Connect with us

Technology

In HelloNation, Banking Expert Deja Hawkins Explains How Community Banking Strengthens Local Economies

Published

on

The article explains how local financial institutions help businesses, families, and communities grow through relationship-based banking.

RIDGELAND, Miss., July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — How does community banking support local economic growth?

HelloNation answers that question in an article featuring insights from Banking Expert Deja Hawkins of PriorityOne Bank. The article explains how community banking strengthens the local economy by supporting businesses, families, and organizations through personalized service, local decision-making, and long-term financial relationships.

The HelloNation article explains that strong communities depend on more than public infrastructure. A healthy local economy also requires access to financial resources that help businesses expand, families reach financial goals, and organizations continue serving their communities. According to the article, community banking plays an important role by keeping financial resources working within the communities they serve while supporting sustainable economic development.

One of the defining strengths of community banks is their connection to the neighborhoods they serve. The article explains that community banks are led by professionals who understand local industries, economic conditions, and community priorities. This local perspective allows lending decisions to reflect both financial qualifications and the unique needs of the community, creating opportunities that benefit individuals and businesses alike.

The article also highlights the important role of small business loans in supporting entrepreneurship. Business owners often depend on financing to purchase equipment, hire employees, expand operations, or launch new ventures. By providing small business loans, community banks help businesses grow while contributing to job creation and strengthening the local economy. These investments often create benefits that extend well beyond the individual borrower.

Local lending creates a ripple effect throughout the community, according to the article. As businesses expand, they purchase goods and services from nearby vendors, create employment opportunities, and contribute to increased economic activity. This cycle allows financial resources to continue circulating through the local economy while supporting long-term economic development. The article explains that local lending helps build stronger communities by encouraging continued investment and financial resilience.

Relationship banking is another defining characteristic discussed in the article. Rather than focusing solely on individual transactions, relationship banking emphasizes long-term partnerships that evolve as customers’ financial needs change. A family may begin with basic banking services before pursuing mortgage lending, while a business owner may eventually seek additional financing and treasury services. Building lasting relationships allows financial institutions to better understand customer goals while providing meaningful financial guidance.

The article also notes that mortgage lending remains an important part of community banking. Purchasing a home is one of the most significant financial decisions many families will make, and working with knowledgeable local lenders can help simplify the process. Mortgage lending supports neighborhood stability while allowing families to invest in the communities where they live and work.

Community involvement further distinguishes many community banks. The article explains that financial institutions frequently support local schools, nonprofit organizations, civic groups, and community events through volunteer service, sponsorships, and charitable giving. These partnerships strengthen community relationships while helping banks remain connected to changing local priorities and opportunities for economic development.

The article concludes that community banking extends far beyond everyday financial transactions. Through relationship banking, responsible local lending, small business loans, mortgage lending, and continued investment in the local economy, community banks help create an environment where businesses, families, and neighborhoods can grow together while supporting lasting economic development.

Community Banking & Local Economic Growth features insights from Deja Hawkins, Banking Expert of Ridgeland, MS, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation

HelloNation is America’s Good News Network, a premier media platform built on the idea that good news travels faster when real people tell real stories. Through its community-focused publications and innovative “edvertising” approach, HelloNation delivers content that informs, inspires, and spotlights the leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-hellonation-banking-expert-deja-hawkins-explains-how-community-banking-strengthens-local-economies-302835423.html

SOURCE HelloNation

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Alabama’s Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy Receives $1.15 Million Grant to Preserve Civil Rights Landmark and Expand Cultural Programming

Published

on

By

ALBERTA, Ala., July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy (FQBL) is pleased to announce it has received a $1.15 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to preserve and strengthen the historic home of the Freedom Quilting Bee while expanding the organization’s long-term capacity to steward this nationally significant cultural landmark. The three-year grant, which runs July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, represents a transformative investment in both the preservation of the historic Freedom Quilting Bee headquarters and the future sustainability of the organization that carries its legacy forward.

Founded in 1966, the Freedom Quilting Bee became a nationally recognized quilting cooperative that created economic opportunity for Black women in rural Alabama. Through their extraordinary artistry, entrepreneurship, and partnerships with national retailers, the women of the Freedom Quilting Bee generated income for their families while preserving a rich artistic tradition and advancing economic justice during the Civil Rights Movement.

“This investment from the Mellon Foundation is a powerful affirmation of the national significance of the Freedom Quilting Bee story,” said Kim V. Kelly, Executive Director of Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy. “It enables us to preserve this historic place while building the organizational capacity needed to ensure these stories continue to educate and inspire generations to come.”

Through the Humanities in Place grant, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy will undertake critical work to upgrade the historic structure, ensuring that it can continue to serve as a center for exhibitions, educational programming, research, and community engagement. Planned improvements include modernization of essential building systems, accessibility enhancements, and rehabilitation that preserves the building’s historic character while preparing it for long-term public use.

In addition to investing in the historic building, the grant will strengthen the organization’s capacity by supporting the recruitment and hiring of a Development Director. This new leadership position will expand Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy’s fundraising and donor engagement efforts, broaden philanthropic support, and help secure the organization’s long-term financial sustainability.

“The Mellon Foundation recognizes that preserving historic places also requires investing in the organizations that care for them,” Kelly said. “By strengthening our development capacity, we will be better positioned to cultivate new partnerships and resources that will sustain this important work well beyond the grant period.”

The award builds upon several years of investment by public and private partners in the Adaptive Reuse Project. Previous support from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, and the Educational Foundation of America enabled significant improvements to the property, including renovation of the Rev. Lonnie Brown Jr. Learning Center, expansion of the site’s infrastructure, and completion of architectural plans for restoration of the building’s original roof design. Souls Grown Deep Foundation was an early funder whose support helped launch Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy. Today, that partnership continues through their contribution of original photographic documentation of the community and their curation of the exhibition currently on display.

By the conclusion of the grant period in 2029, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy will have advanced the preservation of one of Alabama’s most important Civil Rights and folk art landmarks while establishing stronger organizational systems to support expanded exhibitions, educational initiatives, artist residencies, public humanities programming, and community partnerships.

About Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy
Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy preserves, interprets, and advances the history and enduring impact of the Freedom Quilting Bee. Through historic preservation, exhibitions, educational programming, and community partnerships, the organization celebrates the women whose artistry and entrepreneurship transformed their community and left an indelible mark on American history. To learn more about the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, visit www.fqblegacy.org. For media-approved images, please click here.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alabamas-freedom-quilting-bee-legacy-receives-1-15-million-grant-to-preserve-civil-rights-landmark-and-expand-cultural-programming-302835390.html

SOURCE Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy

Continue Reading

Technology

Yoodli Appoints Former Meta and Coalition Product Leader Kartik Murthy as VP of Product

Published

on

By

Veteran of Meta, Google, and Uber joins the team building the leading AI roleplay platform following its $40M Series B and 1 million user milestone

SEATTLE, July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yoodli, the AI-powered experiential learning platform that uses AI roleplays to help teams practice high-stakes conversations, today announced the appointment of Kartik Murthy as Vice President of Product. Murthy officially joins the company July 27 and will lead product strategy and execution as Yoodli scales its platform for global revenue teams.

Murthy brings more than 17 years of product leadership spanning AI, consumer software, hardware, and learning. He joins Yoodli from Coalition, the cyber insurance leader, where as Head of Product for Security, AI, and Expansion he led teams that shipped generative AI features across the core product, automated more than 30% of servicing tasks, and expanded into five new markets, more than tripling international revenue. Previously, he led the product management team behind Ray-Ban Stories, Meta’s first wearable device, from inception through launch, drove Uber’s international expansion of Rides and Eats, and served as VP of Product at edtech platform Subject, making Yoodli a return to his roots in learning technology.

“At over 1 million users and 900% revenue growth, our constraint isn’t demand, it’s how fast we can build the right things. Kartik has spent his career solving exactly that problem, from launching Meta’s first wearable to tripling Coalition’s international revenue. He builds, he ships, and he thinks about product the way we do,” said Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli.

The appointment comes during a period of rapid growth for Yoodli., achieved 900% year-over-year revenue growth, and closed a $40M Series B led by WestBridge Capital, bringing total funding to $60M at a $300M valuation. Enterprise customers including Google Cloud, Snowflake, Databricks, and RingCentral use Yoodli’s AI roleplays to build readiness across revenue teams, with results like 15,000+ reps certified at Google Cloud and 1,600+ manager hours recovered per quarter at Snowflake.

“I’ve built products across AI, hardware, and learning, and the pattern I keep seeing is that people improve through practice, not content. Yoodli is the first experiential learning platform built for enterprise, and the team ships with a velocity I’ve rarely seen. There’s never been a better time to build, and there’s no better place to build than here,” said Murthy.

At Yoodli, Murthy will lead the product organization as the company scales its platform for the world’s largest revenue teams. His mandate includes deepening the realism of Yoodli’s AI roleplays, strengthening the platform’s enterprise capabilities, and expanding the Learn → Practice → Do loop across enablement, L&D, leadership, and partner teams.

Murthy is based in Seattle and will work from Yoodli’s headquarters at Pier 70.

About Yoodli

Yoodli is an AI-powered experiential learning platform that helps people practice and improve communication skills through personalized AI roleplays, adaptive coaching, and real-time feedback. Trusted by enterprises worldwide, Yoodli enables learners to build confidence, measure progress, and perform when it matters most. Learn more at yoodli.ai or visit us on LinkedIn

Welcoming Kartik Murthy as Yoodli’s VP of Product

We’re thrilled to share that Kartik Murthy is joining Yoodli as our VP of Product, effective July 27.

Kartik brings more than 17 years of product leadership across some of the most demanding consumer and enterprise environments in tech. Most recently, he was Head of Product for Security, AI, and Expansion at Coalition, the cyber insurance leader, where his teams shipped generative AI features across the core product, automated more than 30% of servicing tasks, and expanded into five new markets to more than triple the company’s international revenue. Before that, he was VP of Product at Subject, the edtech platform formerly known as Emile Learning, and spent over four years at Meta, where he led the product management team that took Ray-Ban Stories, Meta’s first wearable device, from inception to launch.

His resume also includes leading the cross-functional teams behind Uber’s global expansion of Rides and Eats, including launching Uber Eats in India and Korea, leading Quora’s first international expansion, product management on search internationalization at Google, and program management at Microsoft. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Why this matters for Yoodli

Yoodli is at an inflection point. We recently crossed 1 million all-time users, grew revenue 900% year over year, and raised a $40M Series B led by WestBridge Capital to bring AI roleplays to enterprise revenue teams around the world. As demand for experiential learning accelerates, our product roadmap has never been more ambitious.

That’s where Kartik comes in. He has spent his career building products that scale across markets, languages, and platforms, from zero-to-one hardware launches at Meta to global expansion at Uber. That combination of AI depth, enterprise rigor, and international scale is exactly what Yoodli needs as we grow our platform for the world’s largest revenue teams.

“We just crossed 1 million users and grew revenue 900% year over year, and honestly that’s the easy part. The hard part is what comes next: turning a product people love into a platform the world’s largest enterprises run their most important conversations on. Kartik has done this before. He took Meta’s first wearable from zero to launch, tripled Coalition’s international revenue, and built PM teams that use AI to move faster than anyone thought possible. He’s a builder first, and that’s the kind of product leader Yoodli needs at this stage,” said Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli.

In Kartik’s words

“The cost of building software is heading toward zero, which means the companies that win won’t be the ones that ship the most features. They’ll be the ones with the clearest conviction about what to build. Yoodli has that conviction: practice is how people get better at high-stakes conversations, and AI roleplays finally make practice scalable. I’ve spent my career on 0 to 1 products and global expansion, and before I ever talked to the team, I’d already built AI roleplay prototypes on my own weekends because I believe in this space that much. Joining Yoodli at this moment, with this team and this momentum, was an easy call.”

Kartik is based in Seattle, joining us at our Pier 70 headquarters, and we couldn’t be happier to have him leading product as we build the future of experiential learning.

Welcome to the team, Kartik.

Yoodli is a secure, experiential learning platform that uses AI roleplays to personalize real-life practice and transform how organizations learn and prepare. Learn more at yoodli.ai.

Media Contact:
Sage Quiamno
press@yoodli.ai
+18082321321

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yoodli-appoints-former-meta-and-coalition-product-leader-kartik-murthy-as-vp-of-product-302835401.html

SOURCE Yoodli

Continue Reading

Technology

Aurelion Reports Third Fiscal Quarter 2026 Financial Results

Published

on

By

HONG KONG, July 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aurelion Inc. (NASDAQ: AURE) (“Aurelion” or the “Company”), a digital gold infrastructure company, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.

“We’re transforming Aurelion into the risk-control and technology layer for on-chain gold — a transition we believe positions Aurelion for durable, recurring, technology-driven revenue,” said Frank Zheng, Chief Executive Officer. “Our focus is turning idle gold exposure into productive, institutional-grade infrastructure for the years ahead.”

Business Highlights

Participation in XAUE: As previously announced, Aurelion has committed 10,000 units of XAUt to XAUE, a new protocol that enables yield generation on gold holdings by allowing tokenized gold to be deployed while preserving exposure to the underlying asset. As of June 30, 2026, Aurelion completed the subscription for XAUE with 8,000 units of XAU₮.NAV: Aurelion NAV as of June 30, 2026 was $91.9 million (33,318 units of XAU₮, including 8,000 principal units of XAU₮ that are staked into XAUE) and NAV per share was $2.44.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, the Company reported operating loss of $24.4 million, primarily driven by fair value loss on XAUt held resulting from the depreciation of gold during the quarter.

Net Asset Value (NAV) as of June 30, 2026

Aurelion reports the following unaudited Net Asset Value (“NAV”) based on its unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2026:

(In US$1 millions, except for XAUT price and unit, unaudited)

As of June
30, 2026

Digital assets and Cash

134.7

Cash & Cash Equivalents

1.6

XAUt

133.1

Price per Unit (based on 06/30/2026 price)

3,996

Units (1 XAUt = 1 troy ounce) (1)

33,318

Debt

42.8

Net Asset Value(2)

91.9

Shares Outstanding(3)

37.6

NAV per Share

2.44

Gold Ounce per Share

0.00089

XAUt Value per Share(4)

3.54

(1) Includes 8,000 units of XAUt that are staked into XAUE, a yield-bearing digital gold protocol.

(2) NAV is calculated as digital assets plus cash minus debt.

(3) The number of shares outstanding is presented in million, and includes issued and outstanding share capital and pre-funded warrants and primary warrants that were outstanding as of June 30, 2026.

(4) XAUt value is based on the closing price of US$3,996 as of June 30, 2026.

About Aurelion
Aurelion is a publicly traded company building a digital gold risk and technology infrastructure around XAU₮, on-chain gold backed by physical LBMA bars. XAU₮ combines the stability of physical gold with the efficiency of blockchain, providing investors access to tokenized gold reserve that could serve as a safe haven to inflation, currency devaluation and crypto volatility. In parallel to building a business around the development of tokenized gold, Aurelion provides wealth management and asset management services.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “aims,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “likely to,” and similar statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by Aurelion in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, future developments and other factors it believes appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty, because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and the factors described in the context of such forward-looking statements in this announcement could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although it is believed that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct, and you are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as at the date of this announcement.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to: changes in general economic, business, industry and market conditions, including interest rates and the price of gold; changes in applicable laws and regulations, including with respect to cryptocurrencies, stablecoin ecosystems and decentralized finance protocols; the Company’s ability to access additional capital and to attract and retain qualified personnel; changes in the price of digital assets, including XAU₮, and in the price correlation between stablecoins and their pegged assets; risks associated with holding digital assets, including price volatility, limited liquidity and trading volumes, susceptibility to market abuse and manipulation, compliance and internal control failures at exchanges, and other risks inherent in their electronic, virtual-form and decentralized nature; the possibility of greater fraud, security failures or operational problems on digital asset trading venues compared to more established asset classes, and any malfunction, breakdown or abandonment of underlying blockchain protocols or other technological difficulties that may prevent access to or use of digital assets; the fluctuation of the Company’s operating results, including because it may be required to account for its digital assets at fair value; limitations on the Company’s ability to time the price of its digital asset purchases; potential subjection to corporate alternative minimum tax due to unrealized fair value gains on digital asset holdings; legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding digital assets, including the possibility that regulators reclassify any digital assets the Company holds as a security or a “cash item,” causing it to be in violation of securities laws or to be classified as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940; competition from other digital asset treasury companies and financial products related to gold; elevation of rehypothecation risk in times of changing market conditions; risks arising from the use of third-party custodians for digital assets, including loss of direct control and dependence on such custodians’ security practices and operational integrity, and the potential loss of digital assets as a result of custodian insolvency, insider theft, or security breaches; and risks associated with the Company’s participation in the XAUE protocol, including fluctuation of the XAU₮ to XAUE exchange ratio, counterparty default risk in connection with institutional lending activities, smart contract vulnerabilities or failures, the performance and operational integrity of the protocol’s issuer, participants and service providers, potential liquidity constraints on the redemption of XAUE, and other risks identified in the XAUE protocol’s risk disclosure statement. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

 

 

Aurelion Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

(in USD, except for shares data)

Three months

ended June 30,

2025    

(unaudited)

2026      

(unaudited)

Total net revenue

Total distribution and service costs

    2,975,282

    4,107,433

Gross Margin

(1,132,151)

Operating expense

Sales and marketing

37,653

General and administrative

482,698

2,072,369

Provision for credit losses

32,599

Unrealized loss/(gain) on XAUt and XAUt collateral
receivables due from related party(i)

17,476,981

Unrealized loss/(gain) on XAUE(ii)

Realized loss/(gain) on XAUt(iii)

3,707,169

1,105,140

Total operating expenses

515,297

24,399,312

 Loss from operations

(1,647,448)

(24,399,312)

Non-operating income/(expense)

       – Loan Interests

(620,925)

       – Other income/(expense)

76,013

(43,601)

Loss from continuing operations before income tax

(1,571,435)

(25,063,838)

Income tax benefit

32,642

Net loss from continuing operations

(1,538,793)

(25,063,838)

Net income from discontinued operations

33,625

Net loss

(1,505,168)

(25,063,838)

Comprehensive loss

(1,473,610)

(24,986,690)

Weighted average number of ordinary shares

Basic(iv)

6,853,803

34,616,450

Diluted(iv)

6,853,803

34,616,450

Loss per share

Basic(iv)

(0.22)

(0.72)

Diluted(iv)

(0.22)

(0.72)

(i) Represents unrealized loss/(gain) on XAUt assets held by the Company as of the reporting date.
(ii) Represents unrealized loss/(gain) on XAUE.
(iii) Represents the loss/(gain) recognized at the inception of subscribing for XAUE with XAUt.
(iv) All share and per share data for prior periods have been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the 1-for-10 share consolidation effective February 19, 2026.

 

 

Aurelion Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in USD)

As of September

As of June

30, 2025

30, 2026

(unaudited)

Assets

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

5,024

1,592,390

Crypto assets held

133

XAUt

34,789,724

XAUE

32,020,481

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

14,126

56,014

Deferred offering cost

12,466

Total current assets

31,616

68,458,742

Non-current assets:

XAUt collateral receivable from related party (i)

66,388,090

Deferred offering cost

491,694

Total non-current assets

66,879,784

Total assets

Liabilities and shareholders’ equity Current liabilities:

Amounts due to related parties

31,616

1,664

135,338,526

121,928

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities(ii)

321,611

1,522,808

Total current liabilities

323,275

1,644,736

Non-current liabilities:

Loan payables due to related party

42,792,744

Total non-current liabilities

42,792,744

Total liabilities

323,275

44,437,480

Total shareholders’ (deficit)/equity

(291,659)

90,901,046

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

31,616

135,338,526

(i) XAUt collateral receivable from related party serves as collateral for the loan payable due to related party of $42,792,744.
(ii) Accrued expenses and other current liabilities include accrued liabilities, other payables and the payroll payable.

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aurelion-reports-third-fiscal-quarter-2026-financial-results-302835380.html

SOURCE Aurelion Inc.

Continue Reading

Trending