Parallel Pandemics, Convergent Solutions

Issue 129 — June 1, 2020

We are in a profoundly disruptive time. A time when just a week ago, I could see many opportunities to reshape a better world post-pandemic. That’s until another pandemic, a pandemic of racism was laid so bare that layered on top of COVID it feels like a leaden blanket we’ll never be able to throw off.

As New York Times contributing editor Roxane Gay says, “Eventually, doctors will find a coronavirus vaccine, but black people will continue to wait, despite the futility of hope, for a cure for racism.”

Yet however difficult the task, we must seek a cure to stop the kind of violence that took the life of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and so many others.

The SumGloria FeldtJune 1, 2020Gender Parity, Black Lives Matter, Covid-19, Leadership, Power ToolsComment

The Future For Us: Sage Advice for Women Of Color Entrepreneurs During Crisis

This was not the original plan. The 2020 Future For Us second annual assembly for women of color was to be live, in person and in Seattle this spring.

“This pandemic has shown our fight or flight mode,” says Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno, CEO and co-founder of Future For Us, a community platform of more than 10,000 women of color professionals based in Seattle. “Women of color, we know what to do,” she says.

Can The Post-COVID Workplace Be Better For Women?

Women have been hardest hit by the economic impact of COVID-19. It makes sense women will continue to be the most affected after the pandemic subsides as well. It also makes sense to address those possibilities head on so the future approaches gender equity across all platforms and disciplines.

Some new research says the new post-COVID workplace may indeed be more fair, but it will take intention and deliberate action.

Virtual Pomp: 14 Women Leaders Give Their Best 2020 Commencement Advice

Millions of high school, college, graduate, law, dental and medical students missed out on the walks across the stages, the diploma hand off and the chance to hear an inspiring speaker sitting next to best friends and peers this year.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 56.6 million students attended elementary, middle and high school in the U.S. this year, with 19.9 million attending college. For the nearly 4 million who will receive a college degree this season, celebrations are private, on hold or in isolation.

Playbook For Later: Co-Founder, CEO Designs Digital Products For 45-60 Year-Olds

If only it were as simple as opening a playbook, reading the rules and mastering the prescribed strategies. It’s not.

Jeannette McClennan, co-founder and CEO of McClennan Masson, an innovation firm focused on human-centered digital products for women—and men—over 45, set out to solve that dilemma for what she says is an ignored market looking for help.

Back By Popular Demand: 50 Women Can Change The World in Journalism

Take The Lead is launching its second annual 50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism program, slated to kick off on June 16th. Applications for the digital training can be submitted here.

Watch highlights of the 2019 50 Women in Journalism program here

Sponsored in part by Democracy Fund and the Ford Foundation, the program comes at a point when women in the media are making progress but still struggling for parity amid broad layoffs and massive industry changes. For example, women have made up the majority of journalism and mass communication degree programs in the United States for more than three decades.

How To Invest When You Feel Like You're Behind: 6 Ways To Save Now

There’s a Chinese proverb that says: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the next best is today.” The same can be said of saving. The best time to start is 20 years ago —or even before you were born—the second best is today.

Today, almost everyone understands the importance of saving for the future — whether it’s retirement, a down payment on a house, or children’s education expenses. Unfortunately, just thinking about saving money doesn’t actually work. You have to start somewhere, but most people don’t know where the starting line is.

Now Is Best Time To Network: Mom Project Gives $500K to Extend Jobs, Projects

“Now is one of the best times to network,” says Kayla Tekus, director of marketing at The Mom Project, a Chicago-based talent and coaching company focusing on career paths of women and mothers, with a community of over 250,000 professionals and more than 2,000 companies.

The latest news for the company founded in 2016 by CEO Allison Robinson, is that they are offering $500,000 in their Stronger Together Fund to small and medium sized businesses to retain female employees or hire new ones on contracts, with $1,000 to $5,000 grants. Thirty grants have been given so far.

All You Need Is This Course: 9 Leadership Power Tools Go Virtual June 1

The world has changed drastically since February in every possible way across the world—for women especially. And while many are learning to adapt their professional and personal lives in what is the new mid-COVID-19 normal, adjusting to the status quo is not the only choice.

Transformation is another.

Vision, Focus, Transparency: CEO in Education Offers 6 Lessons on Leading Now

Growing up in Cincinnati, Kristyn Klei Borrero says the desegregation of local schools there gave her a view of K-12 education that “was not monolithic” and steeped in “white kids’ privilege.”

It would fuel her career as CEO and co-founder of CT3, a coaching services company dedicated to improving curriculum across the country by coaching and training educators creatively and serving more than 1 million students in the past 12 years.

The Sum: Mother’s Day in a Pandemic

Issue 128 — May 10, 2020

The phones are ringing, the texts are buzzing, social media notifications are pinging, and the Zooms and Zoom Rooms are being scheduled throughout the day to connect with family members so we can wish each other Happy Mother’s Day (almost) in person.

Inspirational Role Models, The SumGloria FeldtMay 10, 2020Mother's Day, Motherhood, Women leadership, Take The LeadComment

What Day Is It? 7 Keys To Maintaining WFH Focus During COVID-19

Is it Tuesday or Thursday? Are you mixing up your days of the week working from home?

Due to the COVID-19 shelter from home mandate for millions now working remotely from home, the challenges of isolation, distractions, interruptions, family duties and more are crossing the lines literally from work and home.

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