APRIL 2024 MAGAZINE

Securing funding for startups continues to be one of the most challenging obstacles facing entrepreneurs. Even established businesses looking for growth funding often face barriers in obtaining the finances they need. When traditional funding sources fail, it might be time to look to more unique alternatives. One such option being the world of business plan competitions.

Barbara Lloyd McMichael writes about “Love Beyond Borders,” a program performed by the Seattle Men’s Chorus that is slated for March 20-21 in downtown Seattle. The theme of “Love Beyond Borders” explores Seattle’s unique place in the world as a sanctuary for LGBTQ individuals who grew up in Muslim nations. In the Middle East, assaults, executions, and honor killings of LGBTQ people are very real threats.  Michael Failla, a retired chiropractor, has been working to help LGBTQ individuals by forming an underground railway to help LGBTQ individuals to escape to safety

Totalitarian regimes often target books as a threat to their ability to maintain control over the masses. Could the Nazi book burnings of 1933 happen in America? Take a look around, libraries have already begun to ban and banish books. Books on Fire connects the dots by showing us how recent incidents involving public libraries could signal the beginning of a dangerous trend.