Latest news with #HeartlandForward
Axios
09-05-2025
- Health
- Axios
Bentonville nonprofit to take on maternal and child health
NWA nonprofit Heartland Forward is starting a program to improve maternal and child health in Arkansas and across 20 mid-America states, making up the country's heartland. Why it matters: Arkansas, along with several other states included in the nonprofit's focus, has some of the worst maternal health outcomes and infant mortality rates in the country. Poor maternal care cost Arkansas $1.8 billion and the U.S. $165 billion in 2020 alone, according to a previous Heartland Forward report. State of play: The Maternal and Child Health Center for Policy and Practice will serve as a nonpartisan effort to propose changes to improve mother and child health and well-being. The center's primary focuses will be research, quality care model development, and bringing together people involved in research, policy and philanthropy, Angie Cooper, president and chief operating officer at Heartland Forward, told Axios. The center will not have its own facility but will operate under Heartland Forward's health and wellness umbrella. Context: The center is using New Jersey's Nurture NJ initiative as its playbook, Cooper said. That initiative helped reduce racial disparities in maternal and child care, according to Heartland Forward, helping New Jersey go from No. 47 in maternal mortality to No. 28 over seven years. The state also saw lower infant mortality rates and higher breastfeeding rates. What they're saying: Poor maternal health outcomes in Arkansas are largely because of a lack of access to care, and rural patients often have to travel far to see their doctors, Cara Osborne, a nurse midwife who will be leading the initiative, told Axios. The center will look at how to meet more patients where they are and expand access to resources like community health care workers, doulas and midwives, all shown to improve outcomes and are less expensive than doctors. Osborne said that the plan is to have some proposed policy changes ready for the 2027 legislative session. The big picture: Maternal health in the U.S. has come under scrutiny after the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision ending the right to abortion nationally, with health experts concerned about how near-total abortion bans, like Arkansas', could affect doctors' ability or willingness to treat their patients. Homicides stemming from intimate partner violence are a top reason women die during and soon after pregnancy. Restrictions around abortion access and divorce during pregnancy — both of which Arkansas has in effect — are associated with higher rates. Zoom in: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' newly enacted Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act made several policy changes that maternal health advocates praised, including Medicaid coverage for doula and community health care worker services and presumptive eligibility for Medicaid, meaning pregnant patients can receive prenatal care while they're still in the application process. Sanders, however, has said she's opposed to extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year. What's next: The health of mothers and children are intertwined and cannot be separated, Osborne said. While the center will first focus on pregnancy and postpartum health, it will eventually expand to child health and well-being up to 8 years old, focusing on issues like cognitive development, preventing infectious disease through vaccination, and early childhood safety.
Hindustan Times
09-05-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Ivanka Trump unveils fresh produce access initiative in first public appearance since Trump's second term
Ivanka Trump made her return to the national stage on Thursday in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she announced her latest initiative focused on expanding access to fresh produce, an issue she had long advocated for. Having largely stayed out of the public eye during her father's second term, this marked her first significant reappearance in the spotlight. Also Read: Pope Leo XIV: Explore the books and writings of the first American pontiff For the first time in public, Ivanka opened up about her role as a co-founder of Planet Harvest, a Chicago-based 'profit-for-purpose company' established in 2023. The company claims to offer 'innovative, whole harvest solutions that resolve inefficiencies in the supply chain,' focusing on improving the way fresh produce is sourced and distributed. The summit, which spotlighted America's heartland as a centre of growth and innovation, was co-founded by Walmart heirs Olivia, Tom, and Steuart Walton. It was hosted by their Bentonville-based think tank, Heartland Forward. The interview was conducted by Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global who told Axios in a statement that the 'decision to focus on democratizing access to healthy food comes at an unprecedented moment in our country's health care journey, where we're finally recognising the scale of the crisis in chronic diseases.' The remarks seemed to be directed towards Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He recently shared the urgency to crack down on processed food for the agency, pledging to remove the 'epidemic of chronic illness' from the country and 'Make America Healthy Again,' as reported by MSNBC. On stage, Ivanka said, 'Food can be used medicinally and food can be used to heal our bodies. Food can be part of the solution.' Also Read: Power mom! Press Secy Karoline Leavitt seen working while feeding baby, netizens inspired He added that she developed 'a real passion for supporting American farmers and getting more food into communities in need' while she contributed to U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farmers to Families Food Box program amid pandemic.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Walton Heirs To Start A New STEM-Focused University In Arkansas
Steuart and Tom Walton, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, have announced plans to create a ... More new private university focused on STEM. Steuart and Tom Walton, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, have announced that members of their family are planning to create a new private university that will focus on offering a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum. The future school would be located at the location of Walmart's former home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, according to Axios, which first broke the story today. It would be part of a mixed-use development planned for the site. Development of the new university will be guided by the advice of both local and national education experts. The institution, as of yet unnamed, would offer 'a modern, flexible, and accessible model that is both STEM-focused and business-infused,' according to the announcement. "Bentonville is the perfect place to spark catalytic change — a community rooted in innovation, entrepreneurship and bold thinking," Steuart Walton said, in a news release. "We have the opportunity to build a new model of higher education, designed for the realities of today's economy and the challenges of tomorrow, and set a new standard for what's possible." Tom Walton told Axios: "Our grandad, Sam Walton, built Walmart from Bentonville. There's no reason the next great enterprise can't rise from here, too." The new university would focus on building a skilled STEM workforce, concentrating on globally competitive areas such as automation, logistics, biotech and computing. It would grant stackable credentials in those areas, which could be combined with other degrees a student might earn. The school expects that its initial class, to be enrolled 'in the coming years,' will consist of about 500 students, with projections that total enrollment could eventually grow to about 1,500 undergraduates and 500 non-degree learners over time. Initial plans call for students' tuition to be fully covered in order to 'attract enterprising candidates with entrepreneurial spirit.' Today's announcement was made at the Heartland Summit being held this year in Bentonville. The Summit is an annual event organized by Heartland Forward, a non-profit policy think tank that aims to to stimulate economic growth in the central region of the United States. According to its website, Heartland Forward has a goal of generating $500 million of economic impact for the middle states by 2030 through a focus on four pillars: innovation and entrepreneurship, talent pipelines, health and wellness, and regional competitiveness. "Universities are among the most important knowledge assets for cities and states, shaping the economic prospects of their regions and the nation overall," said Ross DeVol, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Heartland Forward. Devol added that creating a new STEM-focused university in Bentonville would represent 'a bold step to strengthen our region's innovation capacity and deepen our workforce. By embedding technology transfer and commercialization into the very fabric of the institution, we can accelerate the movement of ideas from the lab to the marketplace, drive economic growth across the Heartland, and create new opportunities for entrepreneurs and industries of the future." Individual members of the Walton family and the Walton Family Foundation have been major donors to a number of higher education institutions over the years, including the University of Arkansas, the University of Missouri, Arizona State University, and the University of the Ozarks.
Axios
06-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Heartland Forward jump-starts AI education
Heartland Forward has selected an education technology company to develop gamified artificial intelligence curricula for students and entrepreneurs living in the center of the U.S. An announcement about the partnership is expected at the Heartland Summit this week. Why it matters: AI fluency is increasingly a workforce expectation. Up to 30% of hours worked in the U.S. economy are projected to be automated by 2030, making AI aptitude critical for career readiness. The urgency is palpable. President Trump recently created an AI education task force, and more than 200 CEOs signed a letter Monday urging state leaders to mandate AI and computer science as a high school graduation requirement. The letter claims a single computer science course in high school boosts wages by 8%. State of play: Bentonville's Heartland Forward, a self-described "think-and-do" tank, selected Dallas-based Stemuli to help build the curricula using a computer-game-like interface where students can learn. They plan for the program to eventually be deployed in all 20 states the organization defines as the heartland. Stemuli uses AI technology to create personalized learning for each individual in a platform that's similar to immersive games like Roblox. In collaboration with Heartland Forward, the company will look at talent gaps the largest employers in the middle of the U.S. are predicting and will build learning "geared towards preparing young people for those particular jobs," Stemuli founder Taylor Shead told Axios. Heartland Forward envisions also offering the learning to entrepreneurs who may benefit from AI. A Heartland Forward representative declined to say how much the nonprofit would invest in the effort, saying only "it's a significant project." Reality check: Students in rural communities often get left behind in tech adoption, Heartland Forward president and COO Angie Cooper told us. "This program ensures the heartland is included in AI readiness, so that no one's left behind," she said. A cohort of 10 rural Arkansas schools will likely be the first to use the platform once it's ready, along with entrepreneurs who are part of its Builders + Backers program. Stunning stat: Students using Stemuli at P-TECH in Texas graduated with average earnings between $60,000 and $70,000, outpacing their peers' $46,000 average, Shead said. What they're saying:"The general thing with AI is it's a manufacturer of time," Shead said, noting it can take two years for a community college to develop new curricula. "So what you're able to do with AI is you're able to build faster, which means you essentially can … do more, cheaper." Stemuli will continuously update curricula as technology evolves, she said. "This is something that's coming to the heartland before coming to California or New York." The big picture: The invitation-only Heartland Summit — held in Bentonville on Wednesday and Thursday — convenes about 350 policymakers, civic leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to network and discuss economic development in the 20 states in the middle of America. Heartland Forward was founded in 2019 — after a one-off Heartland Summit in 2018 — to improve the economic performance in the center of the U.S. by advocating for job creation, inclusive growth and improved health. It's funded through private donations. In many ways, it is the heartland's equivalent of the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. What we're watching: The summit has been a powerhouse of economic news in the past, usually sporting an eclectic mix of thoughtful guests from Pharrell Williams and Chelsea Clinton to Boris Johnson and Matthew McConaughey.
Axios
26-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
The Shift: Hightag puts riders in the frame
Jonathan de la Fuente's "aha moment" was on a family snowboarding trip. "We went to dinner afterwards, and everybody was talking about how much of a great day they had," he told me. "And I realized … there was no proof that I was even on this trip with them, because I was behind the camera." 📷 The big picture: He founded Hightag with brother Alex de la Fuente so he could get in front of the camera. 🔧 How it works: On trails where the company has agreements, cameras are installed to strategically snap the best action. A subscription service, available with day pass ($7) or annual membership ($70), gives users a radio frequency identification tag to wear or attach to their equipment. This triggers cameras as the rider/skier/runner approaches, and users can then access photos and videos from a mobile app. What they're saying:"I have massively enjoyed using Hightag to document [my mountain bike] progression," Cass Crews with Heartland Forward told me. "Every few weeks, I'll ride my favorite trails with Hightag cameras to capture improvements in body positioning and style." Pro athletes who train others use Hightag as a coaching tool, Alex de la Fuente said. And they see themselves as content creators as well as athletes, so the system gives them great images to use, he added. Between the lines: The pair relocated to Bentonville about two years ago to foster the company using the area's cycling infrastructure as a test case. Hightag raised $200,000 from an accelerator program, friends and family in early 2023, Alex de la Fuente told me. They're in the middle of a "rolling close" on another $500,000, which includes an investment from Washington state-based REI Co-op. Using the Republic platform, the brothers plan to launch a crowdfunding campaign in the near future. 🔎 The intrigue: More than just gearheads, the brothers point out that every share of a Hightag photo on social media is roughly equal to the trail owner/operator getting $5 worth of marketing to their venue. What's next: Since it was the genesis for the idea, skiing seems to be the next logical fit. They recently spent a week in Park City, Utah, working on a test with a ski resort. They're hopeful they can work out an agreement, and see possibilities in all sorts of sports. "The number one question we get — especially from investors — is: could this work for golf?" Alex de la Fuente said. 🚵♀️ The Shift is a regular feature to catch up quick on what's happening in Arkansas' economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
