Category Archives: Intentional Communities

By L.E. McCullough

As a teenager in the 1990s, Mary Ann McBride-Tackett dreamed of making films that would change the world. As the Director of Film Education at WQED Film Academy, shes helping Pittsburgh middle and high schoolers put their dreams onto screens around the world.

Founded in 2003 by Ellen and Gregg Kander as Steeltown Entertainment Projectand acquired earlier this year by WQED Multimedia, WQED Film Academy teaches filmmaking and digital media arts classes to students in seventh through 12th grade. Each cohort produces a short film after absorbing 100-plus hours of hands-on collaborative learning from professional filmmakers using state-of-the-art digital media technology.

McBride-Tackett grew up in Alliance, Ohio, about 20 miles east of Canton; throughout her teen years, she actively participated in school and community theater.In 2007, she graduated from Point Park Universitys Cinema and Digital Arts program with a concentration in screenwriting and directing and a minor in child development.

She went on to work on several Pittsburgh-made films including Adventureland and Shes Out of My League and as a film tax incentive specialist for Entertainment Partners, a leading industry payroll and support services company.

In 2016, she joined Steeltown Film Academy, serving initially as community outreach manager and later as program director.

NEXTpittsburgh spoke with McBride-Tackett about the academys mission to shape the next generation of Pittsburgh filmmakers.

Mary Ann McBride-Tackett presents a Film Academy scholarship to the Point Park University Conservatory of the Arts cinema program. Photo courtesy of WQED Multimedia.

NEXTpittsburgh: When did you know you had a passion for filmmaking?

Mary Ann McBride-Tackett: Age 3. I remember watching my first film with my father and really watching with as much concentration as a 3-year-old could. He was a big film enthusiast and book reader, and my mother was very involved in local theater. I had a lot of stories around me at a young age. By middle school, I wanted to seriously study filmmaking because I wanted to tell my own stories. Film was a medium that brought together the things I loved visual art, music, storytelling.

NEXTpittsburgh: Was the storytelling element what attracted you to Steeltown Film Academy?

McBride-Tackett: I saw immediately they were the type of program I wished Id had when I was a teen. Through my Entertainment Partners work, Id met Lisa Smith-Reed and Wendy Burtner at Steeltown, and the more I got involved, I just fell in love with it.

NEXTpittsburgh: What would you say is WQED Film Academys chief benefit for students?

McBride-Tackett: It creates a space for students to feel like theyre less alone; theyre with peers who understand and see the world the way they do. Making film or video can be isolating, especially when youre young. Its gratifying to see our students find an artistic home, a space where they feel they belong among other students and teachers.

Mary Ann McBride-Tackett . Photo by Sebastian Foltz.

NEXTpittsburgh: Collaboration is an essential skill in filmmaking, but many students coming to the program may not have a lot of experience in this. How do you help develop that?

McBride-Tackett: The academy brings together students from all over the city, from all kinds of backgrounds cultural, racial, economic, educational, identities, abilities. We start day one with an icebreaker exercise. We put them in small groups and give each group a three-page script. They have the week to film it and edit and see what they come up with.

NEXTpittsburgh: Toss them in the deep end right away!

McBride-Tackett: Right. Then we pull back, sort them out into their respective levels and start digging into what were working on that semester. But it gets them speaking and interacting with each other. Every single thing we do is incredibly intentional.

NEXTpittsburgh: Do students choose their own film topics?

McBride-Tackett: Yes. They pitch their story to us, and we greenlight it or guide them to rework it to where it can move forward, just the way it is in the film business. Right out of the gate they have a sense of ownership and responsibility before a camera is even picked up. You get the best content when you tap into the students passion.

NEXTpittsburgh: Have there been any stories that really surprised you?

McBride-Tackett: One that had a really big impact was The Reel Queens of Pittsburgh, an episode of our Reel Teens web series. This was a look at the local LGBTQIA+ community with drag performers discussing their art form in quite thoughtful conversations. Rat Lover was made by a student who was passionate about animals and wanted to show that rats are amazing pets. The film portrayed him convincing a friend to accept a rat as a pet. It was shown at four film festivals, and he now works for a pet store producing videos about animal care.

NEXTpittsburgh: Four film festivals?

McBride-Tackett: We submit our student films to festivals all over. In the last three years weve had 15 accepted for festival appearances, including the All-American High School Film Festival in New York. And WQEDs resources allow us to send students to the festivals and learn about the film business in terms of workshops and networking. We also have outside clients commission students to film live events or create promotional or instructional films.

NEXTpittsburgh: Like a small-scale production company.

McBride-Tackett: Exactly. Weve worked with Pandora radio, Industrial Arts Workshop, Wilkins Township, Saltworks Theatre Company and New America, which is a Washington, D.C., think tank.

NEXTpittsburgh: Why do you think its important forthis programto happen in Pittsburgh with young people now?

McBride-Tackett: Were fortunate to live in a culturally diverse city, albeit one that has had friction or tension between certain groups. Filmmaking creates content for the community but also builds relationships in that community from the ground up. Getting youth to engage with each other is a huge benefit to the community, now and in the future. The film industry here is thriving, and we need to get students up to speed because theyre going to be our next media makers.

Mary Ann McBride-Tackett (right) works with a class. Photo courtesy of WQED Multimedia.

NEXTpittsburgh: What will WQED Film Academy look like in five or 10 years? Any new directions?

McBride-Tackett: Theres a really strong drive to reach more students. Were always trying to reach as many people in the community, all ages. The WQED education department has a stellar reputation for getting into the community and reaching people, especially with early childhood and elementary school programs. The Film Academy is striving to reach tweens and teens.

Its also vital to broaden our reach geographically, to grow the virtual space and offer our programs to a student living anywhere. We started our Virtual Program in 2020 out of pandemic necessity but quickly realized its a valuable tool to reach students who cant physically come to the studio. Students are shipped a film-at-home kit adaptable to their mobile device and take classes on Zoom.

NEXTpittsburgh: And they keep the equipment to continue learning?

McBride-Tackett: Yes. We have a terrific Harrisburg-based partner in Reach Cyber Charter School that connects us with students across the state. Reaching students in rural communities is part of our diversity-equity-inclusion commitment. I grew up in a small town and would have loved to have had this kind of access.

NEXTpittsburgh: And now you have the access and the technology to bring it to others.

McBride-Tackett: Were in a time when media is in every aspect of our life. Being able to create a space where every single person, no matter what their background, has a place and a voice is super important. The more diverse of a landscape we can create, the more tolerable and equitable world we can have. I think thats the academys biggest benefit providing a diverse landscape for content creators, because it does affect all of us.

WQED Film Academys in-person fall session runs Sept. 27-Dec. 22 with enrollment information here; scholarships are available.

L.E. McCullough is a Pittsburgh musician/writer/journalist with a lifelong curiosity about who, what, when, where, why and especially how.

film industryWQED

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Mary Ann McBride-Tackett is inspiring the next generation of filmmakers - NEXTpittsburgh

The city of Atlantas development authority approved a massive infusion of public tax subsidies for mostly private developers to build and renovate nearly 1,900 affordably priced rental units last weekwhich City Councilmember Matt Westmoreland called a historic pivot by Invest Atlanta at the councils direction to fund affordable housing.

Invest Atlanta, the citys economic development arm, plans to award $342.1 million in tax subsidies to a dozen developers and real estate investors to build and preserve 13 multifamily complexes with a total of 1,981 unitsincluding 1,834 units to be priced as affordable by city standards.

The public funding is expected to support projects by local firms, like Columbia Residential and Stryant Investments, and national ones, such as Pennsylvania-based Pennrose, Ohio-based National Church Residences, and New Jersey-based Michaels Development Co.part of the team tapped to revamp the Atlanta Civic Centerto build or refurbish apartments on the Westside, Southside, Old Fourth Ward, and downtown, among other communities.

Other local players are: Smith Real Estate Services, Pansophy Capital, Gorman & Co. (with Chicagos Red Rock Capital), along with national firms Wingate Capital Associates and Woda Cooper Development. Atlanta Housing is partnering on some projects.

The deals represent the largest affordable housing agendain terms of the number of projects, dollars invested, total development cost, and the number of unitsin the history of Invest Atlanta, the development authoritys spokesperson Katrice Mines told Atlanta Civic Circle on Friday.

The total development cost is projected at $606 million, Mines said in an email. That means the city of Atlanta intends to help fund over half of that with the $342.1 million in tax subsidies. That includes: $325 million in tax-exempt bonds, $6 million from a relatively new housing opportunity bond program, $8.5 million in tax allocation district incentives, and $2.6 million in other tax credits.

During separate meetings Thursday, the boards of directors for Invest Atlanta and its subsidiary, the Urban Residential Finance Authority (URFA), signed off on 20 different development proposals, though items on the URFA agenda are subject to a second approval, Mines said.

The bakers dozen of affordable apartment complexes is expected to be ready for occupancy starting in 2025.

All of the 1,834 affordable units will be priced for families earning 80% or less of the area median income (AMI), or $77,120 for a four-person household. Of those, 118 will be priced for tenants earning 30% or less of the AMI, or $28,920 for a family of four.

When realized, these 13 new apartment developments will achieve about 10% of Mayor Andre Dickens campaign promise to build and preserve 20,000 affordable homes by 2030.

The citys massive new investment in affordable housing signals a new focus for Invest Atlanta, which is best known for skyline-altering mega developments like the residential and office towers sprouting up all over Midtown, said Westmoreland, an at-large city councilmember and former Invest Atlanta board member.

While its important for Invest Atlanta to prioritize economic development by helping fund high-profile commercial and residential projects, he said in an interview, there has to be an equal or greater focus on addressing Atlantas affordability and socioeconomic challenges.

Invest Atlantas move on Thursday was awesome, he said, because it signaled the intentional shift the council pressed its economic development agency to make in 2019 when the city reauthorized it.

The council passed an ordinance then directing the development authority to take a new approach and add affordable housing to the real estate deals it uses tax dollars to subsidize in an effort to mitigate growing inequities and opportunity gaps for Atlanta residents.

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Invest Atlanta moves forward with $342 million in subsidies for developers to build, rehab nearly 1,900 affordable rentals - Atlanta Civic Circle

Mandy Perez, a 6th-grade English and language arts teacher at Crittenden County Middle School, reacts in surprise as she is named the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year atan in-person ceremony on Sept. 20 at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda. She also was named the Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year.Photo by Jacob Perkins, Sept. 20, 2022

Mandy Perez, a 6th-grade English and language arts teacher at Crittenden County Middle School, has been named the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

I certainly wasnt prepared for that, Perez said. I recently watched a video from our superintendent on opening day that left me with an inspiring message that said theres a difference between wanting to be the best in the world and being whats best for the world. I know each of us wake up everyday and we walk into our classrooms and do whats best for our students.

She also was named the Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Valvoline, co-sponsors of the award, announced Perezs selection atan in-person ceremony on Sept. 20 at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda. Hopkins Countys Kelly Gates also was named the Elementary School Teacher of the Year and Woodford Countys Amber Sergent was named as the High School Teacher of the Year.

It was the first time the ceremony was held in-person since 2019. Also in attendance was Gov. Andy Beshear, members of the Kentucky Board of Education and legislators.

Kentucky Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass thanked Perez, Gates, Sergent and all the Commonwealths teachers for devoting their lives to educating students. He said they continue to raise the bar higher every day.

We host this ceremony every year in hopes of honoring the hard work and dedication you provide this profession, Glass said. Kentucky has more than 42,000 teachers.

Perez has taught in Crittenden County Schools throughout her 18-year teaching career.

As a child growing up in Union County, she recalls asking teachers for extra worksheets at the end of the year to take home and teach her little sister.

Now, as the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Perez hopes to instill a love of reading in students across the Commonwealth.

I love what I do. I love kids and I love teaching, she said. Teaching is the best profession in the world and as teachers, you know that. Its tough. Theres a lot of days you dont know if you can go back in, but we do. And every single thing we do matters.

I promise to be the best spokesperson and role model I can be as your 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

Mandy Perez, center, a 6th-grade English and language arts teacher at Crittenden County Middle School, was named the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year in an in-person ceremony on Sept. 20 at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda. Hopkins Countys Kelly Gates, right, was named the Elementary School Teacher of the Year and Woodford Countys Amber Sergent, left, was named as the High School Teacher of the Year.Photo by Shelby Stills, Sept. 20, 2022

2023 Elementary School Teacher of the Year Kelly Gates is a 5th-grade teacher at Pride Elementary in Hopkins County. She has been teaching there her entire 26-year career.

Gates works to shape the lives of her students, not just academically, but as future citizens that will lead their communities. She encourages students to participate in service-minded activities such as leading the schools gardening club, where students donate cultivated produce to local food banks.

As an Elementary School Teacher of the Year, I hope to advocate for my students and public schools because schools are the backbones of our communities, said Gates.

Amber Sergent, the High School Teacher of the Year, is an 11th- and 12th-grade social studies teacher at Woodford County High School.

Sergent is intentional with her students in preparing them for the world they will inherit after graduation. As Kentuckys High School Teacher of the Year, Sergent said she plans to ensure the stories of the staff who keep Kentuckys schools running are told.

My parents have taught of time and love, Sergent said. I know love. I know what it means. I know what it can do for a child. So when I walk into my room, no matter the content I teach, every child walks away knowing they are loved.

The 2023 Teacher of the Year will receive a $10,000 cash award, while the Elementary and High School Teachers of the Year each will get $3,000. All three of the Teacher of the Year winners received a custom-designed glass award commemorating their accomplishments.

Perez also will receive an opportunity to serve a semester-long sabbatical with KDE and will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

The remaining 21 Teacher Achievement Award recipients each get $500.

The ceremony concluded with remarks from Gov. Beshear, who praised Perez and all Kentucky teachers.

By helping a child discover a love of reading or helping them realize their talents as an artist, as a leader or whatever path they discover, youre doing more than just teaching a subject, Beshear said. Youre changing lives. Youre building up lives. Youre breaking cycles of poverty. The way that you care is pretty incredible and its something I wish we could put in a bottle and share around our Commonwealth and around our country, that we could all emulate every single day.

The Selection ProcessThree elementary, four middle school and four high school teachers wereannounced Aug. 2 as semifinalists for Teacher of the Yearout of more than 300 applications received by KDE.

The semifinalists were chosen by a panel of veteran educators based on applications that included nominees teaching philosophies, experience and community involvement, along with letters of recommendation.

Each semifinalist had an interview and a classroom lesson review. The one with the highest cumulative score from the entire process was chosen as Teacher of the Year.

This is the 22nd year Valvoline, which is headquartered in Lexington, has partnered with KDE to honor Kentucky educators.

MORE ABOUT THE WINNERS

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Crittenden County's Mandy Perez named 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Kentucky Teacher - Kentucky Teacher

Malaina Yoders career in peacebuilding was formed through her experiences with Taylor Student Organizations (TSO), her semester abroad in Ireland, and her Public Relations and English-Creative Writing double major. After graduating in 2018, she went on to her dream graduate program in Northern Ireland. Today, she works as Meditation Director at the Administrative Office of the Courts of Oklahoma.

Yoder was the first in her family to attend college. After learning she qualified for a scholarship that only applied to schools in Indiana within a month of having to make a decision, she frantically visited many schools. However, after visiting Taylor, she was overwhelmed by the presence of God she felt there and knew her search was over.

Being a first-generation student was difficult, and Taylor was a really healthy place to stretch some of those muscles and learn the things to do and say. I found Taylor to be a really beautiful and safe place.

While at Taylor, Yoder worked on The Echo, Taylors student-run newspaper. She also was a tutor in the Writing Center and a Personal Assistant (like an RA) in English Hall and Summer Institute, one of Taylors pre-college programs for high schoolers. During her sophomore year, Yoder spent a semester abroad in Ireland and fell in love with the island.

Yoder was also President of Global Engagement in Taylor Student Organization during a year when Global Engagement had many difficult conversations. Working through these conversations with a cabinet of students from diverse ideologies deeply impacted how she thought about the hard work of peacebuilding.

It's really hard, intentional work by everyone involved, Yoder said. We never agreed about anything, and yet, there was some really intentional programming that felt really beautiful that came out of their work.

Throughout all of it, Taylor professors had a deep impact on her. Shes been able to keep relationships with them since graduating as well. When deciding what to do after Taylor, Yoders experiences in Ireland, TSO, and a Peace, Reconciliation, and Justice class taught by Dr. Scott Moeschberger stayed with her. She said she experienced immense joy while learning in those environments.

I had professors who were very different from me and who challenged me. And I think that was such a gift, she said. They asked me hard questions and made me engage with hard things. They ended up really shaping me into the person I am today.

Yoder found a small graduate program through Trinity College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. While earning her master's degree in Peace and Reconciliation, she also worked with a community development agency and had an internship with the Four Corners Festival in Belfast under Rev. Steve Stockman and Father Martin Magill, both friends of Taylor University. The nine-day festival is a celebration of local Belfast Arts and Faith, where poets, musicians, writers, filmmakers and other creatives gather as speakers and panelists to reflect on what is happening throughout the week.

At Taylor, Yoder had been the editor in chief and designer for Parnassus, Taylors literary and art journal. She went on to use that experience to produce a similar journal for the Four Corners festival. She oversaw high school students writing poetry reflecting on the festival, helped them lay it all out with visual art, then had the book printed and distributed.

The first time Yoder attended the festival, the theme was Building the City of Grace, centered around celebrating the city. That lasting introduction to Belfast that made her fall in love with the place instantly.

It showed me the things that were happening to people across communities of Catholic and Protestant faiths, she said. It really modeled for me a different kind of deeper kind of love for a place -- one that really examines its faults, and is intimately aware of a place of pain while holding the beauty in the truth and the celebration that a place offers. I really hope to carry that with me wherever I go.

The event set the stage for what would become her thesis research. Northern Ireland has been marked by a long, tumultuous history between the Irish Catholic community and the British Protestants. It can be seen throughout the culture, traditions, and the boundaries of the city itself.

One of the traditions in Belfast, the Eleventh Night, is held by the British Protestants to commemorate the victory of William the Orange in 1690. The celebrations main focus is towering bonfires, often four stories high, that are lit every year at the dividing lines of the neighborhoods and communities. The commemorations often include the burning of Irish flags, Catholic symbols and in more recent years, symbols of various immigrant communities.

Yoder decided to write her thesis about the news coverage of the Eleventh Night, and community leaders and peacebuilders efforts to get the bonfires to have less sectarian connotations. Titling it Hot off the Press, many of her interviews were done with people who had been successful in lowering the temperature of the coverage.

I was struck by how 25 years since the peace process, the same questions get asked every year, said Yoder. Questions about the environment, sectarianism, and celebration, with very little forward movement. I see a lot of that in America as well. I'm really interested in what breaks that cycle.

Her findings included the importance of peacemakers embracing transparency and trusting the journalists they brought into the conversation, and the strengths of a diversity of communication styles.

Today, Yoders role as Mediation Director closely pulls in the skills shes acquired in managing conflicts and differing viewpoints from her work in Northern Ireland and as an undergraduate. Shes part of a team that offers free mediation services to seven counties, including a majority of the Cherokee Nation and part of the Muscogee Creek Nation.

A mediator doesn't fix your problems or tell people the best way to resolve conflict, said Yoder. We give people a structure and the questions to begin the process of reconciliation, but they're doing all the hard work. Choosing to deal with conflict is no joke. Our program does a lot of mediation for neighbors, landlords and tenants, families, parents working out custody and co-parenting plans, and natural parents and foster parent adoption plans.

As the program director, Yoder mediates cases, and she also recruits, trains, and supports a team of volunteer community mediators. Shes located on a college campus and works with students to create better systems for managing and working through everyday conflict.

"I think that college students have such a capacity to be adults, and also to explore like children, Yoder said. I felt that inside me when I was at Taylor, and it was cultivated by a lot of people. I hope to keep exploring for the rest of my life.

Learn more about Taylors Public Relations and English Creative Writing & Literature programs, student organizations, or study abroad opportunities.

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From Northern Ireland to Oklahoma: Alumna's Work in Peace and Reconciliation - Taylor University

UCF continues to be recognized by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for its dedication to inclusive excellence. The university has earned its eighth consecutive Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from the magazine, which is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.

As a recipient of the annual HEED Award a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion UCF will be featured, along with 102 other recipients, in the November 2022 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. UCF is among impactful institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University and the University of Texas at Austin recognized this year.

The HEED Award is reflective of our steadfast commitment to inclusive excellence, which allows us to put our values into practice and fulfill our mission.

We believe that every individual who chooses to enroll, work or partner with UCF should have the ability to achieve their goals and reach their fullest potential, says Andrea Guzmn, vice president for Diversity, Equityand Inclusion. The HEED Award is reflective of our steadfast commitment to inclusive excellence, which allows us to put our values into practice and fulfill our mission.

UCF has made efforts to ensure students of all backgrounds, including those who are first-generation or from underserved communities, have access to a quality college degree and the resources and tools needed to succeed for over a decade.This month, U.S. News & World Report has ranked UCF No. 59 across all institutions in the nation and 41stamong public schools for Top Performers on Social Mobility.Washington Monthly magazine also ranked UCF No. 37 ranking among national universities for Social Mobility 21 spots up from the previous year. The university is 19th among public universities on Washington Monthlys 2022 College Guide and Rankings.

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked UCF among its Best Colleges for Student Veterans. Military Times 2022 Best for Vets: Colleges list also ranks UCF No. 76 nationally. The honor is largely based onstudent successmetrics, including completion and retention. It also accounts for military-specific resources, such asUCFs Office of Military and Veteran Student Success (formerly known as the Veterans Academic Resource Center). In June, UCF earned a Silver Award on the 2022-23 Military Friendly Schools list, which measures commitment, effort, and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community.

In February, UCF was awarded $5 million from the Ginsburg Family Foundation to establish a center focused on fostering inclusion, building cross-cultural and global competencies, and serving the local community. UCFs Ginsburg Center for Inclusion and Community Engagement serves students, faculty and staff at the university, as well members of the greater Orlando community. UCF has amplified the Ginsburg Family Foundations gift with a university investment of $2.5 million from the UCF Challenge. The Challenge provides matching funds for key UCF initiatives from the $40 million gift made in 2021 by philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett.

As of Fall 2022, 29.8% of UCFs undergraduate study body identify as Hispanic/Latino/a/x. In 2019, UCF was designated a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), which is a U.S. Department of Education classification awarded to institutions with at least 25% full-time-equivalent undergraduate students. In 2021, UCF was one of 10 institutions nationwide to earn the Seal of Excelencia, which has been awarded to a total of 24 institutions that provide intentional service to Latino students and demonstrate positive momentum for Latino students progress.

Within the past year UCF has been selected as a preferred partner for several initiatives dedicated to fostering inclusion through academic and research opportunities. This includes selection for NASAs Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Space Technology Artemis Research, or M-STAR, initiative, which UCFs HSI designation makes it eligible for. Last year, the university is one of seven national institutions awarded $500,000 to provide interdisciplinary research experiences which includes intentional opportunities to recruit and retain underrepresented and underserved students to support the space agencys return to the moon.

In April, UCF and the Helios Education Foundation co-invested $3.25 million to launch the UCF Downtown Scholars Initiative to create new pathways to success at the university for qualified students at Jones, Evans and Oak Ridge high schools, where the majority of students are Black, in Orlando. The initiative offers pre-collegiate programming and support, first-year student mentoring and a summer bridge program where students will live on-campus at UCF Downtown.

UCF was also tapped earlier this year to participate in a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- funded national training program that strengthens the capacity for data-based research among Historically Black Colleges and Universities and HSIs.

UCF joined more than a dozen other institutions in June to form the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, which aims to double the number of Hispanic doctoral students and increase the number of Hispanic faculty at member institutions by 20%.

This summer, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and Google, selected UCF the new Hispanic-Serving Institutions Career Readiness Program, which aims to grow an excelling workforce by assisting college students at HSIs in developing the digital skills they need to find and secure internships and jobs that will help them build successful careers.

The Orlando Business Journal recognized UCF as an Outstanding Diverse Organization in the large business category in June.

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UCF Receives 8th Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award - UCF

President Joe Biden sings Happy Birthday to Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, on September 15, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/TNS)

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) A few months after taking office, President Joe Biden invited a group of top Latino leaders to the White House. As they sat around the table, the president was surprisingly earnest. He went as far as to acknowledge, two people familiar with the conversation recounted, that his five decades in politics had given him far more familiarity with the African American community and its top issues than with Latinos and their concerns.

Nearly a year and a half later, Biden and Democrats have delivered on a number of policy promises of deep importance to Latinos. But some Latino activists worry voters arent aware of all thats been done, and others worry that the blinkered perspective Biden acknowledged privately has limited Latino representation in his administration.

I believe theres a blind spot in the White House and in the Oval Office, said Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, who pointed to a lack of Latino appointees in key roles across the executive branch. Its clear that the president himself doesnt have an understanding of the Latino community.

With Hispanic Heritage Month underway and the midterm elections seven weeks away, Biden and aides have launched a robust outreach effort aimed at ensuring this crucial voting bloc appreciates the sum of Democrats accomplishments.

Last Thursday, the administrations director of Hispanic media led off the daily briefing in Spanish. That evening, Biden spoke at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes annual dinner in Washington.

On Friday, the main outside group supporting Bidens agenda, Build Back Together, launched a six-figure ad campaign targeting Latinos in three battleground states.

The administrations latest efforts to court Latinos could have started sooner, several activists said.

The failure to message or be intentional about communicating with Latino voters could very much impact the outcome of these midterm elections, said Janet Murgua, president of UnidosUS, a Hispanic advocacy organization based in Washington. Weve not been ignored. I just dont think theyve optimized the Latino vote the way that they could.

Latino voters strongly support Democrats policy priorities: letting Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices (91%), canceling student debt (74%) and protecting abortion rights (77%), according to a weekly tracking poll by the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

But Bidens approval rating with Latinos is just 58%, a number that might be higher with stronger direct outreach to Latino voters. More than half of Latinos the poll surveyed 51% said theyve yet to be contacted by any political party, campaign, or any other organization.

Sending working families $1,400 pandemic relief checks, canceling as much as $20,000 of student loan debt and enacting the first gun safety reforms in 30 years after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, this year are overwhelming policy successes, said Chuck Rocha, a Democratic consultant and advisor on Latino outreach to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The problem is the Latino voters dont know about it. You dont see ads talking about the litany of successes this White House has delivered for the Latino community.

If Latinos dont know about Bidens policy agenda, its not necessarily for Democrats lack of trying. Mayra Macas, the chief strategy officer for Build Back Together, said the group has spent more than $35 million on advertising aimed at Latinos since the organization launched last year.

Weve been doing paid advertising with the Latino community since Day One, she said in an interview. Now, there are more wins to sell.

Several of those wins the Inflation Reduction Act, which expands access to healthcare and reduces the cost of prescription drugs, and Bidens student loan debt forgiveness were enacted in August. We need more time to get all of this information out there, Macas said. But we have this incredible opportunity with all of the legislation thats just recently passed.

Recent events have also broadened Latino support for some Democratic priorities.

The Uvalde shooting in May, when 19 schoolchildren and two teachers were killed when an assault rifle-wielding gunman stormed their classroom, galvanized more Latinos around gun safety. And the Supreme Courts overturning of federal protections for abortion in June has activated many more Latinos around protecting reproductive choice.

In last weeks National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials tracking poll, abortion rights were a top-three issue for 28% of respondents a huge jump from 2018, when only 4% listed it as such. The same poll showed that 77% of Latinos now support a ban on assault weapons.

Only one issue was a higher priority for Latinos: the rising cost of living and inflation, which 48% of respondents listed as a top-three concern. Although gas prices have come down in recent months after spiking following Russias February invasion of Ukraine, Democrats know pocketbook issues remain a potential liability for them.

One of the first things that comes out of peoples mouths when I talk to them in the district is gas prices, said Rep. Tony Crdenas, D-Calif. If gas prices werent where they were, then people would be talking more about what we have done.

In those conversations, Crdenas said he looks to focus constituents on all the things Democrats have done to help working families, as well as last years bipartisan infrastructure overhaul.

Biden has a lot to brag about. But something people dont realize is that over 50% of construction workers are Latinos, he said. That infrastructure bill is a tremendous boost to millions of Latino households.

Despite all that Biden has accomplished in two years, many Latino activists believe the administration has missed opportunities to solidify support and stop a slow but significant uptick in Latino support for Republicans.

According to the tracking poll, more than 50% prefer a generic Democrat, but 35% of Latinos prefer a Republican candidate, a notable increase from the 2018 midterms, when that number was at 22%. A Siena College/New York Times poll of Latinos this week mirrored those results, detailing how the GOP has made inroads with Latinos, particularly around economic issues and in the South.

Weve been in trouble with Latinos for a long time. Support has gone down, down, down, said Joshua Ulibarri, a Democratic pollster focused on Latinos. Biden isnt to blame for that but its up to him to stop the bleeding.

Ulibarri was not alone in listing marijuana legalization as an avenue for boosting support in Latino communities, where individuals are disproportionately arrested and jailed for drug crimes. But the most common area of frustration among Latino activists and political operatives was that too few Latinos have been appointed to positions in the White House and across the executive and judicial branches.

Although Biden appointed a historic four Latinos to his Cabinet, there have been no Latinos appointed as assistant attorneys general at the Justice Department, no Latinos named to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that addresses workplace discrimination, and no Latino leadership at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Appointments send a message, said Saenz of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and a former counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. This goes far beyond the notion of progress. We have actually seen some regression in comparison to the Obama administration.

Saenz and his organization have called for Biden to nominate more Latinos to the federal bench.

The highest-ranking Latino working in the West Wing is Julie Rodriguez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In June, she was elevated to the title of assistant to the president, a response in part to pressure from outside groups frustrated that Biden didnt have any Latinos in that role.

In an interview, she pushed back on the criticism that Latinos are underrepresented in the administration. The representation is broader and deeper than Ive ever seen it in my experience in government, said Rodriguez, who added that Bidens directive to prioritize diversity isnt merely about meeting a quota with personnel. No matter who you are, you have a clear mandate from the president to ensure theres equity across the agencies and in our policies.

After proposing an immigration reform bill on his first day in office, the symbolic fulfillment of a campaign promise, Biden has steered his legislative agenda in other directions. Even as migrants have overwhelmed the southern border, prompting a daily drumbeat of criticism from Republicans, the White House has been reluctant to engage, determined to focus elsewhere.

Biden promised me personally that he was going to get it done in the first 100 days, said Hctor Snchez Barba, chief executive of Mi Familia Vota. But its the same story over and over. And its unacceptable.

But whatever frustrations exist, they will be weighed against the alternative of a Republican Party increasingly dominated by xenophobia and demagoguery. As Democrats begin their final messaging blitz in the run-up to the Nov. 8 election, they are presenting their own accomplishments in contrast to Republicans, casting the GOP as extreme and working to frame the election as a choice between two parties and visions, not a referendum on Biden and Democrats in Congress.

Last weeks controversial gambit by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican with clear aspirations of challenging Biden in 2024, offered Democrats an opportunity. Intent on forcing Democrats to reckon with the impact of rampant migration, DeSantis used taxpayer dollars to fly Venezuelan asylum seekers to liberal enclaves such as Marthas Vineyard and Washington, D.C., where dozens of migrants were deposited Thursday outside Vice President Kamala Harris official residence.

We as an administration are continuing to really deliver for Latino families, said Rodriguez, the assistant to the president. And what were seeing in terms of the political kind of ploys that are coming from folks on the other side right now, using taxpayer dollars to exploit migrants that are fleeing communism it just couldnt be a clearer contrast in terms of whos fighting for the community and who has the communitys best interest in mind.

2022 Los Angeles Times.

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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Biden scrambles to shore up Latino support. Is it too late? - Stars and Stripes

PROVIDENCE, RI Mayor Jorge Elorza, Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris (Ward 11), Providence Cultural Equity Initiative CEO and Founder Raymond Two Hawks Watson, Reparations Commission Chairperson Rodney Davis, Reparations Commission member and Providence resident Wanda Brown, Congregation Beth Sholom Rabbi Barry Dolinger, 1696 Heritage Group Vice President and Providence Director of Business Development Keith Stokes, Founder and Executive Director of Higher Ground International Henrietta White-Holder, Senior Advisor to Mayor Elorza and Executive Director of the African American Ambassador Group Shawndell Burney-Speaks and community members Thursday announced the next steps in the City of Providences municipal reparations process.

Mayor Elorza on Thursday began taking action on the recommendations of the Municipal Reparations Commission. First, Mayor Elorza signed an Executive Order constituting a formal municipal apology for African enslavement, urban renewal policies and practices and acknowledgement of the harms to African Heritage and Indigenous communities caused by racial discrimination. In addition, Mayor Elorza signed a second Executive Order committing the City of Providence to continuing to support the work of the African American Ambassadors Group.

On behalf of the City of Providence, today I signed an Executive Order taking long overdue action toward acknowledging the deep wounds of racial injustice and creating a pathway forward to a more equitable future, said Mayor Jorge O. Elorza. Only by formally acknowledging the generational effects of discriminatory policies, bringing those impacted to the table as decision-makers, and making significant investments in the communities targeted by those policies, can we collectively move forward and each of us become full and equal members of our society.

Mayor Elorza and community members also unveiled a budget plan for the $10 million allocated for the COVID-19 Inequities Fund in the Citys approved American Rescue Plan Act budget. The budget Closing the Racial Wealth and Equity Gap: A Proposed Budget for Municipal Reparations, outlines investments in categories such as homeownership and financial literacy, education and healthcare. The full budget proposal can be found here. In the coming days and weeks, Mayor Elorza and community members will engage members of the City Council to discuss the findings of the Commission and the outlined budget.

I thank the Municipal Reparations Commission for their time and efforts to outline recommendations, and I know that the budget we are proposing is driven by the needs and priorities of the community. While we cannot undo the harm that has been done, I am confident these programs and investments will make great strides in closing the racial wealth and equity gaps that exist in Providence. said Mayor Jorge O. Elorza. I look forward to joining them in engaging with the City Council when they are back in session to advance these priority areas.

In July 2020, Mayor Elorza signed a community-driven Executive Order committing the City to a process of truth, reconciliation and municipal reparations. Since then, the City has been undergoing a process of research and community engagement, including the creation of the A Matter of Truth report and the City of Providences Reconciliation Framework. Earlier in the week, the Providence Municipal Reparations Commission submitted its final report to the Mayor and City Council, which detailed their recommendations for advancing reparations in Providence, as defined by the Commission as closing the present-day racial wealth and equity gap.

Over the past four months, the Commission was intentional in reaching out to community members throughout Providence, said Commission member and Providence resident Wanda Brown. Hosting 17 public meetings, 7 community town halls and informed by the historical evidence and engagement before us, we feel confident about the recommendations made to the city and look forward to even more action being taken to move them forward.

As beneficiaries of reparations after the Holocaust and as witness to the process of revolutionary healing they can foster, we wholeheartedly and enthusiastically promote the researched, thoughtful proposals in this report, said Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Congregation Beth Sholom. True healing comes from recognizing its not about scarcity and competition for resources, the very cause of these ills in the first instance, but about abundance and collectivity.

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Providence mayor signs executive order apologizing for slavery, racial discrimination; pledges $10 million in reparations - Fall River Reporter

GRAFTON, N.D. A project that will provide entrepreneurs in northeast North Dakota with a low-risk space to grow their businesses will move forward following the announcement of a $1.6 million federal grant for construction costs.

The 532 Hill Avenue project, led by the Red River Regional Council, will create a commercial kitchen and business incubator in Grafton, North Dakota, providing space and programming for budding entrepreneurs in the town.

On Aug. 23, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Red River Regional Council will receive a $1.6 million grant from the Economic Development Administration for the project as part of the American Rescue Plan. The federal money is matched by $409,189 in local funds from partners like the Walsh County Job Development Authority, the city of Grafton, Marvin Windows and Polar Communications.

President Biden is dedicated to supporting communities as they seek to create new opportunities to spur business growth and create jobs, Raimondo said in the announcement. These EDA investments will support business and workforce efforts in North Dakota to help communities there build stronger, more robust local economies.

The space is planned for an existing building at 532 Hill Ave. in Grafton that has sat empty for about seven years. It is located in downtown Grafton, and when completed, will include a commercial kitchen, retail spaces, conference rooms, co-working spaces and offices. The project was designed by Prairie Centre Architecture, based in Park River, North Dakota.

It brings a very intentional space that is to grow and support entrepreneurship, inspiring new business development, with a heavy emphasis on food-based businesses, said Dawn Mandt, executive director of the Red River Regional Council. Our goal is to help repopulate some of our main streets with unique destination, niche businesses.

The shared commercial kitchen will be available for people developing their food-based business to rent. It will allow these business owners, many of whom have only worked in home kitchens, to scale up their business and become familiar with working in a commercial space without having to take the leap of investing in a commercial kitchen of their own, Mandt said.

Working out of a commercial kitchen also allows businesses to meet food safety and licensing regulations, which can open the door for businesses to be able to package and ship food products for sale. With retail areas in the building, business owners could set up shop to grow a local customer base.

Potentially, a food-based business could have a storefront and have limited hours or regular house to reach the public more readily than just with their online marketing, said Mandt.

Entrepreneurs that use the space will also have access to programming to guide them through the startup or growth of their businesses in preparation for running a business independently in the future.

Our goal is to graduate people out of an incubator setting so they can have their own storefront or a business setting of their very own, she said.

As well as a space to cultivate local business, Mandt envisions the Hill Avenue project as a community gathering space. The commercial kitchens could be used for food classes or by other organizations in Grafton when hosting events.

The 532 Hill Avenue project is not the only new development in Grafton in recent years. In 2021, a 36,000 square foot addition was completed at Unity Medical Center. This spring was the first year that water flowed through a new flood diversion , which was also completed in 2021. The city is working with ICON Architectural Group to develop a new apartment complex.

Paired with these recent developments, Chris West, mayor of Grafton, expects the 532 Hill Avenue project to make Grafton an even better place to live and work.

All these improvements that go into the footprint of our community poise Grafton as a smaller community that you are able to work from, said West. It provides a nice, smaller town atmosphere for those that dont want the hustle and bustle of a larger community.

Once the federal grant is awarded to the Red River Regional Council, the design for the space will be finalized, and the project will be posted for bids for construction. Renovating an existing building will shorten the construction process, says Mandt, and she expects the project will be completed by next summer or fall.

In the meantime, says Mandt, entrepreneurs and community leaders alike are excited about the opportunities the 532 Hill Avenue project will bring.

Theres a lot of great energy and people have a lot of great ideas, and it will give us more ability to nurture them in a meaningful way, said Mandt.

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Project for business development in Grafton to move forward with help of federal grant - Grand Forks Herald

A banner in the 2018 Lititz Halloween parade commemorating two students who died in a tragic car accident that fall read #WeAreWarwick. One community. One Family. In the spring of 2019, L-L League girls lacrosse players wore T-shirts reading Warwick Strong when they took the field against Warwick in honor of one of the victims of that tragic 2018 car accident. Instead of gathering for the Warwick High Schools 2018 Together at Christmas concert, students were offered counseling to help with the loss of a student who died by suicide.

In February of this year, after the tragic death of a fifth grade student, Warwick School District community members wrote messages of love and support on the sidewalks outside of Bonfield Elementary School and Warwick Middle School.

Then, of course, came 2020 and 2021 and the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. And in May of this year, the school district, along with the nation, felt the shock and grief of the tragic school shooting that took place in Uvalde, Texas. The tragedy prompted the administration to send out resources to help families talk about tragedies with their children.

In each of those terrible instances, the school district and the community came together to grieve, share their feelings and offer support.

Our district has been through several tragedies, says superintendent April Hershey. And theyve hit very close to home for our entire community.

Hershey says after both the tragedies in 2018, the school district asked Patti Anewalt, director of the Pathways Center for Grief and Loss, to come in and hold what Anewalt calls a debrief with the staff. The sessions provided a chance for people to share their feelings with each other.

It was so healing to hear that other people were feeling the same things you were, Hershey says. After the sessions, Hershey began a therapy dog program at the school district to help children feel more comfortable discussing complex grief-related emotions.

Anewalt, who holds a Ph.D. and has been working in mental health counseling and healthcare for 30 years, says collective grief occurs when a group of people like a school or work community, or people of a particular race or ethnicity share some kind of extreme loss.

Its the experience of sharing grief with others, Anewalt says. Its not just sympathy. Sympathy is when you feel bad for somebody. Its passive. Empathy is active. When youre empathetic you feel with somebody.

Anewalt began working with Hospice and Community Care in 1994, and shortly after, she developed the Pathways Center for Grief and Loss. Pathways is a free resource that offers support to anyone experiencing the complex emotions surrounding grief. They offer grief support, training and effective coping strategies to individuals and groups dealing with the loss of a loved one. There are special groups focusing on bereaved partners, those who have lost a parent and people coping with loss from suicide or overdoses. According to Anewalt, the organization serves about 9,000 people a year.

Pathways offers support, coping strategies and opportunities to share feelings with others that are going through similar experiences, but there is no magic formula to rid someone of grief.

Grief is as unique as our fingerprint. People call me a grief expert all the time, but I cant tell you what you need to do, Anewalt says. People need to always check in how they feel, pause, take deep breaths, share feelings, not keep it in.

Anewalt says sharing your feelings and connecting with others who are grieving is important.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon bonded over the loss of their mothers at a young age, Anewalt says. That song where Paul McCartney sings, Mother Mary come to me is about the loss of his mother.

In 1986, Anewalt was living in Concord, New Hampshire, when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred. The disaster claimed the lives of seven astronauts including Concord native Christa McAuliffe.

Talk about collective grief. You could just feel it in the grocery store where (McAuliffe) would go, Anewalt says. People sent things to Concord High School from Japan and all over the world to show they care. It was powerful to see.

After 9/11, Anewalt traveled to Shanksville to be on the scene and offer support to the families of the grieving victims of the terrorist attack.

They needed to be together, Anewalt says. Theres something very powerful about that. Part of it is just knowing theres other people that feel the same way.

In 2006, Anewalt installed herself at the Bart Township fire hall where families were gathering and grieving after the Nickel Mines school shooting.

All the Amish families came to the fire hall just to be together, Anewalt says. We were picking up on conversations about what to say to children, so we pulled everybody together in a big meeting and facilitated questions they had about talking to their children.

Simply being with others who are grieving is a powerful way to deal with the extreme emotions of grief and loss. Sharing emotions and talking honestly especially with children is an overlooked tool that families and communities can use to cope together.

So often with tragic situations like shootings, the parents dont want the kids to know how they feel because theyre trying to protect them, but that really does a disservice to children, Anewalt says. Kids are actually more resilient than adults. They have more neuroplasticity. Theyre more flexible.

Some people, Anewalt says, may want to join together after a tragedy to channel their emotions into taking intentional actions to fight gun violence, climate change or create awareness of opioid abuse.

Each person has to make the decision that they want to do something intentional to make a difference, Anewalt says.

There is a reason the Pathways Center calls it a grief journey

Its a marathon, not a sprint Anewalt says.

Friendship Community House in Lancaster helped to honor Sarah Lance, a former resident who passed away earlier this year with a memorial tree that was planted in the backyard at Friendship on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022.

Jessica Schweers, an associate director of operations at the Friendship Community a faith-based organization that, among other things, operates 24 homes for individuals with intellectual disabilities to live and age-in-place, says they regularly work with Pathways.

They really help us look at the physical, spiritual and emotional areas of grieving and helping in the process when someone is passing away, Schweers says.

Schweers says representatives from Pathways will come into a group home and talk to residents when a housemate passes away. They facilitate conversations about feelings and ways to keep the an individuals memory alive.

We try to do something that honors that individual that passes away, Schweers says. In one of our homes, we got a bird house because (someone that passed) loved to sit out and watch birds. So we hung a bird house in his memory and the individuals in that house like to go out and sit by that bird house and see the birds.

Some of the Friendship Communities properties have butterfly bushes and memorial gardens planted in honor of people that have passed away. They also set up a memorial fund to provide educational training to staff members in honor of a co-worker that passed away.

Last year, when a Friendship Communities team member passed away, Pathways came in and helped co-workers cope with the loss. They also offered strategies on how to facilitate more conversations between team members and residents about loss. Team members decided to plant a memorial tree at one of the homes where their co-worker worked to honor their memory.

Memorial trees, special ceremonies or group sessions help honor a persons memory and provide opportunities for those who loved them to express their feelings, deal with grief and even feel gratitude.

People can rub off on each other. The more we can help each other the more resilient the community becomes, Anewalt says. People start to appreciate what they have as they connect with each other.

Pathways Center for Grief and Loss, a program of Hospice and Community Care, is a free community resource that provides one-on-one grief counseling, group counseling and on-site workplace and school sessions. Learn more about Pathways at hospiceandcommunitycare.org/grief-and-loss, or call 717-391-2413 or 888-282-2177.

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Pathways, a grief and loss center, encourages those coping with loss to lean on their community - LNP | LancasterOnline

Minority home owners are losing wealth because of an appraisal process that doesnt provide them with the true value of their homes and properties, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge says in a new interview.

She said HUD had been tasked by President Biden to look into appraisal bias during an appearance on CNN Tonight, telling host Laura Coates that it is a violation of theFair Housing Act and lending law for appraisers to discriminate against minority homebuyers.

And so, what HUD is doing, and what we have done already, is we were tasked by the president to look at appraisal bias. Because what we know is that it used to be that these things happen only in redlined communities, Fudge told Coates. But now it is pervasive, it is happening everywhere.

Fudge said the problems are systemic and pervasive and that minorities lose out because of how appraisers are trained and governed.

And so, what we did, in March, was to present a report that showed how deeply this whole bias situation is [engrained] across this country, Fudge said. It is systemic, and it is intentional to some degree.

Fudge said minority homebuyers suffer the most during the appraisal process, telling Coates that if homes are appraised the way that they should be, many minority homeowners will be able to pass down more resources and wealth to their children.

What the president has said is that we have to look at everything through a lens of equity. And so, what we have realized is that people selling homes, just as the persons you were talking about, and even people buying homes, if their appraisal is not correct, what we find, especially as Black people, in communities of color, and underserved communities, is we lose great wealth, just through the appraisal process, Fudge told Coates.

But if we are constantly undervaluing communities of color, either because they are communities of color, or that the person themselves is in a community that they dont think that we should be in, then we consistently lose wealth in our communities, Fudge added. And thats why this is so important, from an equity situation.

Fudges remarks come after President Biden announced the launch of the Property Appraisal Valuation Equity (PAVE) initiative last year. PAVE is a task force made up of 13 federal agencies, co-chaired by Fudge and Susan Rice, the chair of the Domestic Policy Council.

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HUD Secretary on homebuyers of color: We lose great wealth during the appraisal process - The Hill