Day: July 16, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Meltwater, a global leader in media intelligence, is proud to announce that it is the recipient of two Comparably Awards for “Best Career Growth” and “Best CEOs for Women.”

Meltwater ranks number #20 for “Best Career Growth” alongside companies such as Zoom, Peloton and Hubspot, based on data compiled from 10 million employee ratings across 60,000 U.S. companies. The award takes into account employee ratings and testimonials on their professional development opportunities at Meltwater. In addition, Meltwater CEO John Box ranked # 32 for Comparably’s “Best CEOs for Women” which represents the top-ranked CEOs, as rated by female employees.

Since its founding in 2001, Meltwater has made employee growth and development a key focus across the company by promoting employees from within, developing a best-in-class sales training program, and investing in learning and development across the business. Many of Meltwater’s senior leaders, including CEO John Box, are testaments to the company’s focus on career growth, having joined in entry-level roles and risen through the ranks to leadership. Employee testimonials and online reviews regularly cite personal and professional development, mentorship and training from senior leaders, and opportunities for rapid career progression as the ways that Meltwater invests in employee development.

Supporting female employees is also a particular focus for Meltwater, especially in a year where women have been disproportionately affected by the effects of the pandemic on the workforce. Meltwater has continued its focus on developing female leaders, promoting work-life balance and creating an equitable and inclusive work environment.

Globally, women make up 50% of Meltwater’s workforce and represent 38% of leadership, numbers that are well above the average among tech companies. CEO John Box and the Meltwater executive team are committed to continuing to make strides to increase diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels of the business. Meltwater also won the Comparably “Best Companies for Women” award in Q4 2020 and ranked in the top 15% of companies in the US, in terms of female employees’ experience at an organization across multiple dimensions.

John Box, CEO of Meltwater, said: “We’re thrilled to be named one of the Best Companies for Career Growth, as recognized by our incredible employees around the world. At Meltwater, our goal is to give our employees the tools they need to grow, develop and feel fulfilled by their work. In the past year, we’ve reaffirmed our commitment to creating a workplace where all employees can fully contribute to the company’s success. Ensuring that we have gender diversity in all levels of the business will make our culture, products and business better, and I appreciate that our employees recognize our continued efforts in this area.”

Comparably Awards are based on sentiment ratings anonymously provided by employees about their workplaces in multiple categories on Comparably.com during a 12-month period. Rankings were determined based on a combination of questions in 20 core culture metrics, from compensation and career growth to leadership and work-life balance—providing a comprehensive look at what it’s really like to work at Meltwater.

Meltwater was also named a “Best Company for Happiness” and “Best Company for Global Culture” by Comparably in the past year. The team is actively recruiting in a variety of exciting roles around the world to continue to grow and expand the team. To learn more about the open opportunities, please visit the Meltwater careers website, or visit our Comparably page here.

About Meltwater

Meltwater was founded in 2001 as the world’s first online media monitoring company. Today, we are a global leader in media intelligence and social analytics, helping to bridge the gap between Public Relations, Communications and Marketing departments with an intuitive, all-in-one solution powered by AI-driven insights. Over 30,000 of the world’s most respected brands rely on Meltwater to help inform their strategic decision-making, and with over 55 offices across six continents, Meltwater is a truly global partner. We are also proud to support the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), a pan-African entrepreneurial program & incubator, fostering the next generation of African tech talent. Learn more at meltwater.com.

About Comparably

Comparably is a leading workplace culture and compensation monitoring site that provides the most comprehensive and accurate representation of what it’s like to work at companies. Employees can anonymously rate their employers in 20 different workplace culture categories, providing the public a transparent and in-depth look at the experiences workers have based on their gender, ethnicity, age, department, experience, location, education, and company size. Since launching in 2016, Comparably has accumulated 10 million ratings across 60,000 U.S. companies. The platform has become one of the fastest-growing SaaS solutions for employer branding and trusted third-party site for workplace and salary data, including its annual Best Places to Work series.

Media Contact: 
Kelly Costello
Communications Manager
kelly.costello@meltwater.com

Lanterns of Conscience Illuminating a Brighter Path to Religious Freedom

Members of Tai Ji Men display traditional Tai Ji Men lanterns, which symbolize that conscience lights up people’s hearts and guides them to make the right decision, respect and tolerate one another, and create a world of love and peace where conscience prevails.

Despite 24 years of ongoing violations of their human rights and religious freedom, Tai Ji Men continues to Promote Love, Peace, and Conscience Around the World

Action Alliance to Redress 1219 is a partner of International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit 2021

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit 2021 held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C. on July 13–15 is the largest and most important religious freedom event of the year, with over 1,000 people participating, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Congressman Frank Wolf, USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel, and other advocates to raise awareness of religious liberty in all corners of the world.

In addition to plenary and breakout sessions, there is an exhibition hall where representatives of every major religion and many organizations have set up booths to showcase their missions to attendees seeking to learn more. Hundreds of people came by the exhibition hall, drawn in by the colorful costumes of the Action Alliance to Redress 1219 booth to learn about Tai Ji Men, which has self-funded trips to 101 nations to promote love, peace, and conscience under the guidance of its leader Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze. At the booth today, members of Tai Ji Men displayed traditional Tai Ji Men lanterns, which symbolize brightness and pointing people in the right direction. The lanterns also symbolize conscience, which guides people to make the right decision, respect and tolerate one another, and apply their conscience to create a world of love and peace where human rights prevail.

Tai Ji Men is an organization rooted in esoteric Taoism and has 15 chapters in the United States and Taiwan. It has tens of thousands of members from all around the world, who benefit from practicing Tai Ji Men Qigong. Since it was formally chartered in 1966, the nature of Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy has remained unchanged. The deeper history of the organization that emphasizes wisdom and martial arts has been passed down from Shifu (master) to his dizi (disciples) from generation to generation. The organization has been dedicated to promoting a culture of love and peace, as well as improving global citizens’ physical, mental, and spiritual health.

In 2001, during the 54th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, the 9/11 attacks occurred, the deadliest attacks on US soil. After that, many people were anxious to leave New York. Dr. Hong and his dizi (disciples), who had gone to New York for the Conference, chose to stay there to host the “Ceremony of Ringing the Bell of World Peace and Love” to calm people’s hearts and pray for the United States and the world, with UN ambassadors, leaders of NGOs from various countries, and many peace promoters in attendance.

Tai Ji Men’s chapters in California have been actively involved in their respective communities for over two decades and have been highly praised by visionaries in various fields.

At the invitation of Senator Jesse Helms, the then Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Tai Ji Men organized a cultural program on Capitol Hill in 2000. Mayor Anthony A. Williams of the District of Columbia proclaimed March 22, 2000 as the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy Day in Washington, D.C. and praised Tai Ji Men as International Ambassadors of Goodwill and Peace.

Mayor Jeremy Harris of the City and County of Honolulu proclaimed September 16, 2001 as Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy and Dr. Hong Tao-Tze Day, in recognition of Dr. Hong and Tai Ji Men’s contributions to advancing cultural exchanges and harmony among nations.

Additionally, Mayor Tom Bates of the City of Berkeley proclaimed August 5, 2005, as the Federation of World Peace and Love Day in the city of Berkeley, in recognition of Dr. Hong’s dedication to leading FOWPAL to promote peace and love for all humanity. (Dr. Hong is the president of the Federation of World Peace and Love).

Tragically, despite praise from presidents of Taiwan and international acclaim, Tai Ji Men has been persecuted in Taiwan, with its leader’s and members’ human rights and religious freedom being violated for over 24 years! In 1996, the Taiwanese government conducted a political purge targeting religious organizations. A prosecutor named Hou Kuan-jen falsely accused Tai Ji Men and Dr. Hong of fraud, tax evasion, and raising goblins, with fake witnesses and fabricated evidence. It took Tai Ji Men more than a decade to be found innocent of tax evasion and all other charges by the criminal division of the Supreme Court in 2007, confirming that Tai Ji Men did not owe any tax. However, the case did not end there. Taiwan’s National Taxation Bureau ignored the Supreme Court’s final decision and continued to issue unjustified tax bills to Tai Ji Men, resulting in the unlawful seizure and confiscation of its sacred land for self-cultivation last year, generating massive peaceful protests on the streets and drawing the attention and igniting discussions from international scholars and experts in the areas of human rights, religion, and law.

Tai Ji Men members from across the United States actively participated in the 2021 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit, speaking out to the world and urging the Taiwanese government to resolve this case of injustice as soon as possible, return to Tai Ji Men its sacred land for self-cultivation, and protect people’s freedom of religion or belief, which is a fundamental right.

Over the past 24 years, under the leadership of Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, worldwide members of Tai Ji Men have never given up hope and have insisted on doing the right thing, even though they have been persecuted for 24 years. During this time, they have visited 101 nations to promote love, peace, and conscience through cultural exchange. Tai Ji Men’s shifu (master) and dizi (disciples) hope to use their own experience to encourage others suffering similar plights to continue seeking justice and working together for a world where people follow their conscience and enjoy human rights, religious freedom, and equality.

About Action Alliance to Redress 1219: Action Alliance to Redress 1219 is a group of international and Taiwanese legal, religious, and human rights specialists working to restore the truth about the ongoing persecution of Tai Ji Men in Taiwan by a small group of bureaucrats that has lasted for 24 years, as well as their misuse of authority and violations of the law. In addition to rectifying the Tai Ji Men case and revealing the truth, it is also committed to defending religious freedom and calling on those in power not to infringe on people’s human rights.

Media Contact:
Lily Chen
Representative
admin@act1219.org
626-202-5268

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/64cec01e-18f1-452a-8df6-20c28d4ccade. The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress.

ROME and BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ITA (Italia Trasporto Aereo) will be operational from October the 15th, flying a fleet of 52 aircraft that will grow to 105 by the end of 2025, as envisaged in the 2021-2025 business plan approved by the Board of Directors of the newly established company destined to take over from Alitalia. The plan also provides for the ‘discontinuity’ requested by the European Commission during negotiations with the Italian Government over the past few months. ITA will be able to acquire, through direct negotiation with Alitalia, the assets to manage the flight sector, the so-called ‘aviation’ branch. The Alitalia brand will be sold through a public tender, issued and managed by Alitalia, in which ITA itself will participate, as it believes that the brand is an essential element for the plan. ‘Ground Handling’ and ‘Maintenance’ activities will also be contracted through a public tender.

ITA will initially operate with a fleet of 52 aircraft. By 2022, it will grow to 78 aircraft and, from 2022 onwards, new-generation aircraft will be gradually added to the fleet. By the end of 2025, the number of aircraft will rise to 105. Over the plan period, ITA plans to rely on a single strategic partner for aircraft, and discussions are underway with the main partners. All employees will be hired under a new employment contract. The ‘Aviation’ branch is expected to employ 2.750-2.950 people, rising to 5.550-5.700 by 2025. In the event that ITA is awarded contracts for the ‘Ground Handling’ and ‘Maintenance’ activities, 2.650-2.700 and 1.100-1.250 staff are expected to be employed respectively.

ITA’s plan has been approved, forecasting a turnover that will reach  3.329 million euros in 2025, with an economic result of 209 million euros and an operational break-even to be reached by third quarter 2023.

At first, the airline will fly to 45 destinations with 61 routes, growing to 74 destinations and 89 routes by 2025. As for long-haul routes, ITA will initially provide connections to New York, Tokyo, Boston and Miami, but new routes to São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Washington and Los Angeles are expected to be added in the summer 2022. From Fiumicino (Rome) and Linate (Milan) airports there will be connections to the main EU destinations. During the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for July, it will be decided on an initial capital increase of 700 million euros.

ITA’s executive chairman Alfredo Altavilla stated: “The approval of ITA’s business plan by the European Commission and the confirmation of compliance with the MEOP, which certifies the soundness of the project in terms of private investment by the public shareholder, is an important result that paves the way for the launch of ITA. Now, within 90 days, we should complete the transition leading to the take-off of the first aircraft on 15 October. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Italian Government and our representatives in Brussels for the teamwork that made it possible to achieve this important result after months of negotiations, and which we trust will continue in the months to come”.

The CEO and managing director of ITA, Fabio Lazzerini, said: “I am particularly satisfied with the acknowledgement of the industrial and financial solidity underlying the approval of the Plan. A plan which, starting from the customer and its needs, will place ITA among the best companies in Europe in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability, while guaranteeing connectivity to businesses, tourists and citizens. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the ITA team for the enthusiastic and total commitment with which they have worked during these challenging months, and to the institutions and stakeholders in the sector (ENAC, ENAV, the airport system) for the openness and trust they are showing us. Now we face the great challenge of launching a successful airline in three months. A challenge to which we will devote all our energy.”

For more information:
LaPresse SpA Communication and Press Office Director
Barbara Sanicola – barbara.sanicola@lapresse.it +39 02 26305578 M +39 333 3905243