Connect with us

Technology

The Leon Levine Foundation Awards $3.25M to Expand Career-Connected Learning Across the Carolinas

Published

3 months ago

on

TLLF to invest in 15 organizations building stronger pathways from the classroom to livable-wage careers as only 31% of North Carolina ninth graders are projected to earn a degree or credential within six years.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Leon Levine Foundation today announced $3.25 million in grants to 15 nonprofit organizations across North and South Carolina through the inaugural Carolina Career-Connected Learning Challenge, a bold initiative designed to help more students move successfully from education into meaningful, livable-wage careers.

 

The investment comes at a pivotal moment for students across the Carolinas. In North Carolina, only 31 of every 100 ninth-grade public school students are projected to graduate, enroll in college, and earn a degree or industry-valued credential within six years. The barriers are even greater for low-income and first-generation students. At the same time, AI and other technological advances are rapidly reshaping the workforce, narrowing many traditional entry points into professional careers. TLLF designed the career-connected learning challenge to support organizations demonstrating strong potential to bridge these gaps.

“This initiative reflects the kind of catalytic philanthropy we believe is necessary for the future,” Tom Lawrence, president and CEO of The Leon Levine Foundation, said. “The scale and quality of the response confirmed that there is extraordinary innovation already happening across the Carolinas. We have the opportunity to help shape a more connected, forward-looking approach to education and workforce development that supports underserved Carolinians, employers, and communities alike.”

Launched earlier this year as the Foundation’s first open request for proposals, the challenge sought bold ideas for helping students in grades 7–14 navigate the path from classroom to career. The initiative focused on expanding access to workforce-aligned learning, postsecondary credentials, hands-on employer experiences, and career pathways that can lead to long-term economic mobility in a rapidly changing economy shaped by AI and automation.

The response was overwhelming. The Foundation received 130 submissions from organizations across the Carolinas, invited 32 finalists to the second round, and ultimately selected 15 partners for one-year general operating grants ranging from $150,000 to $300,000.

The selected partners serve urban and rural communities across both Carolinas and support career pathways in high-demand fields, including healthcare, advanced manufacturing, aviation and aerospace, skilled trades, technology, construction, and education.

2026 Carolina Career-Connected Learning Challenge Grant Recipients

North Carolina: Accelerate Buncombe; Guilford Apprenticeship Partners; The Industrial Commons; NAF; Prelude; Road to Hire; The ROC Charlotte; Rural Opportunity Institute; She Built This City.

South Carolina: AMIkids; Digital Promise; Habitat for Humanity of York County; LaunchGVL; Medical University of South Carolina Foundation; South Carolina Technical College System.

The initiative reflects the Foundation’s broader workforce strategy, which focuses on creating clearer, better-defined pathways into careers that provide economic opportunity for underserved Carolinians in a rapidly evolving labor market.

“At a time when the traditional path from education to employment is becoming more uncertain, we have an opportunity to help build something better,” Russ Altenburg, education program director at The Leon Levine Foundation, said. “The organizations selected through this challenge are not simply preparing students for graduation, they are helping young people build the skills, networks, credentials, and real-world experiences that lead to long-term economic mobility. We believe career-connected learning can become one of the most powerful levers for expanding opportunity in our community.”

About The Leon Levine Foundation: Established in 1980 by Leon Levine, founder and former chairman of Family Dollar Stores, Inc., The Leon Levine Foundation empowers underserved Carolinians to be self-sufficient and strengthens Jewish communities. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the Foundation creates impact through grants and investments across North and South Carolina, supporting both long-standing community partners and focused strategic initiatives. The Foundation is on a time-bound mission to strengthen children and families, build strong futures for hardworking adults, and cultivate vibrant Jewish communities. Guided by Mr. Levine’s vision, the Foundation’s philanthropy is anchored in four enduring areas of impact: education, healthcare, human services, and Jewish values. Learn more: leonlevinefoundation.org.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-leon-levine-foundation-awards-3-25m-to-expand-career-connected-learning-across-the-carolinas-302805168.html

SOURCE The Leon Levine Foundation

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Technology

Moonlock by MacPaw Wins Red Dot Award 2026

Published

38 minutes ago

on

September 7, 2026

By

Moonlock earns recognition in the Interface & User Experience Design category, proving that thoughtful design belongs in cybersecurity as much as anywhere else.

BOSTON, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MacPaw is proud to announce that Moonlock, its antivirus and protection app for Mac users, has been named a winner of the 2026 Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design, recognized in the Interface & User Experience Design category. The award is an international mark of design excellence, judged on the strength of an idea, its execution, and its real-world impact.

Since launching in October 2025, Moonlock has taken a different approach to cybersecurity, reflected in every detail of the app. Its intuitive interface, plain-spoken copy, and hand-drawn illustrations replace the cold, technical tone common to security software. The result is a security app making protection feel easy and stress-free for everyone, expert or not.

Clear, human, beautiful products are a core MacPaw value, and the company pays attention to every detail, from aesthetics to user experience. Moonlock is no exception: it was built to make cybersecurity accessible to everyone, whatever their background — and design is central to that mission.

“Cybersecurity has a reputation for being intimidating — all alerts and jargon, with the sense that you need to be an expert just to stay safe. We built Moonlock to change that,” said Oleg Stukalenko, Head of Product Management at Moonlock by MacPaw. “From the start, we wanted it to feel human and welcoming, so that online protection becomes a natural part of everyday life rather than something people worry about. We think of design as everything someone actually experiences with us, not just the screen in front of them. Having the Red Dot jury recognize that work means a lot to the whole team.”

The Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design celebrates the craft behind how a product looks, feels, and speaks to the people who use it. Held since 1993, the competition is open to established and emerging designers, agencies, and companies across 18 categories. Each year, an international jury of 30 experts from design, science, media, and consultancy evaluates the entries, bringing a wide range of professional and cultural perspectives to every decision.

With this win, Moonlock continues MacPaw’s legacy of design excellence. It is the company’s fourth Red Dot Award: in 2017, Gemini 2 became the first macOS application to win the honor, followed by CleanMyMac in 2021 and CleanMy®Phone in 2024.

About Moonlock

Moonlock is a part of the MacPaw ecosystem that offers simple, approachable, and stress-free Mac protection and antivirus capabilities.

About MacPaw

MacPaw is a global technology company founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, with offices in Boston, MA and the EU, creating a digital ecosystem for Mac users. Combining capabilities such as system care, cybersecurity, app discovery, and more, the ecosystem aims to unite MacPaw’s suite of software, third-party tools, and AI solutions to collaborate on behalf of the user. Through Eney, an AI-powered assistant and the interface of the ecosystem, MacPaw aims to help users and developers within their workflows, driving the next generation of human-computer interaction.

Contacts

pr_team@macpaw.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moonlock-by-macpaw-wins-red-dot-award-2026-302870478.html

SOURCE MacPaw

Continue Reading

Technology

DBGallery Delivers “AI Knowledge Layer for Visual Assets,” Bringing Automated Enterprise DAM to Organizations of All Sizes

Published

38 minutes ago

on

September 7, 2026

By

Automated AI metadata converts photos and videos into structured organizational knowledge, transforming digital chaos into a strategic advantage without the manual effort.

TORONTO, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — DBGallery today announced the expansion of its visual intelligence capabilities, formally positioning its platform as an AI Knowledge Layer for Visual Assets for organizations and teams of all sizes. By replacing manual keywording with automated AI metadata analysis, DBGallery converts raw photos, graphics, and video into rich, structured organizational knowledge the moment they are uploaded.

For years, visual assets lost value because nobody had the bandwidth to tag them. With an automated metadata layer, that changes completely. Visual media becomes instantly discoverable, creating compounding, multi-year value, and puts DAM within reach of more organizations.

Historically, Digital Asset Management (DAM) was reserved for large media organizations with dedicated archiving staff. Resource-constrained teams across tourism boards, municipalities, higher education, non-profits, and marketing teams across numerous industries were locked out by the sheer labor required to manually tag thousands of files—turning vast digital asset libraries into unsearchable “file graveyards.”

DBGallery’s AI Knowledge Layer changes that economic equation by shifting DAM from a labor-intensive requirement into an automated, accessible workflow hub.

“For years, visual assets lost value over time because nobody had the bandwidth to tag them properly,” said Glenn Rogers, Director of Product and Project Management at DBGallery. “When you introduce an automated metadata knowledge layer, that changes completely. Visual media becomes instantly discoverable through structured context, custom prompt targeting, embedded OCR text, and interactive video transcripts. The metadata doesn’t just solve today’s search, it creates compounding, multi-year value for the entire organization, and brings DAM within reach to more organizations.”

Key Capabilities of the DBGallery AI Knowledge Layer include:

Automated Auto-Enrichment: Extracts OCR text from images and PDFs, identifies objects and faces, and summarizes photo and video content upon upload or subsequent batch analysis.Custom AI Description Prompts: Admins and users can tailor global or image-specific prompts to extract structured domain data—ranging from architectural style identification and brand compliance to social media captions and emotional tone analysis—and can be outputted as HTML or JSON for direct ingestion into websites or ERP systems.Interactive Video Transcription & Timelines: Generates time-stamped, sentence-by-sentence spoken transcripts aligned with video playback, allowing teams to click any transcript line to jump instantly to that exact moment in the video.Non-Spoken Scene Analysis: Automatically inserts AI visual scene descriptions into pauses in speech or non-verbal video clips, ensuring complete visual context alongside spoken transcripts.

This AI framework is integrated directly into DBGallery’s production-proven platform, capable of scaling to millions of assets and thousands of users. Designed specifically for multi-user team collaboration, the platform combines Single Sign-On (SSO) and granular action-level permissions with full audit trails, custom metadata fields, usage analytics, and cloud or on-premises deployment options.

By combining cutting-edge AI automation with a secure, highly scalable foundation, DBGallery allows organizations of any size to deploy enterprise-grade digital asset management without adding administrative headcount or compromising on data governance.

To explore the AI Metadata Value Chain or learn more about DBGallery’s enterprise AI capabilities, visit https://dbgallery.com/ai.

About DBGallery

DBGallery is a leading Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform trusted by over 100+ brands across more than 25 countries, ranging from non-profits and educational institutions to global enterprise organizations. By combining scalable SaaS or on-premises architecture with powerful AI metadata automation, DBGallery empowers teams of any size to organize, discover, and turn visual media into structured, searchable business data. Learn more at https://dbgallery.com and https://dbgallery.com/ai.

Media Contact

Glenn Rogers, DBGallery, 1 8888080381, grogers@dbgallery.com, https://dbgallery.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/dbgallery-delivers-ai-knowledge-layer-for-visual-assets-bringing-automated-enterprise-dam-to-organizations-of-all-sizes-302867426.html

SOURCE DBGallery

Continue Reading

Technology

Coda Launches Fresh Coda.co Website, Built for Publisher Growth

Published

39 minutes ago

on

September 7, 2026

By

SINGAPORE, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Coda today launched a revamped Coda.co website, creating a more comprehensive destination to explore Coda’s products, pricing, insights, and global capabilities.

The new Coda.co has been rebuilt to meet the needs of Coda’s B2B audiences, with gaming remaining at the heart of Coda’s business and expertise. The site also reflects how Coda is bringing that experience to a growing range of digital commerce businesses across entertainment, education and other verticals.

Designed to make it easier to evaluate opportunities with Coda, the site brings together practical information on market dynamics and local payment preferences alongside richer product pages, case studies and pricing.

The new Market Guides provide a country-level view of consumer behavior, payment preferences, and growth opportunities across 49 markets, while the Payment Guides go deeper on 94 individual payment methods worldwide, covering reach, adoption, and integration considerations.

Coda has also introduced a dedicated Pricing page that offers greater transparency into standard and custom pricing options, payment method coverage, and other commercial considerations. This sits alongside an expanded repository of case studies, white papers, and blog posts, providing deeper insight into why businesses choose Coda and how they use its Merchant of Record service and broader product suite to grow revenue, enter new markets, and build stronger direct-to-consumer channels with ease.

Shane Happach, CEO of Coda, said, “Publishers and brands are making decisions across more markets, payment methods and channels than ever. Our job is to bring clarity to that complexity. The new Coda.co provides a sharper view of the commercial opportunities we see and how Coda’s products and services help our partners turn that potential into meaningful growth. Gaming remains central to Coda, and the expertise we’ve built in the industry continues to shape how we help partners grow across digital commerce.”

The new Coda.co launch marks another milestone in Coda’s evolution as a global digital commerce leader, with a site designed to grow alongside its products, partnerships, and ambitions. The website will be available in Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean languages by the end of the year.

Learn more at the new www.coda.co

About Coda

Coda is a global leader in monetization, distribution, and commerce, trusted by the biggest names in gaming, entertainment, and technology, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Riot Games, Ubisoft, and Moonton. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Singapore, Coda operates with 670+ employees worldwide, with core hubs in Asia and Europe. Coda combines payments, commerce, distribution, and rewards to drive global revenue growth for brands and publishers.

Coda’s products include Codapay, which provides access to 400+ payment methods across 80+ markets through a single API integration; Coda Webstore, which powers fully customized direct-to-consumer storefronts; Coda Consumer Platforms, including Codashop, Recharge.com, and Startselect.com; Coda Distribution, which extends reach through a network of commerce partners; and Giftcloud, a UK-based rewards business serving enterprise customers across Europe.

Coda is backed by Apis Partners, Insight Partners, Smash Capital, and GIC, and has been named an APAC High Growth Company (2023) by Financial Times, one of Granite Asia’s NextGenTech 30 (2024), a payments leader on Fortune’s Fintech Innovation Asia list (2024), and listed among The Straits Times Fastest Growing Fintechs (2024). For more on Coda, visit coda.co.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/coda-launches-fresh-codaco-website-built-for-publisher-growth-302871333.html

SOURCE Coda

Continue Reading

Trending