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Arctic Quest: 8,000-Mile Motorcycle Ride Honors Indigenous Women and Girls

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Our Rescue, Mental Health Tech Company and First Nations Advocate Unite to Raise Awareness and Funds for Trafficking Survivors 

MINNEAPOLIS, May 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — To mark National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on May 5, Our Rescue, a global non-governmental organization dedicated to combating sex trafficking and child exploitation, is partnering with First Nations advocate Esther Howard from the Dene Nation, on an 8,000+ mile motorcycle ride. The month-long journey, named “Arctic Quest: A Ride for Her,” will raise awareness of the ongoing epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and raise funds for Our Rescue’s trauma-informed survivor care services.

Indigenous communities around the world are among the most vulnerable to human trafficking and violence. Although they represent only five percent of the global population, Indigenous peoples account for approximately 15 percent of those living in extreme poverty—a key risk factor for exploitation (United Nations, 2022). In the U.S., the crisis is acute: Four in five Native American women experience violence in their lifetime (National Institute of Justice, 2016), and a disproportionate number fall victim to trafficking. Amnesty International (2022) reports that 86 percent of perpetrators of sexual violence against Native women are non-Native men—a statistic that hasn’t changed since 2007. Yet, limited tribal jurisdiction over non-Native offenders continues to prevent many cases from ever reaching justice.  

For Esther Howard, who also is the CEO and Founder of Bezyl, a mental health technology company supporting First Nations communities, this journey is deeply personal.  

“My mother and grandmother survived systems of oppression and abuse that continues to today. This journey is a tribute to them—and to every Indigenous woman and child whose life deserves to be seen, honored and protected,” Howard said. “I’m on a quest to reconnect with my Indigenous roots, share our stories and bring global awareness to the Native ways of life, and everyone is invited.” 

Riding for Resilience
Launching July 1, 2025, Howard and a team of riders will travel from the U.S.–Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, to the Arctic Ocean in Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. Along the 8,000+ mile journey, they’ll raise funds for Our Rescue’s survivor care services to empower trafficking survivors on their pathways to long-term healing. Stops in Indigenous communities—including Howard’s own Arctic homeland—will offer moments of connection, healing and shared storytelling, and Our Rescue volunteers will provide support along the way.

As part of its deepening commitment to Indigenous survivor care, Our Rescue supports programs that are culturally specific and trauma informed. One of these is the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center’s Noojimo program, which provides housing, childcare, legal assistance and healing support to 75 Native American women each year as they rebuild their lives after experiencing violence.  

Our Rescue also partners with and compensates Indigenous survivors who design products sold on the organization’s website, offering economic opportunity and a platform for healing through creativity. In recent years, Our Rescue has helped facilitate violence awareness trainings in the Navajo Nation’s Monument Valley, supported a coalition to unite Tribal Nations and delivered direct services to the Navajo and Ute Nations, including school clothing for kids. 

Join the Ride
Riders and supporters are invited to join—whether for one day or the entire month—to learn about the Native culture. The experience will include: 

Visiting Indigenous communities and learning from the strength of Indigenous women.Participating in story-sharing events.Raising awareness and funds for trafficking survivors.Experiencing the beauty of Native land and life.

The ride will follow a month-long schedule. 

7.1: Depart Nogales, Arizona, at 8:00 a.m.7.6: Stop at the Calgary Stampede, Alberta.7.7: Ride overnight to Miette Hot Springs Cabins (Banff to Jasper Highway).7.10: Arrive in Whitehorse, Yukon.7.14: Stop in Inuvik, Northwest Territories.7.15: Reach the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.7.18: Riders who joined in the Yukon depart from Whitehorse.7.24: Ride through Sequoia National Park, California.7.28: Arrive in Phoenix by noon (end of the ride).

To participate in any portion of the ride, individuals must confirm their interest by June 16, 2025, by contacting Howard at esther@bezyl.com. 

Riders are responsible for making their own travel and lodging arrangements, as well as covering the costs associated with the ride. Howard and her team will assist with group coordination, hosts and local meetups. 

About Esther Howard and Bezyl
Esther Howard is the founder of Bezyl, a mental health technology platform designed to help underserved communities build resilience and mutual support. From her Dene and Gwich’in roots in a family raised in poverty, Howard turned her personal experiences into a mission to empower others to heal. Today, Bezyl is active in First Nations communities across North America and continues to expand in global underserved regions. 

About Our Rescue
Our Rescue is a global non-governmental organization on a mission to end sex trafficking and child exploitation by empowering survivors to reclaim their lives and thrive on their healing journey. Founded in 2013, the organization focuses on education toward prevention, supports law enforcement in rescuing survivors and prosecuting perpetrators, and provides trauma-informed survivor care services. Our Rescue operates in the U.S. and 30+ countries.   

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arctic-quest-8-000-mile-motorcycle-ride-honors-indigenous-women-and-girls-302446120.html

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De¹ Introduces Tokenized Asset World on BNB Chain, Developing Financial Intelligence Across the Full RWA Financial Landscape

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October 19, 2026

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NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — De¹ is launching Tokenized Asset World on BNB Chain, the first domain-specific world under its Financial World Model (FWM). It introduces specialized financial intelligence designed to understand the full onchain RWA landscape, from trading and collateral to borrowing, credit, liquidation and agent activity, and apply that knowledge to real financial decisions.

Traditional finance moves assets through separate networks of brokers, custodians, clearing systems and lenders. Each institution sees a different part of the lifecycle, while transfers, reconciliation and collateral requirements add friction to capital deployment. Bringing assets onchain makes financial activity more programmable, but it does not automatically connect the knowledge held across trading, financing and risk systems.

De¹ is establishing Tokenized Asset World on BNB Chain, where that real-assets financial ecosystem already unfolds in live markets. PancakeSwap, ListaDAO, Venus, Binance Agent OS and BNB Agent SDK span public trading, collateralized lending, structured credit and authorized agent activity. These activities produce distinct signals: executed prices, liabilities, vault constraints, liquidations and the outcomes of agent actions.

Tokenized Asset World brings fragmented financial knowledge into a coherent, learnable model of the full RWA landscape. The domain model is designed to understand the relationships and consequences across financial operations, with verified execution outcomes continuously refining De¹’s understanding of onchain financial physics. This introduces a new layer of intelligence to BNB Chain, enabling a more complete understanding of the tokenized-asset stack across trading, collateral, credit, vaults and agent activity.

AI agents can tap into this intelligence to operate across tokenized-asset markets with a more comprehensive view of liquidity, borrowing conditions, collateral exposure and liquidation risk as a whole. This deeper market understanding could raise more sophisticated strategies, execution and risk decisions. Each agent interaction, in turn, generates new evidence for the model, creating a continuous feedback loop between financial intelligence and live market execution while strengthening De¹’s broader Financial World Model.

About De¹

De¹ is the intelligent infrastructure platform at the intersection of DeFi and AI, building the Financial World Model grounded in live execution and real market feedback. It serves developers, traders, institutions, and AI agents through intelligent execution, unified liquidity, reinforcement learning optimization, and a continuously evolving data flywheel.

Contact: Marketing, pr@de1.ai

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/de-introduces-tokenized-asset-world-on-bnb-chain-developing-financial-intelligence-across-the-full-rwa-financial-landscape-302912966.html

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Plata reaches $1 Billion ARR Milestone, becoming the fastest digital bank ever

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34 minutes ago

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October 19, 2026

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The Mexico based digital bank shatters traditional digital banking scaling timelines, reaching a $1 Billion Annual Recurring Revenue  in less than 3.5 years from launch

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Plata, the world’s fastest growing digital financial institution, today announced that in September 2026 it has crossed $1 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), reaching the milestone in less than 3.5 years from launch in April 2023 and less than a year after receiving its full banking license. Plata´s growth makes it the fastest digital bank in history to reach this benchmark, and puts it on par with some of the world’s fastest growing leading AI companies, underlining Plata’s own AI and tech capabilities.

Plata reaches this goal after having reached more than 4 million customers in Mexico and having launched operations in Colombia at the beginning of September. In Mexico, Plata is now the fourth credit card issuer in the country by number of customers, and the only digital bank with a full product suite including credit, debit, investments, and small business banking. Plata’s growth is also nearing profitability, which is expected to be reached for its Mexico business within the next 6 months.

Plata changed the rules by building a universal financial platform powered by its own technology from day one. By setting up its core banking system, the company proved that regulated financial institutions can scale at AI-like speed without undermining operating performance.

“By building our own technology from scratch, we proved that a bank can move at AI company speed without compromising anything. Now we are ready to accelerate our innovation, make finance effortless and accessible for everyone.” Neri Tollardo, CEO of Plata.

As digital adoption accelerates across Latin America, Plata´s performance sets a new benchmark for financial infrastructure scaling, financial adoption, and operational efficiency in emerging markets.

About Plata

Plata is the fastest-growing financial institution in Latin America and the largest private digital bank by customer volume. In less than three years, we reached a valuation of $3.1 billion with 4 million active credit card customers and crossed $1 billion in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). Backed by $1.5 billion in equity investment, 1.5 in financing, and a workforce that includes 800 in-house developers, in Banco Plata we have built our own technological ecosystem, which includes a core banking system, CRM, and an app focused on simplifying the financial experience.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plata-reaches-1-billion-arr-milestone-becoming-the-fastest-digital-bank-ever-302912970.html

SOURCE Plata

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Trends International Announces Kenneth Smith as President and Chief Executive Officer

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34 minutes ago

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October 19, 2026

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Experienced executive to lead company’s next phase of retail, digital commerce and strategic growth

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Trends International, LLC, a leading publisher and manufacturer of licensed posters, calendars, stickers, wall art and social stationery products, today announced that Kenneth Smith has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective May 2026.

Smith will spearhead the company’s overall strategic direction and growth initiatives across its retail, wholesale, e-commerce, licensing and direct-to-consumer businesses. In his role, Smith will oversee Trends International and its portfolio of digital businesses, including Art.com and AllPosters.com.

Smith’s appointment comes as Trends International enters a new phase of expansion focused on broadening its retail presence, accelerating e-commerce, strengthening strategic customer relationships, developing new products and licenses, and pursuing partnerships and business opportunities.

“I am honored to lead Trends International and build on the strong foundation established by the company, its founders and its talented employees,” said Kenneth Smith, “We have an exceptional portfolio of brands, licenses, products and customer relationships, and we see significant opportunities to grow the business. Our focus will be on strengthening our retail partnerships, accelerating our digital businesses, developing innovative products and creating new strategic opportunities that deliver value for our customers, consumers, licensors and partners.”

Expanding Retail and Digital Footprint
Under Smith’s leadership, Trends International will continue to invest in its core retail business while broadening its digital commerce capabilities.

The company is focused on deepening relationships with major retailers, expanding distribution, improving merchandising, and developing new product platforms designed to create incremental sales opportunities.

Trends will also continue to build Trends Digital, bringing together the company’s e-commerce capabilities and creating a platform for future digital growth and potential e-commerce acquisitions.

The company’s digital portfolio includes Art.com and AllPosters.com, providing consumers with access to millions of images, posters, prints, wall art, and complementary décor.

“Trends has a tremendous opportunity to build upon its heritage while positioning the company for the future,” Smith said. “We are focused on growth, but equally important is how we achieve that growth — through strong customer partnerships, disciplined execution, innovation and a culture that empowers our people to succeed.”

Strategic Priorities
Smith’s leadership agenda includes several key areas of focus:

Retail growth — Expand relationships and sales with major national retailers and specialty channels.Product innovation — Develop new product formats, displays and seasonal programs that create incremental retail opportunities.Digital commerce — Accelerate the growth of Trends Digital, Art.com and AllPosters.com.Strategic partnerships — Forge new licensing, brand and business partnerships that expand the company’s market opportunity.Operational excellence — Improve organizational alignment, processes, technology, and execution across the company’s businesses.Talent and culture — Build a high-performing organization focused on accountability, innovation, customer service and sustainable growth.

“Kenneth brings a strong combination of leadership, customer focus and business development experience to Trends International,” said Phil St. Jean, Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of Trends International. “His vision for the company and his commitment to our customers, employees and partners make him the right leader for this next chapter. We are excited about what the future holds for Trends International and its businesses.”

About Kenneth Smith
Kenneth Smith is an experienced business executive with a background in sales leadership, strategic account development, business development, customer relationships, and organizational transformation. Throughout his career, Smith has focused on developing strategic growth initiatives, building high-performing teams, and creating long-term partnerships with major customers and business partners.

As president and chief executive officer of Trends International, Smith is responsible for the company’s overall strategy, growth, organizational leadership and business performance.

About Trends International
Trends International, LLC is a leading publisher and manufacturer of licensed posters, calendars, stickers, wall art and social stationery products. Established in 1987, Trends built its business around strong partnerships between licensors, retailers and licensees. Today, the company delivers a broad portfolio of licensed and proprietary products distributed through major retail, specialty, and digital channels.

Art.com, acquired by Trends International in 2023, is a leading online specialty retailer of high-quality wall art and complementary décor. The business offers millions of images and products through its digital commerce platform and interactive visualization tools.

AllPosters.com, part of the Trends International family of businesses, offers consumers a broad selection of posters, prints and wall décor.

For more information about Trends International, Art.com, AllPosters.com or Kenneth Smith, contact:

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trends-international-announces-kenneth-smith-as-president-and-chief-executive-officer-302912992.html

SOURCE Trends International

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