ChildFund’s Dream Bike Program Helps Students Get to School

Experienced New York-based business executive and educator Joann Baney owns and serves as vice president of the Professional Development Company, Inc., and works as an associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In addition to her various professional responsibilities, Joann Baney supports the work of ChildFund International.

In pursuit of its mission to promote the well-being of children around the globe, ChildFund currently conducts a number of campaigns in a variety of areas. A major focus of the organization’s work is helping children, especially girls, overcome the obstacles that prevent them from receiving a quality education.

As a component of this work, ChildFund oversees its Dream Bike program, which provides bicycles for girls living in rural communities throughout Africa and Asia. The bikes distributed through the program not only provide an efficient mode of transportation to help female students travel to and from school but also help them to avoid the various issues, such as extreme fatigue that results from walking, that often cause them to drop out at an early age.

For more information about the Dream Bike program, or to support Childfund’s work, visit www.childfund.org.

Steelers Sign Veteran Quarterback Michael Vick to One-Year Deal

An associate professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Joann Baney also serves as vice president of the Professional Development Company, Inc., a New York City-based communications consulting firm she founded in 1997. In her free time, Joann Baney enjoys attending Broadway shows, traveling, and cheering on her favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In a recent press release, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have signed Michael Vick to a one-year contract after placing quarterback Bruce Gradkowski on the Reserve/Injured List. Vick, a veteran quarterback entering his 13th NFL season, was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and has since played with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets.

Over the course of his career, the 35-year-old Vick has played in 138 games and completed 1,767 out of 3,151 passes for a total of 22,093 yards. He has also been selected to the Pro Bowl four times and received the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2010. With the Steelers, Vick will serve as a backup for starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.                            

Malala Fund’s Hashtag BooksNotBullets Campaign

Joann Baney is the cofounder and vice president of the Professional Development Company, Inc., a New York-based communications consulting firm that offers customized communications training for businesses and nonprofit organizations. Apart from her professional responsibilities, Joann Baney supports various charitable causes, including Malala’s Fund, which empowers young girls through education.

Founded by education activist Malala Yousafzai and her father, Malala’s Fund strives to make high-quality secondary education accessible to girls around the world. To that end, the organization celebrated Malala Day on July 12, 2015, with a social media campaign that asked users to post photos of themselves with the hashtag BooksNotBullets. The eight-day campaign represented the length of time world military funding would need to stop in order to finance 12 years of education for every child in the world.

The Hashtag BooksNotBullets campaign attracted 20,000 social media posts from actors, musicians, activists, and citizens around the world. During that time, Malala attended the Oslo Education Forum, where she petitioned world leaders to create policies that prioritize education.