The Alex & Ani New Beginnings Charm Bangle
“The 8-sided sun represents the universal law that life’s outcomes are a reflection of your efforts and power as an individual. You have limitless opportunity to positively lead and affect others, to empower yourself to shine brighter than yesterday, to let your passions spark action. Embrace the energy of this powerful charm and create your own new beginning.”-Alex & Ani
I love everything about the New Beginnings charm bangle that Alex & Ani Charity By Design has released in partnership with ONE. I love the design, the message behind it, and the ideals that a percentage of the proceeds go to support. After all, life is really a series of New Beginnings; each new day brings us new possibilities, and change is the one constant we can depend on. As a mother I often feel that as soon as I’ve mastered one stage of parenting, it’s time to move on to the next. Each stage brings new gifts and new challenges, and I suppose that has kept my husband and I on our toes. In the meantime we try to truly appreciate each stage knowing that it is fleeting. So as my children grow, my own identity shifts as well. I am no longer the mother of babies all consumed with their care, now as a mother of school age children, I have broadened my energy towards not just positively influencing my own children, but the world beyond. This has opened up exciting New Beginnings for me, returning to my documentary background in a new digital platform by founding documama.org. This phase of new beginnings for my work life, is exhilarating, I’ve loved getting back to the global issues that spark my passion.
Elizabeth Atalay and Alex & Ani Founder Carolyn Rafaelian
Like many other Rhode Islanders I have been cheering Alex & Ani on from the sidelines since the first store opened in Newport. At a time when job prospects in Rhode Island faltered, giving us one of the worst unemployment rates in the country, Alex & Ani has managed to thrive and grow. Not only did the company add much-needed jobs to the economy, but the positive energy philosophy it espoused brought hope to the state as well. In the spirit of New Beginnings, Carolyn Rafaelian had breathed new life into the family jewelry business, the Rhode Island economy, and singularly launched the charm bangle frenzy that has gone viral. Along with my love of their meaningful designs, one of my favorite aspects of Alex & Ani all along has been their Charity By Design commitment. Through Charity By Design Non-Profits are supported in their mission to make the world a better place, and consumers are given the opportunity to use their purchasing power for social good. A portion of the proceeds for Charity By Design Bracelets goes directly to the organizations that they represent.
One of the first things I did upon launching documama.org was to become a ONE Moms community partner. I have since participated in grassroots campaigns on nutrition, immunization programs, energy, and foreign aid with ONE. ONE Campaign has been cultivating new beginnings for millions around the world in the quest to end extreme poverty and preventable disease through advocacy, and action for decades. These actions have global impact both large and small. From the new beginnings of one tiny baby who will go on to survive due to health programs funded by the G-8 pledge ONE secured in 2005, or the massive impact the newly passed Electrify Africa Act will have on the lives of 50 million people gaining electricity for the first time. As a ONE Moms Community partner, and a Rhode Islander enamored by the Alex & Ani commitment to social good, I knew collaboration between the two would be a perfect match.
One of my favorite things is to connect amazing people and see what magic happens, so I connected the two organizations a couple of years ago in hopes of exactly that. The New Beginnings charm bangle is the result of that collaboration, so to me it feels like a dream come true. The hope and possibility of new beginnings are what both ONE and Alex & Ani support on a daily basis, and the dynamic teams of ONE and Alex & Ani Charity By Design came up with a talisman so powerful and beautiful, that it sold out in the first two weeks it hit the stores. The poignant message of the New Beginnings charm bangle not only symbolizes the positive energy of the wearer, but the positive energy put forth into the world when it is purchased. Soon my New Beginnings charm bangle will be glinting in the African sun as it dangles from my wrist. As I embark on my International Reporting Project New Media fellowship trip to Ethiopia, it will be there to remind me:
“You have limitless opportunity to positively lead and affect others, to empower yourself to shine brighter than yesterday, to let your passions spark action. Embrace the energy of this powerful charm and create your own new beginning.”-Alex & Ani
