Tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

I’m the CEO and founder of Empify. We are a start-up financial literacy program, based in Philadelphia, that shows adults and children how to build wealth.

Our mission at Empify is to educate, empower, and modify the mindset of every individual, by inspiring them to achieve career, life, and financial success. We have programs for children, middle school, high school, and college students in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New York.

Over 5,000 students have been impacted by our financial education programs. Our focus is showing students how to save money, make money, and invest money. For adults, we are like the Netflix of finance, as we just launched our app, that gives you access to over 100 hours of financial education tools and resources.

How did you get started?

I was born in Philadelphia, and all I wanted to do was make a lot of money and have nice clothes. I never wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I had dreams of working on Wall Street. I went to Howard University, majored in Finance, and had 4 internships, 3 at Wall Street investment banks. I graduated landing my dream career working for one of the biggest banks in the world. Helping individuals who have $25 million or more, manage their money.

After about 8 months of my career, I realized this is something we are using every day in our lives, that is not being taught in the school system. I wanted to take the information that Wall Street and Howard University gave me and give it to people that Wall Street would not talk to.

What’s next?

We want to bring financial education back into our school system by programming in over 100 Schools across this country. Most importantly, we want to put financial education back into the household by showing adults and children how to build wealth together.

Founded by childhood friends, Muhammed Abdul-Hadi and Chef Kurt Evans, Down North Pizza is no ordinary neighborhood pizza joint. It’s one that marries serving top-quality delicious comfort food with the mission of reducing recidivism rates in black communities. Their aim is to help erase employment barriers faced by formerly incarcerated men and women, by providing culinary career opportunities at a fair wage within an equitable workplace.

Executive Chef Michael Carter has been cooking his whole life. Whether it be family reunions, fish fries, or his family's barbeque spot on 52nd Street, their business model is unique because of its honesty. They aim to shine a light on the restaurant industry's backbone, the formerly incarcerated and undocumented workers.

Pizza being a food everyone enjoys was the perfect catalyst to use for the bigger issue at play, which is to talk about the over arching issue of mass incarceration.

What's next for Down North? Everything they do is to better their community. At the top of the list is to build a sustainable community garden across the street from the store. They aim to create a place where their patrons can get fresh produce once they are harvested, build community centers in the Strawberry Mansion area to teach job training skills to the youth, and build a food co-op in the heart of Philadelphia, where people can work and receive memberships on discounted foods.

Head over and grab your personal Detroit Pie at Down North Pizza Today!

Located at: 2804 W Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia, PA

Open Thursday - Sunday only. Be there early because they sell out fast.

The last year has been very hard on many people, so we wanted to create a scholarship to help ease some of the financial burden for students that have displayed excellence in academics, had an impact on their local and school communities, and overcome unusual personal or family circumstances.

Our company has a longstanding history of supporting students and HBCUs, so another way we are able to demonstrate that commitment is to do something extra to help provide support for graduating high school seniors who are looking to attend a participating HBCU school full-time in the fall.

• This scholarship serves to award up to 5 graduating high school seniors who not only have demonstrated a commitment to their academics, but also to their local and school community, which is an important aspect of DTLR’s corporate culture.
• To be considered for this first-ever scholarship, you must be a graduating high school senior looking to attend one of the participating HBCU schools.
• Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent).
• They must also provide a statement of career and educational goals and objectives, note unusual or family circumstances and an online recommendation.
• Eligible students can apply starting today through Tuesday, April 6 by visiting https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/dtlrciaa/

On this quiet winter morning over in Manhattan’s Lower East Side you can find some of today’s most influential Artist’s work, Daniel Arsham. Tucked away behind the Perrotin Gallery’s walls on Orchard Street holds three floors of masterpieces. Everything nostalgic to the late 90’s era child could wish for.

New York City Resident, Daniel Arsham has been making noise in the Art (and even streetwear) community for some time now. His works with Adidas, Kim Jones of Dior, and Ronnie Fieg has made him one of Fashion’s top Artist collaborators. His work often is monochromatic due to him being color blind and also reflects on making relics of current objects we’ve grown up around. Making casts and aging them through intricate processes.

Most recently Daniel has teamed up with the Pokemon brand to create sculptures of some of our favorite creatures from this Japanese Anime. Visiting the Perrotin we got to see an array of this new series along side with some other special pieces of paintings to even the cast molds itself.

Being a product from the 90's, seeing all of this in person actually does bring you back in time. There is something special to what Daniel is doing aging and distressing modern subjects to feel like an artifact. It makes you think what civilization will be like in a thousand years, and what the footprints we leave behind will be of importance.

The Show will be running until February 20th and still has some available showings left. If you have the time I highly suggest you go check out the Perrotin.

In partnership with Cxmmunity and 300 Entertainment, the retailer will create a virtual esports and live streaming experience to raise awareness and funds for participating HBCUs

DTLR, one of the country’s most successful lifestyle retailers with more than 240 stores in 19 states, today announced the launch of the first-ever HBCU virtual esports battleground and career fair in partnership with Cxmmunity, a nonprofit whose mission is to increase the number of minorities taking place in the gaming industry, and independent music label 300 Entertainment. This virtual activation, which will take place on both Oct. 18 and 25 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., aims to create a sense of community while also raising awareness and funds for participating HBCUs that have lost out on critical funding and alumni support due to the postponement of fall sports and homecoming games, and elimination of in-person career fairs and college tours in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Esports Battleground

DTLR teamed up with Cxmmunity and 300 Entertainment to create a first-of-its-kind virtual activation on live-streaming platform Twitchthat will match up against popular recording artists– including Tee Grizzley, T-Shyne, Lil Keed, and DJ SideReal – with team captains of the HBCU Esports League from participating colleges and universities, who will battle it out playing Call of Duty. The battleground is comprised of mainly 300 Entertainment talent. Anyone can log in to Twitch to join in on the fun and watch each matchup. Two groups of artists and schools will be matched up during each session on Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 from 1-6 p.m.

The HBCU Esports League was formed earlier this summer by Twitch and Cxmmunity. Participating HBCUs include Clark Atlanta University, Alabama State, Johnson C. Smith University, Howard University, Tennessee State, N.C. A&T State University, NC Central University, and Oakwood University to name a few. While donations are not required to watch the matchups, they are encouraged as HBCUs are missing out on critical funds that would normally be acquired during homecoming games.

Virtual Career/College Fair

In addition to the elimination of homecoming, students are missing out on opportunities to attend career fairs and tour schools, so the second part of this virtual activation consists of two tracks: a virtual career and college fair on platform Gamerjibe. The career fair will help connect college students with professionals and recruiters from lifestyle, fashion, music, and entertainment brands, including Cxmmunity and Bethesda Softworks, DTLR, and 300 Entertainment, which has guaranteed one internship to an attending student. Students can RSVP for an opportunity to conduct on-site interviews and also attend a live panel discussion. The second track will be for high school students, who will have the opportunity to meet with admissions from several participating HBCUs.

The fair will be set up like a game where students can create their own avatars and interact with participating brands and representatives that will have virtual “booths” set up. Anyone with an avatar can link it to their LinkedIn page or social media accounts to allow for easy networking. The fair portion of the activation will start at 12 p.m. and run through 3 p.m. on both Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.

“DTLR is excited to unveil this first-ever, two-part activation that serves to support HBCUs and their students -- both current and prospective -- by using esports and virtual experiences to help fill the void of in-person homecoming games, career fairs, and on-site school tours,” said DTLR’s Shawn Caesar. “By partnering with Cxmmunity and 300 Entertainment, we hope to generate critical support for participating HBCUs and to connect college students with representatives from top lifestyle and entertainment brands to help extend career opportunities during an uncertain time.”

About DTLR

DTLR is one of the country's most successful lifestyle retailers with over 240 stores in 19 states. Infusing together our passion for fashion, entertainment, sports, and community empowerment, there is no doubt we run the streets. In the fall of 2017, DTLR Inc. joined forces with the lifestyle retailer Sneaker Villa Inc. to form one of the nation's largest fashion chains. As we accelerate our growth, you can look forward to DTLR/VILLA continuing to bring you the hottest and latest fashions provided by top apparel and footwear brands like NIKE, JORDAN, ADIDAS, LEVIS, TIMBERLAND, UGG, NORTH FACE, CHAMPION, BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB, ETHIKA, PUMA, FILA, NEW ERA CAP and MITCHELL & NESS. Make no mistake: now, “Better Together,” we are the ONE STOP for young, trendsetting multicultural audiences. For more information, please visit www.DTLR.com.

About Cxmmunity

Cxmmunity; pronounced community; is committed to increasing minority youth participation in the esports and video game industry so that there is an equal opportunity as new jobs and professions are being created. We do this by ensuring that underserved k-12 institutions and HBCU students are developing skills within STEM and business-management by exposing them and providing access to video game publishers; film productions; sports and entertainment executives; professional athletes; and world-renowned artists. For more information, please visit www.cxmmunity.co/.

About 300 Entertainment

An American, independent label that takes the traditional model of a recording music company and flips it. The innovative boutique media and entertainment platform put artists first across genres, architecting career development with the mindset of an independent, but with the muscle of a major. The company has nurtured and developed some of the most prominent and culturally important artists of the decade. For more information, visit 300ent.com.

The COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 has literally shut down our lives, and in some cases enabled everyday people from coming together in large numbers. Despite certain physical restrictions and concerns, we have relied on the World Wide Web to stay connected. Similar to music or tasty cuisine, sports & fashion is are universal gems that people across the globe treasure now more than ever. Sports is an activity that neutralizes social intersections with the mutual passion of single/team play. Fashion is a form of self-expression that correlates to your style & mood through particular fabrics and/or text. As we all are a part of the physical form, PUMA is making sure we all are together in a message.

PUMA set aside social differences and focused on peace and love to design the globally anticipated ‘Unity Collection’. This collection allows you to take a blast from the past wearing classic silhouettes while staying present with each vibrant color symbolizing an international stand of unification. The pack celebrates the enriched sports heritage that has been created under the PUMA umbrella. Classics like ‘Ralph Sampson’ and the ‘Future Rider’ are just a few of the silhouettes that have been selected for updated styling.

Clothing has a simplistic elegance to it, choosing to design all of the apparel in solid colors black and white. Strategic in detailing, items have eye-catching pops of color that jump out at your pupils. The colors were hand-picked to represent international flagship around the globe. TFS tracksuits, backpacks, and caps all have vibrant colors to give each garment contrast throughout the designs. Accents and accessories include shimmering gold medal hardware and PUMA printed drawcords for added flare. In continuance of unity, the collection is unisex for everyone to be a part of the movement.

In conjunction with the movement, PUMA commits to donating LEAVE OUT DOLLAR AMOUNT to the U.N. COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. While the pandemic is still underway, the fund will support World Health Organizations' global efforts to handle all stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A small action to support can make a big difference in lives today. This is definitely “A New Collection For a Better Future”.

The PUMA ‘Unity Collection’ is available in-store and online at DTLR.com.

People around the world are being asked to help halt the spread of COVID-19 by practicing social distancing. The idea is to “flatten to curve” in hopes of decreasing the risk of spreading the virus. We are asking you all to join in on this highly important cause so we can all remain safe and healthy.

Part of the beauty of social distancing is this trendy new wave of “creativity.” Individuals all over the world are using their drive for space and solitude to uplift the world through their skills and hobbies. Understanding that you can become socially social-distanced is allowing the world to feel closer than ever before. #KickingTheCurve is all about contributing to the better well-being of the world at home, and in style. We understand the urgency to showcase your summer fits is more of a crisis than ever before, but you don’t have to go outside to do so. DTLR is encouraging you all to participate in flattening the curve by showing us how you rock your sneakers in and around the crib. Kick it with your loved ones, shoot some cool pics and stay (home) safe!