Participation at marquee festivals to advance mission to improve conditions for children, families and communities through peacebuilding and conflict resolution
Operation Respect, the global nonprofit organization committed to interpersonal, intercommunity and international channels to positive social learning, launched a series of ‘call-for-awareness’ actions today at the Sundance Film Festival.Official participation in HOPE HAUS and other activities were aimed at drawing keen attention to the mission during the largest independent film festival in the U.S., which attracts more than 50,000 attendees, creative artists, industry professionals and business leaders from across the spectrum of the multimedia industry.
HOPE HAUS at Sundance is the first in a series of activations Operation Respect plans to embark upon over the next two years as it celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2020.Other events on the industry calendar include SXSW/South by Southwest, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Summer NAMM, Maverick Festival and Live at Heart, as well as the NEXUS Summit in Washington, DC and Sound Diplomacy conferences in multiple cities.
Staged at Earthlight Galleries on Main Street, HOPE HAUS served as the platform bridging audio/visual content and music to mission-based projects and social-impact campaigns.In partnership with Lycored’s #rethinkbeautiful campaign, Howl For Change, Better Than Pretend Productions, MUSICUNITS and Worldhaus Music, the event featured an inspirational crossover of performance, new-tech product demonstration, video screenings and panel discussions, each channeling causes and campaigns to raise consciousness and propel social and civil participation.
Lycored opened the venue in support of their #rethinkbeautiful campaign, a thought-provoking initiative aimed at challenging traditional attitudes, appreciating the qualities of beauty within us from the inside-out, in a series of tangible, uplifting and empowering exercises.
Recording artists Amy Lott, Myla Hardie and Drew Young performed songs directed at healing, caring, civility and change, including Lott’s “You Give Me Hope,” the anthem song of HOPE HAUS.
An interactive session exploring the clinical developments and scientific breakthroughs associated with music therapy preceded the panel “Best Supporting Roles … Dare to Care!” moderated by Operation Respect’s Executive Director John McKenna.Panelists included Lycored’s Global Communications Manager Jill Romero and Earthlight Galleries’ Karen Aries, as well as Lott, a MUSICUNITS Ambassador, and Hardie, Founder of Worldhaus Music.
“We are very excited to bridge efforts with Operation Respect and all the wonderful partners at HOPE HAUS,” said Romero. “Wellness, humility and empathy are at the root of uplifting and improving ourselves, one another and the planet we all share. We are confident uniting our better selves is a force greater than any of the obstacles we face, and the festivals provide a wonderful channel to amplify such unity.”
A panel addressing the critical intersection of inspirational storytelling and social-impact movements included the expertise of film makers, producers and documentarians in both longform, digital short-form, sound and VR.Panelists included Emblematic Group’s Nonny de la Pena, Alchemic Sonic Environment’s Satya Hinduja, Better Than Pretend Productions’ Drew Young and Howl For Change’s Skye Von.The session was moderated by Kristin Gutekunst, consultant of Our Witching Hour and former Executive Producer for the United Nations Virtual Reality and New Media.
In addition to HOPE HAUS, Operation Respect’s Co-Founder and Grammy Award-Winning artist Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, was on site Friday where he provided an inspirational and educational overview of the power of music as a channel for change to selected classes of students at Park City High School, and presented and performed for a full-house audience at Temple Har Shalom where the hall joined in inspirational songs such as “Light One Candle” “This Land is Your Land” and the anthem of the Operation Respect mission, “Don’t Laugh at Me.”Yarrow closed the day treating 100 VIP guests at Shabbat Lounge and Oneg Party with a surprising visit of reflection and sing-along, bridging sentiment of the civil rights and anti-war movements with the equally profound challenges of today.“Songs played in front of 250,000 people at the March on Washington in 1963 resonate profoundly today and are just as relevant with the deep troubles and challenges we must address in 2019,” Yarrow shared.
“We look forward to taking this important step over the coming months, bringing our mission in front of thousands of creative minds and committed hearts,” Operation Respect’s McKenna said.“Music and storytelling are in our organization’s soul and DNA, and with the wonderful convergence of changemakers and influencers at these specific events, we are fortunate to have the invitation and access to raise our voices with calls for action at this pivotal time.”
McKenna was recently appointed to serve the mission bringing two decades of international nonprofit leadership to the cause, specifically in the multimedia and peacebuilding arenas.“I’ve witnessed a remarkable evolution at these festivals and conferences over the past two decades.There is an urgency and sense of obligation to not only showcase and entertain through cinema and sound, but to simultaneously and boldly take on the challenges of our times.We embrace the momentum, so you’ll find Operation Respect among the songs, screenings and discussions, in peace and with purpose.”
Contact: John McKenna, Executive Director, [email protected] for Operation Respect
Jill Romero, Global Communications Manager, Lycored, [email protected] for #rethinkbeautiful
About Operation Respect
Operation Respect is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing children and youth educational training and experiences that can help them become compassionate, respectful, ethical and civically engaged adults.To help create and sustain positive school climates, Operation Respect incorporates Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curricula blended with community-building music in its free Don’t Laugh at Me program, introducing and institutionalizing time-proven anti-bullying initiatives.Over the past two decades an estimated 22,000 schools have utilized the program throughout America and the world.Operation Respect’s tools help to foster peace, acceptance and harmony amongst children and youth, as well as adults who inform and influence their lives.Founded in 1999 by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, and Dr. Charlotte Frank, senior advisor at McGraw-Hill Education, Operation Respect’s inspiring music, social and emotional learning curricula and multicultural videos teach students to resolve conflict peacefully, celebrate diversity and engage with each other in a spirit of caring, compassion and cooperation.Over 200,000 copies of the Don’t Laugh at Me program have been disseminated to educators throughout the United States and internationally, with over 50,000 educators participating in professional development workshops worldwide.Since its inception, over a half-million educators, educational leaders, parents, students, policy makers and community members have attended presentations by Peter Yarrow and other Operation Respect leaders.Over 900 New York City schools have sent teams of educators to participate in workshops, and since 2005 Operation Respect has partnered with the NYC DOE to provide anti-bias Respect for All training for teams of educators from all elementary, middle and high schools in New York City.Operation Respect formed United Voices for Education, a coalition of 42 educational organizations dedicated to
advocating for the education of the whole child.Operation Respect co-produced A Tribute to the Teachers of America and, in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, produced Concert for Newtown to help bring strength and unity to the brave and grieving community of Newtown as well as the nation.Both programs have aired on PBS throughout the United States. Operation Respect’s anti-bullying Don’t Laugh at Me program has been translated into Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Cantonese and Ukrainian.It has been endorsed and supported by U.S. consulates in Hong Kong and Jerusalem (63 percent of school counselors in Israel report utilization of the program) and U.S. embassies in Israel, Japan, Ukraine and Jordan, and the program has been implemented through alliances in South Africa, Croatia, Canada and Bermuda.Mexico is its most recent partnership.
About #rethinkbeautiful
Committed to ‘Cultivating Wellness’, Lycored, part of Adama Group, is an international company at the forefront of unearthing and combining nature’s nutrition potential with cutting edge science to develop natural ingredients and products. Established in 1995 in Israel, Lycored is the global leader in natural carotenoids for food, beverage and dietary supplement products.
12 stops. 9 different states. 10,000 letters. In the past year, as part of Lycored's mission to #rethinkbeautiful, the Lycored team travels to spread the word on the role ingestible skincare plays in promoting beauty from within by setting up love letter stations in the wild to give people the opportunity to write themselves a note about what makes them beautiful. The Lycored team sends the letters from every event back when they're least expected as a reminder of the positive feelings experienced at the time. The goal of the Letters of Love tour was to challenge traditional notions of beauty and skincare, specifically raising awareness for their ingestible skin health study, recently published in the British Journal of Dermatology by allowing consumers to ignite self-discovery and the Lycored team to create an emotional connection to ingestible skincare and educate them on the critical role nutrition plays in promoting an inner-glow.
The goal of the Letters of Love tour is to challenge traditional notions of beauty and skincare, specifically raising awareness for their ingestible skin health study, recently published in the British Journal of Dermatology by allowing consumers to ignite self-discovery and the Lycored team to create an emotional connection to ingestible skincare and educate them on the critical role nutrition plays in promoting an inner-glow.
To find out more visit www.lycored.com/rethink-beautiful
About HOPE HAUS
HOPE HAUS is an innovative venue and presentation space staged at marquee music, film and tech festivals, conferences and expos across the United States and the world, bridging multimedia content with nonprofit missions and social-impact campaigns.Founded by principals and partners of MUSICUNITS, its mission is to engage producers, artists, influencers and changemakers to produce inspirational messaging as a channel for social justice, peacebuilding and youth advocacy, as well as interpersonal and intercommunity safety, health and well-being.
The theme song for HOPE HAUS is the moving composition written and performed by Amy Lott, “You Give Me Hope,” performed at the United Nations International Day of Peace 2018, with hundreds of thousands of downloads on-line.
