Latest news with #LaurenPhillips
Scoop
16-07-2025
- General
- Scoop
From Diamonds To Dirt: Sierra Leone Youth Bring Land Back To Life
16 July 2025 But now, parts of the land have been restored. Crops are beginning to flourish and bees are buzzing around once again. The people responsible for this change are a hodgepodge group – former taxi drivers and miners, people who barely finished secondary school and some with higher education degrees. The unifying factor? Most have youth on their side. ' There is life beyond mining [but] we all grew up with the mentality that diamond is the only solution,' said Sahr Fallah, chairman of the Youth Council in Kono. Over 44 percent of the 1.3 billion people aged 15-24 are employed in agrifood systems. However, this group often does not have the same access to resources as older generations. Moreover, they are sidelined in the conversations which might change this systemic exclusion. ' A lot of the time, what we find is that young people are included in policy processes but it is a little bit tokenistic. They don't feel like their voice really matters,' said Lauren Phillips, a deputy director at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Decent work = economic growth The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York has been convened this week and next, to discuss progress – or lack thereof – towards the globally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which guarantees decent work for all. Despite this commitment, over half of the global workforce remains in informal employment, according to the Secretary-General's report on the SDGs released Monday. This means that they do not have adequate social or legal protections. ' Decent work must be at the heart of macroeconomic planning, climate and diesel transitions and social recovery strategies,' said Sangheon Lee, director of employment policy at the International Labor Organization (ILO). Don't ignore youth Like other vulnerable groups, young people face unique challenges in the agrifood sector. Specifically, they often lack land rights and will struggle to act collectively to protect their interests. 'If you are not looking at data with a lens of age or gender, you are actually missing part of the story,' Ms. Phillips said. Among these assets are land titles – which the elderly may be reluctant to pass down because of insufficient social protections. Youth also are less able to access credit so they can invest in themselves and their families. Betty Seray Sam, one of the young farmers in Kono, said that her family never used to come to her when they were going through a crisis – they knew that she had no money and a child to support. But now, through an agricultural job in Kono, she can support her family during times of crisis. ' This project has had a rippling effect for the youth in terms of not only improving their livelihoods but also the livelihoods of their families,' said Abdul Munu, president of Mabunduku, a community-based farmer's organization in Kono. Bee a farmer Providing training to young people in agrifood systems is absolutely essential to ensure that they can practice sustainable agriculture. In Chegutu, Zimbabwe, FAO has helped establish Bee Farmers Schools where young people are taught how to support apiaries through hands-on training activities. 'The idea is that one of the apiaries can be turned into a classroom where youth from different parts of a district can come just like a school,' said Barnabas Mawire, a natural resource specialist at FAO. This training has helped support local youth beekeepers to move beyond local and small-scale honey production to a fully-fledged business model that has the potential to not just fight poverty but actually create local wealth. Evelyn Mutuda, the young entrepreneurs representative in Chegutu, aspires to plant Jacaranda trees which she says will improve the quality of the bees' honey and enable the beekeepers to export beyond local markets. 'We want to maximize all the profits so we can become better and bigger,' Ms. Mutuda said. From Facebook to TikTok Being able to form labour associations is one of the key factors of decent work. This sort of collective action is even more important for youth in agrifood who often lack the social capital to enact real policy change. 'Young people are just starting out, making bonds within their group but also with people outside of their group. Those bonds are important…because there is power in numbers,' Ms. Phillips said. She also noted that young people are forming these bonds across geographic distances, often by using technology. Agrifood influencers on Instagram and TikTok, for example, are increasingly shaping conversations about the sector. Ms. Phillips also noted that it is important to think of collective action for youth as intergenerational. 'While the report is focused on young people, it's not ignorant of the fact that young people live in families…There is a lot which talks about the need for solidarity between generations,' Ms. Phillips said. Youth optimism The next generation will be the stewards of the food we eat, so integrating them into that system now is essential for future food security and sustainability. ' Many youth integrate tradition with innovation, creating sustainability and community resilience,' said Venedio Nala Ardisa, a youth representative at the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, at an online side event during the high-level forum. Angeline Manhanzva, one of the beekeepers in Chegutu, said that the opportunity to become a beekeeper changed her life. One day, she dreams of owning her own bee farm. 'I will be an old person who has so much wealth and is able to buy her own big land to keep my hives and process my own honey.'
Winnipeg Free Press
11-07-2025
- Science
- Winnipeg Free Press
RRC getting real with artificial intelligence
Red River College Polytechnic is offering crash courses in generative artificial intelligence to help classroom teachers get more comfortable with the technology. Foundations of Generative AI in Education, a microcredential that takes 15 hours to complete, gives participants guidance to explore AI tools and encourage ethical and effective use of them in schools. Tyler Steiner was tasked with creating the program in 2023, shortly after the release of ChatGPT — a chatbot that generates human-like replies to prompts within seconds — and numerous copycat programs that have come online since. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Lauren Phillips, a RRC Polytech associate dean, said it's important students know when they can use AI. 'There's no putting that genie back in the bottle,' said Steiner, a curriculum developer at the post-secondary institute in Winnipeg. While noting teachers can 'lock and block' via pen-and-paper tests and essays, the reality is students are using GenAI outside school and authentic experiential learning should reflect the real world, he said. Steiner's advice? Introduce it with the caveat students should withhold personal information from prompts to protect their privacy, analyze answers for bias and 'hallucinations' (false or misleading information) and be wary of over-reliance on technology. RRC Polytech piloted its first GenAI microcredential little more than a year ago. A total of 109 completion badges have been issued to date. The majority of early participants in the training program are faculty members at RRC Polytech. The Winnipeg School Division has also covered the tab for about 20 teachers who've expressed interest in upskilling. 'There was a lot of fear when GenAI first launched, but we also saw that it had a ton of power and possibility in education,' said Lauren Phillips, associate dean of RRC Polytech's school of education, arts and sciences. Phillips called a microcredential 'the perfect tool' to familiarize teachers with GenAI in short order, as it is already rapidly changing the kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-secondary education sectors. Manitoba teachers have told the Free Press they are using chatbots to plan lessons and brainstorm report card comments, among other tasks. Students are using them to help with everything from breaking down a complex math equation to creating schedules to manage their time. Others have been caught cutting corners. Submitted assignments should always disclose when an author has used ChatGPT, Copilot or another tool 'as a partner,' Phillips said. She and Steiner said in separate interviews the key to success is providing students with clear instructions about when they can and cannot use this type of technology. Business administration instructor Nora Sobel plans to spend much of the summer refreshing course content to incorporate their tips; Sobel recently completed all three GenAI microcredentials available on her campus. Two new ones — Application of Generative AI in Education and Integration of Generative AI in Education — were added to the roster this spring. Sobel said it is 'overwhelming' to navigate this transformative technology, but it's important to do so because employers will expect graduates to have the know-how to use them properly. It's often obvious when a student has used GenAI because their answers are abstract and generic, she said, adding her goal is to release rubrics in 2025-26 with explicit direction surrounding the active rather than passive use of these tools. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'The main idea is not to use the AI tool alone, standalone. You want to complement it with AI literacy training,' the instructor said. She noted her favourite programs are conversational AI assistant Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity AI (an AI-powered search engine that generates answers with links to references) and Google NotebookLM. Whereas Copilot and Perplexity AI primarily draw from external sources, Google NotebookLM can analyze trends in original items uploaded by a user. Registration for RRC Polytech's next introductory microcredential, running Oct. 6 through Nov. 2, is open. Tuition is $313 per student. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Nova's Lauren Phillips and her aviation millionaire fiancé Paul O'Brien jet into Sydney together in rare public sighting
Lauren Phillips has been engaged two years but keeps her romance very private. The Nova radio host and her fiancé Paul O'Brien made a rare public appearance together on Sunday however as they arrived at Sydney Airport. The 41-year-old dressed down as she made her way across the terminal with her aviation businessman partner. Lauren opted for a black suede jacket over white shirt and added a pair of cream trousers, as well as matching sneakers. She appeared to have on minimal makeup with her brunette locks down and straightened. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Paul meanwhile kept things comfortable in a pair of blue jeans and a white hoodie, as well as a brown boots. He wheeled along a white suitcase and black sports bag as he left the airport to grab a ride. The couple, who are based in Melbourne, largely avoided being photographed together but headed off in the same vehicle. Last year, Lauren has revealed she has 'gone off' Paul after he decided to do some home decorating while she was away. Lauren said on her Nova 100 Jase & Lauren Show that while she was on a recent work trip to Fiji her entrepreneur partner took his chance to remove a couch he 'hated' and replace it with another model. 'He has this hatred for this beautiful sofa I bought for our new home, Lauren explained to co-stars Jase Hawkins and Clint Stanaway. 'Upstairs, beautiful sofa, white linen, stunning, in the living room. I love it,' she gushed. 'It's linen so you near melt into it.' Lauren said Paul did not like the couch and thought that it belonged in a teenager's bedroom. So when Lauren jetted off, Paul seized his chance. 'He's gone all Darren Palmer on you,' Jase exclaimed as Lauren replied: "He's gone all Shayna Blaze on me. It (the new couch) looks like it belongs in a dentist's reception area.' After pulling up a photo of what he assumed was a similar couch, Jase said it reminded him of the iconic couch on which contestants faced elimination on the Channel 10 reality series Big Brother. 'Is it a big corner one like that? You know what it looks like, the Big Brother couch! You know when Gretel calls them all!' he exclaimed. Lauren added that their other co-host Clint had the exact same opinion when he visited her house the night before. 'Stop, stop, stop,' Lauren exclaimed. 'Because last night Clint came over, And what was the first thing that came out of your mouth?' 'This is the Big Brother couch,' Clint replied. I said the same thing!' Jase punctuated the story by uttering an iconic line from the reality series. 'It's time to go, Paul,' he said. Phillips announced her engagement to multi-millionaire partner live on-air in 2023. She shared the exciting news with her co-host, and spoke about the surprise proposal in Mykonos. O'Brien runs high-end aviation charter group AVMIN and has several celebrity clients, including Matt Damon, his wife Luciana Barroso, Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky. 'We went to Europe for the holidays. We had a few days in Rome just the two of us and I thought if he was going to propose, it would've been the two of us,' she began. 'Then we went to Mykonos and met up with all of our friends and turns out I was the only person who didn't know about it. He proposed in front of all our friends. I had no idea and then next minute he was down on one knee.' The brunette beauty said the public proposal was such a surreal experience that at first she thought Paul was teasing her. 'I think I thought he was joking. It was an out of body experience. I don't think I even looked at the ring. I just hugged him and cried and then we stood up and we all celebrated.' She could not contain her joy when discussing the ultra-romantic proposal. 'Everyone said, "you didn't say yes," and I'm like "of course it is a yes!" We then called my family who were at home at the time. He asked my dad. He is a gentleman,' she added. The notoriously private couple have been dating since early 2020 and lived together in Byron Bay. Paul previously dated former Sunrise host Samantha Armytage from 2018 - 2019. Lauren started dating Paul while she was living in Melbourne at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lauren Phillips reveals she suffered a devastating family tragedy: 'You were the best'
Lauren Phillips has revealed she has had to say goodbye to a beloved member of her family. The radio presenter, 41, shared on Instagram on Monday that her dog Roxy had died. The Nova star posted a sweet photo of her beloved dog lying down on a beanbag in their family home. 'Bye bye Roxy Girl. Have fun chasing balls in the big dog park in the sky,' she wrote. 'I'm glad I got out in time to say goodbye to our family doggo. You were the best girl,' Lauren said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The sad news comes after Lauren treated fans to a trip down memory lane last month when she tried on her old school uniform. The Nova 100 host shared a video of herself modelling the purple ensemble, which consisted of a short pleated skirt, shirt and matching blazer. 'Screaming, it actually fits - just,' an amazed Lauren said in the caption, adding, 'Loving myself sick.' The Jase & Lauren show star revealed she had been a prefect and middle school house captain at her old school Wesley College in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley. Posting an image of the blazer and her badges, Lauren said her mother had kept the uniform after 20 years. Lauren's nostalgic post comes amid a planned stunt by the Nova breakfast team to 'relive' their high school years. Nova announced co-host Clint Stanaway will join Lauren and Jason 'Jase' Hawkins as they broadcast their show from a bus travelling the Glenn Waverley area. Along the way, the team planned to stop at Clint's old school Glen Waverley High and Lauren's Wesley College. It continues a 'nostalgic kick' by the Nova breakfast team that began in February when the Jase and Lauren Show Instagram account shared a throwback snap of Lauren. Paying tribute to all the children starting school in 2025, the photo showed the radio star looking unrecognisable in junior school at Wesley. The photo showed Lauren flashing the camera quite the cheeky grin as she posed in her school uniform. The future radio star looked cute-as-a-button in the snap, which also showed her adding a pop of colour to her uniform with a purple scrunchie. It wasn't just Lauren that was given the throwback treatment either, with the account also sharing adorable childhood photos of co-hosts Jase Hawkins and Clint Stanaway.
Fox News
05-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
Laken Riley's sister says family has 'hope' after Trump immigration changes: 'Still a lot to be done'
EXCLUSIVE: Laken Riley's sister said she and her family have "hope" due to the immigration policies President Donald Trump has put in place, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that, while there is "still a lot to be done," continuing in the direction of the new administration "will be very beneficial to our country." Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, was brutally assaulted and murdered by an illegal migrant while on a morning run in February 2024. Her sister, Lauren Phillips, told Fox News Digital that she will always speak out in honor and remembrance of her older sister, and will continue to advocate for "securing our borders." "I think it's important that we keep reminding people of the importance of securing our borders and what can happen when it's not secure," Phillips told Fox News Digital. "We definitely feel hope – we just need to keep talking about it and keep everyone aware of what happens when nothing is done," she continued. "And I think a lot has been done so far, and I am grateful for that, but there is still a lot to be done." She added: "I think that continuing in the direction that the new administration is going will be very beneficial to our country." Phillips, on Thursday, was featured in the first video launched by the American Border Story (TABS), a national initiative dedicated to exposing the human impact of America's border crisis through storytelling. "I really feel it's important because it didn't stop with Laken – it keeps happening," Phillips told Fox News Digital. "I feel like just telling what's happening to all of these people isn't enough." "People aren't realizing what's truly being lost every single time something like this happens," she said. The TABS video is the first in a series that aims to bring "the truth to light." "Truth the media and politicians too often ignore," Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of TABS, told Fox News Digital. "Laken Riley's story is not just a tragedy – it's a wake-up call." Kiprilov said TABS is "honored to stand with her sister Lauren and brave families across America who are turning pain into purpose." "This documentary is about more than remembrance – it's about demanding accountability, restoring safety and putting the American people first," Kiprilov said. Phillips, in the video, spoke about her sister, their relationship and Riley's faith, while stressing that protecting the border "should be common sense." "I could talk about her forever," Phillips told Fox News Digital. "I think Laken is just the type of person that you want to be around. She's the type of person that shows up and she wasn't just my sibling – she was my best friend." "A lot of people would say her presence brought so much comfort and strength and peace, and I carry a lot of what she taught me in my everyday life," she continued. "She had a light that is so impossible to ignore." Meanwhile, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law just days after taking office. It was the first piece of legislation he signed in his second administration. The measure directs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer. The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration. But Phillips told Fox News Digital that despite changes to federal law, it is "terrifying to have to walk around the same city where such a tragic thing happened to my sister." Riley was murdered near the University of Georgia campus in Athens, which is considered an unofficial sanctuary city. "The laws that were not put in place are still not put in place in a city where something so tragic happened," Phillips said. "I thought what happened to Laken would change that, but nothing has changed there, so I think continuing to talk about it, not backing down, not staying quiet, hopefully, will do something." In addition to being vocal on immigration and honoring the life of her sister, Phillips said she and her family have created the Laken Hope Foundation. "I thank God every day that I have the space to share, and that he gave me Laken for the time that he did, and I thank him for her faith and his faithfulness to know that none of this compares to what we're going to be given and where she is."
