Happy New Year 2010!

Family, friends and colleagues:
Wishing you abundant health, wisdom, and continued success in 2010! I would like to start by recounting a William Faulkner quote I recently read in Newsweek. This was from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in December of 1950. “I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.” Faulkner used his pen to endure. Let us all use our special gifts to be immortal. I look forward to witnessing your leadership and experiencing your special talents as we forge a stronger tomorrow together.

Please view PineBridge’s e-card at: http://www.pinebridge.com/HappyNewYear/.

Peace,
Jacques-Philippe Piverger
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In this top of the year issue:
1. Global Syndicate, Save the Date, 2nd Annual Power Roundtable Dinner: Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 & New “Sizzling” Board
2. Creme Magazine profile
3. The DNC and National Obama campaign groups have rolled up our efforts into one larger, more organized machine called Gen44. Get involved! https://my.democrats.org/page/contribute/Gen44NYKickoff?custom1=Jacques-Philippe+Piverger.
4. Reshma Saujani for Congress in NY’s 14th District (Upper East Side)—The future is now!
5. April 2nd CUP gala has the “Magic” stick. CUP Fellows application due this Friday.
6. Karim Camara fundraiser on Thursday, 1/7/10.
7. New York Needs You (NYNY) launches!
8. Hankin event to support Governor Paterson
9. Thank you!

1. Global Syndicate, Save the Date, 2nd Annual Power Roundtable Dinner: Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 & New Board
Please be sure to save the date for the 2nd Annual Power Roundtable Dinner. It will take place on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010. Last year’s event featured 100 of the city’s movers and shakers including Mayor Bloomberg, CEO of PineBridge Investments Win Neuger, Actors Geoffrey Holder and Michael Stahl-David, and many others. The following link is a PSA that aired on BET during their most popular show: http://www.vimeo.com/5517087. This year’s we’ll expand capacity to about 150 people and go even deeper with respect to the audience and subject matter. Corporations that wish to partner please contact me or Lisa Mesa at: lmesa@criticalmention.com.

Also, we took great care in selecting the right group of people who will offer leadership in the areas that resonate with The Global Syndicate’s mission and we cannot be more excited about the final slate. Please expect a formal announcement in the next few days! Mission to bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots with particular focus on emerging nations through education, economic development and health care.

2. The good folks at Creme Magazine have featured me on their site in a discussion about business, the markets, civic activity, and the act of recession-proofing. You can read it at the following link: http://www.creme-magazine.com/article/features/the-big-tipper. Feel free to send me (and them) constructive feedback.

3. The DNC and National Obama campaign groups have rolled up our efforts into one larger, more organized machine called Gen44.
It is being orchestrated by full time staff from DC and this vehicle will provide us access to key political figure when they are in NYC as well as the ability to remain on the ground floor of what's happening at any given time. On January 25th Gen44 will be hosting the NYC launch event at Hiro Ballroom with DJ Cassidy and comments from Newark Mayor Corey Booker! (recognize the venue & musical director) Event details are below. You can buy a ticket for the launch event at: https://my.democrats.org/page/contribute/Gen44NYKickoff?custom1=Jacques-Philippe+Piverger. Prices range from $44 to $100 and $1,000. Tickets will sell out fast for this one, so act fast! There are also a few host committee slots left. The raise/write commitment for the host committee is $1,000. Being a ground floor supporter of Gen44 comes with many perks. For example, a couple weeks ago we were convened to speak with David Plouffe about health care as well as a special invite to the White House. This week we're meeting with Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia.

The DNC and Gen44 invite you to a Gen44 Kick Off with Honorary Chair, Mayor Cory Booker and DJ Cassidy
Date: Monday, January 25, 2010
Time: 6:30P – 9:00P
Hiro Ballroom - 88 Ninth Avenue between 16th & 17th Streets

Host Committee (In formation)
Brian Benjamin, Evelyn Coleman, Elissa Doyle, David Genova, William Gilbane III, Jeremy Goldberg, Giovanna Gray, Meena Harris, Hala Hijazi, Diana Hilson, Hrishi Karthikeyan, George Mastriogeorgis, Anuj Mathur, Nihal Mehta, Nico Minerva, Steven Newmark, Catherine Park, Jacques-Philippe Piverger, Scott Reich, Amy Sterner, Annie Mullaly Weir

4. My friend, Reshma Saujani, is running for Congress in NY's 14th District (The Upper East Side). She represents the future. Let's participate by helping her get there.
We will be hosting an event for her next month. Let me know asap if you want to join the host committee/movement on the ground floor. She's a rock star and this is coming from someone who hosted 3 thousand person+ events for Obama's Senate campaign back in 2004 when he was an obscure wanna be Senator from Chicago. Reshma is up next! John Legend and a number of key Obama and Hillary political organizers are also on board with Reshma to give the campaign the requisite heft to get us to the finish line first! She is on the right side of the education debate, economic reform, sustainable energy, health care and many other issues that we all care about. More about Reshma’s story is attached. You can also visit her campaign site at: http://www.reshma2010.com/. Join me today—send me an email saying “Yes, Reshma can!” to join the host committee when it counts.

5. CUP Gala & Fellows
The Council of Urban Professionals will once again be stepping it up a notch as Basketball Hall of Famer and Business mogul, Magic Johnson, joins us at our 3rd Annual gala this spring on April 8th! Save the Date. If your corporation wishes to join Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, AT&T, Williams Capital, BET, and the countless other corporate partners that have supported CUP so far please let me know asap. Every gala to date has been oversubscribed and we’ve never had Magic. “5 second left on the clock in game 7 at the Garden. Magic has the ball going for the nail in the coffin. Beautiful behind the back maneuver and double clutch finish with Bird defending”… was long time ago, forgetting the details:) Plan to celebrate with us! (www.nycup.org)

The 3rd class of CUP Fellows is being recruited. This is quickly becoming a highly sought after experience. The CUP Fellows program provides talented civic-minded women and minority professionals, aged 25-45, with comprehensive development skills and networking opportunities designed to position the Fellows to serve in public leadership positions and on public interest boards in the New York tri-state area. Applications are due 1/15/10. For more information contact Ashleigh Gibson at agibson@nycup.org.

Reflections from a couple 2009 Fellows:
Angela Fernandez, Executive Director of Nothern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, “The CUP Fellows program provided me a safe, supportive and encouraging space to learn about the skills one needs to develop to run a successful political campaign. As an individual who has spent most of her career in the non-profit sector, I am very grateful to my colleagues in the Capital Access group for teaching me more than I will ever know about evergreen funds, venture capital and minority-owned businesses.”

PJ Kim, "The workshops and feedback sessions with experts and the fellows were a safe environment to practice public speaking, explore ideas, and examine potential role models in public life. These sorts of practical opportunities are extremely rare. "

6. Assemblyman Karim Camara event: Please Join one of the most effective and responsive elected officials in NYC this Thursday, January 7th from 6p-8p in Brooklyn at Night of the Cookers. Night of the Cookers, 767 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Ticket Levels range from $100 (friend) to $2,500 (Chair). You can get more information from Alie Walsh at 646-214-3397 or friendsofkarimcamara@gmail.com. You can also learn more about Assemblyman Camara at www.karimcamara.org.

7. Several of my old buddies: Robert Reffkin, Daron Green and Yusef Kassim have decided to roll up their sleeves and impact our community through the creation of New York Needs You (NYNY). The mission of NYNY is to close the opportunity gap through an intensive career development and leadership training program that enables high-potential, first-generation college students to realize their career aspirations. Please visit their site at: http://www.newyorkneedsyou.org/. If you know these guys you know that NYNY will be changing lives!

8. Hankin event to support Governor Paterson: The Hankin crew is hosting an event to benefit Governor Paterson. Please support them. It is guaranteed to be memorable. It will take place this Friday evening, January 8th from 5:30 to 8pm at The Hankin Home, 104 E 36th Street. The host committee is comprised of Ralph Dawson, Gwen & Noel Hankin, Andre Harrell, Ed Lewis, Alfred Liggins, Onelle Procope, Dan Gasby & Barbara Smith, and Reginald Van Lee. For more information contact Arana aranahankin@gmail.com or lorenlillian@gmail.com.

9. Thank you: for another inspiring year. I had a lot to say here, but my 15 minute reprieve from my deadlines has lapsed. Send me a note to let me know what you are up to and let's plan to have another knock out year!