Presenting a CNY “TalkAbout”…

A Lecture by Adam Braun, “The Promise of a Pencil: How Ordinary People can Accomplish Extraordinary Things.”

Adam Braun is the Founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning nonprofit organization that has built more than 150 schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America and delivered over 12 million educational hours in its first four years. PoP was founded with just $25 using Braun’s unique “For-Purpose” approach to blending nonprofit idealism with for-profit business principles. In 2012, he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.

Braun began his career in finance, until he met a young boy begging on the streets and asked him what he wanted most in the world. The answer- “A pencil.” He then traveled through 50+ countries to focus on educational systems and eventually left a dream job at Bain & Company to launch Pencils of Promise.

Braun was selected as one of the first ten World Economic Forum Global Shapers and has been featured at the United Nations, Clinton Global Initiative, Google Zeitgeist, Mashable’s Innovation Index and Wired Magazine’s 2012 Smart List of 50 People Changing the World.

This is a free lecture. We will convene at a local café after the event to discuss Braun’s ideas.

http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/163169482/

About the Moderator:  Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.

Join “Conversations New York” (CNY) at this Lecture & Talk-About afterwards.  Amy Chua, “Tiger Mom” & Jed Rubenfeld “Success in America.”  To RSVP, learn more about the event, and find payment information, visit 92nd Street and Y:   (Attendance at the lecture is not required to participate in the conversation afterwards. )

Please RSVP at CNY meetup.  Thank you.  http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/161167482/

Lecture:  “Mormons have recently risen to astonishing business success. Cubans in Miami climbed from poverty to prosperity in a generation. Nigerians earn doctorates at stunningly high rates. Indian and Chinese Americans have much higher incomes than other Americans; Jews may have the highest of all. Husband-and-wife team Amy Chua (author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother) and Jed Rubenfeld—both Yale professors—discuss their new book, The Triple Package, and expose the three unlikely traits that explain the rise and fall of cultural groups in America, in a talk that could transform the way you think about success and achievement.”

Talk-About:  For those who wish to further discuss this topic after the event, CNY will host a Talk-About.  Talk-Abouts are a way to continue the conversation, find out what others thought about the event, and share perspectives.  Please find Yen (see member profile picture) after the event in the lobby if you wish to join us.  The Talk-About will be held in a coffee shop or restaurant nearby and will be free.  Yen will moderate the session, and it will be structured with questions to get the conversation going, but will lean towards free-flowing discussion.   Thank you.

Proposed Agenda 
7:30 pm  –  Meet in 92Y lobby and introductions.

9:45 pm   –  Meet again at the 92Y lobby and we will walk across the street to “Lex Restaurant” where I have reservations under the name “Yen.” 1370 Lexington Ave. (between 90th & 91st).

Introductions
Success in America – What are the common traits?

About the Moderator:  Yen is a naturalize American citizen.  He was born in Taiwan, Republic of China, but came to the US as an Argentinian citizen.  While growing up, he saw his parents build several small businesses with little to no formal education.  Yen is a parent of two sons and a graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a BS in Applied Physics but worked mainly in aviation and in national crisis response as a supervisor, trainer, and examiner in the public and private sectors.  Currently, he is a manager at Lyhun Realty

About the Founder:  Ron Gross is the founder of “Conversations New York.” He’s been organizing exciting, important CONVERSATIONS for 20 years, and currently holds them regularly on the Columbia University campus and elsewhere through the city. He’s the author of 23 books on LIFELONG LEARNING. He was recently honored for lifetime achievement in the field by the International Society for Self-Directed Learning. The late Buckminster Fuller said of Ron’s work: “If humanity is to pass safely through its present crisis on earth, it will be because a majority of individuals are now doing their own thinking. Ronald Gross’ work has pioneered in improving the climate for such thinking in the United States.”

CNY Talk-About at the

New Museum: “Spaceship Module”

Thursday, Feb 27, 2014

7 pm

The New Museum

235 Bowery (near Prince St.)

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Conversations-New-York/events/163166372/

“Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module”

For this special exhibit, the fifth floor of the New Museum will be transformed to resemble the inside of a futuristic “spaceship” (based on a Czech sci-fi film from 1963!), and will feature a variety of art (video, print, sculpture, installation) from artists based in Eastern Europe.

“Report on the Construction of a Spaceship Module” offers an allegory of “anthropological science fiction,” where the exhibition space becomes an estranged and exciting universe that dramatizes the cross-cultural translation involved in the presentation of art. The unique model evokes the challenges that contemporary artists experience in exhibiting works, or that curators come across in organizing exhibitions that stitch together diverse artworks, selected across generation, cultural context, personal narratives, and time.”

We will meet in the lobby at 7 pm. The New Museum is “suggested donation” on Thursdays. We will tour the exhibit, then reconvene at a nearby café to discuss and interpret what we have seen.

About the Moderator:  Laurence Mailaender works in the technology industry, doing research aimed at improving wireless systems. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering, and spent 12 years as a researcher in Bell Labs. Currently he develops advanced communication and GPS-geolocation systems for customers in various agencies of the U.S. Government.

“For roughly 50% of American families divorce is an unpleasant fact of life. Dealing with divorce and its effects destroys lives and bankrupts individuals every day. Family law, which barely existed for most of our country’s history, has morphed into a gigantic industry over the past several decades. These facts peaked our interest, but when we began making our documentary film in 2011 we had no idea we were about to uncover the last vestige of lawlessness in America. Family courts are a dark corner of the judicial system where fiefdoms and tyrants still thrive, where the supreme law of the land is routinely ignored, where children are taken hostage for profit, and where lives are destroyed as a matter of course. We knew we had to shine a light on these injustices. We hope that our movie and book do just that and point the way to a better path.”  http://divorcecorp.com/ 

View the trailer:  

Friday,  January 10, 2014, 6:30 PM, Union Square
Please RSVP Conversations New York meetup and purchase tickets in advance through fandango.com for the AMC Loews Village 7 Friday 7pm showing to ensure a seat.  Thank you.