Latest news with #Enrichment
Los Angeles Times
30-06-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Saratoga High ‘almost-alumnus,' Mike Young, proves there are many pathways to success
His hands tell his story: worn, calloused, and etched with decades of labor spent sculpting the landscapes of the Silicon Valley elite. Each scar bears witness to the artistry and toil behind the manicured landscapes he has tended. Those hands belong to Michael Young, 58, who dropped out of school his senior year, 1984, and never graduated high school. He spent the next decade working to discover his passion, landscape design, and eventually made a highly successful business out of it. He returned to school in September 2024 with dozens of his former classmates for his 40-year reunion. Looking back, he described himself as a struggling, aimless teenager who wanted to chase his wildest dreams outside of the classroom. Now retired and financially successful, Young once spent his days doing backbreaking labor under the relentless California sun, planting, pruning, and perfecting the outdoor spaces of his clients. Young spent his life working for some of the valley's most influential people, and his journey to get there was far from ordinary. Young struggles in Saratoga amid intense academic pressure Young, born in Santa Clara in 1966, grew up in the heart of Saratoga along Highway 9. He attended Oak Street Elementary, now Saratoga Elementary School, Redwood Middle School, and Saratoga High School. His first exposure to agriculture was in his childhood home's massive garden and surrounding orchards, where he learned to live with nature. As a child, he also participated in a Saratoga Union School District program called 'Enrichment,' which exposed local youth to the outdoors, arts, and music, developing his love for the subjects. Saratoga was a drastically different town during Young's upbringing. Compared to its current population, where just 37.8% of residents are white, the Saratoga of the '80s was predominantly white; at that time, 94.4% of residents were Caucasian, while only 4.6% were Asian. Rather than working primarily in tech-focused industries, as they do now, residents more often held jobs in agriculture or owned and ran small businesses. Still, even during the '80s, SHS was an academically focused school characterized by scholastic achievement. Study halls were spent rushing through English homework, and lunches were reserved for last-minute cramming of Spanish verb conjugations. Yet, for some students, including Young, the academic fever never took hold. Often labeled 'rebels' or 'troublemakers' by teachers and parents, Young and his group of friends took a less conventional approach through high school. Young's ideal future strayed from the path so prevalent in this community — rather than pursuing a college degree, he envisioned himself backpacking around the world. Feeling the extreme academic pressure of SHS, he often considered transferring to Los Gatos High, which offered more vocational classes like automotive mechanics and woodshop. Unfortunately, his repeated attempts to change schools were blocked by the administrators for reasons still unknown to him, leaving him trapped and struggling to stay afloat at SHS. 'I hated high school,' Young said. 'I didn't fit in socially or academically, and, though Saratoga is an ideal community, I couldn't enjoy it.' By the time his senior year came around, Young was hardly attending school and failing all his classes. He ended up falling so far behind that he had to retake Algebra. Twice. Finally, he had to ask himself: 'Why be here?' After years of trying and failing to force himself into the mold of the 'Saratoga student,' he chose to forge his own path. He decided to drop out, giving himself the room to grow and pursue the passions he held outside of the classroom. 'There was this total frustration with not being able to get what I wanted out of life at school, and realizing that time had run short,' Young said. 'I would rather be in Australia chasing a dream than sitting through math in Saratoga trying to fit in.' His decision to leave school was met with both judgment and concern from his family and friends. He had no concrete plans for his future and no knowledge of what came next. Nothing except for a vague dream that he was willing to chase halfway across the world. And so he did. 'If you listen to all the noise, you're never going to find yourself. You have to decide: '[My dreams] are important to me, and they're so important to me that I'm going to act on them,'' Young said. Young explores passions in Oceania After the abrupt end to his high school career, Young decided to take his chance to experience life outside of Saratoga. He took a few years to explore, bouncing between different community colleges and living abroad. He spent a year each in New Zealand and Australia working on farms and furthering his interest in the environment by 'going back to the land,' he said. While he was there, he also visited the Great Barrier Reef and other natural wonders in Oceania, helping to further ignite his passion for the environment. He financed his adventures through farm work, jobs at nature reserves, and careful budgeting. During his time untethered to societal standards, Young experienced paralyzing doubt about his future. 'I remember waking in New Zealand on a beach, just going: 'What am I doing with my life? What am I doing on this beach? Everybody else is in class; where is this going?'' Young said. Eventually, as his carefree days of travel came to an end, Young decided to move back to California to attend college and 'stick it out this time.' He got his General Educational Development diploma — which awards high school credentials in lieu of a high school diploma through testing — and set out to attend UC Berkeley, ranked as one of the top 5 schools in the nation at the time. With his lackluster report cards and no official high school diploma, his application was rejected almost immediately. But Young, motivated by a newfound passion to attend school, refused to accept the resignation and called the dean of admissions to schedule a meeting. 'I knew I wasn't going to attend college unless I went to Berkeley, and this program was super exciting,' Young said. 'I tend to be single-minded once I decide what I want. When I made the appointment with the dean, I explained that I would do whatever it takes to get in.' The dean was so impressed by Young's clear passion for the environment, demonstrated through his work in Australia and New Zealand, and his determination to go to Berkeley, that he offered Young a spot. With that, he became a new Berkely admit: a 22-year-old freshman in the Class of '92 Conservation and Resource Studies department. While managing his coursework in college, Young also landed an internship at Hidden Villa Farms in 1989, where he began laying the groundwork for his own arbor business maintaining the topiary of the Bay Area elite. Through this internship, he met his arborist mentor, Kevin Raftery, and was able to begin building a network with wealthy Silicon Valley CEOs, who were willing to pay for 'quality work and long-term relationships,' Young said. 'I never got into it to grow it or to make money, but rather to do something very authentic to myself, which was delivering efficient, high-quality work and customer service. With those things, you can demand a premium price,' Young said. Young builds a future in agriculture After successfully graduating from UC Berkeley in 1992 with honors and a 4.0 GPA, Young began his own arbor business, Urban Tree Management, offering high-quality landscaping services for the wealthy residents of the Bay Area. He began operating his business out of his house and leveraged the connections he made in his work at the arboretum to gain his first few clients. He adhered to two core principles that defined all of his jobs: 'quality work and long-term relationships.' 'It sort of grew on its own; there was no plan beyond high-quality work,' Young said. Though money was never a priority when he began his business, his mindset shifted dramatically after starting a family in 1996. 'As soon as you have kids, it's not just about you,' he said. 'My time became a lot more valuable because I wasn't just supporting myself but also the family. I became much more serious about the business when I had children.' Young retires from an era Young took an unusual path through his Saratoga youth, one that led him further financially than many of his peers. Though many had previously judged and mocked him for his failures at school, Young proved that early academic achievement doesn't define success when he attended his 40-year high school reunion as the owner of two houses and two Porsches. Young recently sold his multi-million dollar business, which employs over 20 people, to a private equity firm, and he retired in December. After years of hard work, he now spends his time exploring the world, fulfilling all his childhood dreams. He began his travel journey by spending two month in Japan and Hawaii, experiencing the culture, food, and natural wonders each place has to offer. Though Young didn't make it through high school, all three of his kids went on to attend prestigious universities after completing high school. Young never forced them to pursue an academic career. Instead, he encouraged them to find their spark and follow it wherever it led them, a philosophy that he believes should apply to everyone. 'Explore ideas that you enjoy,' he said. 'Delve into it. It doesn't matter what everybody else says. High school is the time to cast a wide net and go down those pathways that interest you. It's not about the rebellion, but following those paths that bring you joy and fulfillment.' Related
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Zafin Introduces Transaction Enrichment to Unlock Loyalty Through Personalized Banking
TORONTO, June 25, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zafin, the strategic platform partner that banks trust to accelerate innovation and deliver transformative customer value, today announces the launch of Transaction Enrichment. Purpose-built for financial institutions, this new capability enhances Zafin's modular platform by transforming raw transaction data into rich, contextual insights. It enables banks to deliver more personalized experiences, strengthen customer engagement and lay the foundation for modern loyalty and relationship banking. Zafin's Transaction Enrichment is already in use at Commercial Bank International (CBI), a leading UAE bank, where it is supporting a more intuitive and personalized digital banking experience. By categorizing online transactions and providing convenient spending insights, the solution is helping to give CBI customers greater visibility into their spending habits and more control over their financial activity. "Enhancing our transaction data has helped us deliver a clearer, more intuitive digital experience for our customers," said Giovanni Gavino Everduin, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer and Head of Ventures at CBI. "It goes beyond transparency—it's about laying the foundation for deeper personalization and fostering a new kind of loyalty built on everyday behavior." "Transaction Enrichment is foundational to delivering true personalization in banking and is an integral part of a long-term strategy to improve customer relationships and personalized service," said Charbel Safadi, CEO of Zafin. "Our approach is more than just data enrichment. It enables banks to move beyond generic offers and engage and reward customers in ways that reflect their daily behaviors, financial goals and full relationship with the bank." Zafin's AI-powered transaction enrichment capability is fully integrated across its modular platform, advancing the company's mission to help banks modernize intelligently by decoupling product innovation from the core. Enriched insights connect directly to product, pricing, and loyalty strategies, enabling banks to lay the foundation for tailored offers, behavior-driven rewards, and more relevant customer experiences without adding complexity to existing systems. Learn more about Transaction Enrichment. About Zafin Zafin is the strategic platform partner that banks trust to accelerate innovation, unlock sustainable growth, and deliver personalized customer value—without disrupting core systems. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and serving banks across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, Zafin helps financial institutions modernize intelligently by decoupling product innovation from legacy infrastructure and orchestrating value across the banking lifecycle. At the heart of Zafin is an AI-powered, modular platform purpose-built for banking. It enables banks to unify data, simplify product and pricing strategies, automate deal execution, and optimize customer relationships. Zafin works with top-tier global institutions as well as regional and mid-market banks, delivering measurable outcomes including increased speed to market, reduced operational complexity, enhanced compliance, and stronger customer engagement. To learn more, visit connect with us on LinkedIn, engage with our expert discussions on YouTube, or read our insights on the Zafin blog. "Zafin" is a trademark of Zafin. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. About Commercial Bank International (CBI) Commercial Bank International (CBI) is a leading UAE bank dedicated to empowering businesses and individuals through innovative, personalised, and growth-focused banking solutions. Established in 1991 and headquartered in Dubai, CBI offers a diverse range of services, including corporate, retail, and Islamic banking solutions. Leveraging its innovative capabilities, CBI provides bespoke banking services to help clients achieve their ambitions. CBI is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and is regulated by the Central Bank of the UAE and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA). In recognition of its client-centric culture and dedication to driving innovation in the banking sector, CBI has received numerous awards, including CEO of the Year (Middle East Banking) and Most Innovative Bank of the Year at the Middle East Banking AI & Analytics Awards. The bank has also been honoured for outstanding innovation in technology and financial services, winning multiple Stevie Awards and the Gold Stevie Award for Innovation in Technology Development (Financial Services). The bank is majority-owned by UAE shareholders, and its Board of Directors benefits from strong representation of UAE nationals. View source version on Contacts For PR inquiries contact:marketing@ Toufik
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FINNY Unveils Intent Search to Help Advisors Pinpoint High-Intent Prospects Faster
Prospect Enrichment and AI Voicemails round out the latest feature release to further accelerate advisor organic growth NEW YORK, June 09, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FINNY AI Inc. ("FINNY"), the AI-powered prospecting and marketing platform built specifically for financial advisors, today announced the launch of Intent Search, a feature that allows advisors to identify and engage with prospects actively seeking financial guidance. This release also includes Prospect Enrichment and AI Voicemails, two additional capabilities that equip advisors with faster, smarter tools to drive organic growth through FINNY's all-in-one prospecting solution. The Intent Search feature represents a breakthrough in precision prospecting. Powered by 1.8 billion proprietary intent signals that are updated daily, it enables advisors to surface high-intent prospects based on real-time online behavior. Advisors can select keywords related to their services – like "401k rollovers", "business succession planning", "charitable giving" and more. FINNY identifies prospects who have recently researched those topics, pinpointing what they're interested in and when they were actively searching. This allows for timely, targeted outreach based on actual behavior rather than guesswork. Searches are fully customizable, giving advisors the flexibility to layer in as much or as little criteria as needed to align with their prospecting strategy. "Organic growth in wealth management has been stagnant for years—not because advisors aren't working hard, but because the tools they've been given aren't built for how clients make decisions today," said Eden Ovadia, co-founder and CEO. "With our proprietary intent data, advisors can finally break the cold outbound cycle. Now they know what prospects are actively searching for so they can reach out when interest is highest and the prospect is ready to connect. With this update, we're affirming our commitment to helping advisors scale efficiently by leaning into what makes them most effective: relevance, empathy and timing." Alongside Intent Search, FINNY has released its Prospect Enrichment and AI Voicemails features. Prospect Enrichment enables advisors to upload external contacts and automatically matches them to FINNY's database. Each contact is enriched with key information like estimated net worth, interests or money-in-motion events, and assigned a predictive F-Score to prioritize high-potential leads and add them to personalized campaign lists. Meanwhile, AI Voicemails allow advisors to deliver ringless, personalized voicemails at scale. They can select from multiple voice options to suit their preferences, and messages are able to circumvent spam filters. Each voicemail can be paired with a follow-up email to create efficient outreach that retains a human touch. Developed in direct response to advisor feedback, these new features address evolving marketing needs and help advisors focus on high-intent prospects. Previously, users were limited to outbound email campaigns targeting only FINNY-sourced leads. With these enhancements, prospecting is now more expansive, data-rich and efficient, reflecting FINNY's commitment to helping advisors scale prospecting through advanced automation powered by data. The introduction of Intent Search, Prospect Enrichment and AI Voicemails further strengthens the platform's capabilities and solidifies FINNY's position as the go-to prospecting solution for advisory firms looking to break through today's stalled organic growth. FINNY has seen strong engagement with its newly launched features and impressive platform growth in recent months. Since its launch, the Prospect Enrichment feature has already led to the upload and enrichment of more than 8,000 prospects, signaling strong demand and immediate value. Overall platform usage is accelerating, with average weekly users increasing eightfold from February to May. Nearly 800 campaigns have been launched through FINNY so far this year – reflecting 133% month-over-month growth – and over 26,000 prospect searches have been performed, growing at a rate of 122% month-over-month. "Intent signals aren't just another feature — they're the engine behind truly effective outbound. Our advisors wanted a smarter way to know who to reach out to and when, and we delivered," said Victoria Toli, co-founder and president. "By feeding this data into our prioritization model, the F-Score, we've significantly enhanced its predictive power – making cold outreach warmer and more accurate. With the launch of prospect enrichment and AI-powered voicemails, we're giving advisors richer context and new ways to connect across various channels. The goal is simple: make outreach multi-modal, hyper-targeted and impossible to ignore." This announcement builds on FINNY's recent momentum, following its $4.3 million seed round and the appointment of Josh Brown – CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management and a prominent financial commentator – to its advisory board. As both an investor and advisor, Brown is playing an active role in shaping the platform's product roadmap to meet the evolving prospecting and marketing needs of advisors. For more information about FINNY or to book a demo, visit Attendees of EDGE in Boca Raton can catch Toli speaking about these features on the panel "AI Lead Generation: The Future of New Business Development" on June 10 at 1:30pm ET. About FINNY FINNY is the AI-powered prospecting and marketing platform built exclusively for financial advisors. By leveraging advanced data intelligence and automation, FINNY helps advisors identify, prioritize and engage high-intent prospects effortlessly—removing the guesswork from client acquisition. With a proprietary database of millions of records, a predictive F-Score matching engine and automated outreach tools, FINNY helps ensure that prospecting is targeted, scalable and seamlessly integrated into an advisor's workflow. Backed by top fintech investors and recognized as Best of Show at the 2024 Morningstar Annual Fintech Showcase, FINNY is redefining organic growth for financial advisors. Visit to learn more. View source version on Contacts Media Contacts: StreetCred PR Lexie Brazillexie@ 214-773-7114 Jimmy Moockjimmy@ 610-304-4570 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Do Sacramento city leaders care about kids? We're about to find out
I have spoken to many people in Sacramento who lead youth service programs, and they all say the same thing: When elected leaders in the city of Sacramento face tough budget cycles, as they are now, the first cuts are often to programs for kids who badly need job training, after-school programs and other resources. It took the city three tries in six years for the city to create a funding stream for kids. In 2020, Measure G failed because too many influencers, including former Mayor Darrell Steinberg, didn't want to lock up 2.5 percent of the city's general fund for kids. In 2022, Measure L passed by a wide margin, in part, because instead of a specific general fund carve-out for youth funding, it requires the city to spend the equivalent of 40 percent of the city's cannabis tax money on kids. This was a pivotal moment in the city's history. Creating a fund to help our communities should never go understated. Measure L based on its own wording was not to replace 'baseline' funding for ongoing city services. Yet funding for parks and youth services in the city's regular 'general fund' budget is undeniably on the increase, that baseline steadily eroding. As one example, Sacramento voters approved a full cent sales tax in 2018, Measure U, on a sales pitch that this new money would expand economic development and youth services going forward. In last year's budget for Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment, the city dedicated more than $46.1 million in Measure U sales tax dollars for various purposes. This year's staff proposal is to plummet Measure U support for these needs by $20 million. Funds for the Community Enrichment Division would decrease by a third, from $1.8 million to $1.2 million. The examples go on. But with a $44 million budget deficit facing the city right now, advocates remain fearful that youth services will be cut to balance city books. Leaders in youth services are worried that the budget cuts will take away funding from programs catered to young adults across all city departments. On Tuesday, the council and mayor had their first debate over the proposed budget and the cuts to follow. Everything from skate parks to police was discussed as an avenue for cuts. As the council looks for ways to create a new budget. youth services leaders find themselves in a position where they again advocating for these vital programs. Councilmember Mai Vang emphasized the stakes involved by invoking a simple phrase: 'It's all about our priorities. We don't have a budget deficit, we have a values deficit,' Vang said. She's right. The city's leaders are going to demonstrate their values in the budget process. Do they value kids or not? By way of the Sacramento Children's Fund, the city will give out $46 million in grants over the next five years for youth services. The city uses general fund money to cover Measure L services and the total must come out to 40% of the annual estimated cannabis business tax revenue. Vang champions supporting the city's youth, particularly with programs. It's a fairly simple idea for her. 'If we really care about moving upstream and taking care of our families, we have to invest. It also means looking at our budget and imagining what that could look like and the majority of that funding goes to police right now.' Vang's point to cut police funding could be a way to ensure that Measure L funds are not changed. It's not like the police are hurting for funds. Over four years, the Sacramento Police budget has increased by more than $50 million, coming to a total of $247 million and it's proposed to increase by $8 million in the next budget. The police department is a good start to look at where cuts could be made so measure L and other vital city resources can stay. The city wholeheartedly supported Measure L to be funded, not reduced. The Sacramento Bee's opinion team is hard at work sifting through the chaos so you don't have to. Get our weekly Bee Opinionated newsletter straight to your inbox and we'll help you cut through the drone of the news cycle. Youth programs are a direct investment in the future. Lowering funding or taking away positions that ensure these programs exist prevent our young adults from achieving their highest potential. Budget cuts are never easy, but the city council has a moment to change the way these tough decisions are made. Back in 2022, voters made a huge statement by passing Measure L, which said our youth matter and should be prioritized. During this budget-cut season, the council has the opportunity to do the same. The baseline for the measure L is 23.2 million, which could easily be reached by staff salary. There is more money in the budget that can go towards helping our young people. Our city depends on their success. 'Our youth is 1/3 of our city but they are 100 percent of our future,' Vang said. Let's hope the rest of the council feels that way come June 10 when the budget is voted on.
Observer
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Muscat Book Fair 2025 receives record 650,000 visitors
Muscat: The Muscat International Book Fair 2025, which concluded on Saturday, received 649,589 visitors from across the Sultanate of Oman and abroad. The concluding ceremony of the 29th edition saw the honoring of a number of prominent cultural figures and institutions for their contributions to enriching the cultural scene in the Sultanate of Oman. This ceremony took place under the patronage of Mohammed bin Saeed al Balushi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information, at the Al Farahidi Hall at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, which saw the participation of 674 publishing houses from 35 countries, including 640 direct participants and 34 through agencies. The exhibition showcased 681,041 Omani, Arab, and foreign titles, including 52,000 recent publications. PHOTO-2025-04-28-18-17-30 The 28th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair, which received 394,172 visitors, saw the participation of 34 countries and 847 publishing houses, offering over 20,000 titles, including a remarkable collection of more than 19,000 Omani books. The exhibition's cultural program included 211 cultural events under the theme "Cultural Diversity: The Enrichment of Civilizations." In a speech, Ahmed al Rawahi, Director of the Muscat International Book Fair, said: "The contributions of the Muscat International Book Fair, since its inception, have demonstrated its impact in promoting cultural activity, promoting the values of reading, and making books available and disseminated throughout this beloved country." This year's fair had North Al Sharqiyah Governorate as the guest of honor as part of the efforts to highlight the cultural diversity and civilizational depth of the Sultanate of Oman. The governorate implemented a rich program of diverse activities that reflected the governorate's rich cultural, intellectual, and artistic heritage, which played a prominent role in enriching the exhibition's activities. To strengthen cultural exchange efforts between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the exhibition hosted Saudi Cultural Days, which represented an important addition to the exhibition's activities through their unique cultural program. Al-Rawahy congratulated the cultural figures and institutions for their constructive contributions and recognized role in advancing the cultural movement in the country. These honorees included author Abdullah Habib, Al-Dhamri Publishing and Distribution House and Library, and Dar Al-Kitab Al-Ahlia Public Library. The Al Wusta Governorate will be the guest of honor at the 30th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair. The closing ceremony of the Muscat International Book Fair included a visual presentation of the daily coverage of the fair, a poetry segment, a visual presentation of the activities of North Al Sharqiyah Governorate's participation as the exhibition's guest of honor, and a poem recited by poet Hamoud Al-Aisri entitled "A Chant in the Name of North Al Sharqiyah Governorate." During the ceremony, the winners of the first season of the National Reading Championship were announced. Targeting school students in the Sultanate of Oman, the championship was held in three competitive stages over a full academic year. A total of 500 books were read, making it a national cultural project implemented by the Ministry of Education and supervised by the exhibition's Community Initiatives Committee.
