Daily Archives: December 27, 2021

As concern mounts from some parents about concepts like Critical Race Theory and whether it should be taught in K-12 classrooms, which it is not, some other parents are concerned about how to prepare and protect their Muslim, Sikh, Arab and Asian American children from bullying and harassment. Teaching children lessons about hate and racism has been especially important in the wake of major world events, like the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the lingering effects of 9/11, and the COVID-19 pandemic events many children may not even understand.

On top of being impacted by these events along with everyone else, these families also bear the burden of being mistakenly and sometimes violently blamed for causing these events.

Muslim American students often experience harassing comments by peers, such as being called terrorist or being told dont blow us up, Dr. Amaarah DeCuir, American University School of Education, told the PBS NewsHour. They describe being stared at during 9/11 lessons, or being singled out by the teacher to make comments addressing 9/11.

WATCH MORE: Educators reflect on the significance of teaching about 9/11

Dr. DeCuir is currently researching the experiences of Muslim American students, ages 12 to 21, in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia public schools. Early findings suggest that Muslim American students experience bullying and harassment during 9/11 commemorative classroom lessons. These results are in line with a broader 2020 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) poll in which 51% of Muslim American families reported that their children experienced religious-based bullying in school, 30% of which involved a teacher or school official.

The 9/11 lessons in school typically narrow the instructional focus to the details of the terrorist attacks, rather than the social and political impacts that followed, DeCuir said.

Instead, DeCuir recommends a culturally responsive approach that can protect Muslim American students from becoming easy targets of bullying and harassment while these lessons are being taught in the classroom. She said that teachers should make sure to include stories of heroism, resilience, and service that emerged during 9/11 by many people, including Muslim Americans, immigrants, and other people of color. She also urges teachers to include the social and political impacts that followed 9/11, such as increasing hate crimes that targeted Muslim, Sikh, and Arab Americans; federal immigration and foreign policies that became linked to national security issues; and community multi-faith programs that helped foster increased awareness of others. She also recommends that teachers be prepared to provide social-emotional learning experiences that help all students process the complexity of emotions that emerge from 9/11 commemorations.

Sikh American students hold anti-bullying brochures in New York. Photograph courtesy of The Sikh Coalition

Equally important are the structural responses. School leaders and teachers must be familiar with anti-bullying policies enacted at their state and district levels, and be prepared to utilize these policies should students report race and/or religious based bullying or harassment, said DeCuir. And since one out of every three anti-Muslim bullying incidents involve teachers and school officials according to the 2020 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) poll, It is incumbent upon district leaders to provide antiracist training to school staff to disrupt this concerning reality.

As for parents, DeCuir advises that they should respond meaningfully to questions or concerns their children have with relevant, age-appropriate content. She adds that parents should also help children and teens feel safe and secure in their surroundings when having these conversations.

When teaching about bullying and hate crimes, Sikh American advocates warn that teachers should be mindful that some students may have experienced bullying or hate crimes themselves, or may have seen the effects of bullying and hate crimes among their friends, families, or communities.

[Teachers] should always give a trigger warning when hate crimes will be discussed in the classroom, Pritpal Kaur, former Sikh Coalition Education Director, told the NewsHour. And students should never be put on the spot and asked to share experiences of hate or discrimination, unless they come forward and wish to share themselves.

READ MORE: Sikh Americans push for greater visibility, awareness against years of hate crimes, misunderstanding

A 2014 Sikh Coalition study found that 54 percent of all Sikh American children have experienced bullying and harassment in school, and 67 percent of Sikh American children who wear turbans have experienced bullying and harassment in schools, nearly double the national average. Twenty-one percent of Sikh American youth were bullied at least once a week, and 51 percent of Sikh American youth did not believe that school officials did enough to address school bullying and harassment.

During the 2017-18 school year, the Sikh Coalition received more legal intakes related to school bullying than in the previous two years combined, the legal team says. And while bullying cases dropped off during the pandemic, as many children were out of classroom instruction, our legal team has seen them increasing once again now that in-person school has restarted for many, it adds.

The mistaken identity narrative is problematic when teaching about hate crimes because it implies that there is another community who should be targeted instead of Sikhs

Advocates also warn that when discussing bullying and hate crimes against Sikh American students, teachers should be careful not to simply frame the abuse as a case of mistaken identity, but should also include issues of healing, community response, advocacy, and solidarity with other communities.

The mistaken identity narrative is problematic when teaching about hate crimes because it implies that there is another community who should be targeted instead of Sikhs, Kaur said. It is true that the Sikh visual identity is conflated with the stereotypes of terrorists but for those stereotypes to be dismantled, better religious literacy is required, and messages of solidarity that hate is not ok against any community need to be shared.

Experts say one way to dismantle stereotypes and to help students better understand their own experiences with bullying and harassment is to frame specific events like 9/11 within a larger view of U.S. history so that students can see their experiences within that greater context.

Richard Mui, who teaches advanced placement U.S. history at Canton High School in Canton, Michigan, told the NewsHour that he and some of his colleagues frame specific events like 9/11 within a larger conversation about terrorism. What is terrorism, and who resorts to terrorist tactics, and things like that, Mui said.

Lesson plans that Mui and his colleagues use to provide historical context include the 1920 Wall Street bombing in which a horse-drawn cart exploded in front of J.P. Morgan & Co. in downtown New York City, killing 38 people and injuring more than 300. The crime was never solved, but launched J. Edgar Hoovers career, a fear of communism, and the targeting and deportation of many Italians, Russians, and Jews.

The deadliest school bombing in U.S. history was in 1927, in Bath, Michigan, killing 38 children and six adults. The bomber was an electrician and farmer who had fallen behind on his mortgage payments and blamed a new school tax for his financial troubles. And the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing by anti-government militants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured more than 650 people.

Terrorists and terrorist attacks have been part of U.S. history, Mui said. So its not something new, it has been around with us. And when you look at it through that lens, then its different, the emphasis is not on the religion.

READ MORE: The only Arab American museum in the nation is much more than a building

To help students who may be dealing with bullying and discrimination in their own lives, Mui said the U.S. history curriculum in his classroom frames the issue of discrimination within the broader history of immigration. His classes discuss the different waves of immigration that came to the U.S., the similarities and differences of the immigrant groups, and how America responded to each group, especially if the immigration waves came amid, or following a significant national political or economic downturn.

We like to say, Hey, were all equal, and Were all Americans, and things like that. But then when theres competition for jobs, or people are dislocated from their jobs, theres a tendency to look for scapegoats. And you can see that throughout history, Mui said, noting how Irish, Italian, Mexican, and Asian Americans have all been demonized at different points in U.S. history.

Framing it this way, Mui said, shows students that there are forces beyond them. And once you take that bigger picture, Mui said, You not only can see it happening, hopefully you can prevent it from happening next time.

Although many of the issues that students encounter who are being bullied or harassed on the basis of race or religion have happened before in U.S. history, the problem is that many people do not know that history, especially in places where ethnic studies is not taught.

Michigan high school students in nonprofit organization American Citizens for Justices Youth Leadership Initiative conducting voter exit polling in Detroit on election day, November 2, 2021, as part of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Funds national Asian American Voter Survey. Photographer Richard Mui.

Mui has long been the advisor for his schools Asian Pacific American club and a Metro Detroit Asian American youth leadership initiative sponsored by American Citizens for Justice. During the summer of 2021, as incidents of anti-Asian American violence around the country spiked in response to COVID-19, Mui taught Michigans first virtual summer school course on Asian American and Pacific Islander History. Learning more history gives students room outside of the school curriculum to learn about their communities and transform that knowledge into political engagement particularly as they begin to understand how long and deeply rooted their communities have been in the United States. This past Election Day, Mui took students in the Asian American youth leadership initiative to Detroit to conduct voter exit polling as part of that engagement effort.

Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang, the first Asian American woman elected to the Michigan Legislature, and who happened to be in Muis Asian Pacific American Club when she was in high school, introduced and was instrumental in getting resolutions passed unanimously in Michigans Republican dominated legislature condemning anti-Asian hate and securing bipartisan support for money in the budget for know your rights outreach to the Asian American and other communities. She is currently proposing legislation similar to the TEAACH Act in Illinois that ensures that students in Michigans public schools learn Asian American history from kindergarten through grade 12.

A number of folks are working on legislation related to teaching Asian American history and Latino history and Arab history and indigenous history and Black history in our schools, Chang said. Every single one of our children should be able to learn their history in our schools.

Chang referred to her two young daughters, two and six years old, as her little motivators. It truly is their future that I am fighting for every day, Chang said at a fall fundraising event.

READ MORE: We have been through this before. Why anti-Asian hate crimes are rising amid coronavirus

Its really educating ourselves, Mui said. And then turn it into some kind of action. Okay, so now you have this knowledge. How can you begin to participate in the political process? What skills do you need to participate in terms of being able to articulate your viewpoint and advocate for yourself for whatever issues? To turn that into action? Thats the way democracy is structured. Those people that are engaged in organizing [and] voice their opinions, are the ones that are hopefully more likely to get what they want. Democracy, thats the competition.

Parents can begin building the foundation for these lessons and experiences early. Adults often worry about introducing concepts like bullying, bias and racism to children, Katherine Reynolds Lewis, author of The Good News About Bad Behavior and a certified parent educator, told the NewsHour. They mistakenly think that by bringing up these issues, they will be ruining childrens innocence. The reality is that as early as age two and three, children notice racial and gender differences and begin to sort by category. This is when they absorb stereotypes and societal messages around skin color, disability, and gender, such as an alleged difference between boy and girl toys and activities. Parents should know that you dont teach prejudice by discussing its existence.

Parents should know that you dont teach prejudice by discussing its existence.

Without parental input to balance societal stereotypes, Lewis warns that children of color may internalize a belief that they are inferior or bad, and children of all ages may display a preference for whiteness because white people tend to hold positions of power in the community and in the media.

As with every difficult topic, we should meet children where they are, Lewis said. Rather than one talk, this should be a series of conversations about race and bias over the course of their childhood. Ask open-ended questions and respond to childrens comments, rather than lecturing. The goal should be a discussion, not a soliloquy. Children mature at different rates, so its always important to share information only at the level that children can absorb.

READ MORE: For Detroits Japanese Americans, oral histories key to preservation of history, future solidarity

Lewis suggests beginning with noticing and acknowledging differences among people and making the topic safe to discuss. At the preschool level, conversations can focus on diversity of appearance and culture, different foods and holidays, all with simple explanations. Help children appreciate their own culture and race, with stories of heroes and role models that resemble them, as well as stories from all cultures.

At the age of four or five, children may share negative comments they have hear, and they may share incidents of aggression or exclusion at school. However, at this age, other children are also learning about diversity, but may not have the capacity for nuance. Dont label other children as bullies or biased. See this as an opportunity for education, Lewis said. Advocate for your child at school, if needed, in collaboration with teachers. Maybe your child doesnt like their hair, skin color or food of your culture. Dont overreact. Accept their messy feelings. Ask questions about their perspective. Trust that over time, they will appreciate their heritage and be self-confident in their identity. Share stories of your own childhood and your family, in addition to heroes and role models, so they feel connected to their origins. Seek out stories of resistance and liberation in addition to those of oppression and bias.

Discussions of bias should be as simple as possible at this age. Lewis suggests saying things like, Some people believe that others are inferior because of their race or heritage. Theyre wrong. We dont believe that. Racism is when people oppress or harm other people because of their appearance. Its wrong and we should speak against it when we see it.

Katherine Reynolds Lewis speaks about parenting and her book The Good News about Bad Behavior at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. on April 22, 2018. | Photograph courtesy of Katherine Reynolds Lewis

Rather than describing racism as something that happened in the past, in other communities, or is something that bad people do, she said that describing it as a mistaken idea that can be changed with advocacy and education gives children a positive way to feel a sense of agency.

Between ages six and eight, most children begin to understand nuance and can have more in-depth conversations about bias and racism. They can understand more complex stories from your childhood and comprehend the difference between systemic racism or violence and more casual bias and everyday prejudice. Again, focus on what we can do to be anti-racist and stand up for ourselves, so theres a positive action they can take, Lewis said.

In the tween and teen years, Lewis recommends asking even more questions as children develop their own sense of moral compass and agency. Support their efforts to make a difference, Lewis said. Encourage them to be an ally and to stand up for themselves. Role play situations they might encounter. Acknowledge that adults arent perfect. Model lifelong learning, as you also need to understand new aspects of diversity and difference, and language around them. The research on racial bias shows that it forms without any conscious effort, as we absorb messages from the world around us. Its very difficult to disrupt bias, but the best path is to slow down our reactions and take intentional steps to be anti-racist.

READ MORE: How Asian Americans in holiday movies can challenge the white fantasy of Christmas

Although some parents would prefer to prevent their children from learning about race, bias, and discrimination in America, parents of children of color or other marginalized groups do not have that luxury, and many students are hungry for content that reflects their experience and history. However these are complicated, evolving topics that could use a lifetime of attention.

We should challenge ourselves to be lifelong learners, expose ourselves to lots of different groups, and acknowledge if we mess up in our actions or language and make amends, Lewis said. Parents play an important role in modeling this process, especially with our teenagers who may feel they know the right words. Let them correct you. It leads to a worthwhile conversation about being able to learn and grow and admit if youve made a mistake.

Read more:

You dont teach prejudice by discussing its existence. How to talk to children about race and discrimination. - PBS NewsHour

When Philadelphia City Council and Mayor Jim Kenney reached a budget deal in June, they touted $68 million in new spending on antiviolence efforts as a historic investment packed with innovative tools.

Six months later, the city is ending the year at an all-time record for homicides and Kenney is facing criticism for rolling out some of the programs slower than promised.

Officials had said money would start flowing in September to community nonprofits as part of a $22 million grant program, the largest new investment. But the first recipients just started getting money this month; many are still waiting. And a city spokesperson said officials havent decided whether to repeat the program next year.

Some new efforts are up and running, including a co-responder program to change the way police react to mental health crises, and evening youth resource centers. Others remain in planning stages, including expansions of intervention and crisis-response programs. The promised evaluations of existing programs arent completed.

This is a situation where were doing triage and seeing historic numbers of gun violence in communities that have been vulnerable for generations , said Erica Atwood, who leads the citys Office of Violence Prevention. And we are innovating the way that we spend money within city government.

Experts in violence prevention, meanwhile, say Philadelphias strategy should be more targeted and focused on areas with the most need.

READ MORE: Philly blocks besieged by shootings have long endured poverty, blight, and systemic racism

Thats something, they said, cities such as Philadelphia have failed to do in the past.

Theyre spending a lot of money and sprinkling it here or there, but how many of these programs are actually getting to shooters? said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy. It sounds to me like maybe not much.

Experts said the city needs to analyze the reasons for gun violence and focus on people most likely to become shooters.

The less focused you are, you might have some other good social outcomes, but what Philadelphia is wrestling with is a crisis of gun violence, Webster said. It has to be incredibly intentional and focused in their spending, in their strategy, so that they are truly reaching those at greatest risk.

READ MORE: Philly is pouring millions into violence prevention as shootings soar. What does that money buy?

Experts also said Philadelphia must focus not just on individual programs but on building a system that wont vary between mayoral administrations and has services available to help potential shooters get out of poverty, find jobs, relocate, or even just buy food for their families.

If we give one organization $4 million or $5 million or $10 million and say, Hey, the problem of Philadelphia thats been going on for the last 100 years is all on you, its not going to happen, said Chico Tillmon, a senior research fellow at the University of Chicagos crime and education labs. If you asked me whats the best program, it would be a comprehensive program that becomes a part of the system.

Philadelphia Controller Rebecca Rhynhart has said too much of the spending is unlikely to make a short-term impact. She teamed up with Councilmember Jamie Gauthier this year to ask Kenney to declare a state of emergency over gun violence, and this month they argued the administration lacks transparency and hasnt acted quickly enough to roll out or expand programs.

READ MORE: 5 key takeaways from the controller's report on Phillys antiviolence spending

There seems to be a lack of strategy, Rhynhart said. What we were calling for was very specific, targeted investments into the neighborhoods that are most impacted and for a sense of urgency around that.

Lessard said the administration is acting with urgency. Atwood said Philadelphia has more programs than many other cities, and thats necessary to address the many different causes of gun violence.

We are self-deprecating to a fault here in Philadelphia, but we are doing a lot, Atwood said. We are just inundated by guns. I cant program my way out of the influx of guns in the city; I just cant.

When Kenney created the Office of Violence Prevention in 2017, he said it would conduct the first citywide evaluation to gauge the effectiveness of the citys dozens of existing antiviolence efforts. More than four years later, that evaluation isnt completed.

Atwood said that goal was included in the Roadmap for Safer Communities plan that launched in 2019, and the work was slowed by the pandemic.

The overarching strategy is really about looking at the work and how do we better align our assets and our resources, she said. And we need the time to do that.

READ MORE: Growing calls for accountability of Phillys taxpayer-funded antiviolence programs giving me hope | Helen Ubias

Philadelphia has contracted the University of Pennsylvania and the American Institute for Research to evaluate Group Violence Intervention and the Community Crisis Intervention Program, respectively. An initial report on Group Violence Intervention expected earlier this year has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected in the coming weeks, Lessard said. The Community Crisis Intervention evaluation is a two-year project that will be complete by the end of June, he said.

Webster said ongoing evaluations are critical not only for accountability and transparency but as a way to improve.

If you try something and youre not getting the results that you hoped for, you should not be tarred and feathered or embarrassed or anything, he said. You should say, OK lets at least learn from that and see how we can improve our response to this problem.

Philadelphias existing contracts with the Urban Affairs Coalition, which helps run its intervention programs, dont contain specific requirements for reporting progress or data, according to an Inquirer review of the contract language.

Atwood said the contract will expire in June and she is working to revise it. There will be some different metrics in the new contract, she said.

The city also plans to measure the progress of community groups in the new grant program.

Were not dissecting them and the work that they do. What we want to do is support them in telling their story utilizing the data that they have, Atwood said.

The city announced the first group of awardees in October, and they started receiving money this month.

Weve gotten money out as fast as humanly possible, Atwood said, and all groups should receive money next month.

The program was advertised as $22 million, but only $13.5 will go to organizations. Lessard said $870,000 went to a smaller, preexisting grant program, $2.6 million was held for a later round of grants, and $5 million will go to program administration, supporting the nonprofits, and evaluating their work.

Gauthier, who serves on a monitoring group for the grant program, said the slow pace has been frustrating.

I do understand that there are aspects of setting up a pretty sophisticated [application] process that can take time, she said. But I do question that there were things we could have done to advance things in the meantime. Could we have gotten money to some of those groups more quickly?

For PowerCorps PHL, the grant was welcome news because it essentially replaces some of its city funding that was cut last year.

Executive director Julia Hillengas said the organization received almost $1.5 million annually from the city before COVID-19, but that has since dropped to less than $400,000 for training crews to work for the Water and Parks and Recreation Departments.

It is definitely my hope that the city can come back to its original support of the organization, said Miles Wilson, president and CEO of EducationWorks, which runs PowerCorps PHL.

Lessard called PowerCorps PHL an important stakeholder but said the grant covers a specific program and isnt a contribution to the organizations operating costs.

Rickey Duncan of NoMo Foundation, a North Philadelphia organization that runs after-school programs, said his group fronted the money for its expansion as it waits for its $1 million grant.

We understand its a process, but were patiently waiting, he said.

The city received 212 grant applications. Atwood said the organizations that got money have programs that can immediately serve those who are at risk of getting shot.

S. Archye Leacock, executive director for the Institute for African American Youth Inc. in North Philadelphia, has run a city-funded diversion intervention program since the 1990s that mentors people under 18 who have been arrested.

Leacock applied for a grant to expand his program to at-risk young men who havent been arrested. He said he was shocked to learn he wasnt selected, given his decades of experience.

You would think that people would be banging on my door to say: Lets get you some more funding, lets get you some more help. What do you need? he said.

Councilmember Cindy Bass, also in the monitoring group, said shes heard from qualified groups that didnt receive funding.

We just need to provide more of what we are providing, she said. Its not enough.

Three curfew centers that give at-risk youth a safe place to go at night opened this month. A pilot program to change the way police respond to mental health crises launched last month. Money has also gone out to smaller community groups and various job programs.

The following programs, city officials say, are among those still in planning stages:

The expansion of Group Violence Intervention and the Community Crisis Intervention Program, which work with people most likely to shoot or be shot. The city is still hiring caseworkers and working to contract more providers.

A program modeled after READI Chicago, which offers mental health services and job training to young men most at risk for experiencing violence, will have a pilot program by July.

An antiviolence hotline, for which the city said a contractor would be announced in the coming weeks.

A construction training program to improve business storefronts in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods is still being developed.

Expansion of a mobile crisis response unit and a crisis hotline are still in progress.

City officials said theyre working hard, but planning and hiring take time. Kenney told reporters last week that the city is making some headway on prevention efforts but noted that its been less than a year since the infusion of new funding.

We will continue to plug away at it, he said.

Others are critical. Gauthier said she senses a lack of urgency on violence prevention efforts. The Group Violence Intervention and the Community Crisis Intervention Program should have been expanded faster, she said.

It is an intense program to go out and to connect with people, build trust with people in a way that would help them out of a cycle of violence, she said. And we really need to beef up the amount of people that we have doing that work.

Atwood said its difficult to find people who have the specialized expertise to do that work, but the city is continually expanding not only staffing but the types of supports that we are providing.

Tillmon, the University of Chicago researcher, said Los Angeles and New York have built antiviolence efforts that work as systems with focused strategies.

We have examples of whats working, he said. We just have to utilize those examples.

In Los Angeles, the Gang Reduction and Youth Development program (GRYD) started in 2007 and has survived multiple mayoral administrations. Philadelphia, by contrast, has changed its approach with changes in leadership.

READ MORE: Philly is pledging new antiviolence strategies. Some have been done before.

Denise Herz, GRYDs research director and a criminal justice professor at California State University Los Angeles, said the program is unlike other cities because it uses data and research to target areas with the most need, and has a unified strategy.

With GRYD there is the benefit of that focused attention, knowing your brand and sticking with your brand and funding your brand, she said.

Homicides have still increased in Los Angeles in the last two years. As of mid-December, Los Angeles had 382 homicides this year a 52% increase compared with that date in 2019. Philadelphia had 535 homicides as of Dec. 16, a 56% increase over 2019.

Still, Los Angeles spends more on GRYD than Philadelphia does on its Office of Violence Prevention and job training programs, according to an analysis by the Philadelphia controller. Los Angeles spent $32,500 in fiscal year 2021 while Philadelphia proposed $13,500 for the current fiscal year. Broken down as dollars spent on intervention efforts per shooting victim in 2020, Philadelphia spent $6,000 while Los Angeles spent $24,000 per victim.

Tillmon said its important for cities to give adequate support to intervention programs.

How can you run an organization on a shoestring budget and expect excellence? he said.

Philadelphia officials said they would rely on forthcoming evaluations to measure success.

Its not as simple as looking for a reduction in shootings which could be attributable to a variety of factors, experts agree. Evaluations, data, and research are key to knowing if programs work.

If youre impacting the lives of individuals theres gonna be stories of individuals going through these programs and their lives change, Tillmon said.

Theres no one set way to reduce shootings, Webster said, but cities have to be open to evaluating and changing their approach.

Its just sort of a recognition of, Boy this is a challenging thing to do, he said, and its particularly challenging when youve got an upward slope in shootings.

Continue reading here:

Philadelphia promised $68 million in new antiviolence spending. How its going. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The last couple of years has shifted the definition of a normal workplace. Gone are the days where cubicles and open-plan offices were standard. Now, workplaces have to define what normal means to them. Some want their staff to return to the office once its safe to do so. Others are choosing to shift to a fully distributed, remote-first model. Many have decided on an arrangement that lands in-between, opting for a hybrid of remote and in-office work.

Of course, the definition of a hybrid workplace varies from organization to organization. For some, hybrid is synonymous with flexibilitymeaning workers choose when (and if) they want to come to the office. For others, it means requiring their employees to be in the office for a set number of days a week.

Offer Matching Flexibility The ingredients that make up a mentor-mentee relationship vary between individuals, so your program should reflect that reality. Rather than instituting a prescriptive program, listen to the needs of your employees, particularly those who belong to underrepresented communities. Ensure that you have a range of options that cultivate a sense of belonging. Some mentees might prefer being matched with those of a similar demographic or gender to give them the feeling of community in the workplace, while others might value having a mentor with a differing perspective and experience.

Emphasize Available Connection ToolsIn a hybrid workplace, some mentoring sessions will undoubtedly take place virtually. Whether its Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Slack, or another communication platform, your mentoring program should highlight the available communication tools for these sessions to occur and ensure workers have access (and are equipped) to use those tools. Further, its important for mentors and mentees to discuss what form of communication or meeting mode they are comfortable with and will commit to. Establishing a standard is important in setting expectations for mentoring relationships to thrive.

Train ParticipantsA strong mentor and mentee should be able to discuss difficult issues productively and constructively. You can facilitate that success by training your mentors and mentees on how to approach sensitive conversations, especially regarding stereotypes, unconscious bias, and microaggressions. Providing resources around creating psychological safety in the workplace will help mentors and mentees be more intentional in their conversations.

Lead With EmpathyA fundamental tenet of inclusive leadership, and in turn, mentorship, is empathy. That requires participants to engage in active listening and a willingness to see things from the other persons point of view without making assumptions. W. Brad Johnson, professor of psychology in the department of leadership, ethics, and law at the United States Naval Academy, said leaders need to ask really good questions to understand their employees reality. If youre in charge of your organizations mentorship program, model this behavior by taking the time to understand what your employees need. Dont be afraid to ask for constructive feedback or suggestions or to make tweaks to your mentoring model if you discover its not serving your employees in the best way.

An inclusive mentorship program is an essential component of a successful hybrid workplace. Implementing these practices in your organization can help you build trust among your employees, improve a sense of belonging, increase employee satisfaction, and retain talent in todays competitive labor market.

Read the rest here:

How to Build Inclusive Mentoring Programs for the Hybrid Workplace - ATD

By Katherine SabidoBoston University Statehouse Program

BOSTON Mass. and Cass the Boston intersection that serves as the epicenter of the commonwealths substance abuse and homelessness problem is simply the most visible example of a statewide problem that requires a statewide solution, community mobilizers, public health experts and legislators say.

The tent city located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard has generated lots of headlines and little in the way of concrete solutions to date. Boston neighbors and communities bordering Boston have disagreed on who should deal with the issue, until now.

The commonwealth looks at Boston as its own sort of entity [that can] handle its own issues, and so the governor doesnt want to maybe trample on the mayor or the mayor doesnt want to ask the governor for help, but I think were beyond that level of political jockeying. People are dying, said Marla Murphy-Smith, a resident local to the Mass. and Cass neighborhood and an organizer for the South End Roxbury Community Partnership.

The impact on the community has just been horrific, and the governor has been too hands-off for this critical humanitarian crisis thats occurring. That needs to stop.

Gov. Charlie Baker has deployed the Department of Public Health to engage with the city to find ways that the state can lend aid to the humanitarian and public health crisis at Mass. and Cass, but he has ultimately said that Boston has the jurisdiction on this stuff.

Community members, such as Murphy-Smith, and state legislators argue that while the states opioid and homelessness crisis might be the most visible at the corner of Mass. and Cass, it demonstrates a plague of addiction and homelessness that threatens to take over each corner of the commonwealth.

The state definitely has to play a role because not everybody whos at [Mass. and Cass] is from Boston or the Greater Boston area, said Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, Senate Chair of the Legislatures Committee on Housing. They come from all over the commonwealth for a variety of reasons, so every community in the commonwealth and the commonwealth itself has an obligation to address [its] homelessness and substance abuse issues.

Opioid-related overdose deaths in the state increased by 1% over the last year, as 1,613 confirmed and estimated deaths occurred in the first nine months of 2021, according to a November DPH report.

The commonwealths uptick in opioid-related overdose deaths coincides with a nationwide epidemic that was most recently blamed for the deaths of more than 100,000 people during 2020-2021. Since around 2008, Massachusetts has consistently remained in the top percentile of opioid-related death rates in the country, recording more than twice the U.S. average in 2016.

Public health experts, such as Bertha Madras of McLean Hospital, who has served on a number of presidential opioid commissions, applauds Baker for implementing programs that have helped the state turn its upward-climbing curve with the opioid crisis.

In the past year, when the U.S. was traumatized by over 100,000 deaths, the rate of increase in Massachusetts was only 5.8%, whereas it was almost 50% in California, 70% in Vermont and 18% in Rhode Island, said Madras. While the rates were increasing steadily in the country, the rates in Massachusetts were either remaining stable or going down, except for very recently.

But constituents and lawmakers are demanding that the Baker administration do more, reasoning that the crisis happening in Boston needs more attention from the executive branch, as it has grown beyond the citys control and is not exclusively made up of individuals from Boston or the Greater Boston area.

Newly elected Mayor Michelle Wus most recent plans include converting the Roundhouse Hotel at the Mass. and Cass intersection into a space for low-threshold housing to be overseen by the Boston Medical Center. This plan has drawn significant backlash from community members, who say it works against their calls for the decentralization of services.

Weve been demanding that they decentralize services throughout the commonwealth, said Yahaira Lpez, another organizer from the South End-Roxbury Community Partnership. [That] does not mean you move it from Mass. and Cass to another Black and Brown, urban or low-income, low voter turnout community we mean decentralize [services] throughout the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts. How can we help stabilize people if were not giving them the opportunities to [recover]? By not removing them from the same spaces that trigger them?

Madras expands on the calls for the decentralization of services, explaining that allowing people to remain in an environment that fuels their addiction, or in proximity to that environment, traps them in an endless cycle.

The drug dealers are permanent residents of the area, meaning that they know exactly where the customers are, and thats where they go, said Madras. There is almost no attention paid to reducing the supply or changing the environment in order to help these folks.

Madras is in favor of rebuilding the Long Island Bridge and the islands facilities, which used to be a campus of substance abuse disorder treatment facilities. However, it does not serve as an immediate solution because the reconstruction would take years and cost millions.

Lpez says that while she sees benefits to rebuilding the Long Island Bridge and facilities, she does not want it to become a way for the state to veil its issues with addiction and homelessness, allowing people to foster an out of sight, out of mind mentality.

But Madras argues, from a public health perspective, that Long Island should still be rebuilt because it offers a space for people to fully recover, free of temptations to return to the toxic environment they left.

It wasnt perfect, but it was idyllic because it was inaccessible to the people who perpetuate the problem, and thats a critical part of the solution, said Madras. It was isolated from drug dealers [and] from every possible environmental issue that could feed into a persons problems.

Multiple lawmakers have agreed that the state must play a role in first, addressing the opioid and homelessness crisis at Mass. and Cass, and second, ensuring that widespread services are put in place to combat and prevent similar scenarios from breaking out in other counties.

It is absolutely not just Bostons responsibility, there needs to be a commitment that every region of the state has not only substance abuse clinics but support services for people that have a predilection to addiction, said Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton. Its about strengthening the social safety net everything from affordable housing to better re-entry services for [formerly] incarcerated people.

Its a crisis with many different facets; its a public health crisis, its a mental health crisis, its a housing crisis, and its a major problem that has impacted countless lives, Rep. Bruce Ayers, D-Quincy, wrote in a statement. A multi-faceted problem deserves multi-faceted solutions. We need to continue to invest in addiction treatment and recovery services, but we also need to look beyond that at how we can support a sustained recovery through comprehensive housing, nutritional, and educational initiatives.

Madras echoes legislators sentiments that transitional housing options must be paired with proper treatment and rehabilitation programs to give those suffering from substance abuse disorders a chance to reintegrate into society.

The most important resources are mental and physical health evaluations; these people absolutely require to be assessed, said Madras. And there has to be a little a bit of an effort [toward] also imposing a level of responsibility on the individual to take their medications, if they need them, to try to show up for treatments, appointments, group therapy or what have you and if there is a sense of recovery, there should be job training.

And while Madras believes that there are more pros than cons to the decentralization of services, she reiterates that the government needs to be very intentional about the way they disperse them.

If we decentralize the Mass. and Cass [facilities], we have to figure out what the positives of being in that location were and make sure that we can replicate them, not eliminate them, said Madras.

Keenan said the commonwealths opioid and homelessness crisis requires a collaborative effort from all levels of government and a more flexible approach to peoples housing needs.

A lot of shelters are dry shelters, meaning people who go there cannot use drugs, and if you are addicted to heroin or fentanyl, you need drugs constantly so people cant access homeless shelters because of their addiction, said Keenan.

[They need] a structure that acknowledges their addiction and in those types of shelters, [there has to be] access to services so that when people are there, [they] have people that are ready to move them into treatment and recovery, and make sure that theyre aware of the various programs that are available.

Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, who has been vocal about homelessness in western Massachusetts, also finds that dry shelters are a barrier to solving the housing crisis. She believes that transitional housing services would be more successful with a personalized approach.

The issue is hard because every individual is extremely different and needs a really personalized pathway, said Sabadosa. Im a huge proponent of moving away from a traditional shelter model to[ward] something that is more personalized for people because I think we have spent a lot of time just kind of putting Band-aids on things and not really addressing the underlying issues of them.

Sabadosa sides with her colleagues in the argument that the state should be responsible for tackling its opioid and homelessness crisis, especially considering there are costs involved.

The state absolutely needs to play a role because the citizens cant pay for it on their own, theres no way, said Sabadosa. Services need to be dispersed throughout the commonwealth because there are people who are unhoused throughout the commonwealth.

Murphy-Smith has voiced that costs are a concern for the community as well.

In order to provide housing, we need money to acquire housing, said Murphy-Smith. You need money to run programs, and I think having the state involved would provide more access to things that are available out there if only we had somebody at that level to make the ask.

Keenan says the Legislature will look to further address these funding needs in the second half of the ARPA distributions, following Bakers approval of the first half of commitments in the Legislatures proposed spending plan that Baker signed on Dec. 13, which allocates $964 million for health care and $624 million for housing.

As of December, the Baker administration has also committed funding for 38 syringe service programs and the creation of 33 overdose education and naloxone-distribution sites, and it plans to create a temporary housing cottage community on the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital campus that would provide the type of personalized housing mentioned by Sabadosa.

It is quite clear that this is not only a Boston problem, it is, at least, a statewide problem, if not a regional problem and the state, unfortunately, has been very slow to get involved with addressing the issues centered around Mass. and Cass, said Murphy-Smith. There is no excuse, in a resource-rich area like Massachusetts, where we have so many hospitals and schools and colleges and highly educated people, [for the state not] to be addressing this issue.

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The opioid and homelessness crisis at Mass. and Cass: whose problem is it? - BU News Service

Raheem Akingbolu

Marketing savant, former dot.com executive and best-selling author, Seth Godins definition of what a brand is has always fascinated me.According to Godin A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumers decision to choose one product or service over another.

When people talk about brands, they think primarily of the visual representations like logos, colours and all those outward elements put together by brand and marketing experts.

But what of the human elements? How do the people who set up and run companies as well as those who work in those companies affect the way consumers and the general public perceive their companies and the products they produce?A consideration of this aspect of a brand will help us understand why a tweet by Elon Musk can have a salutary or deleterious effect on the share price of Tesla and why Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates indiscretion will have an effect on the companies and brands associated with them.

People matter and the way they conduct themselves affect their brands and products and companies for good or ill.Alhaji (Dr) Muhammadu Indimi is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. That is how he is described in a Wikipedia entry for his name. But those two words do not tell the full story of this colossus who could be described with adjectives that run the gamut from enterprising to diligent as well as focused and passionate and generous.

Born 74 years ago in Maiduguri to a father who earned his keep from selling hides and skin. Like most children in Northern Nigeria then, he was not fortunate to pursue formal education because the number of schools were limited at the time, with the result that majority of children were deprived of what is known as Western education. Given this situation, parents who were unable to place their children in the few available Government schools, ended up sending their children to attend Quranic schools. Despite this, Alhaji Indimi speaks six languages: Kanuri, Hausa, Fulfulde, English, French and Arabic. He never went to formal school; he taught himself how to speak and write English, as well as becoming proficient in French language.

His first foray in business was as an understudy for his father who dealt in hides and skin but he could sense that the universe of a dealer in hides and skin was a severely circumscribed one. So, when he was barely twenty years old, Muhammadu Indimi took a loan from a friend and pivoted leaving the family business to pursue his fortune as importer of clothes from Chad and Cameroon.It was as a clothes and textile merchant that Muhammadu Indimi began to come into his own as an enterprising and influential businessman gaining national prominence.

Call it a case of preparation meeting opportunity and you will not be too far off the mark. By 1990, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida was Nigerias military president and he had taken the very unusual action of appointing a medical doctor to head Nigerias oil ministry.The new minister was Professor Jubril Aminu, a first class brain and the one who would eventually change the landscape of Nigerias oil and gas industry. As Peju Akande and Toni Kan write in A Safe Pair of Hands, their magisterial biography of oil and gas maestro, Austin Avuru When Professor Aminu was appointed oil minister by Ibrahim Babaginda, he had zero oil industry experience. He was a medical doctor who lectured at the University of Maiduguri.

But he was not just a medical doctor, he was a brilliant one and had graduated top of his class at the University of Ibadan. It was this medical doctor turned oil minister who midwifed a deliberate policy, as Minister of Petroleum, to introduce indigenous participation in the industry, even though naysayers scoffed that it wouldnt work. On a trip to a Chevron facility, Prof. Aminu was surprised by the sheer number of Nigerians who were at the top, right there in the field, running their operations, and he figured that, really, Nigerians ought to be given an opportunity to participate. So, in November, 1990, Professor Aminu awarded oil blocks to 11 Nigerian entrepreneurs on a discretionary basis.

Alhaji Muhammadu Indimi was among the beneficiaries. When the story of successful indigenous participation in the Nigerian oil and gas space is told, the name of Muhammadu Indimi must be writ large as leading the way for others like Seplat, Neconde, Midwestern, Nestoil, Aiteo and many more to follow.

This is because 31 years down the line it is testament to his sheer drive, diligence, tenacity and sense of purpose that of those 11 blocks awarded by Jubril Aminu, Oriental Energy Resources and Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil) are the two top success stories from that exercise with Alhaji (Dr.) Muhammadu Indimi sitting atop Oriental Energy as Executive Chairman.Alhaji Muhammadu Indimi remains without a doubt, the moving spirit behind Oriental Energy Resources and his unblemished personal brand continues to burnish the company he set up as he remains strategic and intentional in the way his company conducts its business especially in its host community.

Deliberate about giving back, Alhaji Indimi in setting up the Muhammadu Indimi Foundation (MIF) seems to have internalized the words of Timothy Pina who has averred that philanthropy is not about money, it is about feeling the pain of others and caring enough about their needs to help.

Alhaji Indimi has made money and ranks among the richest Nigerians with Forbes estimating his net worth at $500m as at 2015. But the more money he makes the more deliberate and intentional is he about giving it back to impact lives.Indimi continues to impact his host community for the best. Since 2009, he has placed 1000 indigenes of Akwa Ibom state on a scholarship. Plans are underway to build a secure housing estate for Oriental Energys host community in the Mbo and Effiat Local government areas of Akwa Ibom state where has also conducted an annual medical outreach since 2018 which impacts more than 15,000 persons.He donated a Science Laboratory Complex to Community Grammar School, Ebughu in Mbo LGA, Akwa Ibom and has organized capacity building workshops on sustainable community development planning and management for the host communities.

He also built a Youth Empowerment Centre in Mbo LGA and sponsored a Sustainable Business Development and Management training for 15 members of the Board of Trustees and management staff of the Center aside the awarding of equipment maintenance and support contract for the 18 months. He also recently donated N5 million to the Mbo Empowerment Foundation as well as COVID-19 palliatives to the Effiat and Mbo host communities.

In the North East where he hails from and which has been a theatre of insurgence and carnage, Alhaji Indimi has shown that he has not forgotten the aphorism that charity begins at home. He donated N200 million naira as emergency support for victims of disaster in Nigeria; donated N2 billion to support victims of terrorism in the North-East, gave N200 million to support IDPs in Adamawa, provides an annual food and cash support for over 30,000 IDPs in Borno and has invested N600 million to build a fully equipped estate with 100 homes, school and medical centre in Bama under the MIF resettlement initiative for IDPs amongst others.

On Thursday December 23, 2021 the president commissioned Alhaji Indimis latest philanthropic initative; a multibillion naira purpose built complex which he built and donated to the University of Maiduguri.The complex which boasts a suite of world class facilities is home to the Centre for Long Distance Learning as well as the International Conference Centre. Facilities include Exam Hall, conference room, e-Resources Centre, laboratory as well as staff offices and recreational areas.

His efforts have not gone unnoticed. He has been garlanded at home and abroad. In 2012, he was awarded Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR); in 2013, he received an honorary doctorate from Lynn University, Florida ; in 2017, he received an honorary doctorate from University of Uyo and that same year, he won the Vanguard Newspaper Businessman of the Year. He received an honorary doctorate from the Nigeria Defense Academy in 2018 and in July this year Alhaji Indimi was awarded a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa at the 51st convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos. In December 2021, Dr Indimi was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Technology by Kwara State University, and Honorary Doctorate Degree in Entrepreneurship by the Kaduna State University, Kaduna.

As Oriental Energy Resources strides forth on its march to its fourth decade it is clearly staking its claim as one of Nigerias heritage brands defined by its longevity, adherence to its core values and intentional preservation of its brand essence and reputation.Infact a little over 10 years ago, LEAP Africa set out to commemorate Nigerian businesses that had survived a generation. If I remember correctly, they were only able to identify just a few Lisabi Mills and Domino stores. Very soon, Oriental will be counted amongst them.

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What Makes the Muhammadu Indimi Brand Stand Out? - THISDAY Newspapers