Business

Kfir Gavrieli: A True Example of Corporate Leadership During a Global Pandemic

Published

3 years ago

November 18, 2020

The Coronavirus Pandemic has undoubtedly uncovered many of the ills faced by our less-than-perfect society, but it has also uncovered the greatness and generosity of the human spirit. While our front-line health workers continue to battle this treacherous disease that has taken the world by storm, there are also heroes working behind the scenes, doing whatever they can to support these front-line workers.

Servant leadership example are Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa

Even in the business-as-usual corporate world, unlikely heroes have emerged. One such hero is Kfir Gavrieli, CEO of the fashion shoewear brand Tieks, who recently devised an initiative to step up and support front-line workers by engaging not only his company’s staff and manufacturing facility, but also Tieks’ fans and supporters, in a highly successful campaign to provide much-needed PPE to essential health-care workers.

Gavrieli has always been a community-minded business leader, long known for his philanthropic work to empower women as the largest donor to date on the Kiva micro-lending platform, which provides micro-loans to women entrepreneurs around the world. Most recently, after hearing from a friend in Los Angeles about the critical shortages of PPE local county hospitals faced, he set his sights on innovative ways to contribute to mitigating the crisis.

“As soon as I learned of this coming shortage, I knew we had a responsibility to reorient our business to get masks into the hands of those who need them most,” stated the passionate Israeli native. “Our nurses, doctors, EMTs and other medical professionals are on the front lines of this pandemic. We must do everything we can to protect them: for their own health and for everyone’s health, so that we have adequate healthcare staff as this crisis grows.”

Gavrieli immediately sprang into action, quickly purchasing a fleet of sewing machines and training his staff to make masks for health workers. Tieks, a popular footwear brand known for its innovative ballet flats that fold up neatly enough to fit inside a purse or handbag, suddenly found itself producing thousands of cloth masks that include pockets for filters.

These masks provide essential backup for hospitals and health workers, as they may be used to prolong the life of the critical N95 masks that have been in short supply in health centers. When worn together with the N95 masks, the cloth masks extend the life of the N95’s, providing increased protection for essential workers who depend on them. The cloth masks also provide protection for general hospital and health workers less likely to be exposed to the virus directly, which means that those critical and scarce N95 masks may be reserved to protect those who are directly on the front lines.

The beauty of Gavrieli’s leadership lies not only in his ability to mobilize his own workers, but also in his brilliant and innovative idea to mobilize the company’s vast fan and consumer base, thereby increasing the people-power behind the incentive by the thousands, and multiplying the production of masks by hundreds of thousands.

“We tried sewing masks,” he explained in a recent interview on The Briefing. “We were making a few hundred a day. And then it hit us that if we could somehow engage our community, our fans and our customers, to sew masks with us, we could really scale up the impact we were having.”

The company, whose fan base and supporters are largely professional women who enjoy the comfort and style of the Tieks flats, launched a social media initiative called Operation #SewTogether. This ingenious campaign motivated thousands of supporters to come together and produce hundreds of thousands of masks, providing easy instructions, and motivation in the form of gift cards for the popular Tieks ballet flats. For every with 25 masks donated, fans would receive $50 gift cards, and $100 gift cards for every 50 masks donated. This proved to be a win-win situation that allowed thousands of women to purchase the coveted flats at a discount, while building a powerful community to support essential health workers.

“We launched Operation #SewTogether and the response has just been phenomenal,” Gavrieli noted. “We managed to overnight erect a factory with thousands of workers, something we couldn’t have done at our own headquarters.”

The initiative has now produced over a million masks masks that have been sewn and distributed among hospitals in the Los Angeles County area, as well as other hard-hit areas in the country, such as Louisiana, New York, Washington, and other cities facing dangerously high infection rates.

“People wanted to help. We, as a brand, wanted to help. This was the best idea for how we could really do something together.”

Inspired by the success of the Operation #SewTogether campaign, Gavrieli decided to push his company’s philanthropy a step further to provide more direct rewards for essential health-care workers and those working on the front lines to fight the pandemic. In recent weeks, Tieks launched an additional campaign initiative offering direct rewards to health workers. The Tieks For Heroes campaign provides the gift of a $100 gift card toward a pair of the coveted Tieks flats to nurses, doctors, other health workers, and other essential workers who are on the front lines of the fight against Covid-19.

Although Gavrieli has long been recognized for his generous contributions to platforms such as Kiva and other charities, this particular campaign, with its innovative use of social media and wide-scale public engagement, became extra-special, because it unified supporters all over the country and built a beautiful community of donors.

In his frank and forthright conversation on The Briefing, the emotion and excitement in Gavrieli’s voice was evident as he stated simply, “This really has been for me, as the CEO of the company, perhaps the most rewarding campaign we’ve ever done.” For more on Kfir Gavrieli visit:

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World

Prime Hydration Faces Lawsuits Claiming Its Sports Drink, Prime Energy, Contains PFAS and Excessive Caffeine

Published

11 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Manoj Nair

Prime Energy, the sports drink from Prime Hydration, has been hit by a number of lawsuits for containing excessive amounts of caffeine and PFAS. Another lawsuit was filed on April 8 in the Southern District of New York, accusing Prime Hydration, the parent company which manufactures the sports drink, of engaging in misleading and deceptive practices.

Prime Hydration was founded by two Logan Paul and KSI in 2022, and the products became very popular thanks to the huge followings of the YouTubers. However, the company is now facing a slew of lawsuits over the ingredients in their energy and sports drinks.

New Lawsuit Against Prime Hydration

The latest lawsuit, filed on April 8, accuses the company’s 12-ounce energy drinks of containing 215-225 milligrams of caffeine, exceeding the permissible limit of 200 milligrams. The lawsuit was filed by Lara Vera, a resident of Poughkeepsie, New York.

The lawsuit details that the plaintiff had purchased Prime’s Blue Raspberry products on numerous occasions in August 2022 for about $3 to $4 each, unaware that the products contained caffeine beyond the permissible limits. The plaintiff is seeking damages of $5 million from the company. Lara Vera’s lawsuit alleges that Prime advertised 200 milligrams of caffeine, which is equal to six Coke cans or two 12-ounce Red Bulls. One Red Bull can could contain 114 milligrams of caffeine.

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The suit also alleges that there are no safe limits of caffeine for children and that caffeine has been indicted for causing tachycardia, headaches, convulsions, tremors, upset digestion, and adversely affecting mental health.

Earlier, Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., had asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate Prime energy drinks in 2023 after reports that the products contained high levels of caffeine. The Senator also accused the company of using vague marketing tactics focused on young people, influencing parents to buy the caffeine-laced drinks for their kids. The lawsuit by Vera also quotes the Senator’s call to the FDA.

Prime is also facing another lawsuit filed on Aug. 2, 2023, in the Northern District of California by the Milberg law firm on behalf of Elizabeth Castillo and others. The lawsuit charges Prime’s products with using flavors containing PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” Forever chemicals are a class of chemicals that are not degraded in the human body or nature and have been indicted as a carcinogenic substance. Independent third-party testing has confirmed that Prime Hydration grape flavor contained PFAS.

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Net Worth

George T. Conway Net Worth 2024: How Much is the American Lawyer Worth?

Published

15 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Vishnu Chaudhary

George T. Conway Net Worth 2024: How Much is the American Lawyer Worth?

Who is George T. Conway?

George T. Conway, also known as George Thomas Conway III, is a distinguished American lawyer and political activist. Born on September 2, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts, Conway is renowned for his legal expertise and vocal opposition to former President Donald Trump’s administration.

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George T. Conway Career

Conway’s legal career is illustrious, marked by significant contributions to various fields such as securities, mergers and acquisitions, contracts, and antitrust issues. He began his career as a law clerk at the US Court of Appeals and later joined prestigious law firms, including Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz. Notable cases include representing Paula Jones in a trial against President Bill Clinton and securing a victory against the National Australia Bank. Furthermore, Conway has been actively involved in political activism, co-founding groups like Checks and Balances and the Lincoln Project, which oppose Trumpism and advocate for democratic principles.

George T. Conway Net Worth

As of 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth, George T. Conway’s net worth is estimated to be approximately $39 million. His wealth primarily stems from his successful legal career, where he has handled high-stakes cases and served as a partner in prestigious law firms. Additionally, Conway’s involvement in political activism, public speaking engagements, and media appearances contribute to his financial status.

George T. Conway Age

Born on September 2, 1963, George T. Conway is currently 60 years old as of 2024.

George T. Conway Family: Wife and Children

George T. Conway was previously married to Kellyanne Fitzpatrick Conway, a prominent political consultant and former White House counselor. The couple has four children: Claudia, Vanessa, Charlotte, and George Jr. Their marriage ended in separation in 2023.

George T. Conway Height and Weight

George T. Conway stands at 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs around 84 kg. He possesses a charming personality with black hair and captivating black eyes.

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World

Grindr, LGBTQ+ Dating App, Faces Lawsuit in UK Over Alleged Sharing of Users’ HIV Status

Published

15 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Manoj Nair

Gay dating app Grindr has been slapped with a lawsuit instituted by hundreds of its users. The lawsuit alleges that the app shared private information, including the HIV status of users, with third parties without consent. Filed in London’s High Court, the lawsuit, according to Austen Hays from the law firm representing the plaintiffs, suggests that thousands of Grindr users in the United Kingdom may have been affected.

The law firm claims that Grindr shared highly sensitive user information with third parties for commercial purposes, including HIV status. Grindr, the largest dating app catering specifically to the LGBT community, is accused of sharing data with data analytics companies Apptimize and Locally.

The lawsuit further alleges that the app used covert tracking technology to gather sensitive information, which was then unlawfully shared with advertisers. With over 13 million monthly users and more than 924,000 users reported in the UK as of May 2023, Grindr boasts the highest engagement among dating apps, with users spending an average of six hours and 49 minutes on the app per month.

A spokesman for the gay dating app stated that they would “respond vigorously to this claim, which appears to be based on a mischaracterization of practices from more than four years ago.”

The lawsuit, signed by more than 670 respondents, claims that the breach occurred between 2018 and 2020. It is anticipated that more people could join the case, potentially numbering in the thousands. If successful, plaintiffs could receive thousands of pounds in damages.

The managing director of the law firm representing the plaintiffs, Chaya Hanoomanjee, stated, “Grindr owes it to the LGBTQ+ community it serves to compensate those whose data has been compromised and have suffered distress as a result. The company must ensure all its users are safe while using the app, wherever they are, without fear that their data might be shared with third parties.”

Grindr’s spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to protecting user data, asserting that they have robust processes in place that fully comply with data privacy regulations in the UK and elsewhere.

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