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Leading change makers and industry experts join The Possible Zone Board of Directors

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BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Possible Zone (TPZ), an innovative, hands-on entrepreneurship program where young people in Boston prepare for life-long learning and careers of the future, is proud to announce four leading change makers and experts in their industries have joined its Board of Directors: Brian Aquart, Esq., Vice President, Workforce & Community Education at Northwell Health’s Center for Learning & Innovation; Kyle Hartung, Ed.D., Associate Vice President in Jobs for the Future’s (JFF) Education Practice; J.D. LaRock, J.D., Ed.D., President & CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE); and Peter Prodromou, Founder and CEO of global marketing, communications and digital services companies.

“Here at The Possible Zone, we’ve redefined learning experiences for young people, with our unique competency-based experiential program that enables self-development, skill building, and college and career exploration,” said Becky Levin, TPZ Executive Director and Co-founder. “I’m grateful to Brian, Kyle, J.D., and Peter for their commitment to our mission and for generously sharing their invaluable insights and influence. We are well positioned, with their contributions to our leadership and governance, to expand our reach and strengthen our impact as we continue to provide innovative educational opportunities and pathways to careers of the future.”

Hundreds of high school students each year, and a cohort of young adult associates immersed in early career exploration, thrive as they develop entrepreneurial spirit, build 21st Century skills, and explore changing STEAM technologies in TPZ’s state-of-the-art Innovation Center in Boston. The four new Board Directors are helping to deepen the organization’s strategy, thought leadership, and networks with education, industry, and policy partners across the country.

Brian Aquart, Esq., is the Vice President, Workforce & Community Education, at Northwell Health in the Center for Learning & Innovation, where he leads Northwell’s relationship with NYC Public Schools to create pathways to economic success for underserved communities through initiatives such as the Northwell School of Health Sciences and FutureReadyNYC. He also leads the MedVoyage program, which provides immersive healthcare experiences to students in Long Island. A passionate advocate for advancing learning, innovation and workforce development, he fosters partnerships with organizations like NYC Public Schools and Bloomberg Philanthropies, to redefine healthcare education. Brian is also the host of Why I Left, a podcast that explores personal stories of career transitions and the evolving world of work. With a background in law, strategy, and education, he is dedicated to driving positive change for a better tomorrow.

Over the last 25 years, Kyle Hartung, Ed.D., has worked as a teacher, leader, consultant, and researcher in public K–12 systems and higher-education settings. He currently serves as an associate vice president in Jobs for the Future’s (JFF) Education Practice where he leads strategy and initiatives, including the Pathways to Prosperity Network, with federal, state, and regional leaders and organizations to design, strengthen, and scale equitable solutions that reimagine the ways in which people experience and move through education and workforce development systems. He is a co-author of The Big Blur and a regular participant in the ongoing conversation about equity, education, and the future of work in the media and at events around the country. Prior to joining JFF, Kyle worked as a researcher with Learning Innovations Laboratory (LILa) at Harvard’s Project Zero, with Envision Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, and at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School in the Bronx, NY, where he began his career as a teacher. 

J.D. LaRock, J.D., Ed.D., is the President & CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a global nonprofit organization that provides high-quality entrepreneurship education to middle school, high school, and young adult students from under-resourced communities. Previously, J.D. was the President and CEO of the Commonwealth Corporation, Massachusetts’ state authority for workforce development; a member of Northeastern University’s senior leadership team; and an education policymaker at the federal and state levels. At Commonwealth Corporation, J.D led the $55 million organization to advance Massachusetts’ economic leadership through signature partnerships with employers, employees, educational institutions, and community-based organizations. Additionally, J.D. chaired Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s Commission on Digital Innovation and Lifelong Learning and was a member of the Aspen Institute’s Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2017-18. As Senior Education Advisor to the late U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, J.D. helped lead the 2008 reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act and the 2007 passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. 

Peter Prodromou is a global leader, seasoned CEO, board member, practitioner, and strategist, and is currently Chief Marketing Officer of Arch and Paintzen. Part of the founding team of Racepoint Group, he went on to serve as global president and CEO of Racepoint Global, a merger of Racepoint Group and Digital Influence Group; he later served as CEO of Boston Digital and as a founder at Boathouse Group. Peter has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, and liquidity events, and he has advised founders and CEOs seeking liquidity, capital, and market expansion strategies. An expert on the implications of reputation, issues management, public policy and social responsibility, he has advised elected officials and candidates on policy and communications initiatives, and brings extensive for-profit and nonprofit board experience. Peter’s clients have included AT&T, Huawei, Samsung, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Dassault Systemes, ARM, Panasonic, John Deere, Kingdom of Jordan, Republic of Rwanda, Carrier Corporation, and Project Liberty.

Reinforced by a network of key educational and industry partners in a supportive ecosystem, bolstered by work-based learning opportunities, and guided by The Possible Zone’s college and career advisors, TPZ students become equipped and ready to shape their futures and pursue innovative careers. The TPZ team is committed to helping students find their passions; cultivate essential skills, mindsets, and assets; and shape their futures so that they can experience upward economic mobility in their chosen paths. Learn more at possiblezone.org.

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Media Advisory – Minister Hodgson to deliver keynote speech on One Year of Nation Building

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TORONTO, April 22, 2026 /CNW/ – The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, will speak at the Empire Club of Canada regarding this past year’s accomplishments and future strategic directions.

Date: April 24, 2026

Time: 11:30 a.m. ET

All accredited media are asked to register using the Empire Club’s press accreditation and registration form. Details on how to participate will be provided upon registration.

Follow Natural Resources Canada on LinkedIn.

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Harness Delivers Unified AI Intelligence Across Software Delivery with Google Cloud

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Harness integrates Google Cloud’s Developer Connect into its Software Delivery Knowledge Graph to give engineering teams smarter, faster AI-driven insights

SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harness, the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, today announced that it will bring together Harness’s Software Delivery Knowledge Graph and Google Cloud’s Developer Connect. The initiative gives joint customers a unified, AI-ready view of their entire software delivery lifecycle, and the intelligence to act on it with confidence.

The announcement was made at Google Cloud Next, where Harness also won the 2026 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year Award in the Application Development – DevOps category.

The Missing Piece in AI Software Delivery

Modern software delivery environments are inherently complex. Pipelines, services, build and deploy infrastructure, artifacts, and dependencies are deeply interconnected — and the data that describes how they relate to one another is scattered across dozens of tools. As organizations accelerate their adoption of AI-powered engineering, that fragmentation becomes a critical liability. AI is only as effective as the context it can access, and today, most AI agents are operating with an incomplete picture.

Harness is addressing this challenge head-on. By integrating Google Cloud Developer Connect insights into the Harness Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, joint customers gain a continuously updated, relationship-aware model of their software delivery environment that spans both platforms, bridging the visibility gap between development and production so that AI agents can operate with complete and reliable context. For engineering teams, this translates directly to making decisions grounded in situational awareness rather than generic training data, allowing them to execute complex workflows with greater accuracy.

Where the Partnership Comes to Life

For joint customers of Harness and Google Cloud, this integration means Harness AI can now make smarter, faster decisions on their behalf. By bringing together deployment event logs, runtime data, and application dependency information from Google Cloud into the Harness Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, teams gain a continuously updated, comprehensive view of their software delivery environment. When an issue arises, engineers can diagnose and remediate faster, trace problems back to specific source files or infrastructure, and link artifacts to the teams responsible for them, without having to manually piece together context from multiple systems.

The result is AI that works harder for customers. With richer context available upfront, AI agents can operate more efficiently, delivering answers and recommendations that reflect the true state of the environment. Everything teams need is in one place, and their AI has everything it needs to act on it confidently.

Security is central to how this integration was built. Data shared between Harness and Google Cloud is governed by enterprise-grade access controls, ensuring the right information reaches the right people within the guardrails organizations require.

“AI is only as powerful as the context behind it. Without it, teams fall into the AI Velocity Paradox: moving code faster than ever, but risking shipping software that is unverified, insecure, and unreliable,” said Jyoti Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Harness. “This is exactly what our expanded work with Google Cloud directly addresses, giving joint customers a unified view of their software delivery environment and AI that can actually reason across it. When context is complete, speed and confidence go hand in hand.”

A Collaboration That Keeps Deepening

This integration is the latest evolution of a long-standing collaboration between Harness and Google Cloud. Harness AI runs on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and joint customers already benefit from expanded access through Google Cloud Marketplace. With this announcement, that work expands from the infrastructure layer into the application layer — and directly into how AI understands and acts on the software delivery environment. And it doesn’t stop there. The Harness MCP Server is now accessible within Google’s Gemini Enterprise app environment, enabling Gemini Enterprise customers to leverage Harness capabilities directly from their existing AI interface.

“Google Cloud provides cutting-edge technology that helps partners innovate and deliver more impactful solutions for business transformation,” said Ritika Suri, Managing Director, AI and Data Partnerships at Google Cloud. “Through our partnership with Harness, we will provide customers with innovative capabilities that can improve operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.”

Join Us

As our Knowledge Graph ecosystem continues to grow, Harness remains committed to expanding the breadth of integrations available to customers with the goal of being the most comprehensive AI-ready software delivery platform on the market.

To connect with the Harness team in person, visit the Harness booth at Google Cloud Next.

About Harness
Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, enabling engineering teams to build, test, and deliver software faster and more securely. Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the platform brings intelligent automation to every stage of the software delivery lifecycle after code — removing toil and freeing developers from manual, repetitive work. Companies like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels use Harness to deploy up to 70% faster, reduce change failure rates by 50%, cut deployment effort by 80%, and lower security noise by 65%. Based in San Francisco, Harness is backed by Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

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H.I.G. Capital Announces the Sale of Celerion

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MIAMI, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with $74 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, Celerion Holdings, Inc. (“Celerion” or the “Company”), a global CRO and leader in clinical pharmacology and bioanalytical sciences, to funds affiliated with THL Partners (“THL”).

Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Celerion is a leading provider of highly specialized clinical pharmacology and bioanalytical sciences with deep expertise in first-in-human dose escalation, cardiac safety (TQT), drug-drug interaction, and other complex clinical pharmacology studies that support regulatory approval and drug labeling. Celerion offers an integrated suite of services spanning data management, biostatistics, and clinical monitoring that supports a global base of pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers through its purpose-built clinical and laboratory infrastructure with facilities in Lincoln, Phoenix, Zurich, and Belfast.

H.I.G. acquired Celerion in November 2022 and worked closely with management to accelerate growth and strengthen the Company’s market position. During its ownership, H.I.G. supported strategic investments across commercial, operational, and technology initiatives, including the expansion of Celerion’s clinical and bioanalytical laboratory footprint. These efforts drove exceptional growth and solidified Celerion’s standing as a leading, clinical pharmacology-focused, contract research organization.

Susan Thornton, Celerion’s President & CEO, commented, “H.I.G. has been an exceptional partner to Celerion, helping us accelerate key strategic initiatives and invest meaningfully in our people, capabilities, and infrastructure. These efforts have strengthened our platform and enhanced the quality and consistency of outcomes we deliver to customers. We are excited to carry this momentum forward with THL as we enter our next phase of growth.”

Mike Gallagher, Managing Director at H.I.G., commented, “We are proud of what Celerion’s best-in-class team has accomplished during our partnership. The team has delivered industry- leading growth during our ownership, and we are confident it is uniquely positioned for its next chapter.”

Michael Kuritzky, Managing Director at H.I.G., added, “We are very proud of the work Celerion does to help drug sponsors worldwide navigate the complexities of clinical trial management. It has been a privilege to partner with Susan and her team, and we look forward to Celerion’s continued success.”

BofA Securities, Inc. and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC were financial advisors to H.I.G. and Celerion. McDermott Will & Schulte LLP was legal counsel for H.I.G. and Celerion in connection with the transaction.

About Celerion

Celerion is a clinical research organization that provides comprehensive clinical trial solutions to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients conducting early clinical research throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The Company serves its clients through a global network of facilities and provides first-in-human to proof-of-concept studies as well as bioanalytical laboratory services, data management and biometrics, and drug development services. For more information, visit celerion.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. Capital is a leading global alternative investment firm with $74 billion of capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Stamford in the United States, as well as international affiliate offices in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Dubai, and Hong Kong, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to middle market companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. also manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 400 companies worldwide. The Firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $53 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at hig.com.

*Based on total capital raised by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates.

Contact:

Mike Gallagher
Managing Director
mgallagher@hig.com

Michael Kuritzky
Managing Director
mkuritzky@hig.com

Alex Zisson
Managing Director
azisson@hig.com

H.I.G. Capital
1450 Brickell Avenue
31st Floor
Miami, FL 33131
P: 305.379.2322
hig.com

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