Latest news with #aBetterWorld
Barnama
04-05-2025
- Business
- Barnama
ACD 2025 To Address Key Regional Issues In Cooperative Movement
PETALING JAYA, May 4 (Bernama) --The ASEAN Cooperative Dialogue 2025 (ACD2025), scheduled for May 13 and 14, will serve as a platform to discuss critical issues related to the cooperative movement among ASEAN countries. Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (Angkasa) president, Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah, said ACD2025 will not only highlight the importance of the cooperative movement in the region but also open avenues for strategic cooperation in areas such as trade, tourism, digital technology, Islamic finance, and halal product development. "Most countries currently focus mainly on agricultural cooperatives. Through ACD2025, we hope to elevate the role and contributions of cooperatives across diverse sectors. We propose that cooperatives be recognised as part of the economic sector," he said. He was speaking at a press conference following the ACD2025 Pre-Launch ceremony officiated by Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (KUSKOP) secretary-general, Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud, at Angkasa headquarters here today. Abdul Fattah, also President of the ASEAN Cooperative Organisation (ACO), said ACD2025 is an ideal opportunity to showcase Malaysia's cooperative achievements on a regional stage, particularly in the education, community, and consumer sectors. He added that ACD2025 will also create new opportunities for small and medium cooperatives to penetrate the ASEAN market through the cooperative-to-cooperative (C2C) model, thus contributing to grassroots economic growth. Themed 'Co-operatives Build a Better World', ACD2025 has received strong support from the government, including a RM6 million allocation to Angkasa announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the National Cooperative Congress on July 26, 2024. The funds aim to support the implementation of various strategic initiatives. Abdul Fattah said RM1 million from the allocation is for implementing ASEAN co-operative programmes during Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. He said the allocation demonstrates the government's confidence in the potential of cooperatives as an economic development driver. It also highlights their role in strengthening regional economic networks and enhancing social well-being within the ASEAN community.
Associated Press
08-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
The Power of Women and Collective Action in Investing for Change
Women are becoming a Financial Force - Women are poised to become a financial force like never before. By 2030, women are expected to control $34 trillion, or 38%, of the wealth in the United States — a dramatic increase from $7.3 trillion just a decade ago. Yet the financial industry has been slow to recognize and adapt to this shift. Breaking Barriers in Values-Aligned Investing - When I first explored values-aligned investing, the concept was still emerging. Conversations about impact investing largely revolved around institutions and high-net-worth individuals. But what about the rest of us? Could someone like me — without formal financial credentials — learn to align my investments with my values? The journey wasn't easy. I trusted financial advisors who mismanaged my money, navigated unfamiliar financial landscapes, and experimented repeatedly before gaining confidence in managing my finances. Eventually, I realized I wasn't alone. Many brilliant, capable women had been excluded from financial conversations. That realization led me to write Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World. The book wasn't just mine — it was shaped by certified financial planners, financial leaders, and women who shared their insights as thought leaders and reviewers. It was a collective effort, just like the movement itself. At the same time, I co-founded Invest for Better, a nonprofit equipping women with the tools and confidence to align their money with their values. Through Invest for Better, I've experienced firsthand the extraordinary impact women can have when they come together, share knowledge, and take action. This movement isn't about going it alone — we are in this together.
CBS News
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Book excerpt: "Change the Recipe" by José Andrés
We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article. In his new memoir, "Change the Recipe: Because You Can't Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs" (to be published April 22 by Ecco), chef José Andrés, founder of the humanitarian aid organization World Central Kitchen, offers life lessons and teachable moments about responsibility and commitment to a shared humanity. Read an excerpt below, and don't miss Kelefa Sanneh's interview with José Andrés on "CBS Sunday Morning" April 6! "Change the Recipe" by José Andrés Prefer to listen? Audible has a 30-day free trial available right now. I had come from a world of higher-end restaurants, of finesse and creativity. So a tapas restaurant was not exactly what I was looking for. But my new partners in Washington, DC, had a clear idea: they wanted to open a Spanish restaurant that was fun. They called it Jaleo, which means "merrymaking, a joyful celebration," inspired by the John Singer Sargent painting of a Spanish woman dancing to guitars. It lives in Boston, but it had traveled on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and they had seen it there. They even painted a reproduction of it on a wall of the new restaurant. I understood that sense of joy. I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like tables. I prefer standing up at bars. If I can, I like to hop around to five different bars and eat good food at each one. Jaleo was a chance to show how I like to enjoy life. These little plates of tapas were also a chance to give people more access to different bites of Spanish food, different tastes of the various regions of Spain. Maybe people didn't know what they wanted to eat, and the small plates would be a way to move a little bit further out of their comfort zones. Of course, it was an opportunity to make a mark for myself. And I could do that while being a kind of ambassador for my country, in the capital of the United States, not too far from the White House and the US Capitol. It felt like an extension of my military service, going from port to port on a historic tall-mast ship, showing the best of Spain to the world. I knew there were immigrants before me who had brought Spanish food to every corner of America. They opened restaurants, maybe some of them played guitar or danced flamenco. They were mythical places. Tio Pepe in Baltimore. Café San Martin in New York. Montse Guillén's El Internacional in Tribeca, which was short-lived but put Spanish food and drink on the map. There was already a high-end Spanish restaurant in Washington called Taberna del Alabardero, and the more informal Churreria Madrid in Adams Morgan. Washington at that time was not seen as a culinary mecca, even by the people of DC, and Jaleo opened in a downtown neighborhood, known as Penn Quarter, that was empty at night. But it would not stay that way. It would become a very important part of the city, not too far away from where all the big decisions were made that affected the country and the world. It was a part of the city where senators, congressmen, lobbyists, and business executives would gather. It was the home of new businesses like America Online, and so many other amazing new companies. Slowly but surely, Jaleo became a huge success. That's not to say it was easy. I was young, just twenty-three years old, and I was still learning how to run a kitchen. The movie in my head cast me as the creative guy, but now I needed to learn how to run the place. Fortunately, I had a wonderful, patient teacher: Ann Cashion, who was the first executive chef of Jaleo, showed me how to do the job properly, even though I preferred the creative side of things. We didn't really know whether American diners would accept these little plates, or the idea of sharing plates at all. What happened if people didn't want to share? Our waiters were concerned and would often tell me how some people said they weren't comfortable with sharing. I had a simple answer. If they didn't want to share, they could move the plate ten inches closer to them and use their knife and fork to protect the dish for themselves. I wasn't going to Americanize tapas for them. It's what we did in the south of Spain and in Catalonia. They would adapt because it was a fun way to be with friends. Who doesn't want to dig a fork into the plate of the person across the table? My heart was full of the joy that comes from introducing Spanish food to new people. That joy translated into happy guests eating the dishes I knew. Jaleo was a place where I could share what I knew about Spanish food: croquetas , gazpacho , gambas al ajillo , sangria . But it was also a way to learn more about what I didn't know about Spanish food. I had not traveled all across Spain at the age of twenty-three, nor did I know about all of Spanish gastronomy. Far from it. The reality is that you need to keep learning in any line of work. People say I'm one of the biggest experts in Spanish cooking, but I still feel clueless sometimes. Every time I go back to Spain and discover a new ingredient or a new dish, it feels to me the same as looking at the stars. You can see a few, but how many more are out there that you cannot see? You can read books, and you can travel, but learning is a lifetime of curiosity and discovery. Sometimes that work can feel less joyful and more of struggle. In particular, in those early days, it was a struggle to buy the right ingredients. Believe it or not, I'm a pragmatic guy. You can support the local economy, buying local fruit and vegetables for instance. But there are some ingredients that cannot be replaced. I observed the success of Italy, where they have been amazingly successful in supporting the small towns where their unique food products are made. I believed we could do the same for the small towns and food producers of Spain. Manchego cheese is like no other. Sweet roasted piquillo peppers are unique. Our olive oil is the envy of Europe, and even gets repackaged under Italian names. Our sherry vinegar is unmatched. And nothing compares to our pure-bred Ibérico ham, the very best ham in the world. You can't have Spanish cooking without some of the staples. It was a symbiotic relationship. Still, importing food is not always easy. There are regulations and policies, rules to protect consumers and businesses. The US Department of Agriculture insists that slaughterhouses operate according to American standards, not European ones, if they want to sell their meat in the United States. They need to be inspected, even though Europeans have been eating these foods for centuries without any problems. It was crazy but also fascinating. Of course, it wasn't just a question of safety; there were concerns that ham from Spain would hurt ham in America. So one day I met a bearded man visiting Washington, and he happened to be a great Ibérico ham producer who was investing to comply with US regulations at his slaughterhouse: Santiago Martín, the owner of Embutidos Fermín. I helped producers like Santiago navigate these challenges with Congress and the administration, finding a lawyer who assisted the Italians in bringing Parma ham to America. Because in reality these European hams were much more expensive than the American hams, and they helped elevate the perception of all pork products in America. It was a win-win for America and Spain. That's the world of work. Your commitment to your values, to what's important, can turn a seemingly small decision—like buying a type of roasted pepper or a slice of ham—into something as big as international relations. Your sense of responsibility is what matters. How was I going to be a Spanish chef without all these ingredients? I had to do the work, just like other chefs and importers who made Spanish food available in the United States. People like Tim Harris, who created the incredible Spanish food store La Tienda, and Juana Gimeno Faraone, who started La Española Meats. Or Almudena de Llaguno and Steve Metzler bringing Spanish wines to America; and Jorge Ordóñez, who would walk the streets of Manhattan with a big bag filled with wine bottles, trying to get his wines into a few restaurants. The whole ecosystem of Spanish food people kept me going, and I needed to play my part, too. So Jaleo became much more than a restaurant; it was a way to build bridges between these two countries, to inspire American chefs to buy and cook with Spanish ingredients, to spread the culture that made me who I am. Something like 80 percent of all restaurants close before they reach their five-year anniversary. Jaleo has now been open for thirty years, and we have new Jaleos in Orlando, Las Vegas, and even Dubai. Because we committed from the first year to what we value—to what matters—even when we didn't yet have all the expertise to make it happen. I feel a sense of joy when I see Ibérico ham, or Spanish anchovies, or wines from the Bierzo region in restaurants and shops. I know that nothing would have happened without the persistence and vision of so many people who may now be forgotten. They built the bridges that will last forever—because they cared so deeply. Follow what you feel is your purpose—not what others tell you to do. Otherwise you lose your soul and become a commodity. Don't be a commodity. Be true to yourself. Excerpted from "Change the Recipe: Because You Can't Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs" by José Andrés. Copyright © 2025 by José Andrés. Excerpted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Get the book here: "Change the Recipe" by José Andrés Buy locally from For more info:
