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Big Sean’s One Man Can Change Detroit documentary is a quick look at his return to Cass Technical High School to build a studio for the students. The space is located at his alma mater but will be open to all Detroit Public School students.

NEW YORK (October 13, 2014)—National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC), the nation’s primary presenter of stories about the Black experience on public media, has launched a series of webinars on various aspects of producing serial nonfiction broadcast content and nonfiction and fiction webisodic content for public media. Webinar Wednesdays, which features free training sessions by successful producers, is part of the Harlem-based nonprofit’s new funding initiative, NBPC 360.

NBPC 360 is an incubator designed to identify innovative storytellers and to generate quality serial, digital and multiplatform content for public media outlets, including the Web. Producers will compete for funding and the chance to work with veteran producers to develop their series pilots. Up to 10 projects will be selected through an open call for the NBPC 360 inaugural class, with the final three entering the incubator, where they will be assigned a mentor and put through a boot camp—six weeks of intense, hands-on training and preparation for the pitch and pilot phases of the program. With help from an assigned executive producer and/or a producing station—as well as $50,000 to $150,000 in development funds from NBPC—the final three will each produce a pilot over the next four to six months. The three producing teams, together with NBPC, will then pursue broadcast and distribution opportunities for the programs.

The program launched on Wednesday, October 1; and webinars, which will help prepare producers to apply, precede the application deadline of January 9, 2015. Those interested in participating should sign up now at www.blackpublicmedia.org.

Webinars include:

· “Many Rivers to Cross: How Do You Make an Engaging Multi-Part Series?” with Leslie Asako Gladsjo, senior story producer for The African-Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (Wednesday, October 15, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST);

· “Finding and Keeping Your Audience” with Deniese Davis, COO of Issa Rae’s ColorCreative.tv and producer of the hit Web series Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (Wednesday, October 22, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST);

· “No Producer Is an Island: Developing Your Infrastructure for Series Production” with commercial and public television series producer Banks Tarver of Left/Right Media (Wednesday, October 29, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST);

· “What Is a Pewdiepie? Anatomy of a Web Series (Part 1) with producer Jorge Rivera (Wednesday, November 5, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST);

· “What Is a Pewdiepie? Anatomy of a Web Series (Part 2) with producer Jorge Rivera (Wednesday, November 12, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST); and

· “Marketing + Measuring Impact: What are Vanity Metrics?” with social media strategists Ann Nguyen and George Weiner of Whole Whale social media firm (Wednesday, November 19, at 4:00 pm EST/1:00 pm PST).

Only 100 seats are available for each webinar, and, as participation is first-come, first-served, producers are encouraged to sign up now.

“NBPC aims for the program to be a game changer by creating an army of content makers, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, who bring thought-provoking, enlightening programming to the fore,” said NBPC Interim Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz. “To that end, any TV or Web producer, whether participating in the NBPC 360 program or not, may participate in the webinars.”

NBPC has been bringing stories about global Black experience to public television since its founding in 1979. With the rise of the Internet, it has gone on to take on the digital space, producing Web series and training the next generation of Web producers of color. NBPC 360 is the next phase in its storytelling mission; the incubator will help launch nonfiction serial projects for broadcast and Web, fiction projects for the Web, as well as interactive or “transmedia” projects.

For more information on NBPC or NBPC 360, visit www.blackpublicmedia.org or follow the organization on Twitter (@BLKPublicMedia).

Atlanta, GA – The 2014 HBCU Green Report released today provides clear evidence that there is significant activity underway on historically black colleges and university (HBCU) campuses to promote sustainable living and adopt energy efficient practices despite their absence in major national green surveys. A collaborative project of the Building Green Initiative (BGI) at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) and the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development (NCIMED), the report found hothouses of sustainable innovation at HBCUs across the country.

“It is unfortunate that our HBCUs are not better represented in mainstream reports,” says Dr. Carlton Brown, Ed.D., president, Clark Atlanta University. “The HBCU Green Report reveals that HBCUs have embraced environmental stewardship as a core value and are striving to green our campuses, curriculum and communities that we serve.”

A few eco-friendly highlights featured in the report include the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s solar farm which generates enough power to supply 1000 average homes; Spelman College’s Laura Spelman Rockefeller Hall, a recent LEED Gold renovation; Florida A&M has instituted a new green fee; Morehouse takes students to Ghana for a sustainable development course; and, Huston Tillotson is converting a dumpster into an eco-home. Howard University’s “Green Team” won the D.C. Power Down energy conservation competition reducing overall energy use by 14 percent and also won second place in this year’s Home Depot Retool Your School contest.

Andrea Harris, president, NCIMED adds, “The report clearly demonstrates numerous policies and practices adopted by these institutions that not only will have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions, lowering greenhouse gases, minimizing water pollution and unnecessary consumption, and dramatically decreasing the flow of solid waste to landfills, but also demonstrates that they get the message that energy efficiency and sustainability can have a significant impact on the bottom line.”

The BGI team noted that they were motivated to produce the HBCU Green Report to dispel the myth that black colleges are not going green that is reinforced when 99% of HBCUs are still absent from influential higher education green survey’s likeThe Princeton Review’s Guide to 332 Green Colleges which was released earlier this week.

“The HBCU Green Report is our second sustainability survey of minority-serving institutions and the timing could not be better with the recent release of the Green 2.0 Diversity Report” says Felicia M. Davis, director of the Building Green Initiative at CAU. “Were it not for the HBCU Green Report, it would appear that Chaney University is the only HBCU going green. This flawed impression is a disservice to the entire higher education community, especially for students seeking green campuses.”

Clark Atlanta University, BGI host, has committed to a 20 percent reduction of energy consumption across the campus within five years; doubling campus recycling efforts by 2015; reducing emissions by motivating the University community to walk, bike, carpool or use public transit to get to and from campus; promoting LEED-certified buildings and landscapes; and ensuring that sustainability issues remain an integral part of CAU’s academic curriculum and the CAU experience.

Forty-three institutions participated in this year’s HBCU Green Report, representing a wide swath of representing a wide swath of rural, suburban and urban institutions. Respondents were nearly evenly split between private (52.17 percent) and public (47.83 percent) institutions. The survey collected sustainability data in five essential categories: Administration, Green Building, Student Involvement, Food and Recycling, and Climate Change and Energy.

From its inception at UNCF in 2010, the Building Green Initiative has worked to advance campus-wide sustainability at minority-serving institutions. Since moving to Clark Atlanta University last year, the Kresge Foundation funded, Building Green Initiative has coordinated the Atlanta University Center Vine City EcoDistrict sustainability planning process selected as a national “Target City”. BGI also expanded support for HBCU sustainability activities and managed the UNCF/Toyota Green Ambassador program impacting 27 HBCU campuses. Working in partnership with all of the major national higher education sustainability organizations BGI maintains the www.buildinggreennetwork.org website where the full report can be downloaded.

Administrators from the number one school on the Building Green Initiative’s list of top ten greenest HBCUs, UMES, stand in front of a picture of the school’s 17-acre solar farm. UMES administrators pictured (L-R): Dr. Ronnie Holden, vice president of administrative affairs; Dr. Maurice Ngwaba, assistant to the vice president of administrative affairs; Dr. Juliette Bell, president; Dr. G. Dale Wesson, vice president of research and economic development.

Atlanta, GA -A comprehensive survey released on Earth Day by The Building Green Initiative (BGI) at Clark Atlanta University says historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are driving energy efficiency on their campuses and promoting sustainability through their policies, practices and curriculums.

The survey ranked the nation’s most eco-friendly HBCUs and found the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University were the top green campuses among public institutions, while Spelman College and Howard University topped the list for private schools, BGI director, Felicia Davis announced today.

“Black colleges are going green,” said Davis. “This survey provides a clear picture of the wide-ranging activities underway at HBCUs to generate renewable energy, build to LEED Gold Certification standards and engage students in green initiatives, ecological curriculum and sustainable lifestyles.”

Rankings were determined by analyzing responses from 43 participating HBCUs in the areas of administration, energy efficiency, green building, recycling, renewable energy generation, food, transportation, purchasing, and student involvement.

“We determined that students are getting more involved in the environmental movement on HBCU campuses,” said Andrea Harris, president of North Carolina Institute for Minority Economic Development (NCIMED), the company commissioned to analyze the survey. “HBCUs are also using innovative, green technologies to address health, economic, and educational challenges in underserved communities.”

Mural lining the walls in the entrance of the newly renovated LEED Gold certified Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Hall Building at Spelman College in Atlanta is a work of art that depicts change agents who have been part of the institution’s legacy of social activism since its founding in 1881.

According to the survey results, all of the top institutions have signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, created sustainability committees, and are taking steps to reduce campus emissions.

Innovative renewable energy solutions landed UMES as the top ranking school among all HBCUs. “The 17-acre solar farm we opened three years ago is now paying environmental and economic dividends. Our future plans will reduce our carbon foot print and also fully engage faculty and students in production-scale renewable energy generation research projects” said G. Dale Wesson, UMES vice president for research and economic development.

The participating schools were separated into two ranking categories: public and private institutions. Of the colleges surveyed, the top ten green HBCUs for 2014 are:

Public
1. University of Maryland Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, MD)
2. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (Tallahassee, FL)
3. Elizabeth City State University (Elizabeth City, NC)
4. North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University (Greensboro, NC)
5. (Three-Way Tie) Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD), Bowie State University (Bowie, MD) & Mississippi Valley State University (Itta Bena, MS)

Private
1. Spelman College (Atlanta, GA)
2. Howard University (Washington, DC)
3. Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA)
4. Livingstone College (Salisbury, NC)
5. (Tie) Claflin University (Orangeburg, SC) & Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA)

Housed on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, the Building Green Initiative works to increase campus-wide sustainability at minority serving institutions with a strong focus on HBCUs. BGI is an advocate for innovative financing to support green building, energy efficiency retrofits, green revolving loan funds, interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability curriculum and student engagement. Formal partnerships with higher education environmental organizations, corporations committed to sustainability and an active BGI network expands HBCU access to a range of technical support.

NCIMED is an established nonprofit organization with 26 years of experience promoting and contributing data and information as key components of a knowledge-based economy.
For a full report on the findings go to http://buildinggreennetwork.org/?p=1346 or email iask@bellsouth.net.