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[3. wiki: Michael Skolnik]:

Michael Skolnik (born August 15, 1978) is an entrepreneur, film producer, news commentator, civil rights activist and motivational speaker.

Skolnik is the CEO and co-founder of The Soze Agency. Previously, Skolnik was the president of GlobalGrind.com. Prior to this, Skolnik spent twelve years as a film director and producer.

Early life and education

Skolnik was born in Mount Kisco, New York and grew up in Katonah, New York. He graduated from John Jay High School in Westchester County, New York in 1996.

Skolnik's mother, Martha, after running a lunch café and bakery for 16 years, embarked on a film career, serving as Skolnik's editor on many of his films.[1] Skolnik's father, Simon, is chairman of the Conservation Board of Bedford, New York in the Town of Bedford and is the vice president of the New York State Association of Conservation Commissions.[citation needed]

His brother, Max Skolnik, is the founder of Kid Power DC[2] and currently is the Director of National Programs at the My Brother's Keeper Alliance.[3]

He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000, where he majored in theater.[4]

Let's look at the GlobalGrind section first, considering that Michael was working with them before forming The Soze Agency - we'll look at that with more references next.

Career

GlobalGrind

In early 2009, Skolnik was hired by Russell Simmons to serve as the political editor for GlobalGrind.com, an online destination founded by Simmons and Accel Partners.

Quickly moving up through the ranks, Skolnik was named the Editor-In-Chief and the co-President of the company in early 2011. During this time, Skolnik grew the company from 200,000 unique visitors a month to over nine million in 2015.

During his tenure at GlobalGrind, Skolnik also served as political director to Simmons, overseeing Simmons' social justice and political activities.

Skolnik and Simmons, in 2009, worked with grassroots organizers to drastically reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Former New York Governor David Paterson signed a new bill reforming this 36-year-old law.

In 2009, after the violent death of Chicago teenager, Derrion Albert, Skolnik began a campaign bringing attention to the youth violence epidemic of America. Writing thousands of articles on GlobalGrind about the deaths of young people, Skolnik became a leading voice around the issue of violence.[5] On February 26, 2012, Skolnik reported on the death of Trayvon Martin as part of his series.

On March 19, 2012, Skolnik published an op-ed, entitled, “White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin.”[6] Following this release, Skolnik appeared on numerous national broadcasts discussing the complicated issues surrounding the death of the teenager.

Skolnik worked with the Obama administration on various issues and actions. In 2011, Skolnik co-led an effort organizing the first Urban Entrepreneur Summit sponsored by the White House. He also served on Vice President Joseph Biden's task force on gun violence.[7] And in 2012, Skolnik joined the Obama re-election campaign as an official surrogate.[8]

Skolnik worked on federal legislation, working with and advocating on behalf of young people for bills like: repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,[9] Youth PROMISE Act,[10] Green Jobs initiative,[11] G.I. Bill 2.0, National Criminal Justice Commission Act[12] and the DREAM Act.[13]

Skolnik campaigned to legalize same-sex marriage in New York and Maryland with Brendon Ayanbadejo.[14]

Note:

[2]:

OSF reported granting at least $33 million to civil rights and social justice organizations in the United States.[19] This funding included groups such as the Organization for Black Struggle and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment that supported protests in the wake of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the death of Eric Garner, the shooting of Tamir Rice and the shooting of Michael Brown.[20][21][22]

[3]:

In 2009, after the violent death of Chicago teenager, Derrion Albert, Skolnik began a campaign bringing attention to the youth violence epidemic of America. Writing thousands of articles on GlobalGrind about the deaths of young people, Skolnik became a leading voice around the issue of violence.[5] On February 26, 2012, Skolnik reported on the death of Trayvon Martin as part of his series.

There is no wiki entry for The Soze Agency, so, the following section will be considered reference #4.


[4. The Soze Agency]:

[3]:

The Soze Agency is a full service social impact agency committed to amplifying the authentic narrative of a vibrant global generation. They work with companies, non-profits, foundations and movements to bring the voices of those most affected by the social and environmental issues of the time to the forefront of public dialogue. Through their campaigns, events and creative content, they work to shift the narrative that creates positive culture and drives change forward. The Soze Agency is committed to building a business whose foundation is built upon compassion, authenticity and equity. They are a triple bottom line company, focusing on the planet, the people and profit, with equal tenacity given to each goal.

Their past and current clients include~~

  1. ACLU: wiki: American Civil Liberties Union
  2. Color of Change: wiki: Color of Change
  3. FWD.us: wiki: FWD.us
  4. America's Promise Alliance: wiki: America's Promise
  5. Youth Speaks: [a. wiki: Youth Speaks Hawaii], [b. wiki: Brave New Voices], [c. wiki: Jamie DeWolf]
  6. Open Society Foundations
  7. Eighteen x '18: wiki: Yara_Shahidi
  8. Open Philanthropy: wiki: GiveWell
  9. Defend Our Future: (nothing found on wiki at first glance)
  10. The California Endowment: [a. wiki: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism], [b. wiki: Born This Way Foundation]
  11. JustLeadershipUSA: wiki: Glenn E. Martin
  12. #Cut50: wiki: Jessica Jackson Sloan
  13. Emily's List: [a. wiki: EMILY's List(USA)], [b. wiki: EMILY's List(AUS)]
  14. Facing Addiction: (nothing found on wiki at first glance)
  15. Planned Parenthood: wiki: Planned Parenthood
  16. Women's March: wiki: Women's March(Disambiguation)

See also:

[17. wiki: Keyser Söze]:

Portrayed by Kevin Spacey

Scott B. Morgan (flashback)[1]


Notes:

  • Color of Change began a campaign in support of Trayvon Martin on March 19, 2012. The organization also advocated the repeal of Stand Your Ground laws nationwide.[4: 2]
  • In March 2015, Color of Change and Media Matters for America released Not To Be Trusted: Dangerous Levels of Inaccuracy in TV Crime Reporting in NYC[4: 2]
  • In October 2013, an open letter penned by Color of Change Executive Director Rashad Robinson and published in The Hollywood Reporter criticized Saturday Night Live (SNL) Executive Producer Lorne Michaels for the lack of diversity on SNL, pointing out that only three black women had joined the show’s repertory cast in its then-39-year history.[4: 2]
  • Color of Change began a boycott campaign against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on December 8, 2011, objecting to ALEC's support of Voter ID laws.[4: 2]
  • The FWD.us initiative is led by principal Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Its founding president was Joe Green, a close friend and confidant of Zuckerberg.[4: 3]
  • George Soros is connected to Michael Skolnik & The Soze Agency via Open Society Foundations.George Soros funded groups supporting protests in the wake of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the death of Eric Garner, the shooting of Tamir Rice and the shooting of Michael Brown - On February 26, 2012, Skolnik reported on the death of Trayvon Martin as part of his series.[2][3][4: 6]
  • Yara Sayeh Shahidi(born February 10, 2000, a black/Iranian-American actress, model, and activist) is well known among her generation not only as an actor, but also as an activist. She founded Eighteen x 18 with social news publisher NowThis[4: 7]
  • Yara Sayeh Shahidi had been noticed by former first lady Michelle Obama, who wrote her a letter of recommendation to Harvard University.[4: 7]
  • Yara Sayeh Shahidi was given the opportunity by Teen Vogue to interview Hillary Clinton in 2017.[4: 7]

Continued ahead in comment 2