Hello, and welcome to this virtual seminar series presentation on workplace exposure standards and how to use them. I'm Michael Young, the Safe Work Australia member for the ACT. And I'll begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Ngunnawal people. I acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to this city and region. Today's seminar will provide practical information on how workplace exposure standards should be used to protect the health of workers and to comply with regulatory requirements. Our speaker is Ms Linda Apthorp. Linda is a certified occupational hygienist, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, and a representative on the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists Council. She has a master of science in occupational hygiene practice and is a consultant occupational hygienist and lecturer at the University of Wollongong. Linda has over 20 years of experience carrying out risk and exposure assessments in the mining, construction, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, medical and agricultural industries. Her expertise includes the analysis, evaluation and control of workplace hazards such as asbestos, dust, quartz, noise and pesticides. Please join me in welcoming Linda. Well thank you very much for that introduction and also the invitation to be here today. I'm here on behalf of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists and our overall objective is to use science and engineering to promote and to protect worker health and prevent illness. Thank you also for joining me here today to learn about the exposure standards and in this presentation which has been prepared by the AIIH Exposure Standards Committee. So we go, that's what the title is and we get straight into it. In this short presentation on the workplace exposure standards it's about improving the knowledge of workplace exposure standards or the ways for health and safety professionals. In particular what they are, why you use them and how they can be utilised in various ways to protect worker health and that's by minimising the risk of exposure to a variety of workplace hazards. The exposure standards can be used for determining the degree of exposure, in monitoring programs to minimise risk and any potential health effects, to determine compliance and ultimately be used to protect worker health and to prevent illness. In many industrial processes such as manufacturing, mining, construction and service industries workers can be exposed to a range of various chemicals and dusts, physical agents such as noise and heat and biological agents such as mould spores or bacteria, all of which can be emitted from the workplace processes. Now these agents have various toxicological effects which can be mainly dose dependent and that means the more time you are exposed and the higher the level then the more chance you have of developing an adverse health effect. So to limit this risk and reduce the risk, exposure standards are set for a wide range of many commonly used chemicals and agents and the exposure standards are a scientifically determined level which there should be no adverse health effects or cause any undue discomfort to nearly all workers. Sometimes they're also known as the occupational exposure limits. Workplace exposure standards exist for a variety of hazardous workplace chemicals and various hazards. They're typically broken into chemical hazards such as dusts and solvents and physical hazards such as noise, heat stress and radiation. Today we're only discussing the risk of exposure to chemical hazards such as vapours, fumes, gases and dusts and these are all airborne contaminants which we can inhale into our lungs. Our national exposure standards have been set by Safe Work Australia and there are around 700 exposure standards which can be found online at the Hazardous Chemical Information System, HCIS and available on the Safe Work Australia website. Supplementary information is also available on the HCIS website regarding interpretation and further guidance and definitions of the exposure standards. In addition there may be special standards, codes of practice or guidance material which can be specific to some industries. Professional bodies such as AIOH and some live overseas organisations also provide guidance and exposure standard information which can be used to protect worker health. The exposure standards are defined as the airborne concentration of a particular substance or mixture that must not be exceeded and there are three forms of the exposure standard depending on the type of effect or mechanism it has on the human body. The first one is the eight hour exposure standard the TWA and that's the concentration of a substance which is calculated over an eight hour day over a five day working week and this standard is set to protect workers from long-term or chronic health effects for example exposure to crystalline silica or lead and that from a long period of time these exposures can have a cumulative effect. The short-term exposure limit or STEL is the average concentration of a substance which is calculated over a 15 minute period. Now there's some special rules about the STEL in that it cannot be exceeded or repeated more than four times without at least one hour in between each exposure event and this type of standard is used to protect workers from short-term health effects from substances which can cause irritation or narcosis such as solvents and the last one is the peak limitation and it's the maximum concentration which cannot be exceeded at any time. This type of standard is set to protect workers from rapidly acting substances such as hydrogen cyanide. Not every agent has these types of exposure standards and the occupational hygienist will check which one is appropriate for the particular workplace scenario. So why do we actually need the exposure standards and why do we need to use them? They're really important in the risk assessment and management of risks within the workplace. Excess levels of airborne contaminants in the workplace may lead to toxic effects such as respiratory diseases of asthma or maybe even silicosis can lead to cardiovascular diseases simple narcosis or even occupational cancers such as bladder cancer or leukemia. By understanding a worker's level of exposure then we can compare this information to the and to determine the significance of exposure and the level of risk to that particular worker. We can also assess if health monitoring is required in order to prevent illness developing with the aim to reverse any health effects. There's more information in the regulations from Safe Work Australia about which substances require health monitoring and when it does need to be carried out. For compliance purposes with the WHS or OH&S legislation employees must not let their workers be exposed above the exposure standards. In fact exposures need to be kept as low as reasonably practicable. And finally workers may have a concern about a particular exposure or a particular chemical in their workplace and therefore measurement may be required to ensure they are not being exposed or put in place various control strategies to minimize that exposure. Safe Work Australia also provides additional information about various chemical hazards which is important when working with the exposure standards and these are categorized according to the GHS the globally harmonized system for chemicals. So where chemicals are noted as being carcinogenic cause skin irritation or even could be absorbed by the skin or they may may be a sensitiser chemical which can cause diseases such as occupational asthma. It's really important that OH&S personnel and occupational hygienists consider the implication of exposure to these chemical hazards and to work to reduce exposures and control them as much as possible for any person who has to work or handle these particular chemicals. It's important to remember that the exposure standards have certain limitations. They're not fine lines between safe or unsafe in terms of working environments as a small number of workers may be affected at levels below the exposure standards. Therefore airborne exposures must always be kept as low as reasonably practicable. The standards are not the same as road speed limits where you can drive right up to the limit or perhaps even fudge a little bit over. So to protect worker health exposures should always be kept to at least half of the exposure standard and this is sometimes known as the action level and this helps to drive good practice and also can be used to implement various control strategies. The exposure standards are designed for use in the occupational environment only and are not applicable for use in the wider community as there are elderly and children present in that environment. Although some chemicals have a risk phrase for their skin, it's not taken into account when setting the airborne exposure standards. In this case biological monitoring may be more appropriate to assess the total body burden from exposure via inhalation and skin absorption. When evaluating exposure we need to know what, why, how and when. So prior to conducting any sampling an exposure assessment program needs to be developed by doing some research into the specific chemical to measure and to ensure the valid test method and for a capture and analysis is used to measure that worker's airborne concentration. Also we can use the results of personal sampling to compare against the exposure standards. Now here we can see this air sampling equipment being placed onto this worker who's going to wear it for their whole eight-hour shift and this is the type of sampling that an occupational hygienist will be able to do for you. So here is an example of what a worker's exposure looks like over a typical eight-hour day. The airborne concentration of this chemical substance usually varies throughout their shift due to various factors such as intermittent or various work tasks and the quantity of chemical used throughout the day. This graph shows the variability of those airborne exposures that a worker can experience over the whole eight-hour day for a specific chemical. In this instance the worker's exposure is averaged over the whole day is the time-weighted average of 27 parts per million but the highest peak can be seen which is the exposure measured over a specific task and that was measured at 50 parts per million. Now these measured values can then be compared against the relevant exposure standard for that specific chemical. In this case the TWA exposure standard is in fact 30 parts per million. Remember the exposure standards are not hard and fast rules of satisfactory or unsatisfactory so because the result here of 27 is very close to 30 parts per million the exposure is actually too high and various controls would need to be used in order to reduce that exposure to at least half of the exposure standard value. However if this worker is working a shift that's longer than eight hours then the exposure standard may need to be adjusted because there is less time for recovery and for the substance to be eliminated from the body before the worker fronts up to work for another daily dose. So the occupational hygienist will calculate an adjustment which is suitable for that specific substance using a standard method. In many cases the new adjusted value will be less than the TWA exposure standard and therefore controls will need to be implemented to keep exposures down and to reduce any health effects. To determine the exposure we must also plan the number of samples to take and who we are going to do the sampling on. The hygienist will need to take more than just one sample on one worker on one day. Also we're going to need to include groups of workers who do the same task or different tasks in the workplace and these are known as similar exposure groups or SIGS. In order to carry out that representative sampling a statistically valid sampling program takes into account into account all of the workplace activities, the workers who are doing the actual tasks and the SIGS as part of a robust risk assessment. So it's definitely going to mean more than just one sample and to design that sampling program of course you're going to need to engage an occupational hygienist. To make an assessment of a worker's exposure we really need to do it properly because it's really important. To estimate that exposure we need to do measures various measurements where the sampling equipment is placed onto the worker and that's going to sample the air they're going to be breathing in during their work shift and this is the personal sampling and only the results of personal sampling can be used to compare against the exposure standard. Now in this diagram we can see the breathing zone of the worker where the sampler needs to be placed. We also want to do the sampling during a worker's normal work activities or when we want to find out about exposures during abnormal work activities or like cleaning or maintenance tasks. The majority of sampling is in workplaces is personal however sometimes static sampling or fixed location samples can also be used to determine the source of contaminants in the workplace. It's important to remember that the results of any static sampling cannot be compared to the exposure standards and must never be used to make a determination of a worker's exposure. The exposure standards are the basic tools which occupational hygienist use to assess the degree of risk from chemical exposure. They can also be used to design and implement various control strategies. Therefore the results of personal sampling will be used to compare against the exposure standards. We may also have to consider various adjustments due to the worker's shift length. Occupational hygienists use the sampling results and our workplace observations to assess the risk to health and apply controls. Remember we want to keep exposures as low as reasonably practicable. During that whole process it's also important to involve the workers and management as ultimately success in reducing exposures involves everyone within the workplace. So our results and reports will be communicated back to the workplace. So once the controls are implemented we may also need to do to reevaluate where necessary and to ensure that our control strategies have been effective. So here's some key messages to take away. Remember any workplace sampling and analysis must be conducted properly using the correct methods and analytical techniques and to use trained experience and competent practitioners in the process. A comprehensive monitoring program will determine the range and extent of workplace exposures for comparison against the exposure standards. It's the cornerstone of occupational hygiene risk assessment and management of risks within the workplace. It's also important to consider the component of control of occupational disease and setting of policies on occupational health and that exposure data should also be statistically analysed to determine compliance and also be used to help with control strategies required to reduce exposures. Thank you very much. On behalf of Safe Work Australia I'd like to thank you for that presentation and to congratulate you for making what is traditionally a very complex subject so clear and accessible. So thank you once again.


That's Norman Borland and Too Cold at Home, an old Mark Chestnut song. That was Norman's last single, and I'm delighted he's joining me in the studio. Norman, it's lovely to talk to you again. The last time we spoke was a while back. You better put up your microphone, it works better like that. How are you? I'm not so bad, I'm grand. Thanks for asking me into it. Come here, since last I spoke to you, Norman, it's been very busy. Yes, I'm getting there. I'm getting there since I did a lot of recording over lockdown, as you know, because there was very little happening in the enemy. So, yeah, we started recording in 2020, and it's been good so far, yeah. I know you were supposed to do an album launch a while back, but shoot one thing and another, it didn't get around to it. But I know you have one coming up in July, haven't you? You brought out a lot of singles there lately. I think I've done eight singles over the last couple of years, you know, so, yeah. But the new album, yeah, I mean, we had planned to get the new album out, but it just didn't happen, you know, everything happened in Covid and whatnot. So, yeah, we'll have an album release now in July. So, we're really looking forward to that. For any of our listeners now who doesn't know all of you or your music, tell us a little bit about yourself. You're originally from Fannad, aren't you, and you were working in Scotland? I'm originally from Fannad, born and bred in Fannad and County Dindigal here, yeah. I left here in 1975 to go to work in Scotland, and I spent most of my life there. So, I've been home nearly six years now, so I just came home to do music and just starting to get into it, you know, whenever Covid struck, so I just put everybody and me, everybody else, back two years, you know. So, we just decided to start doing a few singles, and we're Brian Kerrigan there, at Harmony Recording Studios, and one led to another, and led to another, and led to another. So, at the minute I have, well, there's an album coming out, but we actually have 19 songs recorded, so there's enough for two albums, I suppose. And can we really tell you, you know, the social media these days, you know, like, I know you've worked, you have done a few videos and sang live on the hot country show, I do a few things, and I've seen, following your career, I see where you've been in Scotland, you've been doing support here and support there, and now you have your own band as well, whenever you do a full gig yourself. Yeah, we do, we do.  And I see you've been nominated for an awards over in Holland, is it the red carpet awards?  Yeah, how do you go about picking the songs now, just before you had too cold at home, which you had, you lied to me, the old Charlie Pryde song, one thing I noticed about you was great, you're picking songs that other artists haven't, you know, here in Ireland in the last couple of years, you would find artists, local artists, and they all seemed to pick the same songs, and like, I've noticed about any of the songs you brought out, and you had let me heard some of the songs that's going to be in your album, and there were good country songs that might have been out years, but not recorded by a lot of people. How do you come to getting your selection of songs? You know, I listened to an awful lot of music, as we all have have to do, and for me as an individual, an individual artist, there's no point in me recording stuff that has already been over-recorded, if you like, by other people, because that doesn't make me any different, you know, so, and I'm not trying to stand out from the crowd or do anything like that, you know, the old country music that we had, God, there's an awful lot of it, you know, there's piles and piles and piles of it, and just to research it and find something that actually suits you, you know, and suits my type of voice, suits my type of style, and you take the older stuff, especially the buckle-one stuff, you can take that and, you know, modernise it, put a different beat to it, put a wee bit more drive into it, a wee bit more natural sound, and that's what I'm trying to create, and I've kind of created, between myself and Brian now, you know, we've kind of created our own sound, you know, and it's nice taking the old stuff and, you know, and putting your own feel to it.  Yeah, yeah, Brian's, Brian is brilliant, and, you know, the nice thing about Brian is we can sit down, we can talk about the song that we're going to do, we can talk about the structure of the song, and that's very important rather than going into a studio and them telling you what you're going to do with it, you know, so it's really a team effort, you know, with me having these nominations, it's not me, it's team, it's a team effort. No, but when it's done right, you know, because I noticed about a lot of the songs you chose, they're kind of men's songs, if you know what I mean, because I was watching some of the artists on the last series of Glore Chair, and you had some girls singing songs that were men's songs, it was one or two lads singing girls' songs, and even though they were good songs, you know, like when you hear a girl singing forever and ever in men, and she's coming from there, going to love them, and she can't get down to that Randy Davis go first, you know, you have a good voice, you know, but for the songs you've chosen, like, like, you like to meet a Charlie Pyre, that one we just played, and we're going to play another one now in a minute, you're very single.  And I know you were just after coming up from the orchard there tonight, so I'm not going to keep you much longer. You have a busy summer lined up, where are you performing? We're, yeah, well, I'm doing a video for Teardrops Over You, and that's happening this Wednesday night in the Station House Hotel here in Ladder, Kenny, so Glenala photography and video they're going to be doing the video for me. So the band will be there as well, and we've got some dancers coming that have been learning a dance for it, a partner dance for it, so that's going to be happening, then we're going to do maybe an hour and a half, an hour and an hour and a half of live music with the band then after that. So, you know, anybody that wants to come along, just come along and be part of the crew and be part of the video. It would be great to see you, even if you're not dancing, just come and, you know, be part of the audience. I can have a wee dance then afterwards. And I must tell our listeners, you had invited me to take part in the video. I did. You've seen my awards performance on Antbodies for us at 11.  Cheaters, cheaters. Well, we're going to be doing that, and then in a couple of weeks time, I think it's a couple of weeks time, I'm on the Hot Country Awards, in Monaghan with Hugh O'Brien, so I'm delighted to be part of that as well. And then the week after Easter, then, we're away to Scotland with Hot Country to Cambridge. So, yeah, it's busy. It's grand. Come here, you're busy. Tell me about the song we're about to play now, Teardrops Over You. How did you come across that song? Teardrops Over You, again, you know, going through YouTube and listening to different stuff. And I came across Ronda Vincent singing it with her mother and her brother. And just, you know, as the song we done, the first couple of lines, you just, you can feel it in the back of your neck, you know, the air.  And again, you know, not, I can't find anybody that recorded it before. And the song really appealed to me. It appealed from my style and my type of voice, and I thought, I'm going to record that. We recorded it. We released it about three weeks ago now.  So, you know, there again, Ronda Vincent out there in America, listening to other artists, even here in Ireland, not just me, everybody else.  And I'm absolutely delighted.  And that means an awful lot when the songwriter actually makes a comment, you know.  They can actually see you now as well as... Oh dear. Painful, isn't it? But it's great, you know, when it goes out in video on that, it's great. Because not time when I come on on to do me show, I would do a short video, a little promo of that. And it's amazing when you look at the Facebook page, then to see how many likes you got on the people. You've seen it. It's great. Well, come here. I want to wish you all the best for the future. Thanks very much. And I'm looking forward now. Unfortunately, I'm lucky down at Wednesday night, I'd be on here. I'm killing myself, but there you go. You're going to be with me on the... Sacrifices have to be made at times. Yeah, you're going to be with me on the album release anyway, so we're looking forward to that. Well, here it is. Tear drops over you. Norman, thanks very much. Thank you. Thanks very much.


All right, good afternoon, everyone. Just a few things at the top, and then I'll be happy to take your questions. So as you know, the Secretary has been on travel to the Indo-Pacific for the last week, and today he wraps up his trip in Jakarta, Indonesia. Throughout the Secretary's visits to India, Republic of Korea, and Indonesia, the common thread across all of his engagements have been a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. He heard directly from allies and partners who expressed their support for this goal, and the Department will continue to work closely with ASEAN to promote a regional order based on the rule of law, respect for sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Also during his trip, the Secretary had the opportunity to speak with his counterparts from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia to discuss a number of bilateral initiatives. Now as you saw last night, President Biden and President Xi committed to the resumption of high-level military-to-military communication. Additionally, the U.S. and the PRC agreed to resuming telephone conversations between their theater commanders. Secretary Austin welcomes this announcement and will meet with his counterpart when that person is named. As these agreements were just reached yesterday, we know that we have worked to do with the PRC military to solidify these principles for actions. We will keep you informed as these procedures are codified and when we schedule our first meetings and calls. And as Secretary Austin has said, maintaining open lines of communications between our two militaries is essential to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to a crisis or a conflict. Switching gears, earlier this morning, Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing the bipartisan continuing resolution, which I believe is headed to the President's desk for him to sign. This short-term CR will ensure that our troops and civilian workforce will be paid through the holidays. However, the Department continues to urge Congress to pass a full-year appropriations, which is the best thing that Congress can do for our national defense. As we have long made clear, operating under a short-term continuing resolution hamstrings the Department's peoples and our programs and undermines both our national security and competitiveness. We also urge Congress to pass our supplemental funding requests that would allow us to keep supporting Ukraine and Israel, providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance across the globe, and makes critical investments in the Indo-Pacific. The supplemental doesn't just meet today's urgent challenges, but also invests in our industrial base here at home, because as we send munitions from our stockpiles, the money to replenish our supplies invest in the American industry and American workers. These investments will mean greater prosperity at home and greater security abroad. And that's why we have submitted this urgent supplemental request to help fund America's national security needs and to stand by our partners and to invest in our defense industrial base. And lastly, also in Congress, an additional three nominations were submitted to the Senate, which means there are now 455 nominations concerning 451 General and Flag Office officers who are currently impacted by Senator Tuberville's holds. We are encouraged by the efforts in the Senate to find a way to confirm all of our qualified nominees, given that these holds, as you've heard me say many times before, have an impact to our readiness, our national security, and our military families. These holds have lasted far too long, and every day that goes by, our department and our force suffer from them. And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. Alita. Thanks, Sabrina. One good question on China. Do you know when the last time the so-called red phone or whatever it was, it was called, was used between the U.S. and China? And if you don't, if you could just, can you take that? Yeah, I think I took a question similar to that last time when I was up here. So yeah, I'm happy to take that question. Okay. Yeah. And then the U.S. has now shot down a drone that was headed in the direction of the Hudner, and the Houthis are also shot down a U.S. drone. Do you believe that this drone was headed for the Hudner because the release says that the ship took self-defense action? Do you dispute it was headed for the Hudner? Do you think it was, or do you think it wasn't? And then if so, at what point does the U.S. take some sort of action against the Houthis for these two very direct attacks on the U.S.? So I'll take your last question first. So in terms of action, as you've heard me say before, but we always reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing. I don't have anything to preview from here today, and I won't get ahead of any decisions that the Secretary or that the President decides to make. In terms of the assessment where the drone was headed, our assessment right now is that the intended target was not the Hudner, but that the drone got so close to the crew that the commander did feel it necessary to engage and shoot down the drone. And I'm sorry, did you have one more question that I'm forgetting? No, because it was self-defense, correct? So it was not targeting the Hudner, you believe, or what's? Our assessment. Because there was some assessment that it was targeting. Our assessment right now is that it was not targeting the Hudner, but it was headed in that general direction. And also just to, sorry, very quickly go back to your first question on mill-to-mill communications. I should have also clarified that while I'm happy to take the question, there of course have been communications between our ships within the region where there are moments where there is deconfliction used. I think you're more specifically asking on a high level. That higher level drone that was set up a number of years ago and was used on and off, but had not gone on. Yeah, I just didn't want you to think like there, while there have not been high level mill-to-mill communications between the secretary and his counterpart, at lower levels in theater, there have been communications to deconflict from crises. Dries? Two questions. First, yesterday, President Biden made a bunch of remarks about Israel, and one of the ones he made was he talked about how doctors and nurses were now being allowed to al-Shifa, but then added that, quote unquote, what was occurring before with indiscriminate bombing by the Israelis. Do you agree with President Biden that there were indiscriminate bombings by Israel, or with Israel that was saying that their bombings were precision strikes? I can't remember his exact context, but I think what he was referring to, and I'm not looking at the remarks, but was that we didn't want to see indiscriminate bombing around or into the hospital. So what the IDF did was go into the hospital with more precision. I think the president referenced that there wasn't carpet bombing around the hospital or at the hospital itself. So I don't disagree with what the president said or in his remarks, but I think what you saw when it came to the al-Shifa hospital in particular is that the IDF was going in with more precision. And we said all along from this podium and from others across the administration that we'd never wanted to see a firefight within the hospital. We never wanted to see innocent civilians get caught in those crossfires. And so I think that's what the president was speaking to. And then secondly, I think in your last briefing, you said that Hamas and PIJ were operating a command and control node from al-Shifa hospital. The Israelis have put out several videos over the past 24 hours of evidence of what they say are Hamas weapons, a couple of machine guns, et cetera. But no real evidence of any command and control nodes in the traditional sense. Do you still stand by your assessment? And have you asked the Israelis to provide evidence of that? Yeah, well, we still stand by the assessment that I think I read out on Tuesday, which what you're referring to is that we know Hamas has used hospitals like al-Shifa to operate out of to conceal their military operations. I mean, taking a step back, a hospital should never be used for that to begin with. So however you define it, a command and control center node, a means of operating terrorist actions out of a hospital, that should never happen to begin with. We stand by the downgraded intelligence that I announced on Tuesday that we know they were using al-Shifa hospital. We know that they use other hospitals in the region when it comes to conducting their terrorist organizations and attacks. And so yes, we stand by that, but we know, and you I think alluded to this as well, that the Israelis are there. They are doing an assessment of the hospital. They are on the ground. And so we'll continue to receive that intelligence back as we get it. I'm not going to get ahead of anything right now. I don't have anything to preview. But if we do, you will be the first to know. Liz. Thank you. There have been 58 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria over the last month. There's been seven since Sunday's US air strikes in Syria. So the rate is not slowing down of these attacks. Is the Pentagon waiting for a service member to be killed before taking stronger, more effective action? No, absolutely not. I mean, we would never want to see that. We would never want that to be the outcome of any attack. I think taking a step back here, as you mentioned, yes. There have been 58 attacks on our service members since October 17th, all of which have been unsuccessful. They have not caused significant damage to infrastructure. And they have not caused significant injury to any of our service members. And all of our service members who have been injured have all returned to duty. So absolutely not are we waiting for an attack to inflict more damage to alter our response. I think you saw our responses of our last three strikes hit one of them hit a command and control node that was operating in a safe house. The others hit weapons storage facilities and the training facilities. So our attacks have significantly downgraded and degraded, I should say, the access that these militia groups have to these weapons. And so we're not waiting on something to act. We have responded. And if there are more attacks, we will certainly respond at a time and place of our choosing. Did you have another? Sorry. Totally separate topic on the audit. The Pentagon just failed its sixth audit, I believe. What message are you concerned that sends a bad message to US adversaries or US allies? And if the Pentagon can't pass its own audit, how can the American people trust what weapons are sending to Ukraine and Israel? Yeah. Well, we're working on improving our process. While it wasn't the results that we wanted, we certainly are learning each time an audit passes. And it's a continuing and ongoing process that this building is assessing. One of the things that the audit did do this time around was it informed what we had for how we could supply Ukraine. And then when the events of October 7th happened and the need to assess what we could supply Israel, we were informed very much by the results of the audit from our looking all across the entire building here, but also what we had provided for Ukraine. So again, it's a complicated process and it's a complicated undertaking that this building has done. But we feel confident in what we are learning each time. The Pentagon keeps saying that there have been no serious injuries from these attacks, but more than two dozen service members have suffered traumatic brain injury, which seems like a very serious injury. So I'm just wondering how are you defining that and how are you defining unsuccessful? And then my second question is if you have any updates on the search and recovery efforts for the five special operations soldiers who died last week. Yeah. I'll take the last one first. So of course, I can't remember if I dressed this last time, but our thoughts and prayers are, of course, with the families who lost their loved ones over this last weekend in a training incident. In terms of any updates on those service members, I would refer you to the Army. They would have the latest for you. In terms of the injuries, again, I know TBI, of course, that's something that anytime one of our service members is injured, whether it's serious or not, we certainly take it seriously as a department. Two of our service members did go to Lawn Stool for further evaluation. They were returned to duty soon after. So of course, we take any injuries seriously, but these were not serious injuries. And I think that's important to remember the United States took military action three different times and fully degraded some of their fees. So I think in terms of our response, we've been very effective in responding back and sending a message to Iran. Konstantin. Thanks, Sabrina. On the hotline, can you say how close the drone got to the ship? I can't say how close it got. I'm not, I don't actually know how close it got, but it got close enough to the ship that the commander felt that it needed to engage the drone. And can you say what weapon system the ship used to engage the drone? I can. Yeah. Tony, back to the audit, the famous failed verb. I was surprised, you know, Liz took your question. I felt like I knew you were coming around to this, so yeah. The disclaimer issue, what are the, what do the best minds in the building assess when you may get a clean audit opinion? How many years might that be? Since getting the sixth audit took years and years to prepare, is there a ballpark estimate you can give, how many years will it take to get a clean audit opinion at all 29 of these component audits? You know, Tony, I'm not gonna lie, I'm not an expert on the audit, but what I can tell you is that we do have those experts in the building and I'm not gonna get ahead of them or predict on when we are going to get a clean audit. What I can say is every time we go through this process, we are learning, we are improving, and we put into place measures that certainly monitor how we spend money. But again, there are people in this building directly focused on that. Can you take that through that question? I mean. Well, that's a hypothetical question that I can't really get into, and well, I can't predict the future, I can't predict when we're gonna get to what you're asking, and they won't be able to either. That's why each time we go through this audit process, even if it is our sixth time, we keep going through the process, we keep getting better and better at it, and when we get there, Tony, I will let you know. It's a known unknown. Okay, yes. Yeah, Fadi. Thank you, Sabina. I have one question and then follow up for you. So you stated that, you know, the Hamas were using Ashifa hospitals to conduct their attacks. And then you referenced the assessment, intelligence assessment. When you talk about this, can you be more specific, are based on your assessment, do you have any proof that Hamas used the building itself, which is a big building, or are you referring to the underneath the building in conducting these activities? Well, I think if I'm not mistaken, you can correct me, but I think Ashifa Hospital actually has multiple buildings. So what we know is Hamas was using Ashifa Hospital. I can't tell you specifically if it was just one building or multiple, but they were using the hospital to operate out of. That should stand alone as a place of concern. You have many injured civilians getting treatment there. You have babies who were just born. I don't think operating a terrorist cell out of a hospital is a way to conduct any operation, but they were doing that. So it's important to point that out. But in terms of more specifics on where in the hospital that I don't have, that's still something that I've seen the IDF is there in doing their assessment of where the Hamas leadership was operating out of. But what I can say and what I've said before is that we know that they were operating out of that hospital. Thank you. And then, so when you said we don't want to see a firefight inside the hospital. Yeah, I said that on Tuesday. Yeah. And again today. So the Israelis raided the hospital. There was no firefight because they didn't find any Hamas fighters. Do you, does the Pentagon support these types of activities by the IDF raiding hospitals? Well, look, that's something for the IDF to really speak to. We have been very clear with our Israeli counterparts with Minister Galant. The secretary has engaged with him almost regularly, almost daily that innocent civilians, people in hospitals, they're seeking care, their lives need to be protected and they need to be that the IDF as they conduct their operations need to uphold humanitarian laws and the law of war. But that's how complex and complicated this entire operation is for the IDF. The fact that you have a terrorist organization embedded or at least using and operating out of a hospital, that makes any operation for any military in the world incredibly complex. And so that's something that the IDF would have to speak to in terms of their operations, but we never want to see any type of terrorist organization operating out of a hospital using it as a command and control center because that does put innocent lives at risk. And that's what they were doing. That's what they're putting these people using them as human shields for what. And so I think it's just important, you raise an excellent question, but I think it's also important to remember why these people were put in that position to begin with. Wafa. Thank you Sabrina. Can you please update us on the department level of engagement in daily military operations in Gaza? And also when you say you're engaged, like there's daily interaction or you reach out to the Israelis on a daily basis, do they actually listen to you when you express concerns or ask questions about the military operations? Sure. So as you mentioned and I've said, we do have daily conversation or near daily conversations with the Israeli government, that's from the secretary, but of course there are levels all across this government that are also having those conversations. I'm not gonna go into more details of those conversations other than we do put out a readout each time. You can certainly see a common thread of what we're emphasizing in those readouts that yes, Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against the horrific terrorist attack that happened on October 7th. But of course we are urging, as always in every single call that humanitarian laws, innocent civilians must be taken to account for any operation. We do feel like they've been receptive to us. They continue to engage in our calls. And that's a good sign. We want to keep those lines of communication open. And I'm sorry, you had a first question that I... The level of engagement, the department level of engagement in the daily operation. Sure, so from the secretary and then of course there are levels below him that engage with their Israeli counterparts. It's not just from the secretary's level. Of course we have our policy team here. The joint staff engages on their side. So it's multiple levels, not just happening at the secretary level. Sorry, I'm sorry. So when you say you have daily discussions and can you please give us a sense about what's next? What are the goals of the Israelis? What's the way ahead in Gaza? Like on day 41 or 42, I believe. And the Israelis couldn't achieve much by killing civilians so far. So do they share their goals with you on a daily basis? So again, I'm not gonna get into the private conversations. We have readouts that we put out after every call. And then we have engagements below the secretary's level that continue at all different levels and pretty regularly. I'm just not gonna get into any further details of those calls, we're not the idea if we're not on the ground, we're not in their operations, but we certainly ask the questions that we feel that we need to ask. We push where we feel that we need to push. And that's what good partners do. And so I'll just leave it at that. Chris, oh, did you have one more? Okay, one more and then I'll go to Chris, yeah. So I just, I wanna ask you about if you still have the same level of concern about a wider conflict in the region, even though like husband law didn't show intentions to really engage in a comprehensive war with Israel so far? Yeah, we absolutely have concerns of this widening out to a wider regional conflict, which is why we have positioned the assets in the region that we have with our two carrier strike groups with more aircraft in the region, with the 26 Mu also there, that remains untasked, but ready in case needed. Absolutely, that's why we're concerned and that's why you saw the secretary at the direction of the president surge these assets to the region to make a statement and to make a statement to Iran that getting involved or seeking a wider regional conflict is not the right course of action. Now I'll go to Chris, yeah. Thank you, Sabrina. I just wanted to pick apart the grade versus deterrence element in the air strikes. You said they were significantly degraded these militias' capabilities. If the department deems these and the president deems these strikes are necessary in the future, how feasible is it for the United States to destroy, blow up enough of their capabilities that even if they want to, they can't attack US forces? Well, that's just getting into details that I'm not gonna speak to because that gets to also an intelligence assessment. So what I can say is that when you were asking about degraded versus deterrence, I mean, we degraded these facilities enough that they can't use them anymore. So they're completely destroyed. So the ammunition or the weapons storage facility that is in Syria that we just hit this past Sunday, those weapons are no longer usable. That means that whatever groups were using those and wanting to inflict harm or more attacks on our troops can't use them anymore. So that's completely degraded their ability of at least another site to inflict damage on our troops. Joseph, yeah. Thanks. One on the drone, the MQ-9. Can you, can the Pentagon publicly attribute that to the Houthis at the alongside drone? I think it's, I mean, we know it came from Yemen. Again, we're still doing an assessment of the attribution but I would have no reason to doubt that it would have come from the Houthis but it's, you know, not like they sent a note with it. Yeah. On Israel, a senior. Maybe that was more flippant than I needed to be but you know what I mean. Like we're still doing an assessment of the ownership of who launched the drone but we do know it came from Yemen. And earlier today, senior defense official said that this department is involved in trackings of the casualties in Gaza. Obviously as a result of both sides but also the Israeli strikes in Gaza. Can you, Siv-Kaz involved? Can you elaborate at all? And is there a report that's gonna be coming out? I mean, we're over a month into the conflict now. I'm not sure what you're referencing by keeping track of civilian casualties in Gaza. I haven't. Based on US military support too. I haven't seen that. I mean, again, we do our own assessments but I have nothing to read out of as we get information. You know, again, we're not on the ground here. We know that the health ministry does put out civilian casualty numbers but that is run by Hamas. So we have to, you know, of course take that with a bit of a grain of salt here but I don't have an independent assessment on our side that we're doing right now. You guys asking the Israelis, obviously they can't keep track of every single one when they're this high the number but are you guys asking them to keep track? That's not, I mean, that's something that is going to be very difficult to keep track of. And that's not something that I think we're directing them to do but something that I think most armies, you know, in their operations would keep track of just, you know, general casualties but we're not asking for account every day. Again, we do our own assessments but I just don't have anything more for you on that. Yeah. Does Korea announce that they successfully test a full-solid fuel engine for intermediate range for this thing or so? So do you think that this engine is related to the Russian technology and what's kind of made with you from Russia? That I couldn't speculate on. I'm not sure. Yeah, yes. Thank you, Sabrina. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, he shared a detailed animation and the IDF as well of the Shifa hospital and a detailed drawing of the Hamas possible, you know, garrisons underneath the hospital building. So, so far we saw only a couple of videos established by or broadcasted by the IDF social media, shows us a couple of assault rifles only since you have very close contact with your Israeli counterparts. Do you have any information about solid proof of these animations that the Israeli Prime Minister shared before? I can't speak to the animations or video that you're speaking about. I just haven't seen it. So I'm not, it's hard for me to respond to exactly what you're referencing. We were very clear on when I came out on Tuesday and can reiterate that we know that the hospital was used as a operation center for Hamas. They were using it. They had their, you know, I don't know, leadership, but they had, you know, militants in there operating out of the hospital, but I don't have more for you in terms of what you're referencing in terms of the video. Sorry. Yeah. I have a couple on Ukraine. So could you please provide a preview of the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting? I believe it's gonna be the last meeting this year. So what's the focus gonna be on and do you expect to hear any announcement about new aid packages, et cetera? So I don't have an announcement yet for the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group, but you know that they meet monthly. And so I think we should expect an announcement within the next few days of when the next one will be. In terms of aid packages, you've seen us roll out pretty consistently aid packages for Ukraine. We have had to parse down our support and our security assistance for Ukraine because we don't have additional funding because the supplemental hasn't been passed. So we just rolled out our last presidential drawdown authority. And I believe that was last week. Look, when we're ready to roll out the next one, we certainly will. We know that Ukraine continues to face and continues to endeavor in its counter offensive and they need continued support on a regular basis. So we know that we have to do that. We know that we have to continue to meet their needs. And that's something that certainly will be discussed at the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group. But in terms of a package preview, I just don't have more for you to announce today. And for how long can you support Ukraine before the Congress looks into new funding? Because the last packages were thinner and thinner, we saw. Well, that's because we don't have a supplemental. I mean, frankly, that is why we requested an emergency supplemental package to provide funding for, sorry, security assistance to Ukraine and also to backfill our own stocks. The supplemental, again, is in Congress. We continue to urge Congress to pass a supplemental. A supplemental is put forward and packaged together because it's an emergency request. It's not part of the budget process. And so we have a large amount that we want Congress to authorize for Ukraine and for Israel and for our investments in the Indo-Pacific. And of course, for our own investments in our defense industrial base. So that's something that we're gonna continue to urge Congress to pass, but you're absolutely right. You have seen smaller packages because we need to parse these out because we don't know when Congress is going to pass our supplemental package. And so we're continuing to talk with allies and partners. We're not the only country here contributing to Ukraine's urgent battlefield needs. As you know, the Ukraine contact group is over 50 nations. So it's not that it's just the US supporting Ukraine, but the president has been very clear that we are gonna stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. And so that means Congress passing our supplemental request and we hope that they do that soon. For how long do you think you still have them before Congress looks into that? Like it's gonna be weeks, months, or... Yeah, well, again, each package varies by dollar amount. So you've seen some smaller packages. I'm not gonna forecast how long that's going to last. That certainly wouldn't do the Ukrainians any good. That would really benefit the Russians. And so I'm just not gonna be able to give you a timeline on how long we're gonna be able to have these packages continue to go forward. But what I can say and what I will continue to say is that we need Congress to pass that supplemental request. Yes. You keep talking about the intelligence in the past tense that you believe the intelligence believes Hamas has used hospitals. Do you have intelligence that they currently are? I have only the intelligence that I read out, the downgraded intelligence that I read out yesterday. Or sorry, I'm sorry, on Tuesday. Past tense, present tense, don't wanna parse out words here, but we know that Hamas has been using the hospital, the Al-Shifa hospital, and other hospitals in Gaza. I'm not gonna get into more specifics on what they're doing now, whereabouts, all of that. We know that the IDF has taken control of Al-Shifa hospital, so I don't have more to share with you on that front. It matters because under international law, you have to have proof that a combatant is currently right then and that moment in the hospital in order to strike. Yeah, again, when I read out the downgraded material, we felt very confident that Hamas was using that hospital to conduct his operations. And as you saw in open source, there have been evidence of that that the IDF is showing now. Well, and that's what I wanna ask you. How would you characterize the video of the IDF release? They said it's irrefutable proof that Hamas was there. Do you, does the U.S. agree? I don't think we're disputing that Hamas was using Al-Shifa hospital. I mean, I read that out on Tuesday. I said very specifically, Al-Shifa is one of many hospitals in Gaza that Hamas uses to operate out of and to conduct their operations out of. So I'll let the IDF speak to their broader assessment. I mean, they're still ongoing right now, but I just don't have more for you or more intelligence to share. And I'm frankly not gonna do it from this podium. One more. So you're saying that the video of a blurred laptop, a flat jacket, a handful of rifles, that that backs up what you've been saying that Hamas is operating in the hospital? I will, I'm happy to repeat what I said on Tuesday, but the downgraded intelligence that I read out on Tuesday and that I will reiterate again today is that Hamas uses Al-Shifa being one of them, but hospitals in Gaza to conduct and to operate out of and to further execute on terrorist actions within Gaza. Is that video back better? Again, I'm just gonna leave it at that. Thanks. Do you have a question back here? Oh, sorry, yes. Thank you, Sabrina. Regarding to the, as you mentioned, that there were like 58 attacks against U.S. service bombers since 17th of October. So do you have any plans to change your booster in Iraq and Syria, especially most of these attacks that happens in these two countries? And how do you see the Iraqi government respond or react to protect these spaces? Do you believe they have the ability to protect these spaces? Thank you. So I think your question was on force posture changes within Syrian Iraq. So I don't have any force posture changes to announce, but as you know, I can't remember the date, but we did announce that we were moving Patriot and Thad batteries into the region to help protect our troops with more air defense. So that's something that we have done to bolster our protection measures of our service members in both Iraq and Syria and elsewhere. And all the Patriot batteries are there and fully running. And the Thad battery, I believe, is still making its way over, but I don't have any more force posture movements to announce. What about the Iraqi government? Do you think they have the ability to protect the basis that where the U.S. troops are being like in Ambar or in the north of Iraq? Yes, we continue to work with the Iraqi government and their military in terms of protecting our troops. We are in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government. So we certainly work with them and partner with them and the Secretary has had calls with his counterpart on making sure that our service members are protected in those areas. And we continue to engage them in those conversations. Okay, thank you. Sure. And then we got a wrap, sorry. Tuesday you said 55 attacks since October of 2017. We're here in different numbers. Is that, what's the latest? Sorry, I can give you that rundown. So as of today, there have been approximately 58 attacks. So that's 27 in Iraq and 31 attacks in Syria. 30 since Tuesday? Yeah. You have to have one more quick. It'll be quick. Okay, buddy. One more. And I feel like I have to do Tony. So, okay, I'll do these two. And then I gotta wrap it up. I have to give it to you, very generous with your time. Based on the intelligence that was recently done, rated that you talked about on Tuesday and based on any other information that is available to you, how recent did Hamas leadership use at Shifa Hospital? Well, that would get into further intelligence assessments that I just can't get into from here. Again, as I mentioned earlier, but and I told you, we feel very confident that Hamas was using all Shifa and other hospitals to conduct operations out of. But just in terms of when, where all of that, more specifics, I just can't get into those details. Did you have a question? PDA issue. Just to clarify for the record and for those watching, this is a Pentagon have about $4.9 billion of authority left for PDAs. They just don't have, they got like a billion dollars left to replace their equipment. I think you can give like $4.9 billion and PDA is going forward. Yeah, I'm not trying to minimize it. I'm just trying to tell you that, yes, we do have $4.9 billion and from the recalculated PDA funds that we continue to draw down of. That's what we're using. But we only have 1.1, I believe, left to restock our own inventories. And so again, we know Ukraine is gonna need more than that. And so that's why we did submit that supplemental request. And a lot of that supplemental will be used also to replenish our own stocks. I just wanna make the point that it's not getting cut off the aid. You got four billion, you didn't only have five billion dollars left to play out however long that goes. Yep, that's correct. Yeah, thank you. All right, thanks everyone.


Hey everyone welcome to figure fantasies. We're looking at Kuroko Shirai I know most of you don't have her yet Okay, except for a few whales. I think who wailed out and got her through fully wish So we're gonna be you know, we're gonna be taking a look at what she can do and Before you guys invest more fully wish into her Um Let's let's let's evaluate her kit if you want to move forward in investing And or in getting her because again, there's a lot of fully wish involved in getting her and Also, there's a possibility that you might have to spend so again I'm gonna do an evaluation of her kit see if she is worth, you know going all the way or You don't go all the way in terms of summoning for her. Okay, so let's move on to She has actually her school uniform same with her sister and Let's take a look at her skills guys. So we're start off with Attack is average, sorry, it's attack is a so health is also a source of survivability is good. Defense is all by the way on the low side so She needs to have Lifesteal and she needs to have more health for her to survive. So again, sorry for the delay Let's move on to her Basic attack so maintaining security range is one slot attacks an enemy starts from the first enemy in the same line Attack speed is fast after every three basic attacks the next basic attack the current target and the last unit in the same row is Hit the attacks the current target and and the last unit in the same row at the same time And it flicks one stack of arrow upon them. So attacks the first attacks the last one in the same row. So this has really a promising use because Sometimes we need to eliminate the last person or the last enemy in that row So she has the ability to do that after every three attacks and also Unleashes one stack of arrow. So upgrade effect. This is just basic level two and three This is going to be a total of plus 50% Okay, take note of that the attack itself has fast attack speed. So if you put attack speed on her as well she is going to Be triggering The third attack the third attack with the attack on the back the last Enemy on that row. So preferably I think she's going to be you know, she's going to be using attack speed So moving on to her ultimate Arrow teleportation The initial energy is 50 deals damage to all units in the current row once and Inflicts one stack of arrow upon them. So kind of same as her sister Attacks the whole row energy regeneration is six per second a pretty upgrade effect for her ultimate is in Level two boots boosts both crit rate and lifesteal by 10% So it's good that she has lifesteal take note of that First point is she attacks the last enemy in a row number two She has survivability because she has lifesteal so take note of that two points already And she has boosted crit rate as well after unleashing the ultimate stacking up to three times at level three After each time the ultimate is unleashed the next ultimate will inflict one more stack of arrows up to a maximum three stacks for each cast so high damage high survivability and kind of has an assassin role when Taking out the last enemy in that row Okay, moving on to her passive so spatial S per teleports to the last enemy in the current row So again, she really functions like she's a She has AOE in a line. She has assassin like abilities teleports To the last enemy in the current row and fires one arrow immediately after being attacked and gains CC immunity while teleporting triggering up to once every six seconds Interesting for every three arrow shot the enemy will take blast damage and be imprisoned for two seconds take note Imprison is cannot move while being prison and energy recovery per second is reduced by six so perfect for Bosses that are within mobs. She's gonna be perfect for that one bosses are sometimes at the back. They're hard to kill And they're hard to hit So although we have already have what they call this we already have figures that can do Boss targeting at the back or last figure targeting at the back I think she is the most all-around that you can use in any content and Especially for those who you want to target at the back. So again, there's a lot in her kit There's a lot to be happy with especially if you're investing in her upgrade effect lifesteal health Life steals health at the say at the same time when the arrow explodes So additional life steals when arrows explode level 3 fires additional arrow for each time a basic attack or ultimate damage That ultimate damage crits or ultimate crit damage. I'm not sure so be or Basic attack or ultimate damage crits, okay when your ultimate damage crits So critical hit not critical damage. Okay, so next is the last one special absolute justice boost that dodge Chance by 50% and restores health after each successful dodge boost attack by 5 defense by 10 boost damage chance by a Dodge chance by 20% What's wrong with me today? My tongue is really tied and but I'm kind of excited to tell you guys That if you plan to invest in Kuroko Shirai I think now is the time to go all in because Aside from having life steal survivability high damage AOE damage row damage Back of the line damage. She has everything. I tell you you won't get that in one package if you already have her sister if you already got in her sister to you know to diamond Might as well get her guys because she is going to be You've be very very useful in a lot of content Mobs including bosses. She is going to be good. If you ever if you have me coat already Even at five-star, you know peach Going to diamond. I would suggest you get this girl because again She brings another, you know, she brings a very good utility in the vanguard position Not only does you bring damage again? She brings a lot. She brings Reduction in energy if you can see here imprisoned. This is big The cannot move while being present is okay But the energy recovery per second is reduced by six that it is big if you apply this in bosses they're gonna they're gonna be delayed in terms of replenishing their energy bar so This alone is a must You know must get ability for you to you know to have easier progress in the game as well I think she's gonna be good guys.  She is going to make a big difference in your team. She is with night nine and The good thing about her you just have she just has to sink her level with her sister Then you don't need to get copies of her So the I think the initial problem is acquiring her if you have enough fully wishes if you have enough cash or credit card To you know get her but again if you have the resources guys, please do you won't regret getting her I am actually on track to get her. I'm just waiting for the other cheering horns to fall I'm at 160 already. I spent all of my fully wishes. I'm sorry But I'm actually a very excited to get her and to build her and showcase her for all of you guys So that is it. Hopefully this was a big help. I think it was because A lot have been you know still asking me if she's still worth investing in she's if she's still worth Going all in for and I'm telling you it's a big yes Okay guys, so again guys, thank you very much for staying this far Please give this video a like if you like it Please subscribe to my channel if you want more figure fantasy videos in the future and Thank you. Stay safe. Take care. This is the warden and I'm out of here


Hello and welcome, we are thrilled to have you back here for another episode of the nonprofit show each and every Friday we reserve this show for our ask and answered. And this is underwritten by fundraising Academy so thank you thank you thank you for your ongoing commitment and partnership with us. You know we love your cause selling education model, and we really love our partnership with the national university so this dedicated episode is where we reserve many questions that come to us from you, our viewers and you are listeners so we save these and we place them on our Friday shows. We've been doing this now probably about two, two and a half years, and it's really been fun to see the evolution of the questions that come to us. So again, let's let's get us started.  I live in Arizona I work nationwide and again one of our amazing partners has been the fundraising Academy with the national university. 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Again, and day out to provide you amazing conversations and answers because that is exactly what today is dedicated towards. If you missed any of our episodes over these last three years, you can find them on Roku YouTube fire TV, as well as Vimeo so wherever you stream your, your viewing pleasure I've heard from many people that they joined to watch one show. We have become the Netflix binge, you know journey so many people will will come into the nonprofit show and then, lo and behold, three hours later they're still watching another episode of the nonprofit show. So we hope that you find yourself doing that as well.  So this started probably about a year ago now and we figured, you know we have this amazing content we might as well bifurcated into the podcast system as well so now you can listen to the nonprofit show wherever you stream your podcast so I hope that you'll cue us up on those platforms and if you're driving if you're walking your your pets are exercising is a great time to tune into the show. So I did hear actually from from our guest and he's still trying to get connected but I'm going to get us started, and hopefully movie will be able to join us here live again on the fly as we move forward. Thanks to the fundraising Academy and National University for having this underwritten Friday ask and answer episode with us. So again, all of these questions come in from you, our viewers and our listeners, and we find time and ways to really respond to the questions that you are facing the opportunities, perhaps even challenges that you're facing in and around your community with your organization. So this one comes from name withheld. And again, those of you that are longtime listeners and viewers you know that my co host Julia loves these name withheld. So Arlington, Texas, and it sets here we are hosting the leadership team of a similar type of nonprofit to our campus in late October, or November. It has been suggested that we have visitors sign a NDA which stands for non disclosure agreements before we start our tour. Can you please weigh in on this. So this is an interesting question and and I find this you know, really, I'm not quite sure how I would answer it previously to doing all of these episodes with a nonprofit show. First of all, I want to honor and recognize the fact that you are having the tour and that you're able to, you know, truly have people come into your organization I know that's new and I know that's something that many of us have been just craving and wanting more of so I love that you're also looking at collaboration and it might just be, you know, providing your space providing your, your intellect with them. Hopefully, you have opened your space to many other people as well for the tour. So I personally do not really see an NDA or a non disclosure agreement of need I don't think that that's necessary. And we look at bringing in, you know, individuals to our campus, you know, and sharing with them, some of the tools the techniques that you are sharing with your organization, you know, really looking at this to say, this is a great way to share your best practices, but I don't really see it as intellectual property of something that we might need an NDA signed for. So, my suggestion name withheld is that I don't think that it's necessary, unless you are truly going to bring in, you know, all of this intellectual property and lay it on the table while they're providing that tour.  But if you could dive in with me on this question, hopefully you've had a quick chance to read it. And let me know what you think when it comes to having visitors sign NDA is when they're coming in for a tour. What's your thought on this. Yeah, this is a really interesting one. And I think that if it is a similar organization just as this case is. Feel free to take the precautions, you know this is your intellectual property this is your mission this is how you accomplish your goals and if you're giving people the inside knowledge on how you operate as an organization and how you have that special magic. With your donors and your constituents. It's better to be safe than sorry. Yeah, yeah, you know and that's that's exactly what I said you know if you're kind of doing a generic tour that you do with maybe the general public, you might not need that NDA but if you are pulling back the curtains and you're rolling out the red carpet with a lot of intellectual property. That's exactly when you might want to consider that so name withheld in Arlington, Texas, I hope that both of our responses help you address this in a more, you know, a way to move forward in something that you're comfortable with as well as your governing board is comfortable with. So that's something to consider. So I'm going to read this and I'm going to ask you to answer this one first. So Aisha from Detroit, Michigan writes in and wants to know. Should we meet with prospective donors for coffee offsite, or should we meet with prospective donors at our nonprofit. We work in the arts and culture sector and don't really have a space for coffee or a meeting area per se. What would you say to that movie. This question and hopefully I might know Aisha from Detroit born and raised, you know, there's a slight possibility.  Maybe it's like, hey, come by to the office and we'll give you a quick 15 minute tour, and we have a really close coffee shop nearby, and we'll go or a place to have lunch and whatnot, or you bring your coffee to go. And you have it on the go while you're doing a walking tour. I think that those are two good options for really trying to engage the constituent and donor in your mission. As arts and culture organization you may have work from your constituents if it's an after school program and the kids are doing art or whatever the case may be and those things will speak to your donor they want to see the impact that you're making. So I think it's okay to make shift it and donors are going to understand that you may not have the resources in your current capacity to have a place to host these things. So, I think it's totally okay to bring a donor to your office and to have a coffee with them there and make the most of it. Get creative. I love your hybrid suggestion there I'm working with a client now movie that has experienced and is experienced just extreme expansion and so even offices that used to house one person. Now house to people right or kind of had to have this floating office space.   And I would say, you know, really, it's where your programs happen. It's not necessarily where you push paper, or where you're doing your administrative work, it's where the magic happens in your program. And so as you said if that happens off site in a school program. If that happens, you know, at a local theater, especially being an arts and culture, you know, use an opportunity to engage that space in a way that's meaningful. And also nowadays and I'm curious what you think of this movie is, you know, so many of us are used to this virtual connection. And so meeting in person. You can absolutely do that.  You know, you can kind of integrate all of these various modalities in a way that suits the purpose of the meeting and highlight the programs because I really feel that is why, you know, the perspective donor is there is to see the program and where their dollars are going to go. What do you, what do you say to that. Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth for it. I think, you know, getting them as close to the organization as possible and within your building within your office space. I think can be transformative if somebody is like wow I can't believe you guys are working like this. Maybe we should help you find a new office. And who knows they may have real estate connections or this that the other like leverage the situation to your benefit. That's the story of what you need and if you're expanding your staff or the constituents that you help and the beneficiaries need more services and area to expand their programs. Yeah, it makes sense to bring the donors into the office space. You mentioned the kind of you know like wow I can't believe you're working like this are in this space and I know you don't mean it negatively and I've seen so many organizations and it sounds like you have as well, where it's like, this is the very base of of an office right and often the carpet is ripped or the paint is chipped, typically nonprofits are working with a very basic office, you know, equipment and furniture and so even the office chairs, you know, for a prospective donor to come in and say, Okay, I see a lot of ways and how I can help you and I'd really like to help you improve your office setting, not only for your staff but truly for the program itself, especially if clients are coming in. So I love that you mentioned that and it might be a very humbling experience for the donor to see and witness that. Good stuff. Well, let's move into because I hope that helped you and perhaps you do know her I love that, you know, knowing that that that's your community as well so let's move into a sorry at Raleigh North Carolina. And this viewer writes in and wants to know about a transition and leadership so our director of philanthropy is retiring. Should we make appointments with major donors to have a goodbye meeting. Another option might be to make a joint meeting with our new director once they are hired thoughts. Go ahead take this one away. Yeah, so I think that if your director of philanthropy was retiring. You have noticed you should have started the hiring process for the new director before they retire so that it could be a joint meeting. Yeah, like I think that if the new directors there before the director philanthropy retires, that's like the best case scenario, and joint meetings would be fantastic. At least you can do a pass off, you could do an email intro you can do phone calls. You should do a retirement party and see which donors will show up. So there's a lot of opportunity there to maintain the relations and establish new connections and strengthen the relationship with the organization for the donor. A lot of the personality and the relationship is going to be there because of who the retiring director was that's you know it's hard to avoid that. But I think if the hiring process is done right and HR has their eyes dotted and tease crossed, then it should be where it's a joint meeting, it's set up, and there's a party and it's celebrated and there's a good transition. So all of those things are critical and important for the organization. I agree that that handover is very important and I'm going to take this further that it's not just when you know a director philanthropy retires I see this often in founders as well. When the founder moves beyond really that founder position, and they bring in an executive director or CEO or another leader. You yourself movie have maybe been in this situation with your organization and maybe you can shed some light on how that transition came came about. One thing I also want to mention before hopefully you will be able to share that story is, you know, the tenure of someone in development is not very long. I think that this individual is retiring perhaps that you know they have been in this position longer than that kind of 18 month national standard window. Which yes is very like jaw dropping when you're listening to this and you're thinking, did I just hear Jared say that the standard tenure of someone in that development role is maybe 18 months. You did and that is scary because that means there's a lot of transition, but having this opportunity of retirement and having this opportunity as movie just suggested to have a retirement party. I think is very valuable because you're right seeing the donors that make make the, you know, the distance to join that or make the commitment to join that party will speak volumes to the relationship of the person, as well as the organization. So, I kind of put you in the hot seat movie but again I know that you either founded co founded an organization I hope you'll share that, and then you now have kind of moved into another role within that organization. So, while not director philanthropy but in a founder's way how did you navigate that personally. Yeah, thank you for asking the question, Jared and I'm happy to talk about the real story of why I decided to step away from an organization that I founded and was working out full time. You know, I didn't, I put everything I had into American Muslim Community Foundation, and it is a fantastic thriving organization we have dedicated board members we now have a full time executive director we have part time staff donor manager nonprofit manager. So those three positions were hired. Once I stepped away and only went down to 10 hours a week. And now, you know, they're a fantastic team doing the work that we set out to do and they're looking at details of things that went over my head and I was like I'm going to focus on my skill set and do the things I like and other things fell to the wayside. I'm looking up those crumbles that I left behind, but it was like that to operate a multimillion dollar nonprofit to help families distribute their charitable giving. And now we're becoming a stronger organization, you know, sometimes you do have to put the car before the horse. So that's an example of that of filling a void in the community and helping a community distribute their charitable giving and now we've given out more than eight and a half million dollars in six years. So it's kudos to the team is kudos to the board members and the other co founders that they were able to see the foresight and you know not let us fall into the trap of founder syndrome and to see how amcf continues to evolve and we've made those transitions and introductions to our donors and organizations that we support so we hope that we're doing the right thing that we're taking the right steps. And we're still young organization, and there's so much more for us to grow and experience so that's what I'm most excited about I'm still committed you know one day I'll join the board I'm sure. I may not be a consultant for the organization but we're still working through those transitions and we'll get there when we get there. And who knows, even if the organizing grows I may come back full time, you know there's, there's an interesting story that we get to weave of creating this organization and I'm excited to see where it will go. Thank you for that and how did the transition with the donors go because I really do feel that you know a founder story director philanthropy that's retiring is very similar and the fact that these are really deep rooted connections and conversations. So, you know, there's this goodbye meeting suggestion from sorry there's this you know joint meeting suggestion from sorry. How did you handle that transition for you when that happened is that something that sorry might also want to be considered. Yeah, for sure like I had so many donors and organizations and people still reaching out to me and I had to empower the executive director and make those introductions and empower the donor manager to take over the donor and empower the nonprofit manager to take over the relationships with all the nonprofits so it was all about explaining what I did, first of all writing down the processes and steps of everything that I did and then the board really said wow you were doing a lot. And then from there it was making the argument like yes let's have an executive director who's more operational. I'll still focus on the fundraising build do a little bit of it but it's my responsibility. Let's hire a donor manager because I'm stuck in the weeds on providing reports for all the daffs and all of these things and my time should be focused on larger picture strategy. So, you know, I had to make the argument I had to show that this was the best step for the organization, and there was some concern from donors. Oh, you know, should I close my donor advice. No, no, we're growing we're expanding all of those things so there was definitely concern. There was definitely unease it's people's money it's their livelihood it's the charity that they want to give so they were concerned of like, what does this mean. And what I will say is our organization maybe could have handled it better like I'll be the most self critical of of AMCF out of anybody else. And I'm open to the criticism and how we can grow and I think that's the only way that will will become stronger. So I think that, you know, we hired an executive director, they went on maternity leave one board member had to come in and step in who was transitioning out of the board. There's a lot of challenges and internally, some things fell to the wayside as well and we've had to pick that back up but it's a learning process and and now, you know the executive directors back full time. And it's a well oiled machine and we're focusing on customer service and delivery. That's the main thing is like how can we make this experience less challenging because there have been challenges and we need to be real with that. We're building up to it, making the differences, empowering people to take things forward. I think those are all the things that we did that we thought worked, and we're continuously learning and reiterating and that's all we can do is give it our best. I love the empowerment piece and I do think that that's a big one sorry can take away is that the retiring director philanthropy can truly empower, you know the new director and and and lay confidence in the donors so if they say, should we stop donating. No, absolutely not so thank you for addressing that and in such such an honorable way with a personal story so thank you. We don't have much time but we're definitely going to answer herbs question here from Omaha, Nebraska, and herb wants to know about swag so here we are. Would you give us your opinion on swag for donors, I have heard swag is short for stuff we all get. And I'm not sure this is even true, or a value to donors. It's interesting her because I've heard that it's not just stuff but it's another word that you can put in there that we all get, but it is definitely a swag bag. What are you seeing by way of this right now moohi when it comes to swag bags for donors is this a yay and nay it kind of like in the middle what are you seeing. Yeah, well you know I'm continuously learning every day because I didn't know the acronym stood for I just knew what it was that hilarious stuff we all get, or if you, you know, the other S word, another word that I can't say here. I'm glad you picked up on that. You know, we used it a lot at the Red Cross, but other donors who don't appreciate it will let you know they'll be like you know spend your resources elsewhere and then you take them off the swag list. But for others it's a good reminder it's a good.  So I think it's helpful I think that little trash keys and things. You know they may end up in the trash but at the end of the day if it's something that is unique is well branded and could be put to good use, then go for it. I love that you said it and and you're so right the donors that don't want it they'll tell you that they don't want it and I think that's very okay it's just like the donors that say, don't mail me you don't have to mail me until my final you know letter at the end of the year. I think when we focus on cause marketing for this swag or the stuff we all get you know maybe it's a t shirt and we've talked about this before on the show that you know you wear out into the gym well now that's become marketing or maybe you know it's it's a pendant or something to where you know it really puts your organization first and it also helps in a branding awareness. Stickers right now are all the rage for a certain demographic myself included, you know that I either put them on the side of my car, or I put them on a water bottle and so really depending on your donor demographic and what kind of swag you're wearing, I think that's that's doable. You know my swag new he and I know you know it are these notable glasses, and sure they might get, you know, in the trash at some point or they might get shared with a child at some point but to me it's all about that marketing and the playfulness so I would really consider, you know, what would be relatable for your organization herb and how might your donors, you know, receive that so again thinking of, you know, is it is it a key chain is it a pendant is it a sticker so it doesn't have to cost a lot of money, but maybe there is something that you can give that also increases that cause marketing awareness again, with just getting the word out and letting other people in the community share and become an ambassador for your organization so I do know that many of us have a lot of chockies and I'm not one for for hanging on to those things I have a feeling you're not either especially traveling abroad, and so really being mindful mindful of that and your donors so I hope that that's that that is helpful. Well we're wrapping up our show I cannot believe it I'm so grateful that you could join us I did let our viewers and our listeners know that you're joining us from abroad, and I believe South Asia. So, I am in Columbia and head to Guatemala tomorrow so you know if I'm on the show again will be another country but you know just still live in this journey called life and taking a day by day. I absolutely love it and I love following your journey and having you share it so openly so thank you for that. And again, movie, thank you for joining us you're a trainer with fundraising Academy, also part of the National University and again co founder, which he shared with us with his transition story here with the American Muslim Community Foundation. And just grateful to have you on the show and to have your valuable expertise to share with us on this Friday ask an answer. Each and every Friday we bring this to you but each and every day we bring the nonprofit show to you thank you so very much to our presenting sponsors so I would be remiss if I didn't give a verbal shout out to all of our sponsors which are Marang American nonprofit Academy fundraising Academy with the National University thanks movie for joining me today. Also nonprofit nerd, your part time controllers staffing boutique and the nonprofit thought leader. Please check out these companies they're all fantastic servant leaders here to pour into you and your mission and your community. So if you have not checked out these companies. Do yourself a favor because you will love each and every one of them they are truly fantastic and we're just so grateful to have their ongoing support. I'm grateful again that you can join us again I know that there are some technical difficulties but hey, that's life these days that we that we joined with so thanks to you for joining us all of our viewers, I'm going to ask you movie and the rest of our viewers and remind you to please stay well, so you can do well. Thanks my friend and I'll see you back here soon.


I mean, let's just be blunt. Caleb Williams is a true one percenter. And by that he's the first NIL quarterback in the history of the transfer portal to truly being a major market in the biggest marketing college football. So to deal with that and to operate at the level he did and win a Heisman, it's just never been done before. So I think it's a little different. So NFL get used to it and fan bases get used to it. That's what it's going to be moving forward. And I think for Caleb everything he's done has been a lot of times for the first time, you know, transfer into LA, NIL huge deals, other players in the NIL community or in the transfer coming because of him. I mean, he's been this magnet from jump and it got put on a grand stage when he got here in LA.