Financial Advisors and Business Leaders to Meet at Museum of American Finance; MDG Support Coalition Forms to Support 2015 United Nations Millennium Goals

    NEW YORK, NY, September 10, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A coalition of financial advisors and business leaders will meet on Wall Street for an event that will memorialize their intentions and show support for the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The event will take place at the Museum of American Finance, located at 48 Wall Street, New York, NY, on September 22, 2010 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. Attendance is by invitation only.

Members of the media and other business leaders interested in attending may contact event organizers Bryan Barnett, who joined AXA Advisors, LLC after spending almost two decades in the banking industry working at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor organizations, or Tina Dhar, a registered financial advisor with the NFL Player's Association and one of only 65 financial planners in the country to be selected to join Lincoln Financial Private Wealth Services (previously with Morgan Stanley for ten years).

The coalition includes Founding Members of the International Association of Financial, Sport and Celebrity Advisers (IAFSCA) and their partners, the Edison Foundation and Money XLive. The coalition has joined forces with the Calvert Foundation (the firm that created socially responsible investing), Motion Picture Corporation of America (recent producers of "Taking Chances" with Kevin Bacon), and Odell, Simms and Lynch (campaign fund raisers for a number of the nation's Presidential candidates and the $350 million dollar Statue of Liberty Campaign).

The coalition has pledged to support four important initiatives:

1. Bring 27,000 financial professionals, athletes, celebrities, entrepreneurs, governmental leaders and concerned citizens into the nation's 27,000 public schools in April 2011 for Financial Literacy Month and in November 2011 for Philanthropy Month, in an effort to raise charitable giving and improve financial literacy;
2. Create eight feature films paired with eight documentaries on the themes of the MDGs, in an effort to raise global awareness;
3. Create a series of socially responsible investments aligned with the MDGs;
4. Commission seven monuments, one on each continent, to memorialize the 2015 Millennium Goals, the first set of standards agreed upon by the world for human dignity.

The coalition has been in discussions with high ranking officials in the Chinese government, the State Department and with Millennium-focused organizations such as the UN Foundation, InterAction and Millennuium's Promise. At the September 22nd event, the coalition will sign what may become an historic document declaring their support for the four initiatives detailed above.

"We are pleased to meet with our key partners and concerned citizens who want to participate with us," says Bryan Barnett, co-host of the coalition meeting at the Museum of American Finance. Tina Dhar, co-host of the event added, "It is inspiring to see billionaires Carlos Slim, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates redirect their wealth in an effort eliminate extreme poverty. The coalition members and I wanted to do something as ordinary citizens to support one of the greatest groups of philanthropists in human history. On September 22nd we will answer their call at the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street." Barnett and Dhar, both of whom are tenured financial advisors who live and work in the New York City area, are Founding Members of the IAFSCA.

Sarano Kelley, IAFSCA Founder and the host of the VH1 financial literacy docudrama Broke and Famous, said "I am pleased to be joining Bryan, Tina and other business leaders such as Vince Shorb from Money XLive, Marie Swift of Impact Communications, former U.S. Navy Commander Lindsay Kough, Charles Fisher from Hip Hop Summit Youth Council, and a number of people including John Keegan from the Edison Innovation Foundation at this important event. I was so moved by meeting Carlos Slim and knowing that the wealthiest man in the world was waging in his words a war against poverty. We as concerned citizens, along with passionate organizations such as The Hip Hop Caucus - one of the nation's leading organizers of celebrities for social good - are committing our energy and resources to help."

ABOUT THE IAFSCA
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the IAFSCA is a cross-section of professional coaches and business advisers who serve or have a commitment to serving professional athletes and athletic associations; celebrities and celebrity communities; and financial advisers, executives and related industry groups. The mission of the IAFSCA is to bring about a high level of financial literacy across a broad cross-section of this global economy by raising a generation of international, financial role-models. The association is also involved in various media projects such as producing a VH1 docudrama that depicts the devastating impact of financial illiteracy on famous celebrities and athletes as well as a major motion picture designed to support the U.N. Goal of ending poverty by 2015. More about IAFSCA's financial literacy campaigns on PR Newswire.

ABOUT MONEY XLIVE AND THE NATIONAL YOUTH FINANCIAL EDUCATORS COUNCIL
Money XLive, founded by Vince Shorb and Chad Penry, is produced by the National Youth Financial Educators Council. Money XLive is one of the nation's largest full production financial literacy events that teach youth the value of entrepreneurship and financial responsibility in an MTV award show style environment. Top celebrities, sport stars, recording artists and other entertainers to share practical money matters with young adults. More: www.MoneyXLive.com and www.FinancialEducatorsCouncil.org.

ABOUT THE EDISON FOUNDATION
The Edison Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the benefits of electricity to families, businesses, and industries worldwide. Furthering Thomas Alva Edison's spirit of invention, the Foundation works to encourage a greater understanding of the production, delivery, and use of electric power to foster economic progress; to ensure a safe and clean environment; and to improve the quality of life for all people. More: www.edisonfoundation.net.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FINANCE
The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the nation's only public museum dedicated to finance, entrepreneurship and the open market system. With its extensive collection of financial documents and objects, its seminars and educational programming, its publication and oral history program, the Museum portrays the breadth and richness of American financial history, achievement and practices. More: www.moaf.org.

ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM GOALS
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership for development. With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on September 20-22, 2010 to accelerate progress towards the MDGs. More: www.un.org/millenniumgoals.

The MDG Monitor (www.mdgmonitor.org) shows how countries are progressing in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. "With the 2015 target date fast approaching, it is more important than ever to understand where the goals are on track, and where additional efforts and support are needed, both globally and at the country level," says the MDG Monitor website.

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