Q1 Update: BITL moves to Miami

Hi BITL Friends and Partners,

We are excited to announce a new chapter for Before It’s Too Late! In September, we moved to Miami to bridge a unique climate leadership partnership between the MIT and Miami communities. Here are ten key updates from our first three months in Miami:

1. The CLEO Institute has been our generous 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor and founding Miami partner, helping BITL get established in Miami and partnering on all our initiatives. CLEO is a leading regional nonprofit that has been driving climate literacy education and community outreach for 8 years while reaching over 330,000 people in Florida.
2. Our VR Lab launches at Miami’s new Cushman High School, teaching 9th and 10th graders how to produce and market 360 films and VR prototypes in order to spread awareness on local climate issues. The students’ VR project was featured in the “Deep See” collective exhibit at Art Miami Fair from December 5th-10th and was visited by hundreds of people.
3. Next year, we are planning several more VR exhibits, and we will be expanding our VR lab with the Miami-Dade Public Library System in order to increase access to lower income communities.
4. We launched a World Energy Simulation Game pilot to 40 students and teachers at Cushman High School on October 20th. The World Energy Game is a role playing, team negotiations and computer model simulation which explores energy and policy solutions to mitigate global warming to under 2 degrees. We are delivering a second pilot in January - February to three more high schools in Miami.
5. We have set in motion Miami Murals: Climate Awakening with a badass team of local business partners. We hosted an artist information event in Wynwood that drew over 70 passionate artists seeking to contribute to this campaign.
6. We are filing for 501c(3) status as a Florida nonprofit corporation. Meet our amazing Board of Directors.
7. BITL’s Founder, Linda Cheung, was selected as one of 12 social entrepreneurs and community organizers for Miami’s new Maven Leadership Collective. Learn all about these awesome new “mavens” and how they’re planning to shake things up in SoFlo.
8. Our VR Lab has introduced virtual reality to over 500 people (and counting) through three open houses, a “Haunted VR Lab” Halloween fundraiser event, Art Miami Fair and Linda’s general habit of bringing the VR headset to networking events. We love seeing individuals of all ages experience the magical world of VR for the first time!
9. We were the November recipient for the Awesome Foundation MIAMI grant.
10. Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation made a generous donation of $13k to BITL.

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Program Highlights:
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"Miami Rising To Fight Climate Change" 360 VR Film Series
This fall, 9th and 10th grade students in the BITL Internship elective course at Cushman High School created a 360 film series to highlight three communities - faith, vulnerable and solar business - that are already addressing climate change in South Florida. They showcased this series at the Art Miami Fair in the first week of December.
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View their videos on Youtube, and use a mobile VR headset if you have access:

• “Faith & Our Moral Obligation To Steward This Earth”
• “Climate Gentrification in Little Haiti”
• “Solar Revolution for the Sunshine State”

Introducing “Miami Murals: Climate Awakening”
We are excited to announce our bold new murals campaign to motivate over 1 Million Actions to address climate change in South Florida. Murals will be created in twelve diverse Miami neighborhoods affected by or leading solutions for climate change, and they will be animated with augmented reality to bring the narratives and call to actions to life. An inspiring cohort of local artists, from muralists to interactive media artists, will be selected to create this monumental mural series. Miami Murals is led by an incredible team of local nonprofits and businesses including Before It's Too Late, The CLEO Institute, Mad Studios, SWARM, The Ledge Media and Unconventional.

Help Us Spark This Movement Before It’s Too Late:

• We are fundraising!
• We are seeking amazing artists
• We need free/ sponsored mural locations

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Events:

• October 20th - World Energy Game pilot at Cushman High School
• October 26th - BITL presents on “Virtual Reality & The Arts” at #digitechtalks
• October 28th - Halloween Haunted VR Lab fundraiser
• November 8th - Miami Murals: Climate Awakening Artist event in Wynwood
• November 10th - BITL speaks at GreenPeace’s boat party for “Our Power Puerto Rico: Art for Climate Justice”
• November 11th - BITL conducts workshop on “Can Arts Inspire a Climate Awakening” at PeaceJam Conference in Perez Art Museum
• December 5 - 10th -  BITL presents “Miami Rising to Address Climate Change” VR 360 film series at Art Miami Fair during Art Week Miami
• December 13 - BITL presents a career workshop at Booker T Washington High School through the Knowledge of Careers nonprofit program

We are so grateful to every friend and partner that we’ve collaborated with on our journey. Your ideas, research and support helped us shape our social theory of change - the vision that we can change attitudes and behaviors by emotionally engaging people through the message and the medium.
We are excited for the year ahead and what Miami has to offer.

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,

Linda Cheung
Founder & Executive Director, BITL