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Victoria Leigh Soto

Victoria Leigh "Vicki" Soto (November 4, 1985 – December 14, 2012) was an American teacher who was murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. After the gunman entered the school, Soto hid her students, then died trying to protect them, and has since been hailed as a hero.^[1][2][3] She is a posthumous recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Plans and petitions to honor her by name via scholarships, roads, and schools were announced in late 2012 and 2013.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The Stratford Town Council unanimously approved a resolution to name a school after Soto and the city of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, birthplace of Soto's father, is planning to name a public facility after her.^[9]Soto was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Carlos Soto, a native of Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and Donna Fagan-Soto,

 of Irish-American descent.^[10] Her father worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation as a crane operator and her mother was a nurse at Bridgeport Hospital.^[3] Her family moved to Stratford, Connecticut, and she graduated from Stratford High School in 2003. In 2008, she earned bachelor's degrees in both education and history at Eastern Connecticut State University. She then enrolled in graduate school at Southern Connecticut State University.^[11]On December 14, 2012, Soto was teaching her first grade class at Sandy Hook Elementary School when Adam Lanza forced his way into the school and began to shoot staff and students. After killing fifteen students and two teachers in the first classroom, Lanza entered Soto's classroom.

 Soto had hidden several children in a closet, and when Lanza entered her classroom, she told him that the children were in the school gym. When several children ran from their hiding places, Lanza began shooting the students. Soto was shot after she "threw herself in front of her first grade students."^{[3][12][13][14]} A photograph of Soto's sister awaiting news of her sister on her cell phone was taken by Associated Press photographer Jessica Hill and widely reproduced across the globe. Some news outlet labeled the photograph "iconic" and said that it has come to symbolize the tragedy.^[15][16]A memorial service was held on December 15, and funeral services took place on December 19 at her church, Lordship Community Church.^[3] American musician and songwriter Paul Simon performed at the funeral services and sang "The Sound of Silence".^[17] On December 20, she was interred at Union Cemetery Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.^[18] The Connecticut State Police honor guard saluted Soto's hearse en route.

In December 2012, Eastern Connecticut State University announced the creation of the Victoria Leigh Soto Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund, awarded to students who aspire to become teachers.^[20] In December 2012, residents started a petition to rename North Parade in Stratford, Connecticut, to "Victoria Soto Way." ^[6] On December 17, 2012, the Stratford High School Class of 2003 established the "Victoria L. Soto Memorial Fund" in her honor. The fund will use the donations made to help pay for the funeral services and for the creation of a memorial at Stratford High School and a scholarship fund in the name of Soto, a former classmate who belonged to the Class of 2003.^[21]

On January 14, 2013, the mayor of Stratford proposed the naming of a local school as the Victoria Soto Elementary School, with construction starting in 2013.^[22] The mayor's proposal was unanimously approved by the Stratford Town Council.^[23][24] The mayor also stated that a fund will be set up to accept donations from those who want to contribute to a memorial, which may include a statue of Soto.^[24]

The City of Bayamón, Puerto Rico is planning to name a public facility after Soto,^[9] whose paternal family was originally from Puerto Rico's second-most populous city.^[25]

On February 15, 2013, Soto and the other five adult teachers and administrators who were killed were posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal.^[26][27]The medal honors Americans who have performed “exemplary deeds of service” for their country or fellow citizens. The medal is commonly recognized as the government's second-highest civilian award and was presented to the families of the victims by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony.^[28][29]

The Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters organization created the "Victoria Soto Volunteer Award" in honor of Soto who was a former Nutmeg mentor. On April 25, 2013, Ana Robles, a Nutmeg mentor, became the first recipient of the award.^[30] In June 2013, a playground in Long Brook Park in Stratford was named the "Victoria Soto Memorial Playground" in her honor.^[31]

In 2015, the Victoria Soto School was inaugurated and opened, with a ribbon cutting ceremony, in Stratford, where she attended high school. The school, which was named in her honor, will serve students from pre-kindergarten through second grade

Photo Credits: 

Victoria Leigh Soto - Wordpress.com 

Victoria Leigh Soto - WordPress.com

Victoria Leigh Soto - WordPress

Victoria Leigh Soto - WordPress.com

References:  

Wikipedia

Corporate Branding

Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. The activities and thinking that go into corporate branding are different from product and service branding because the scope of a corporate brand is typically much broader. It should also be noted that while corporate branding is a distinct activity from product or service branding, these different forms of branding can, and often do, take place side-by-side within a given corporation. The ways in which corporate brands and other brands interact is known as the corporate brand architecture.

Corporate branding affects multiple stakeholders (e.g., employees, investors) and impacts many aspects of companies such as the evaluation of their product and services, corporate identity and culture, sponsorship, employment applications, brand extensions (see study Fetscherin and Usunier, 2012). It therefore can result in significant economies of scope since one advertising campaign can be used for several products. It also facilitates new product acceptance because potential buyers are already familiar with the name. However, this strategy may hinder the creation of distinct brand images or identities for different products: an overarching corporate brand reduces the ability to position a brand with an individual identity, and may conceal different products' unique characteristics.

Corporate branding is not limited to a specific mark or name. Branding can incorporate multiple touch points. These touch points include; logo, customer service, treatment and training of employees, packaging, advertising, stationery, and quality of products and services. Any means by which the general public comes into contact with a specific brand constitutes a touch point that can affect perceptions of the corporate brand.

It has been argued that successful corporate branding often stems from a strong coherence between what the company’s top management seek to accomplish (their strategic vision), what the company’s employees know and believe (lodged in its organizational culture), and how its external stakeholders perceived the company (their image of it). Misalignment between these three factors, may indicate an under performing corporate brand. This type of corporate brand analysis has been labeled the Vision-Culture-Image (VCI) Alignment Model.[1]

Changes in stakeholder expectations are causing an increasing number of corporations to integrate marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility into corporate branding. This trend is evident in campaigns such as IBM Smarter Planet, G.E. Imagination, The Coca-Cola Company Live Positively, and DOW Human Element. As never before, people care about the corporation behind the product. They do not separate their opinions about the company from their opinions of that company's products or services. This blending of corporate and product/service opinions is due to increasing corporate transparency, which gives stakeholders a deeper, clearer view into a corporation's actual behavior and actual performance. Transparency is, in part, a byproduct of the digital revolution, which has enabled stakeholders—employees, retirees, customers, business partners, supply chain partners, investors, neighbors—with the ability to share opinion about corporations via social media.


corporate governance  is the way a corporation polices itself. In short, it is a method of governing the company like a sovereign state, instating its own customs, policies and laws to its employees from the highest to the lowest levels. Corporate governance is intended to increase the accountability of your company and to avoid massive disasters before they occur. Failed energy giant Enron, and its bankrupt employees and shareholders, is a prime argument for the importance of solid corporate governance. Well-executed corporate governance should be similar to a police department’s internal affairs unit, weeding out and eliminating problems with extreme prejudice. A company can also hold meetings with internal members, such as shareholders and debt holders - as well as suppliers, customers and community leaders, to address the request and needs of the affected parties.