Legacy, Lids and Light Sabers

June 2025

Helen Keller Intl

Helen Keller

It’s not every day a Momentum client carries on the legacy of someone like Helen Keller. She devoted her life to helping others overcome significant obstacles to living healthy and productive lives. Helen Keller Intl continues her work by delivering life-changing health care to vulnerable families in places where the need is great, but access is limited.

The organization is critical to helping millions of people create lasting change in their own lives in 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.

Yet there is a resurgence of an “America First” mentality. It has had a seismic impact on foreign aid and the perceived importance of giving to people on the other side of the world. We’re looking forward to helping our newest client bear the torch of its namesake and show that the health and dignity of all people are worth investing in, no matter where someone is born.

Hats

Credit: Pixabay

The hat — sometimes humble, sometimes outrageous — has been atop our beans for thousands of years. We often think of it as the simplest and most effective fashion statement, but since ancient Egypt the hat has been a multipurpose member of the wardrobe. Consider:

  • Their first function, in Egypt and still today, was to keep our brains from boiling in the sealed bone pot that is our skull
  • But in northern winters, it’s foolish to go into the wind and cold without a hat for warmth
  • Hats prevent skin cancer, blocking ultraviolet rays more effectively than any SPF could dream of doing
  • Hats with brims keep you dry in the rain — the absurd tricorne of the 1700s was a lid with gutters for the head

Hats also are markers of social status, job function (Hello, officer!) and tools of etiquette, as anyone who’s tipped a hat would know. And they can communicate allegiance to a righteous cause (Let’s Go Mets!).

Andor

Credit: Disney

Rebels with a cause: Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna)

Media Supervisor Zachary Halper has been one with The Force lately. He explains:

I recently finished Season 2 of Andor, the Star Wars series that acts as a prequel to the 2016 film Rogue One. It’s not exactly a state secret at Momentum that I am a massive Star Wars fan.

From the original trilogy to the newest output, I have found enjoyment in almost every story that has been released. With its two-season run now complete, I can say Andor is among the best Star Wars stories to be released.

The show follows future Rebel spy Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in the years prior to his heroics stealing the plans to the Death Star in Rogue One, as well as a cast of other characters highlighted by Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma (a character first seen in 1983’s Return of the Jedi) and Stellan Skarsgard’s Luthen Rael. This season feels particularly timely with its examination of the fascist tendencies of the Galactic Empire, including a haunting episode depicting the violent suppression of a peaceful protest.

Whether you are a fan of Star Wars or not, I recommend checking out both seasons of this superb show.

Prestige Is Just One Path to Influence

Media Strategist Cordelia Gilligan says high-prestige news outlets still have value, but that it’s more possible to influence audiences without them than ever before. “The phenomenon of ambient information means that ideas get lodged in peoples’ minds without citation,” she says. “In this context, a self-published op-ed may have comparable impact to a newspaper placement. Building the profile of both the organization and individual spokespeople through blogs and social media can multiply the impact of self-published and earned thought leadership.”

Cordelia explains more here on our blog.