Local Residents Heeding Call to Unite the World at Critical Time

By Lindsay Emery        

A shared moment of crisis around the globe was the impetus for two Chappaqua residents to bring dozens of participants and untold viewers a ray of hope and humanity.

On Friday evening and stretching into Saturday, The Call to Unite will be a 24-hour, worldwide streaming event that will launch a new nonprofit called Unite.

Jon Klein and Rob Shepardson have helped put the event together through many 20-hour days on Zoom. More than 175 participants will be featured, with appearances by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Yo-Yo Ma and T.D. Jakes, and former presidents.

Its mission is to address how people are coping with isolation, loneliness, fear and anxiety in the coronavirus crisis, said Shepardson, a co-founder of SS+K, a firm that blends strategy and sociocultural trends that inspire action and change.

Unite was created by Tim Shriver, the longtime chair and CEO of the Special Olympics, who created the nonprofit to spur projects that bridge political lines and cultural differences to bring people together and work for a common purpose, said Klein, co-founder of TAPP Media. Shriver’s idea was to launch United’s first project during the pandemic to bring people together.

“The whole idea being, wouldn’t it be great to help people not only get through this period but use this period to mark the beginning of a new way of working together with one another,” Klein said.

Spiritual and inspirational figures from around the world will share insights, teachings, a dance, or even a game that parents can play with their children to help them learn while homeschooling. There will be lesser-known participants who will also contribute.

“It’s not so much a TV show, it’s a companion to whatever else you’re doing,” Klein said.

If there’s anyone familiar with producing large-scale events, it’s Klein. He previously served in the weighty position of president at CNN till 2010 and before that as executive vice president with CBS until 1998. With the advancement of streaming technology, an event of this size has become attainable.

“Everybody’s gotten used to the idea of propping up their camera and broadcasting to the world, so it’s as if you’ve got camera crews in the palms of everybody’s hands in the world,” Klein said. “So pulling something off like this was really just going to be a matter of our imagination and letting our imaginations run wild.”

He gathered colleagues from CNN and others from Chappaqua, including Shepardson, to assist in The Call to Unite. The coordination means that Klein and his team – about 100 people are working on various aspects of the event – are meeting around the clock.  Some of the program will be pre-taped and edited while other parts will be shown live.

“You need sophisticated technology to take in all of those Zoom feeds, record them or take them in live and turn them around, and do one giant Zoom call to the world,” Klein said.

Along with the live and pre-recorded segments, the audience will be asked to contribute to the programming. Viewers may share common tasks, such as washing hands or tucking your children into bed.

“It’s really something that we’re kind of co-creating with the audience because we’re asking people to submit their own thoughts and reflections about what they’re watching and also their photographs as the sun rises where they are,” Klein said. “We want to show the sort of common humanity that we all have.”

Shepardson said since the pandemic is something that no one today has lived through before, it’s quite disorienting. Everyone has an issue that they’re dealing with and The Call to Unite will allow people to come together and fill a void, he said.

“The other is that it really will serve as a clearing house for opportunities for people to volunteer,” Shepardson said. “Because that’s what we’ve heard, too…they want to do something and they want to help.”

The Call to Unite will be able to connect the public with various resources, and if people are inclined, they can donate money. Shepardson said they’re less concerned about how much money is raised but want as many people as possible to contribute. Whether it be $1 or $5, the contributions will go directly to people in need.

Klein said the event will encourage people to think about others, not just themselves and their own families.

“And then to really take to heart the idea that this is an opportunity for a fresh start and a way to do things differently moving forward,” Klein said. “If we come out of this having transformed or begun to transform the way people think about the world they live in, this will have been a success.”

The Call to Unite begins this Friday, May 1 at 8 p.m. and will be streamed on almost every major platform, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, Spotify and Sirius Radio. For more information, visit www.unite.us.