOOST’s challenge have been to provide timely, relevant, reliable and well structured information to the residents of Trenton / Mercer County so that the local citizens can better mobilize and push for soft structure benefits during revitalization projects.
BOOST has recently focused training and education efforts on “green” technology, and has started the Green, Smart and Sustainable Stakeholder Education & Training (GSS-SET 2008-9) seminars in the Trenton area. Attendees from all walks of life and from all over New Jersey will be educated on the ways of planning sustainable neighborhoods, clean energy retro-fits, advocacy for community and environmental benefits and eco-entrepreneurial ventures.
On Saturday, June 7 - 2008 - BOOST and a host of community partners held GSS-SET launch, Part 1 - as a part of Classics Used and Rare Books Trenton Book Fair and Trenton's 30th annual Heritage Days celebration.
BOOST's GSS-SET Eco-Community Building Forum at Gallery 125 and the feedback has been very positive, to say the least, and many great projects will be developed as a result of the informative and interactive workshops by Dr. Mitch Joachim (NY, NY), Anastasia Harrison (NJ), Fred Stine (NJ), Elizabeth Slate-Rutledge (Syracuse, NY), and Jason Kliwinski (Trenton, NJ).
Many people made Part 1 very special and we thank Kevin Gilmore of Gilmore's Cafe' (The G-Spot) for the Green Gift Certificates for many very hungry folks looking for a great meal, BOOST Board of Directors (Kevin W. Wortham, Professor Alvin Haywood, Professor Monique Simon, and MLUC's Winnie Fatton), Dan at the Gallery, BOOST fiscal sponsor Doretha L. Riley for VEBS; Eric and Laurice at Classics making it all possible and making it a great weekend full of positive energy and constructive dialogue, Eric Muhammad of Kooley Productions, and all of you who attended, put up with the techno-glitches, and provide the energy of great questions and Big Ideas. Because of you, BOOST is very honored to be a part of these magnificent efforts at creating leaders for sustainability in all of its positive aspects.
GSS-SET Part two was held on Saturday, July 12 at the shop owned by Barbara Stange and co-staffed by her daughter Vivian and Sister Imani - Simply Natural Living in Serenity Plaza located at 1505 Parkway Avenue in Ewing New Jersey and was every bit as inspirational and informative as Part 1.
Part 2 started out with everyone introducing themselves and getting to know their Forum neighbors and the first presentation was conducted by Professor Alvyn Haywood who continued his series of film viewings and community discussions, "Introducing Abraham: The Art of Allowing". Professor Haywood's presentation seamlessly wove into Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's Christine Ritter who tirelessly has been "Unveiling the Hidden for High Middle and High School Students and Parents in Math, Science, and Engineering." New sets of forum attendees continued to enter Simply Natural and a small number left due for other engagements during the intermission.
During the intermission, a well-prepared and very tasty set of green cuisines was consumed by forum-goers during a very interpersonally active "lunch break" as everyone who attended engaged in dialogue, exchanging business cards and email addresses, continuing discussion about the subject matter of the first two presentations and discerning the scope of impact of the next two workshops scheduled.
Yet more Forum attendees piled into the tight seating spaces for Part 2 of GSS-SET Part 2 which featured an outstanding set of presenters: Jonathan Cloud for Fairleigh Dickinson University's Sustainable Business Incubator (SBIF) and House of Life's (HoL) Mut Seshatms.
Cloud introduced the newly launched SBIF and explored the Business and Entrepreneurial Cases for Sustainability and Seshatms laid down a practical way for property owners to reduce their "fossil fuel" generated energy consumption by using affordable clean energy solar photovoltaic systems. Both Cloud's and Seshatms' presentation opened up the doorways to BOOST's Green, Smart, and Sustainable Stakeholder Education and Training's next phases.
To learn more about BOOST, its GSS-SET ten-month training program, being a cause-related sponsor, grant underwriter or making a tax-deductable financial contribution, please call our voice-mail/fax center at (206) 202-2883 or email gsssetcentral@yahoo.com.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed for making June and July of 2008 one of the most fruitful experiences in the early development of Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (BOOST).
BOOST 2007 Workshops & Community Building Activities:
- Community outreach programming that brought in over 1,000 curiosity and residency seekers to the newly renovated historic, sustainable design Broad Street Bank mixed-use multifamily apartment complex in New Jersey’s capital, Trenton (NJ). BSBB was a strong model and catalyst for GSS-SET and still a work in progress.
- Community Building Forum #3 (January 20, 2007) with over 100 in attendance and media coverage, CBF #3 featured seven presenters of nearly three dozen programs for local residents to take advantage of regarding job, career, housing, education, cultural, and business options and opportunities in the Trenton region.
- Workshop by Bob Blakeman for P. S. & S. Keyspan on “Current Best Practices in Green Building” – Blakeman design the sustainable features for BSBB project.
- 2 workshops by Mel Leipzig for Mercer County Community College on the “Role of Arts and Artists in Revitalizing Older American Urban Centers”
- 4 public talks by Richard Libbey for Bayville Holdings LLC – the developer of the Broad Street Bank Building – on “Real-Time Experiences on Adaptive Reuse & Green Building: Hidden Assets and Challenges”
- 2 focus sessions with Princeton Area Community Foundation on behalf of Atlantic Philanthropies “Community Experience Partnership: Engaging Older Americans for Civic Good” at two Trenton sites;
- Workshop by Terri Jover for New Jersey Future on “How Citizens can Measure Smart Growth Using NJF’s Municipal Smart Growth Scorecard”
- 3 workshops by Greg Jones for USA Closers on “Smart Credit Building: How to Development Personal, Business, and Community Credit”
- Workshop by John Cusack for NJHEPS on “Leadership by Example: Creating Sustainable College Campuses”
- 6 workshops, “Invitation to Civics Education” in association with The Civic Formation Inc.
- 2 workshops by Angelica Redpath-Perez for Green Design Now on “How Everyday Citizens can ‘Green-up’ their Home and Offices”
- 5 workshops by Tim Razzaq for BOOST on “Three Major Challenges to Community Benefits: Leadership Matters” in Asbury Park (NJ) & Trenton-Mercer locations;
- 2 workshops by Robert Estock for MCCC on “Continuing Education and Training Options and Opportunities at Community Colleges”
- 12 (plus) sessions with Mercer County Community College Professor Alvyn Haywood’s Documentary Viewings & Community Discussions at Classics Used & Rare Books
GSS-SET 2008-09 will provide enrollees from around the state of New Jersey with customized education and training that will help them in choosing, developing, and deploying individual and group projects to be implemented for their respective organizations, and in their home-town communities and neighborhoods. Model projects/programs will include, but are not limited to: sustainable neighborhood plans; urban science/career paths for high school students; clean energy retrofits for nonprofits, churches, and small businesses; advocacy for community and environmental benefits agreements; eco-entrepreneurial ventures; green business and industry inventory and data centers; sustainable design assessment teams; and unionization of the emerging green collar workforce. Partners and resources have been identified for GSS-SET graduates who choose one or more of these areas of post-program focus.
BOOST Board of DIRECTORS and Fiscal Agent:
Two Mercer County Community College Professors:- Alvyn Haywood – Distinguished Teaching Award 2008 honoree, and- Monique Simon - Coordinator and Professor in the Dept. of Communications;- Kevin W. Wortham – Entrepreneur/Entrepreneur Trainer, Teacher, and Consultant;- Linda Hollingshead – Founder Outreach Media Group;- Tyrone Gaskins – Founder and President of Targeting Alternative Growth Resources;- Calvin B. Thomas - New Jersey Training Coordinator with the Support Center for Nonprofit Management;- Winnie Fatton – Project Manager for the Municipal Land Use Center at TCNJ; and- Susan Wolf – PHD and Psychologist; Fiscal Sponsor: Doretha L. Riley for Visionary Economic Business Solutions (VEBS) 501c3 Fiscal Sponsor.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Rethinking Solar: Giving Power Back to the People - Mut Seshatms Revisits the Trenton-Ewing Region for BOOST GSS-SET - Saturday, July 12
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BOOST is very pleased to be able to offer residents of the state of New Jersey and beyond, an opportunity to learn and share knowledge and information with some of our brightest minds and most dedicated social servants. On Saturday, July 12, BOOST presents part 2 of its Green, Smart, and Sustainable Stakeholder Education and Training series of public awareness forums and community capacity building workshops. This event is free to the public and take place on Saturday, July 12, from 11am until 5pm at Simply Natural Living at Serenity Plaza, located at 1505 Parkway Avenue in Ewing New Jersey. Please RSVP by calling (206) 202-2883 or emailing gsssetcentral@yahoo.com.
Building Open Opportunity Structures Together's founder and and executive director, Tim Razzaq - and many residents of Trenton (New Jersey) know Seshatms from her involvement with the independent Afrakan school in Trenton - The Garvey School - as a curriculum writer and lead science & math instructor. Additionally, Mut Seshtms' husband, Bro. Hassan - as he is affectionately known - has been an educator and martial arts instructor for many years in Trenton and together, he and his wife own Black Gold Sacred Living Per Ankh (House of Life).
She joins Fairleigh Dickenson University's Sustainable Business Incubator's "Entrepreneur in Residence", Jonathan Cloud, who will conduct a presentation entitled, "Opportunities in Green Business and Eco-Entrepreneurships", Christine G. Ritter, Program Administrator for the Science Education Program of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) who will present, "Unveiling the Hidden Opportunities for Middle and High School Students: Career Paths in the Sciences", and Mercer County Community College Professor Alvyn Haywood. Prof. Haywood will continue his highly regarded film viewing and community discussion, "Introducing Abraham - The Secret behind 'The Secret': The Art of Allowing."
We invite everyone from all backgrounds and interests to join us and learn how we can work together to build a sustainable future for the citizens of New Jersey. This event is free to the public and take place on Saturday, July 12, from 11am until 5pm at Simply Natural Living at Serenity Plaza, located at 1505 Parkway Avenue in Ewing New Jersey. Please RSVP by calling (206) 202-2883 or emailing gsssetcentral@yahoo.com.
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