Hello, how are we? Thank you for joining us. My name is Nibala Wad, class of 2012. I am the president of the Alumni Association and I want to thank everyone for being here. I love Alumni Reunion Weekend. I know it's a little different this year but I'm excited we're all here and we have the opportunity to recognize our very special honorees. Before I get started I just want to thank Megan Hansen, our director of alumni and our advancement team for pulling this off. I know it's different but a lot of logistics and I know it was really hard this year so we really appreciate you making this happen again. So Alumni Weekend, I always think about coming back, celebrating with my classmates, getting to meet new alumni. There's nothing better than having an amazing alumni community. I think it really, besides obviously the amazing academic program and the unbelievable student experience, you can really tell a lot about a school based on its alumni pride and its involvement. So I really appreciate you showing up, being here, engaging with the university. It means a lot and it's just a great weekend. I hope we can do this. We'll do this every year. Hopefully it won't keep us back ever again. So once again I just want to welcome our alumni honorees, our reunion celebrating, our alumni celebrating their reunion weekend. President Mialis, it's so nice to see you in person and our faculty, staff, family and friends. The importance of alumni awards and recognizing our fellow Hawks together is a community so special. Like I said, this is the 10th reunion of this award ceremony. And it's always so incredible to hear everything that our alumni have been doing behind the scenes and really representing this great university. Alumni are the common denominator that really define this institution and all that we do. So I'm proud to stand here as our alumni president and honor these incredible people. So I'll be back a couple of times. I'm seeing this event. This time I'm going to go ahead and introduce Amy Berkley, who's our Vice President of Institutional Advancement. Thank you everyone. You know, I usually never read a speech, but there are so many important things and so many important people that we want to point out. I am going to read in a little bit. But as Niball said, my name is Amy Berkley and I've only been here for about 15 months and I was here a very short time and COVID came and shut all the doors. And being someone that didn't go to Roger Williams originally and being sort of an adopted part of the family, one of the things that has really touched me is how much the character of this community came through a Zoom screen or came through a phone call or came through, you know, when we were behind masks and we had those few interactions in person. And I really, part of me is like, why didn't I go here? Because I think there is a communal feeling here that is palpable when you walk on campus. And the fact that you guys are here, for some of us, this is our first social interaction we've had in a long time. So for us to be the recipient of you being here in person is really special for us. So thank you. So the alumni who are being recognized here today are some of the best representations of the values that we hold so dear. Sharon and Omar truly embody our core values and our core purpose of strengthening society by choosing to engage in the problems of the communities we serve. You know, choice is one of the few things we have and when you make that choice, I think that that represents to all of us what we're really capable of doing. Jamie, Mack, and Jim know the importance of our alumni network and lifelong connections because they brought an unmatched energy to reunions and brought connections and classmates together, sharing the common bond of Hawk Pride. And I don't know if any of you have seen a recent video we had, but our president knows how to salute our go-hawks slogan very well. Our newest alumni classes of 2020 and 2021 have shown the world that they can do hard things and succeed. They have preserved during the pandemic and missed out on senior year activities, but nevertheless show up and bring the Hawk Pride knowing that they are not alone. That you guys are caring for this connection and this spirit in such a hard year is so important to all of us who missed seeing you on campus all year long. These alumni and all of you are part of an expansive alumni network with tremendous accomplishments and willingness to help fellow Hawks. It makes me really proud to work with each and every one of you. So the future is bright and part of the reason the future is bright is because of President Meowlis and I want to introduce him now. And I hope you join me in welcoming him and hearing his vision. Thank you, Amy.  I had two brief trips to New York, I think, to meet alums and then COVID hit and that was it. So it's wonderful to have you back on campus and I'm looking forward to developing close relationship to alums and it is part of our commitment of transforming the university to make the alumni a much more integral part of the university than they have been in the past. And I want to thank you for your leadership for being here and of course a lot of you are distinguished alums and that's why you're getting awards. We had a challenge in here and we did very, very well. We were one of the best universities in addressing the COVID issue. We spent a lot of money to make sure that we're healthy but the students and the faculty and the staff were very responsible and we managed to come out healthy and strong. And one of the nicest things that actually happened is we built much stronger bonds between administration and faculty and students and staff. I think we're much of a closer family now because of dealing with the crisis than we were before. And I think that's going to build the foundation of us implementing the strategic plan that you'll hear during the dinner time that we're putting together to move the university to really transform the university. I didn't go to Roger Williams, I went to Tufts and one of my most memorable moments is when I got an alumni award from Tufts. I got the alumni whatever they call it award and still it's something there was a little medal that I wear on my academic regalia and it's wonderful when your alma mater thinks back to all the wonderful things you did after you graduated and gives you an award because she's so proud of what you did and we're very proud of all you have done as alumni. I want to congratulate the awardees and now I want to welcome Nibal back to the podium and you'll hear from me more during the dinner. Thank you so much. This time I'm going to invite Kelly Scafarello I messed it up and it's not in front of me who is our Co-Vice President of the Alumni Association. Kelly? Thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay so we're going to do a little fun fact trivia for those in the room. Who graduated, I'm probably the only one who's going to raise my hand but who graduated before 2002? There we go, we got Chip right there, okay. What's your name? Joanne, welcome. Happy to have you here. So fun fact about this building. We have others?  All right, you should be up here talking. Well so the fun fact about this building, I don't know if you remember and I don't know if this was actually here but when I was here this building you're standing in was actually the old student union. I am standing where there were a whole bunch of tables where we would pretend to study and right over there where there's that space underneath the stand the stairs was the bookstore and right in the back where the Starbucks was or is the like get pizza and get your mail and play pool and all that fun stuff and right in the back over here was where the Hawke's Eye, the newspaper, the radio station and then there was like a coffee shop called The Other Place and then before that thing was like the Ratskeller where you could actually drink beer. So this building looks a lot different to me today but there's a lot of history and we're all connected so I just thought I'd give you a little history about this building that you're standing in right now so. So I am going to present the Roger Williams Hawke Award. Now this award is presented to an outstanding RWU student or students who have school spirit and have fostered engagement among peers to participate with the Roger Williams Alumni Association. The students have exemplified the Hawke's spirit and have shown an interest in being involved and contributing to the Roger Williams Alumni Association's mission. This inaugural award will go to the class officers of 2020 and 2021 which we will never forget those years ever. Their senior years were marked by obviously the pandemic, virtual learning, social events, canceled during a year unlike anything we have planned and through it all you guys rose to the occasion and you created something special for your classmates which I think will last you a lifetime and you truly demonstrate the Hawke's spirit. So I'm going to throw on my 20-year-old hat from volleyball when I was here, get my spirit going and I'll start with the class of 2020. Joining us virtually are Vice President Kevin Deeb and Secretary Ali Klein. Also being honored are President Mikayla Bertoletti and Treasurer Mia Joyce. With a little help, a little probably a lot from Carol Siketti, our Assistant Dean of Students, I want to give you an idea of what this class faced during this past year. Our first award winners have truly shown us how to be leaders and how to lead gracefully through anything thrown their way. I'm sure it was a lot. During their fall semester, 2019, everything was going as planned as they created events for the class, weekly meetings for committees of 15 peers who have started conversations about the commencement ball, commencement and plans for the final days on campus and the officers weren't just leaders for their class but leaders on campus connecting with the community which is what Roger Williams is all about, the community and building lifelong relationships. They prepared for the spring by touring the convention center for the ball and they picked out the menu for finalizing details. They were in the process of planning two major events when senior year spring break occurred and they planned that in weeks time they would be back to finish key details and enjoy six more weeks of finishing up at Roger Williams. I think we all know how that went during spring break. We experienced in our world an unimaginable public health crisis and the class of 2020 didn't get to celebrate together on campus until two weeks ago when they came back to walk across stage and be in community once again. And for that I just say congratulations to you guys for that. So Michaela and Kevin and Allie and Mia you stood strong with your Hawk being a proud Hawk when there was uncertainty surrounding all of you. You met with various administrators to represent your class supremely well and you planned a commencement not for yourselves but for your classmates. You held the interest of your classmates up high to help others have closure and celebration when the time was right. You were the student leaders we all needed when some may have stepped back but you gathered your class at virtual alumni events. You helped to plan the grad walk 2021 and you kept in touch with your classmates which as you know is so vital this past year of connecting with people that matter the most to you. We are grateful to have you Michaela, Kevin, Allie and Mia join the alumni ranks and we look forward to your involvement as leaders in our alumni community because we will be looking to you to be the next leaders of this great community. So I am honored to present the first Roger Williams Hawk Award to Michaela, Kevin, Allie and Mia on behalf of the Roger Williams Alumni Association. Let's give them a rousing applause, right? Let's go. Congratulations. So Allie Klein is on Zoom and we're going to unmute you Allie for you to accept this fantastic award. Hi everybody, can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you. Well first I just want to thank you for inviting us here and on behalf of myself and my class officers we are just so grateful to be given this award. I have a statement written here. Class of 2020 has endured a lot of emotional and physical challenges alongside the rest of the world. However, Roger Williams has provided a sense of normalcy and closure for the class of 2020. On behalf of myself and my three class officers we are humbled to accept this alumni award for the class of 2020. Thank you all so much on the bottom of our hearts. We are so proud to be a part of this community. Here we go Hawks. Thank you Allie. And we'll be reaching out to you because we want to bring you in the fold on the other side. So be ready, okay? So next we have the class of 2021 officers joining us virtually is President Katie Long and also being honored our Vice President Judith Sufford, Vice President Mia Betancourt, Secretary Elena Bibbo and Treasurer Ben Manning and if I butchered your names my apologies. But these officers, Katie, Judith, Mia, Elena and Ben kept their chins held high despite having numerous events canceled and a senior year challenged by the pandemic. Instead of giving up, again, this group took the lead to provide a sense of normalcy as best as possible for their class while adapting to the change on campus life. There was plenty of uncertainty around this type of event planning whether we could be virtual or whether it would be in person. Each event had to have a plan A, B, C, D. I'm going to say X, Y and Z as well. These leaders made time to get in touch with members of their class and they cared for their classmates' experiences and they wanted to make sure that they were a resource to them. They held meetings and conversations with others to include as many people as possible in the decision making process which, again, is a lifelong skill that you will take forever with you and it matters, so that's good. They held meetings and conversations with others to include as many as possible in the decision making process including meetings in the rec center to be safe and distance. They went above and beyond creating new traditions and events which is always a great thing, especially providing a memorable stake in Yale and senior barbecue to make sure that their class felt a sense of community prior to graduation. Katie, Mia, Judith, Ben and Elena you have provided commitment, reliability, professionalism and enthusiasm in and outside of the classroom throughout this past year. You have served as class officers and in some cases almost your entire Roger Williams career. And you have shown the class of 2021 that you went above and beyond of what was expected as a class and class leaders. You have advocated for your class, you brought the community together and we are proud to see you all across the stage during the May grad walk. You have exemplified what it means to be a leader through extraordinary times while excelling in your academics, your co-curricular involvement, your internships and other employment and exhibited the Roger Williams University spirit that so many of the alums here fondly remember. You honed amazing qualities that will serve you in the next chapter of your life. Roger Williams has become a better place because of what you have accomplished and we welcome you on the other side to the alumni community. So I am really honored to present the first Roger Williams Hawke Award to Katie, Judith, Mia, Elena and Ben on behalf of the Roger Williams Alumni Association. Again, let's give them a great applause. Katie is on Zoom and we will unmute you and we look forward to hearing your words. Hello, everyone. Can you hear me? Yes. I would just like to start by saying thank you on behalf of myself and my fellow class officers. It is an honor to accept this award and have our work and campus engagement be recognized. After four years of being involved with student life, I look back at the friends, experiences and achievements that it has awarded me with fondness and I'm leaving Roger Williams with relationships and connections that will serve me throughout a lifetime. I owe my fellow class officers, Mia, Judith, Basha and Ben a thank you as well without their passion, dedication and perseverance, none of our work would have come to fruition. As we leave Roger Williams and become alumni, I look forward to the future and I'm so grateful for the last four years that Roger Williams has given me. As my cabinet member, Ben Manning always says, it's a great day to be a Hawke. Thank you, Katie. And I'll add this to the class of 2020 and 2021. You guys really did crush it and so I want you to know the other side, we got you. When you come to the alumni side, we got you. And we're going to get you involved and take your spirit and your energy and we're going to make sure that you have the best frigging experience possible because you deserve it, you've earned it. So congratulations to you guys.  Apologies. This is the Roger Williams Spirit Award. A recipient of this award is an alum with a positive and spirited relation with the university. Someone who has led and participated in reunion activities over the year and encouraged classmates to engage with the school during the reunion year. Recipients promote goodwill to other alums and foster friendship and camaraderie in the Roger Williams community. This inaugural award will go to the reunion chairs for the class of 2016, Jim Kelly, and class of 2015, Jamie Warner and Mac Doyle. We are celebrating two fifth year reunions this year. Well, because COVID, both classes are led by dynamic leaders ready to jump in and create excitement and community for their classmates. Jim Kelly is unable to be here today and he'll accept his award at a Boston reunion later in the summer. For the class today, in person, we have Jamie Warner and Mac Doyle. Who are you guys? Hey. So Jamie and Mac are the reunion co-chairs for the class of 2015 fifth year reunion. They have dedicated hours, stand up guys, they have dedicated hours to bringing classmates back together. And I am so happy to see their friends here today celebrating together as the class and the most attendees for the weekend. Awesome. The original fifth year reunion was set for 2020. And when the global public health crisis hit all of us, everything, the dates were canceled. But Jamie and Mac were determined to have their fifth year, which I think is really cool. So thank you. And they made it happen by keeping in close contact with their classmates about the changing plans, texting friends, regular calls with the alumni office and keeping the communications open for all involved. It would not have been possible without Jamie and Mac's commitment to the weekend. Jamie has been nicknamed the university mayor. They give you something for that? They better. The university mayor by friends because she engaged in conversations with, promotes Roger Williams everywhere and instills an excitement among peers to get involved. Jamie is a proud RWU alum, continuing a legacy within the family. Dad Skip Warner, class of 1980. The RWU spirit is strong and Jamie loves getting others to join. Mac is a positive and loyal RWU ambassador, always more than willing to do what is needed and always with a smile. Carrying for experience of his classmates more than his own and always made decisions with all in mind. Jamie's publicist experience and Mac's marketing and events experience together definitely helped as they crafted messages to their class. Through text messages, social posts and advice on reaching peers. It has been a pleasure for all of us to continue to work with you guys through the years and going forward future years. The partnership between the alumni office and reunion co-chairs is vital to the success of the reunion bringing alumni back together in the community. Community is a word of the weekend because we are lifelong relationships supporting each other and fellow Hawks along the way. Jamie and Mac exemplify the RWU spirit with a genuine desire to connect alumni, gather in community and celebrate accomplishments of the alumni network. Their energy and ideas are unmatched and their friendship makes a phenomenal team, which that's really cool too. When alumni have the excitement and influence to bring others to join together and remember the special bond here at Roger Williams that they shared with their group, it's a special thing. Jamie and Mac embody the RWU spirit and serve as enthusiastic and loyal ambassadors. They represent the RWU alumni community so well and it is my honor to present the Roger Williams spirit award to Jamie Warner and Mac Doyle class of 2025 on behalf of the Alumni Association. I just want to thank everyone from the Alumni Association and the University for having us back at campus. You graduate from Roger Williams with an education to chase your passions in your career, but when you come back to a weekend like this, it's not about that. It's about the relationships, it's about the friendships, it's about the people you've met along your journey and along your way. We're young in our journey and we're continuing on. It's been phenomenal to reconnect with over 50 of our friends in person. We're hoping to continue to do it. We want to thank everybody for having us and we look forward to a wonderful evening tonight and a wonderful weekend. Thank you. Well, it's kind of hard to beat that, but honestly, being a second generation of Roger Williams alumni, I can officially, now everybody can tell my father that I have beat him because he has not received an award yet from the university. But no, seriously, it's kind of amazing when you talk to a lot of friends from other universities, they don't have the true spirit. It's a school that they just went to, right? They don't have a full lifelong connection to it and so for us to be able to be a part of it and to get everyone together is really awesome and thank you for giving us this award. Thank you. And I'm now going to pass off the speaking portion of this to Teresa, who is my co-vice president on the alumni board. Hello, my name is Teresa Gonia, class of 2013. Thank you all for being here today. It's my honor to introduce this year's Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient and as a fellow person who received this award, I would just like to say you're in great company, so I just wanted to throw that out there. The Young Alumni Achievement Award recognizes a recent graduate for significant short term accomplishments who in their first 10 years since graduation has made outstanding contributions to their chosen profession and has rendered distinguished service to the public welfare, thus honoring Roger Williams University and the Alumni Association. This year's award goes to Dr. Omar Baugh, a Roger Williams graduate with a certificate in community development and a master's in public administration in 2014. Omar is the founder and executive director of the Refugee Dream Center in Providence. The center combines advocacy with direct services for 2,200 refugees to meet their English language, health promotion, youth mentoring and case management needs. The center works with the refugee population after their arrival to target specific gaps and helps to ensure a smoother process to getting on their feet in a new country and learning a new culture. Omar and staff have been working to serve the community daily throughout the pandemic to ensure the needs are met despite the difficult times. Omar connects with each person walking through the door and understands they need someone in their corner to succeed. His own experience as a journalist who was exiled from his home country of Gambia in West Africa for writing stories about the brutal dictator surviving torture and landing in Rhode Island in 2007, a mere three years before first appearing as a Roger Williams student is admirable and illustrates the bravery and drive of our awardee today. The First Amendment freedom of the press right is something not taken for granted by Omar as he experienced near death in Gambia for putting truthful words on paper. Omar's passion for refugee rights is personal and we are lucky to call him one of ours as he continues the hard work to create a safe space and educational experience for refugees coming through the center's doors. His experience and willingness to partner with the state and the city of Providence which is where I work so I can attest to his contributions to improve the lives of refugees has not gone unnoticed. As he was asked to join the Global Advisory Board of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. In addition to being the founding representative for the state of Rhode Island at the Refugee Congress in DC, Omar's voice is an important and impactful tool benefiting the people of Rhode Island and beyond. And it should come as no surprise to you that his work has been recognized by many including the Red Bandana Fund whose award honors those who work tirelessly and selflessly with so little recognition on behalf of those who need it most. The words tirelessly and selflessly perfectly summarize how Omar goes about his work and the name of others. Bernard Georges, a fellow Roger Williams alum, graduating with his BA in 2011 in his Master's Degree in Public Administration in 2015, serves as Board Chair for the Refugee Dream Center and Founder and Executive Director of New Bridges for Haitian Success also in Providence, shared with us the following. As a graduate of Roger Williams University, I am very proud of my education and past experiences. I congratulate Dr. Omar Baugh for being recognized as an outstanding leader in our great state Rhode Island. New Bridges for Haitian Success and Refugee Dream Center work closely with incoming immigrant communities and refugees. Our work notoriety for ethics and community outreach continue to grow. Mr. Baugh has dedicated his entire life to help the refugee community. He is a refugee survivor of torture who knows of the realities, realities that are delicate, intricate, and not simply stories of sensation or academic. Omar tackles these issues with a diversity of voices, perspectives, and opinions around the table as he works with legislators to craft state policies impacting Rhode Island's refugee population. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Roger Williams University for acknowledging his great work. Thank you, Bernard, who is joining us today in the back, along with Omar's family and friends, especially his children, to celebrate the incredible work of Dr. Baugh, who in his own words was quoted as saying, I want to be an example for other refugees, despite all the challenges and opportunities that are here. Refugees can do it. I will add that he's not only an example for refugees, but to all Roger Williams alumni of the power of one to impact change in the community and the world. And as a point of personal privilege, as a daughter of immigrants who grew up in a majority minority community of Central Falls, what a privilege it is to meet someone who advocates for those who need it every single day. It is my great honor to present the 2021 Young Alumni Achievement Award to Dr. Omar Baugh on behalf of the Roger Williams Alumni Association. Congratulations. Well, I know Roger Williams did call Bernard, but I did not know they were making this secret, very embarrassing statement about me, but I'm grateful. You know, one of my sing songs is that of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. I'm sure many people know him, know her, and she says, there's no joy like the joy in unleashing the human spirit. There's no laughter like the laughter of those who are happy with others. And there's no purpose, no blood, and to build communities of acceptance for all. And I happen to be somebody from two worlds, from the Gambia in West Africa, by the way, the smallest country in Africa on the mainland. And here we are in the smallest state in America. So my story starts with there in Gambia, the challenges that people experience there. So in unleashing the human spirit is what led me to the journey of journalism, wanting to make a difference. It was inspired mostly by women, especially, particularly my mother. She was a woman in the village in Gambia, struggling, suffering domestic violence, fetching water for more than 20 people, doing laundry for them, struggling, taking care of eight children. And I wanted to make a difference. The closest thing to an ambulance was a donkey car, and we had to go five miles to 10 miles to get something that looks like healthcare. So when I grew up, I wanted to be a journalist to make a difference because we had a very serious dictatorship. The dictator was killing people, imprisoning people, extreme levels of poverty. Everybody lived in less than a dollar a day. So I wanted to be a reporter so that I would highlight the stories, so that there would be a difference. People would have a voice, and that's why I became a journalist. But that cost me a lot. As Teresa indicated, I was arrested and tortured at the military barracks, and eventually, after so many years of struggle with military dictatorship, I ended up being declared a wanted person for writing about the dictator. Luckily for me, I escaped, went to Senegal, then Ghana, recorded a long story short. I ended up in Rhode Island. And fortunately for me, why are they taking me to the smallest places? You know, I ended up in Rhode Island, and I knew the name just a day before my arrival. Just one day, you know, the case manager who was working with the State Department in Ghana said, oh, you're going to Providence. I thought, actually, it is some sort of a church group because of Providence. They said, no, it's not a church. It's the capital city of Rhode Island. I said, OK, this is going to be a problem. I'm going to America, or I'm going to an island. They said, no, no, you're going to America. But the moment I arrived in America, the moment I stepped foot in America, the units cannot describe a dictum of making others happy is what happened to me. I got the laughter that made me happy. I found Roger Williams along the way. You know, a new refugee here. I had only a green card and mostly an I-94, a small card that looks very insignificant, an I-94. You took it to places. They said, oh, that's nothing. You need a green card. And Roger Williams believed in me. They gave me the academic opportunity to build the fortitude I needed in order to do the work I wanted to do. Of course, I was new here. I didn't want to be a journalist anymore. I didn't want to do that anymore. I wanted to do something else. But I wanted to do something similar to what inspired me to be a journalist in the first place. Then I found the refugee community. I was the only refugee from Gambia, by the way. It's a small country. They're mostly in Atlanta and other places, the warmer places. So I was here with a lot of refugees from Iraq then, from Afghanistan, Liberia, Rwanda, from people fleeing the genocide. And eventually I found community around them. I found home. I wanted to be around individuals like that. So I wanted to study public administration. Roger Williams was the best place to come to study. He had amazing people. I met along the way, Dr. Hall, you know, President Faris, the late President Faris. He was an amazing supporter of my work and the refugee community. But finally, the purpose of building noble communities of support for all is what eventually landed me in working for refugees. I met a young woman who is a single woman from Rwanda. Her husband was arrested along the way and tortured and taken to prison. She came with two kids who did not have anything to do. She has no jobs. She couldn't speak English. These kids needed work. So the work we did with her at the Refugee Dream Center to get this young lady situated and established and integrated into American society is what motivates me. I want to make a difference in the lives of people like that. I met a young lady whose mom I only knew. I knew the mom. I never met the lady. She was struggling in school in California. And the mom contacted me. She has to go to school or go back to Africa because she's going through challenges. I contacted the school here. President Faris was not here. But some people knew me. They knew that I want to bring a family, a whole village to Roger Williams. They accepted her with a scholarship of $18,000. She graduated recently. And actually I saw Megan when I came to the graduate and said, I didn't know you have somebody here. I said, I'm bringing a village here. Last year I had the opportunity to apply for two of the youth I mentor for. I mentor at the Refugee Dream Center. There's this big scholarship at Rhode Island Foundation called the Roger Williams Scholarship. It's named after the same fellow. And these kids were awarded $80,000 to go to school for four years. And the two of them chose this place. They chose Roger Williams University. They're currently here. So one graduated, two are here. And believe me, a whole village is coming. And the village means the world. The name of this building is the Global Heritage Society. We'll bring you in here. The whole world. Because at the Refugee Dream Center we work with refugees from all over the world. We work with people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, everywhere. In Africa, people from Congo. Actually the smallest population is people from the Gambia. They happen to be like the nucleus of everything surrounding around refugees. So on behalf of every refugee, on behalf of every Gambian, by the way, because I'm always proud of the Gambia. It's what motivated me to want to do what I'm doing. Of everybody working with me at the Refugee Dream Center, the population we serve, of every alumni, my family, my wife, my two kids. This award is for you. It's for me and for you. I dedicate it to you all. Thank you. Thank you Omar. Congratulations again. That's what it's all about. That was very moving. I am going to be presenting the Distinguished Alumn of the Year. This award recognizes a graduate with more than 10 years of experience for significant long-term success in personal and professional achievements who has made outstanding contributions to their profession and has rendered distinguished service to the public welfare. Thus honoring Roger Williams and the Alumni Association. This year's award goes to Sharon Costelli, a Roger Williams graduate earning a degree in psychology in 1986. In addition to three master's degrees in social work, urban studies, and counseling and psychological services following her Roger Williams days. Sharon is the Chief Executive Officer for Chrysalis Center Housing Development Corporation, Chrysalis Center Real Estate Corporation, and Chrysalis Center. The Housing Development Corporation develops affordable and supportive housing throughout the state of Connecticut, including rehabilitation, historic preservation, and new construction. The real estate arm is a nonprofit real estate holding corporation with over 35 million of assets while the Chrysalis Center is a socially innovative multi-service nonprofit organization with over $12 million of operations that assists over 1,500 individuals and families each year in transforming their lives through employment, housing, food security, and other community-based services. Persons received are those living in or with extreme poverty, mental illness, HIV, AIDS, substance use, and or leaving incarceration or homelessness. Chrysalis is the largest supportive housing provider in the state of Connecticut and the largest provider of services to homeless veterans. During the COVID pandemic, they remained open daily to support and serve the residents in need. A common bond shared with Omar of selfless service to others. Sharon's career has been full of awards through the years, recognizing the dedication and compassion given to her clients as they face hard obstacles to get back onto their feet. Two awards stood out to me. The 2018 Barbara Geller Lifetime Career Achievement Award, recognizing individuals who work tirelessly throughout their lifetime and stand above the crowd over decades of truly extraordinary work towards ending and preventing homelessness in Connecticut. And the Woman of Fire Award, honoring outstanding women who are groundbreakers, innovators, leaders, and visionaries. I can't think of a better description than a Woman of Fire to describe Sharon's trailblazing career. She is passionate about her work and an innovator having created the idea of building the Urban Roots Hydroponic Growing Center, which produces a variety of lettuces and microgreens year-round to support the food share and culinary programs at Chrysalis. Sharon attended a hydroponics conference to learn how to launch the on-site farm herself. Her same fiery spirit was seen back in her student days at Roger Williams as the first female athlete to finish her career with 12 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball, and softball. She helped the volleyball team win the 1984 ECAC Division III Championship and achieve its first-ever national ranking, standing at 15th in the nation. Her accomplishments on the basketball court were just as impressive holding the school record for most assists in a season at 173 and tied for fifth all-time for career assists. She was a member of the inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class in 2012. Sharon's dear friend and classmate, Mary Chase, shares. Congratulations, Sharon. I am not surprised that you would receive this recognition. As captain of our basketball team, you showed great leadership and took us all under your wing, then and now. You have shown that personality in your profession as well. As CEO of Chrysalis, you show that desire to help those in need, that warm heart has paid off both professionally and socially. It's no secret that Sharon's respect and care for her clients is not only seen by all, but is felt by the people she's helping daily, and her belief in their future is what pushes them to try for themselves. She has changed countless lives by sometimes being the only person of hope and positivity in her client's world. As Sharon says herself, we must remember to always do the right thing, not the easy thing. It is my great honor to present the 2021 Distinguished Alumn of the Year Award to Sharon Costelli on behalf of the Roger Williams Alumni Association. Congratulations. Sharon is unable to be here in person today and sends her regrets and sincere appreciation for the award, but she has recorded a message for us, which we will play right now. Hi, I'm Sharon Costelli, Roger Williams class of 1986. I graduated with a bachelor's in psychology and a minor in social work and education. I was also the first male or female athlete to earn 12 varsity letters during my four years at Roger Williams playing volleyball, basketball, and softball. Today, I'm the CEO of a nonprofit organization called Chrysalis Center. I'm also the CEO of two other nonprofit organizations. One is the Chrysalis Center Real Estate Corporation, which is a holding corporation for housing. And I also am the CEO of Chrysalis Center Housing Development Corporation, where I develop supportive and affordable housing throughout the state of Connecticut. Chrysalis Center is a multi-service nonprofit where we serve individuals that are living in severe poverty, those that are food insecure, individuals and families living with mental health, substance abuse, HIV, and those returning from incarceration and homelessness. We provide case management, employment, recovery services. We have a fresh food pantry, and we serve about 1,500 people a year. During the pandemic was truly a challenge to my leadership, certainly the most difficult thing I've ever gone through. And having been both a coach for many years, as well as teaching at a college level, as well as an elementary level in years past, I think that Roger Williams really gave me the foundation, the leadership to support my employees. We have over 100 employees and about 1,500 plus clients. And, you know, trying to keep everybody safe during that time when we really didn't even know what this pandemic was. I'm really proud to say that we had minimal impact in the workplace. We were considered essential, so we came in every day to provide support to our client base. And so this award is especially important to me because having gone through the past year and the anxieties of keeping people safe while providing services was a very difficult one. It was definitely the most challenging for me. So I just want to thank the committee for honoring me with a distinguished alumni award. I not only appreciate this, but it's a powerful reminder of the impact that Roger Williams can have on your life. The foundation that you get there really can help you not only lead through difficult times, but I think also is the foundation to critically think and to make sure that as you grow through life that those foundations are there as you aspire into new opportunities and lead through difficult times. So thank you again for this very distinguished award. Not only do I greatly appreciate it, I just want to say that once a hawk, always a hawk. I just want to congratulate again all of our honorees and thank you for all of our honorees that were here in person and via video. And thank you all for attending and joining together as a community to celebrate our alumni accomplishments. This is why reunion matters, to be together to reconnect with classmates and faculty and staff, celebrating our classmates' success and to hear about our institution's future because we're all a part of it as alumni. And for our alumni in the room, I hope you will re-engage with the Alumni Association and Alumni Community. You know, we talked a little bit about the themes of mentorship today. That's what it's all about. It's about leveraging the resources among our alumni community. I hope you take a student under your wing, take another alum under your wing and be there and be supportive. That's what it's all about. And I hope we see you this summer. We'll be touring across country, holding different receptions and having many reunions for reunion alumni and non-reunion alumni. So check out the website. We'll be there. Hope you'll be there. And again, attending events like this and re-engaging and meeting each other and keeping that pride alive. For those joining us at dinner, it might already be 6 o'clock, but it's 6 o'clock in the upper commons. I hope you will join us. I believe it's a tour of Rhode Island, so I will be there. And that's a wrap. So thank you for being here.


think tech away civil engagement lives here it is a noon hour in Honolulu folks and rossin here with our think tech studio show where the drone leads and by amazing circumstances we have online with us all the way from Washington DC mr. brian win who is the president and CEO of a uvsi a little bit hard to pronounce but a lot to remember the association for unmanned vehicle systems international big operation anyway brian you're here with us again thanks for coming on last year near before we were just talking before the show began about the kind of the role that the conferences play in pulling together people who are people and ideas and things in academia and and the fabrication companies that are dealing with the emerging domain of unmanned earth systems and you sit on top of that brand running exponential the largest of these drone related uas related conferences in the in the world frankly and you just came off the last one and you're heading for the next one so in the middle of all this you got to keep your eye on the ball of all these new developments that are happening and new trends and somehow pull those strings together into an annual conference how does that go brian well first off Ted thanks for the invitation it's great to be back and and as you can see I've worn my Hawaiian my Hawaiian garb I'll not turn around and show you the rooster that I've got because I'm a year out of date but bought this shirt I think about two years ago now because we're getting ready for Robot X in Honolulu our foundation I should say Robo Nation is getting ready and Darrell Anderson who Darrell Davidson excuse me who runs that organization and used to run a VSI is pressing me to come with to be out there so always looking for an opportunity and thanks for bringing up Exponential it's a great show it's used to call the unmanned systems we changed the name of it in 2015 to Exponential that seemed to be the word that captured what's going on in our community the best and you're right the planning for that event is essentially perpetual we've been working on our event for in Chicago which will be the next venue in May late April early May of 2019 for about two years now and already started working on the event that starts after that in Boston and and somewhere in there through the magic of people collaborating with one another we end up with some very very timely presentations and I like to think we we have the best platform for folks coming together that need to collaborate with one another so in general terms when you say I sit at the top of it that means I'm really a good host I like to say I'm hosting 8,000 of my closest friends which is about where the attendance stands at this point but it's getting bigger every year and I would say the number of people kinds of people that are coming to the event are getting more diverse that's a good thing given all the work that needs to be done and the the talent that we need to draw from to get it done you know and mentioning that the issue of the talent and such and the direction things are going all people that I interviewed who had been at the last event were struck by the emergence of standards and best practices and this type of semi-regulation if you will that's starting to percolate the domain of business and and academia and that's just one example of the kind of new theme that's coming into the into the business but there must be other themes as well for example I just got a note this morning from Honolulu fire department very proud of their COA they've arrived at and very proud of their first use of UAS in public safety we've got a lot of work going on down at the volcano in Kilauea where UAS have been essential so as these new themes come together the conference has to sort of somehow grab them and embrace them and and allow a vector to form around that around those these new dimensions so keeping it all current and and dealing with how fast things change but certainly must be an interesting challenge for you. It's one that we welcome and the way I think about public safety is actually a really good example of a community that is embracing on that systems what if we're just talking about the airside but not just and whether it's for search and rescue whether it's for on-site so you've got all the different folks in law enforcement you've got the fire fighters you got wild and fire prevention and and fighting and and there's there's search and rescue etc. We did the way we use our platform as we invite communities like that to come in they they use it to share information about best practices some of those things ultimately will become standards and I'll come back to that just a quick second but I think the power of what it is that we're able to do on a platform like that because remember it's only four days out of a year and we work you know the year-round is we can get these different communities talking to each other and learning from one another public safety is such a broad category of course and and I think you know those guys interestingly have been learning also from the defense side which I know you're connected to as well they're in some ways using best practices from some of the early adopters of this technology and and that's really gratifying to see when those communities start talking to one another and they can kind of give each other a leg up so we we actually put an entire it wasn't just a track of public safety we actually had a separate event that we did in conjunction with the national chapter the national capital sorry I'm gonna not quite get this exactly right but it was public safety UAS basically and and we did do a separate track that we also had separate events where so folks could come in and work with one another so that but that goes on all the time or not just exponential isn't the only event that we run we also saw that quite significantly at another event that we have been building over time and that's on man systems defense protection security there seems to be those communities the defense community the public safety community and and those that are interested in and for example mitigation of potential bad drones etc so counter UAS we've been getting those folks together on yet another platform that that occurs here in the Washington DC area so there's a lot to different ways that we do that and and frankly it's one of us gratifying things about the Association businesses seeing people come together and and helping on another and and creating shortcuts so that one community can get up to speed faster now that's a really great approach to putting it all together and I'll tell you as a as a attendee of several exponentials and even before it was called exponential I can I can tell you that it is a almost an overwhelming experience or especially for first-timers because you're not quite sure which direction to go and there's stuff everywhere it's all attractive it all something you want to pay attention to and and yet there's also side conferences going on at the same time side meetings so it's a it's a it's a challenge to the to the user to get as much out of it as they possibly can and when you're done you say my God there's I did one out of ten things I had anticipated doing but one thing I would like to to suggest or maybe discuss is another factor that's coming around is sort of standardization and legislation or or good best practices in legislation I know I work with our legislature here and I know other people do Charles Warner does and others involved in and getting a good set of rules that permit and control UAS is an important thing to a lot of our legislative people the trouble is they don't have much time to study anything they've got to give it have it given to them kind of packaged and if it references Pennsylvania and Arizona and something else that all looks good it goes much better what is that something reasonable to to have any in the in the conference a continuing visit of where effective legislation is it can be discussed you know I think we do cover some of that in our policy tracks but the you raise an interesting point because I think we have increasingly been working at in state legislatures directly as you know we have very good chapters around the country and a couple places outside the country for our chapters in the US many of them have been our boots on the ground if you will in educating legislators about what a great opportunity this is how it can be a great benefit to both jobs as well as a variety of other things that are important to them in their state and and so I think how do we bring that together so we've been talking about that in our our chapter council we have our chapter presidents council and that group has gotten very sophisticated over time is now being twice a year once a year it meets that exponential and we're going to host it during our our hill day which is coming up in September on 26 here in Washington DC so increasingly we are looking for where the opportunity where we can provide those best practices and of course that merges into the conversation about if we're talking about the airside what's the role of state and local and tribal authorities in in helping to develop a framework that and the tools that we can only use because most of the flying for small uas courses local flying so that's been a very robust conversation as you know not always a happy one because we don't really have too many ways of of attacking that but now we do and that's the the integrated pilot project that are going on and and I think you know we'll be hearing a lot more about that over time so I've been of course supporting that from the beginning and as a member of both the DAC drone advisory committee and the Mac the management advisory council for the administrator we've really been emphasizing how important we think that is that's really cool and then the IPP is really a good example of where these things all come together the best practices and the the rules can be tested in that IPP environment we are part of Alaska in their IPP solicitation and we've made an independent one as Hawaii didn't get didn't get selected on the first round but we did incredibly get a call from the FAA saying you didn't get selected but guess what we're here to help so if there's a way you want to apply some of these IPP concepts going forward let's work together and actually our example our experience over at Kilauea and the volcano is leading in the direction of of trying to find a way to air boss our way in through a system that respects everyone respects the manned aviation that's in the area respects the need of the new services to get in and get information that the isn't necessarily available otherwise and also there's got to be a place where the where the experimentation people can play so we really haven't achieved that but I think following under an IPP like structured thinking would let us at least consider what what might be an appropriate way to go forward but it once again like we were saying it to be earlier on standards are coming ADSV is coming there are just a no end of things that are happening coming forward and and and we trust you to keep your eye on all that stuff and get and package it in such a way that it's easy for us to access access through the through the conferences so but let's get back to the standard thing in a minute we'll take a break here for about a minute and then get back and talk about how the whole standards world is moving forward I'm Ethan Allen host on think tech Hawaii of Pacific partnerships in education every other Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. I hope you'll join us as we explore the value the accomplishments and the challenges of education here in the Pacific Islands I'm Jay Fidel think tech think tech loves energy I'm the host of Mina Marco and me which is Mina marita former chair of the PUC former legislator and energy dynamics a consulting organization in energy Marco Mangostorf is the CEO of provision solar in Hilo every two weeks we talk about energy everything about energy come around and watch us we're on at noon on Mondays every two weeks on think tech Aloha I'm Yukari Kunisue I'm your host of new Japanese language show on think tech Hawaii called Konnichiwa Hawaii broadcasting live every other Monday at 2 p.m. please join us where we discuss important and useful information for the Japanese language community in Hawaii the show will be all in Japanese hope you can join us every other Monday at 2 p.m. Aloha still the noon hour folks Ted Rawson here on Honolulu and Brian Wynn in Washington DC Brian joining us on the where the drone leads speaking from the very top of the business and the profession of drone ism as chair as president and CEO of AUV SI Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International we had a robust discussion about how exciting the exponential conferences are that Brian's organization puts on bringing this all together and bringing information to the folks who are looking for it but we're talking a little bit about standards and again one of my guys who is at the conference this year was struck by the by the strong emergence of standards and best practices throughout the conference and he heard that mentioned and saw it in discussion items so talk about what your perspective is Brian of the emerging and sort of coalescing standards that are going to be driving this what do we call it the self-regulated industry well we hope it's self-regulated increasingly I think it it's it's very interesting to me as an aviator that how much of what goes on in aviation is well beyond the regulatory environment it's driven by just safety considerations good practice best practices and safety and so forth so you've got all kinds of certification programs that that that go forward and then insurance starts to have their own requirements that they kind of layer on as best practices become more obvious and we're trying to do the same thing essentially in the world of drones we're basically saying hey give us the basic framework please FAA give us the kind of safety considerations that you think are critical and then let us as an industry go forward and meet those performance requirements with best practices and allow us to incorporate advanced technologies as they become available because that's the tricky part I mean this industry is moving so fast the technology is advancing so quickly that will get better and better at this and if we try to be too if the FAA is too too prescriptive then we're probably going to fall behind they will certainly fall further behind I would argue they're already behind but let me give one good example of how the community has come together you mentioned the ASTM I know F-38 has been working on on you know what kinds of requirements should there be out there for pilots of course in the man community we have these things you know the books that say you know if you want to be a commercial pilot here are the standards that you need to meet we don't have those things for the unmanned systems community and so we've kind of taken it upon ourselves in AUVSI to get together the folks that are doing that training or putting together those standards to see if we can get everybody into alignment and what we're calling the trusted operator program and there's more on the AVSI.org website about the trusted operating program which is about to actually roll out into the marketplace and it's not to supplant anything that's out there it's actually meant to bring things together so that those that are putting the other training programs whether it is in the public safety community as we were talking about before or in the utility community or in the oil and gas industry or some of the scientific communities they've got something that can reach for and when they their pilots are trained to that level or they go through training programs that are at that that are basically recognized under the trusted operator program the market will be able to recognize that it's not meant to supplant the FAA it's meant to take control in an area where the community can help itself and raise the levels of professionalism and that we all need in order to actually get this technology and its applications to the mainstream. You know education is the underlying term in what you just went through and an education vector or theme at the conference at exponential would be a really interesting and attractive element to participate in. Just a couple of examples here we found that at the University we have an obligation to our community colleges and the University itself to provide some form of education to people who bought UAS and don't quite know how to take them out of the box yet so we've got a we ran a couple of boot camps that are basically about that how do you take it out of the box what do you do next. Sometimes these things I guess are intimidating and so it stays in a box when they buy it but we've found that to be a necessary element of the education. Another piece that was incredible was the FAA here, our good friends at the FISDO would like very much to be able to reach out to the communities that are around the Bravo airspace and Delta airspace in the airports thinking that the schools in those areas are where the people are who are going to be operating drones in that area so why not have a connection between the local FAA the Tower will say and the local community collected at the school you get the teachers the kids the parents the siblings and start passing the word and lo and behold we actually had one of those events a couple of months ago and 200 people showed up FAA was part of it from the tower and they found a means to connect directly with the community that's using their airspace and the community got to see live living human beings called the FAA which is something you don't often see so we're going to continue that in fact on this show the next time we have the show we're going to be talking about sharing the airspace with the tour helicopter people and FAA would will be part of that so anyway education in all forms seems to be and something that is not even achievable there's so much education required we and one of our one of my peers Josh Levy is leading that activity for the University but we'll look for every opportunity we can to steal from anybody who's got bright educational ideas and this trusted operator concept that you brought up sounds like a great one to bring into our own programs so is there a way that we as a university can somehow link in with that yeah absolutely and before we I can't let it go by so gratifying what it is that you just described having people interact with each other you know it's so gratifying to see that happen the trusted operator program actually came out of a series of meetings I want to say listening tour that I did with Michael Wilbur our membership manager where I think we were in ultimately in about 12 different places I might have participated in missed one of those meetings but I was in as many of them as possible we always had someone there from the FAA I called him the bravest guy working for the FAA because he came out to meet the remote pilots and in some instances you know got some feedback that well you know typical feedback that the FAA is probably used to from us man flyers as well so but he was really great about welcoming that feedback he's a member of the fast team FAA safety team and so we're looking at how this program fits into wings and so forth and so on we're trying to leverage the best practices that are already out there for manned aviation and the structures that are there as well but to your point I know that your university probably does a great job doing the education the question is is it benefiting from what's happening in other places as well so it's kind of how we get the top the bottom up that you just described and I participated saw some of those connections being made in a number of different locations with the top down where people are working together to get the into alignment what we like to call the protocols of safety at different levels so that the marketplace has the ability to test the veracity when you say hey I'm one of the best flyers out there I went to this fantastic cracker jack training program I probably utility guy and you're gonna fly near my substation I want to make sure you're not gonna crash and not get my grid give me something that allows me to test the veracity of what you're saying that's kind of the top down approach but when I say top down I think we had a hundred and seventy odd maybe a hundred eighty people who are in the training business in the certification business in the from the flight safety arena come together to put these protocols together and we leveraged the standards that were already being worked on so that manual is going to be coming out it will be available to you and others and we hope that mark will become recognized so that the marketplace in general will be able to say okay I see that you've been trained to those kinds of levels and protocols I can trust you to fly around my oil platform or fly around my utility grid or whatever that's an essentially critical element of this whole activity is getting that kind of standardization in awareness education and and information because I think of all the certifications you can take in the FAA unmanned remote pilot the 107 is the only one that doesn't have practical experience associated with it since you don't have the practical experience since you don't have to do flight testing or even you take any classes you don't have that that social transfer of information that comes from people who operate and you can sort out things on your own you have this book learning you did and you passed an hours test but it slips away pretty quickly and it doesn't have practical application until you put something together like you've done so we are looking forward to jumping in on that we've worked with AOPA and AMA also who have both forms of educational at all three together would probably be the the best mix here so we're nearing the end of our time here but we first run out of time before we run out of subjects to talk about in this game but education and standard practices including legislation those are would be really it to me really important elements of going going forward in the future in the conferences and looking forward to participating in that sort of thing but the standards what other standards do you see coming are we going to see standards in in radio communication and in spectrum and in in other technical aspects materials how do you see it unfolding let's use radio I sorry remote identification which you brought up a little bit earlier as a good example of this now we we all agree that anonymous flying is making folks nervous we've had security agencies weigh in at the federal level slow down efforts to get flight over people for example so the industry came together in an arc aviation rulemaking committee provided feedback to the FA on how we would do remote identification in the end this is a class one of those classic examples of something that we need to do and we need to do it in a way that's performance-based because the way we will do it will get better over time and we also need to leave room for multiple solutions here rather than being prescriptive and saying everybody needs to use this particular approach so but I think in there is is the kind of give and take that we're looking for from the regulator a codified what it is that you need from a performance basis so that whether it's a cop on the beat or somebody who's trying to protect critical infrastructure has the ability to identify a drone and who's flying that drone and satisfy themselves that it's an authorized operation and the industry is able to comply with that using standards that it has come together and put together for purposes of that remote identification performance requirement so those are the kinds of things that are going on I would say remote identification in the regulatory environment because of what I described with flight over people is probably the most important thing that we're waiting on right now and once we've got it it's going to it's going to demand that we as an industry come up with some standards for doing it so that people who need to know who's flying a particular drone can get access to that information that people don't need to know will not be able to get access to that information we know how to do that we know how to do basic IFF technologies but in this case we need we need to promulgate that rule throughout the United States and frankly if we can figure out a way to get it done in the United States we can figure out a way to get it done in other parts of the world as well that's a really good example because it brings together personal responsibility behavior regulation technology and advancing the state of the art it all that's that's that one element the electronic identification really touches all aspects and so that's a third vector to have in the in the conference series is these innovative ways to go ahead and and protect the future but expand it and at this point in time we are absolutely have shot our 30 minute time period here and Brian Wynn president and CEO of AUVSI thank you very much for your great insight on the show and we'll see you in Boston and then see you on the show after that again well don't forget Chicago Chicago Chicago then Boston right then a little okay okay thanks so much for coming on Brian my great pleasure thank you


Hi friends, welcome back to my channel and welcome back to another nettrition.com haul. I wasn't going to do another haul but I ended up finding some really awesome new products on their website and I definitely want to share those with you because not only are they delicious but they are extremely low points and just another fabulous website to order ww friendly products. Again I am not sponsored by nettrition.com all of these items I purchased with my own money but I just wanted to share them with you because again it's a great resource to find those ww friendly items free shipping with a 99 dollar purchase so you can't beat that. So I am going to turn you around show you everything that I purchased at nettrition give you the prices and the points. So all you have to do to see this haul is stay tuned. I wanted to share with you guys my nettrition.com order. I just went ahead and placed another one nettrition is an amazing website a lot of your ww friendly low carb those types of foods are a phenomenal deal on that website so I go on there pretty regularly place an order have it delivered it is free shipping with 99 dollars. I am not sponsored by nettrition.com. I bought all of this with my own money it's just one of my favorite websites to go do to stock up on some of my favorite things. So I thought I'd show you really quick what I picked up in this nettrition.com haul and I'll give you the smart points for everything. I did find some new things so I'm super excited. So the first thing I picked up are from Rebellion these are called protein crisps in wasabi and ginger. I've actually never had these I don't know any of the points off hand because these are new to me but I'm guessing by the calories three points most likely for 24 chips but I will put them here on the screen these chips actually have 10 grams of protein sound really good wasabi ginger with honey I went ahead and picked up two bags of the protein crisps as you know I'm obsessed with the thinnables if you are a cheese it lover you will love the thinnables these are so delicious and they are only two smart points per serving so I buy these all the time off of nettrition you can also find the thinnables on my amazon store which is linked down below I always say if you don't want to spend $99 for free shipping and you just want to order a couple of things ordering them from my amazon store is a much better deal but again two smart points for 30 crackers I love these this is a new flavor jalapeno cheddar so I picked up one bag of that flavor I've actually never had it before and then I picked up four bags I know I'm a little obsessed of my very favorite thinnable flavors which is the sharp cheddar and again two points for 30 crackers look at the stats on these 12 grams of fiber 60 calories six net carbs four grams of protein per one ounce and then you can compare that to cheese it so definitely a win if you are a cracker lover I mean that's a lot of crackers for only two points this flavor is my all-time favorite this is the italian four cheese I love this they are all two points it doesn't matter what the flavor is but I really love this italian four cheese it has a little bit of that basil oregano flavor along with the cheese it's delicious so you can see that I picked up four bags so pretty sure I'm pretty good to go for a while on thinnables because I have literally seven bags I might have a problem this is another new thing for me this is the protein chips and this flavor is sea salt and vinegar again I've never bought these before but this entire bag is 120 calories 14 grams of protein here's your nutritional information so looks like there's some protein everything looks pretty clean honestly the ingredients that's another thing I love about netrition is most of their food is really healthy with good ingredients I don't know the points again they'll be on the screen but just thought that these would be nice single serve easy bags of chips to throw into my lunches or to take to work for snacks another thing I found on there that I've actually never seen I've heard about popcorners before but these are popcorners flex energy packed protein crisps in barbecue again 90 calories per serving so not bad 10 grams of protein here's your nutritional information so again good and good nutritional information good ingredients for the most part so I went ahead and picked up three bags of the flex popcorners to try again excited to have these as a snack I also needed some sweetener alternative I really do like this monk fruit it is a little bit on the expensive side I'm actually going to put all the prices to down in the description box for the items I may put them on the screen I'm not sure yet but I will give you the prices no matter what but the monk fruit is a great sweetener alternative it is zero points because there are zero calories per teaspoon and basically it's a mixture of urethra tall monk fruit extract so if you urethra tall is a good sweetener for you this is a nice one to have on hand for zero points love that it has zero glycemic index as well I also picked up the swerve I've never tried this this is the swerve brown sugar so again the truvia one has points the swerve has zero points so zero calories and again your nutritional information it has some urethra tall I don't really well fruit juice so that's not bad a natural flavor so if you're looking for a zero point brown sugar alternative there's this and then I can't remember the other one I got in my last nutrition haul um oh sukran but swerve is a lot less expensive so if you're looking for a less expensive alternative for a zero point brown sugar swerve is the way to go of course I stocked up on my all-time favorite pastas so this is the fiber gourmet pasta this is three points for two ounces so your traditional pasta is 210 calories where this is 130 19 grams of fiber versus two 23 net carbs versus 41 and again two ounces of the pasta three smart points so it is literally half of the amount of smart points of regular pasta and in my opinion the fiber gourmet tastes better my husband doesn't know the difference he literally does not know when I use fiber gourmet or regular pasta so this is something along with the thinnables that are my very very favorite things off of netrition so I also picked up two bags of a light elbows two bags of the light penny and then the box I got boxes which this is the way that it used to come so I'm not sure what they're going to but I did get two boxes of the light rotini as well so that's seven packages of pasta that my friends will last me quite a while I always grab a bag of lilies chocolate chips whenever I order off of netrition.com these are a staple in my house and the price I want to say netrition is like 20 cents more than the grocery store but I can add it to my order to reach that 99 dollar minimum for free shipping so definitely grab some lilies and last is another brand new item that I found on there these are called cocoa light multi grain pop cakes now I think these are zero points but I am going to plug it in to my calculator 16 calories zero sugar one gram of protein here's what's in these flour rice flour corn flour onion powder natural onion extract water and salt fabulous ingredients and look at how huge these are I mean these are huge look at that they're huge and I think they are zero points for one I thought how good would these be with a little bit of laughing cow cheese or you could even use them as like a base like a tostada base so I'm really excited to try these another new item I found on netrition.com so that my friends is my haul I hope that you enjoyed seeing everything that I picked up off of netrition I love love love the website I will link it down in the description box below and if you're looking for a great alternative food site that is inexpensive that gives you free shipping with ninety nine dollars definitely check out netrition.com thank you for joining me on another netrition.com haul I hope that you enjoyed seeing all of the fun new products that I found on netrition.com definitely check out their website it will be linked down in the description box below it's seriously a great resource they ship it to your doorstep you can find some of those uncommon but w w friendly foods that you can't find a lot of a lot of your local stores for me I can hardly find any of these things locally with the exception of the lilies chocolate chips so I hope that you enjoyed seeing another w w friendly haul if you're new to my channel I'd like to welcome you make sure you subscribe hit that little bell so you're notified every time I upload a new video I'd love it if you'd give this video a thumbs up comment down below let me know if you've tried netrition.com if you're gonna try the website and what do you think of all the good amazing foods that I found and I'll see you guys in the next one bye