On Saturday, March 1, at the Toyota Fan Experience, the Toyota Green Initiative held the #ToyotaGreen Forum hosted and moderated by acclaimed broadcast journalist SWAY of MTV NEWS and “Sway in the Morning” on Sirius XM satellite radio. The Forum gave CIAA fans the opportunity to learn relevant ways of going green from TGI coalition members:
· Jim Colon, Vice President of African American Strategy, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
· Lance Gross, actor, star of upcoming NBC drama Crisis
· Tatyana Ali, actress/singer, legendary TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
· Earthseed Consulting founders Pandora Thomas and Zakiya Harris
· Lake Louis, CEO/founder and Chief Eco-Beauty Officer of Skin, Mind, Body Essentials (SMB Essentials), a lifestyle and wellness products company
· Charlotte native, Johnson C. Smith student and TGI Inaugural Campus Contest Winner Stephen Graddick
Lake Louise hosted Green Beauty Workshops at the Toyota Fan Experience, providing makeovers for over 100 women and men with eco-friendly products from her signature Lotus Moon, Plain Jane Beauty and SON Partner beauty and skincare lines.
Sway participated in green “Do it Yourself” workshop led by Tatyana Ali and Lance Gross. Natural products were used to create air freshener and body mist for men and women.
Toyota donated $200,000 to the CIAA scholarship endowment following the men’s championship game.
One of the nation’s premier sporting events is the annual CIAA Basketball Tournament. Touted as the third most attended basketball tournament among all NCAA divisions, the first tournament was a 2,000 seat sellout in Washington, D.C. The CIAA Tournament recorded consecutive sellouts in the 20,000 seat RBC Center, located in Raleigh, NC when the city was awarded the event in 2000 and 2003. The 2011 CIAA Tournament, in its sixth year in the “Queen City”, Charlotte, NC, boasted over 190,000 fans during the course of the week, while making an economic impact of over $44.3 million. Since the year 2000, the CIAA has generated over $266.06 million in economic impact for the state of North Carolina and over $16.5 million in overall scholarship dollars for CIAA member institutions.
