Pitch

Name: Ever planet 

Mission: Raising fund in order to help building the better world and make it fun and easy to do.

Many organizations raise funds with many methods such as informing hardships children in developing countries go through. Usually it is sad and gives a sense of responsibility to take actions. However, Ever planet adopted a different approach. We want donation to be fun and little pleasure that makes everyone's life happier. 

Ever planet is an app that you can purchase from app store. Since Ever planet is affiliated with many companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc., you don't have to create another one. Just type any ID among them. When you open the app, you will see many planets with name tags. As an example, if you click a planet named Africa, a short video clip and brief description will appear, which show you their daily lives. Underneath it, there are little cute icons like a water well, a school, the hospital, and so on. And each icon has a price tag, which indicates the amount of fund needed to build it. It also shows how much money has been raised for that item. Donating is easy and simple. Click and buy a brick or you can buy a water pipe. The price range for those items is wide from $1 to $10,000. As soon as you buy a brick, the total amount of fund raised will increase by $1. When it reaches the targeted amount, they will begin the construction, and anyone donated or not donated can see the process. Later, it will also provide how much the community positively changed with that item. 

Half the Sky last posting

"Women hold up half the sky."   - Mao Zedong

Under half the sky in modern time, countless women suffer and even die in the name of tradition. many of those villainies have done by males, but it is quite devastating that many times it is conducted and repeated by women--usually mothers. I believe it is not because mothers from countries in Africa and the Middle East don't love their children enough, but partially because of a social climate and mostly because of the lack of education. Therefore, I couldn't agree more when the author stressed the importance of understanding of cultures for effective relief activities and how education can make changes.

In order to make effective changes, understanding of the culture is prerequisite to indiscriminate relief activities. Otherwise, all the money and effort we pour would be in vain. For example, I remember a story of angry Afghan women when an Western aid group distributed soap for their hygiene and health because in Afghanistan, washing with soap implies post-coital activity, which seemed like the aid group treated them like promiscuous women. F&G made the same mistake with the FemCare project. Cooperation with natives is necessary, in that sense. They know better about their culture, and people tend to be more open-minded and feel less hostility when someone with the same ethnic root appeals.

“This is our culture!...We all want it. Why is it America’s business?" a Sudanese midwife said when UN carried on a campaign against FGC (Female Genital Cutting). Maybe she is right. If those girls learn about the danger of FGC and their right to choose but still want it, it is non of our (the world's) business. However, majority of them are not educated on the danger in birth due to FGC and have no right to choose. Especially, mothers force their daughters to get FGC because they believe it will harm their daughters' marriage prospect.

What we should do to save those girls is not chanting "No FGC". I believe that it is not our job to to judge if their culture and customs are good/bad or right/wrong because we never lived in it. But, our job is providing continuous attentions and supporting local organizations so that they can make changes for themselves. The author also admitted that many successful projects started within the society. It will probably take time but I'm sure it would be faster than keeping enforcing our standards to them.

Investment Recommendation Memo

To: Clark Hansen, CEO

From: Jihye Gigi Choi, Investment Analyst R&D

Date: July 24, 2015

Subject: Investment Recommendation

The purpose of this memorandum is to propose investing in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chipotle. The investment analysis conducted by my team indicates that Chipotle will not only offer respectable rate of return on our investments but will also benefit both the society and environment through Chipotle’s business operations. Chipotle is a leading example of how firms can equally pursue values of sustainability, and profitability. Chipotle’s motto: “Food with Integrity,” shows its aspiration to promote and serve “responsibly produced” food. Chipotle and our company share similar values, performing business in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. I strongly believe that our involvement with Chipotle will go beyond its financial benefits.

• About Chipotle
• Financial aspects of Investment
• Social aspects of Investment
• Potential risks

Chipotle “Food with Integrity”

Chipotle is the most popular fast casual restaurant, restaurants that provide premium ingredients with fast speed services. As the leader of the fast casual restaurant industry, Chipotle was the first restaurant chain to disclose the GMO ingredients in the US, and now Chipotle only serves food cooked with non-GMO ingredients. Since its first year of operations in 1993 by Steve Ells, the founder and co-CEO, Chipotle has been regarded as the pioneer in the fast-casual category, the fastest growing segment within the restaurant industry. As of today, Chipotle has opened more than 1,878 restaurants worldwide.   

Financial Aspects

Chipotle’s strong revenue growth indicates that investing in Chipotle is a good business opportunity.. In 2014, Chipotle recorded a total revenue of $4.11 billion, an increase of $893.7 million, 27.8%, compared to the 2013. Furthermore, net income increased $117.94 million from its previous year. As the result of their astonishing financial performances, Chipotle was ranked top 5 out of 10 America’s fastest growing restaurants by CNBC. According to the most recent 10Q, Chipotle has earned $2.29 billion in revenues, and $263 million in profits for the first half of 2015.. This is a 17% jump in both revenue and net income, compared to 2015. Moreover, Chipotle reduced  1% of its total cost due to the relief in dairy and avocado prices, which is a great news for Chipotle, who had to increase its menu price last year.

Apprehension arises from its slowdown in growth of same-store sales. Chipotle had 15.5% increase in same-store sales for the first half of 2014. But for 2015, it only grew 7.1% in comparable restaurant sales. This decreasing trend of same-store sales resulted mostly from the increase in menu price. Despite the slowing growth, investment in Chipotle still seems promising. In April 2015 Chipotle announced that they will only treat GMO free ingredients, which is believed to favorably affect the sales of the latter half of 2015 and its future operations.

Social Aspects

Chipotle’s massive success proved the restaurant industry that public awareness, and strive for sustainability are the fastest means to success. Chipotle established its reputation from engaging in environmentally sustainable business practices and in public awareness. Chipotle falls into every category of key terms that our company utilize in investment decision making: Triple Bottom Line, Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Enterprise, and Carbon Footprint.   

Triple Bottom Line (TBL): Corporations tend to overlook environmental and social costs incurred during its profit-making activities due to its nonmonetary nature. Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept captures environmental and social cost by adding people and planet factors as new bottom lines to the profit model. Although it is hard to measure these non-monetary costs, and significant variances exist within each industry, the concept of TBL is fastly growing and soon will be the determining factor for companies’ success due to the demand of the public for TBL. The article “Chipotle closing on Thanksgiving Demonstrates commitment to conscious capitalism” says Chipotle giving a day off on major holidays for its employees clearly shows its interest and commitment to TBL’s people portion.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Corporate Social Responsibility is similar to TBL. As corporations become big enough to make significant influence on both the society and environment, their responsibility has grown accordingly. Society expects big corporations to take responsibility for their actions and utilize the power to promote positive impacts on the environment and social welfare. CSR can improve or degrade the value of the company. Thus, CSR is not optional but necessary. Chipotle puts its CSR effort especially on the environment such as supporting sustainable agriculture. As an example, when commodity cost increased, Chipotle raised its menu price instead of cutting the profit margins of the farmers, which could harm sustainable agriculture practices. Also, Chipotle previously announced that they will not buy from farmers, who mistreat their animals. Steve Ells says, “Food with integrity is our commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers.”

Social Enterprise: Any organization, both non-and for-profit, is a social enterprise if it invests to its local community to solve social problems and improve the community. In 2011, Chipotle established The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation in order to expand its sustainable activities. Through the foundation, Chipotle contributed more than $2 million to support its philanthropic projects. A recent Times article, “What Starbucks can learn about race from Chipotle” mentions Chipotle’s Cultivating Thought project as a good example of  tackling social issues. Cultivating Thought project encouraged customer’s literature experience by printing customer-written line on cups and bags, so that people can share their thoughts and values, and ultimately  harmonize people of all races under food and culture.

Carbon Footprint: Carbon Footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emitted by an organization or individuals’ activity. Unlike other non-monetary costs such as social cost, Carbon Footprint is calculable with formulas for household energy, transportation, diet and eating habits, and services and goods. Also, there are many websites that provide free online calculators for carbon footprint. By measuring the Carbon Footprint, people are reminded how everyday activity can impact the global climate change. One of the activities that produces the most Carbon Footprint within the restaurant industry is the transportation of food supplies. However, Chipotle only uses ingredients that are locally produced, therefore, significantly reducing the overall Carbon Footprint for the size of its business.

Potential risks

Although it seems like nothing can stop Chipotle’s massive growth, there are potential risks that can adversely affect our investment. Fluctuation in commodity costs and hardship in finding right location to open new restaurants are the major risks associated with Chipotle’s operation. It is uncertain when and how much the commodity costs would increase since mostly it results from uncontrollable natural phenomenon, such as drought. We should keep in mind that the increase in commodity costs may take a big bite out of Chipotle’s sales as well as our investment. In addition, Chipotle’s strict requirements about new restaurant locations,accessibility to organic ingredients, may slow its new store growth, which may delay our targeted ROI withdrawal time period.

Final Recommendation

My research and analysis make me confident to recommend investing in Chipotle. It is evident that through this investment, our company will be profitable, and will be contributing to the efforts of making positive impact on our community and the environment.

Work Cited

Jack Linshi “What Startbuck Can Learn About Chipotle”

<http://time.com/3749374/starbucks-race-together-chipotle/>

David Cretzmann “Chipotle closing on Thanksgiving Demonstrates commitment to conscious capitalism”

<http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/11/29/chipotle-closing-on-thanksgiving-shows-commitment.aspx>

Reading post

As a volunteer who translates letters for a sponsor and children in countries like Rwanda at World Vision, I experienced the power of personal stories. Like the author says, it is true that personal stories move people’s heart more than presenting statistical data, and I believe that it is because people can easily relate to that. Providing a program like exchanging letters between a sponsor and the supported child is even more powerful because 1) it gives sponsors a feeling that donated money is used in a way he/she intended (Transparency) 2) The sponsor sees what changes can be made with donated money 3) And therefore, it gives sponsors a stronger sense of responsibility

However, the hard part is inducing people who have never donated before to the participation. In my opinion, people tend to hesitate to donate because these days donation requires more than just money. One can easily come across someone asking donation on campus, but they usually ask to fill out forms that require personal information such as phone number and email address. And more often than not, they asks for regular donation, which makes the person feel like a burden. In that respect, I believe that is what made Jane Roberts’s activity successful. What she asked was only $1, which is very easy to participate and gives no burden. It even encouraged some people to engage more with her activity. People voluntarily donated more money and actively participated. 

I understand it's urgent and every penny counts, but pushing people to donate can really push them away forever. Volunteer and donation should never be forced. Instead, we should let people know the opportunity to help others and what their little contribution can do.

Coagula Curatorial

  
It wasn't easy to find Coagula Curatorial gallery for a first-time visitor, but China town in a rainy day was beautiful. My friend who became interested in this exhibition after our conversation came with me. We spent some time looking around small stores bursting with items like lovely oriental umbrellas.

The exhibition wasn't that big, but it had a great atmosphere. There were quite a number of people and it seemed like everyone knows each other, which reminded me of a private exhibition held at a Gallery I used to go. I took a picture with this painting that described a man taking selfie/a picture of something surrounded by birds. This one was my favorite among them because I felt like it plainly demonstrates our contemporaries' obsession with technology. Old days, we enjoyed things with our eyes, but these days, we do that through camera lens. Paradoxically, we cover our eyes with camera lens to keep that moment, the memory for a long time.

I think it's ridiculous to forgo the opportunity to enjoy valuable moments in order to remember it more vividly. However, at the same time, I know that I will automatically take out my camera when I'm in the moment. This exhibition alerted me to the importance of momentariness that I have been missing.

Boryeong Mud Festival

Boryeong Mud Festival

2013 Mud Festival

Summer is in full swing. If you desire something different than going to beach, Boryeong is the place to go because it is the Mud Festival season! Every year, thousands of people take part in this festival and bring back great memories. 

Boryeong is famous for a the quality mud. It contains high germanium, mineral, and bentonite content, which have beauty benefits. Mineral not only helps to retain the skin's elasticity but also soothes sunburned skin. And about 18 cosmetic products have been developed by processing Boryeong mud. 

2012 Mud Festival

In 1999, Boryeong city held the first Mud Festival in order to promote the local economy and attract foreign tourists with their specialty, mud. Soon it became a famous tourist attraction, and now most of the participants are from foreign countries. There are fun programs for both adults and children, and at night, Mudrock festival starts, which will spice up the party. 

Period: July 17 - 26, 2015

Location: 1029-3, Sinheuk-dong, Boreong-si, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea

Price: Adult $ 10

          Children $ 8

          Family $7 per person

For more information,

Home page: http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/ (Click English)

Half the Sky #1

"In the wealthy countries of the West, discrimination is usually a matter of unequal pay or underfunded sports teams or unwanted touching from a boss. In contrast, in much of the world discrimination is lethal."       By Nicholas D. Kristof


Can you believe that a little Indian girl dies every four minutes only because she is born female? It is actually happening in 21 century. As the quote shows, the images of gender equality in our mind--People who live in wealthy countries, are sex discrimination in employment, occupational segregation by gender, pay gap, etc. However, knowing how many females die from "genderside," these issues started to sound like a luxury problem to me. I don't mean to disparage the hardship that western women undergo, but at least, it is not a matter of survival.

I was unable to hold back my tears when I read the story of Meena. The author calls it modern slaves, but slaves certainly have better lives than those women who are sold to brothels and held in captivity. I can't and don't want to believe that this is happening somewhere while I'm writing this post. More heartbreaking part is, "Those who start out enslaved often accept their fate eventually and sell sex willingly, because they know nothing else and are too stigmatized to hold other jobs." They end up confine themselves to what they do and never learn what they can do. In that sense, presence of organizations like Apne Aap and AAFC are like a ray of sunshine because they offer actual help to those people, rather than having an armchair argument. I was glad to find out that many people care about this issue and try to make changes.