Category Archives: Intentional Communities

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.

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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.

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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

The first draft of MITs Strategic Action Plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was released in the spring of 2021. After an extended comment period that has included dozens of focus groups, community engagement sessions, and presentations to the campus and alumni communities, as well as email and inputs from all corners of MIT, the plan is now being updated.

In a conversation prepared for MIT News, Institute Community and Equity Officer John Dozier reflects on what he has learned about MIT since he assumed his role in March 2020, the current state of the plan, and his hopes for its implementation.

Q: Tell us about the process of creating MITs Strategic Action Plan.

A: In my experience, good plans emerge from processes that are geared toward consensus building amongst key stakeholders. A good plan will give us not only a roadmap for our efforts over the next five years, it will also help us to think more collaboratively about how we can eliminate the sometimes-large disparities in experiences between members of our community. It will allow us to evaluate how well were doing by assessing what is working and what isnt, so that we can divest ourselves of things that arent effective and put our time, energy, and resources into things that are. In short, given that inclusion is essential to excellence, a good plan will help us take meaningful steps toward an MIT that truly welcomes, respects, and brings out the best in everyone.

Getting started, we wanted to draw on existing institutional knowledge. So, we tapped a group of faculty, staff, students, and postdocs who know MIT well to serve as a steering committee. We went through multiple earlier reports that identified patterns of inequity at MIT, mapped out an initial list of more than 170 possible ideas to move the community forward, and talked broadly about what we wanted the plan to achieve. All of this came together as a first draft, which was then reviewed with senior leadership and subsequently released to the MIT community.

The first round wasnt a complete draft of what most people (ourselves included) would call a strategic plan. For example, it didnt articulate goals or say anything about resources. Our aim with the first draft was to gain an understanding of whether we were pointed in the right direction before determining goals, who would be accountable, and the resources needed to support the plan. Yet, much of the feedback we received reflected frustration with that lack of clarity. In addition, our process led to several members of the steering team feeling that the revisions posed by senior leadership occurred without their engagement and ultimately weakened the draft.

Starting in the summer, we took a step back, slowed down, and refocused on building agreements. We centered our efforts on developing shared interest statements related to each part of the plan. With agreement on our shared interests, or the what, we could move to advance consensus about the actions that we will take, or the how.

Q: How would you describe the challenges you have encountered in this process?

A: The two words I heard most frequently when I started at MIT were decentralization and trust as in, the gulfs of trust that exist between different segments of our community. As we embarked on the strategic planning process, which requires trust and ideally leads to more systematic and coordinated efforts, we were really challenged by these realities.

Another challenge that has emerged, especially over the last several months, is the sheer volume of related efforts around the Institute. For example, the Values Statement Committee was charged with articulating the principles that tie our community together, and the members of Task Force 2021 and Beyond were asked to make a plan for MITs post-pandemic future. Each of these efforts along with others overlap with this plan, but each overlap is different. If we can leverage all of the expertise driving these efforts, it will dramatically increase our chances for success, and I think it will make more sense to people.

Additionally, MIT has already done a lot of really important work around creating a more inclusive and healthy community. But that work hasnt been particularly well coordinated. We need to identify how to merge the past into the present as we look toward the future. Having people think of this plan as their last, best, maybe only chance to get their concerns addressed by the Institute makes it much more difficult to be strategic.

Also, weve done the vast majority of our strategic plan development without the benefit of being physically present with one another. From a personal perspective, learning about the culture of MIT and getting to know members of this community has been tremendously exciting but it has also been a serious challenge, because I started in this role the very day that the campus was closed as a response to the pandemic. Developing new relationships while leading an effort to redefine organizational effectiveness through a people-first lens without actually meeting people has been daunting. There is something to be said for being in the same place at the same time.

And lastly though its more of an opportunity than a challenge MIT has made some major additions to our expertise and capacity since we started work on the plan. The new assistant deans for diversity in each of the schools and the college, plus other new staff in academic departments and other units will provide new levels of leadership and support for school- and department-based efforts. We need their help to address both our broader challenges and our more local ones, but they continue to need time for onboarding and orientation in order to be truly effective.

Q: What have you learned while creating this plan?

A: In short, I have learned a lot. We started with a focus on maximizing efficiency. Over the last couple decades, MIT leadership has received many reports that focus on the challenges experienced by members of our community who are underrepresented and the changes needed to better support them. We were intentional about engaging the data from these reports. A significant number of people within the MIT community took the time to respond to surveys, attend focus groups, and provide input that contributed to these reports. Our assumption was that the reports represented a kind of consensus position from which we could start.

In hindsight, I understand that even while our senior leadership team, students, staff, postdocs, and faculty value and were engaged with the information from past reports, they need their own opportunity to influence what MIT is committing to and how that work will be done. Additionally, they want to understand how existing and additional resources will be organized and allocated, the details of the plans intended impact over time, how the plan will connect with values such as free expression, and how we will hold ourselves accountable.

Addressing all of these needs requires a process that is different from the efficiency-based process that we adopted at the beginning, and it has required more time. There are certainly things that I would do differently based on what I know now. However, I think its important that we are learning, growing, and pivoting to make this a meaningful process that advances the Institutes mission and creates an environment that addresses community needs and reflects a deep commitment to being more inclusive.

Q: How does free expression connect with the strategic action plan?

A: It connects directly. Ive heard from members of our community that they see a tension between how we value free expression and our commitment to ensuring that everyone at MIT feels valued and supported. I dont think of these values as being in tension with one another. Rather, I see them as being interdependent.

We cannot create and sustain a community where people from the whole range of backgrounds and viewpoints truly feel a sense of belonging unless we commit to their right to constructively share their ideas, thoughts and considerations. Similarly, we cannot have a community that values free expression without an equal commitment to creating and sustaining a sense of belonging where everyone feels their identity and contributions are respected and valued. Free expression is vital for our community to function in a healthy way but by the same token, free expression cannot mean a free pass to be intentionally demeaning or harmful.

Civil discourse, critical thinking, and empathy are at the core of how we create and sustain a strong sense of community at MIT. These are the skills that are needed to make connections between our values for free expression and belonging.

Q: What do you think will be the most important outcome of the plan?

A: I always start with hope I have hope and confidence in our communitys ability to realize MITs mission in ever more powerful ways. There is a remarkable energy and desire to create a better, more inclusive community at the Institute. In my mind, when theres a lot of energy around doing something so meaningful and you can combine that energy with a lot of really smart people, how can you not be hopeful?

I also believe that a plan that results in more positive experiences for those who have been marginalized in our community will fuel the creativity, breadth, and volume of our research, teaching, and learning while enhancing our overall effectiveness. Without this effort, we hinder our ability to fully achieve the Institutes mission. With it, we cultivate our communitys capacity for trust, for expansive thinking, and for appreciating the deep human impact of everything we do.

Ultimately, the priorities, commitments, and actions that emerge from this process will be informed by the lessons passed down to us from the past, by our lived experiences in the present, and by our shared commitment to whats possible when we embrace inclusion as an essential element of excellence. All of us will be responsible for making that commitment real, in all of our actions, throughout our time at MIT.

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Q&A: John Dozier on the Strategic Action Plan for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - MIT News

One lingering impact from the pandemic has been the absence of some young families that once attended church with regularity. As our smaller churches have at times struggled to rebuild a ministry to children and students, our team is asked if there are certain events or even staffing that will create a solution.

Often, our most strategic and effective solutions are not the costliest. If your church is struggling to rebuild a ministry to children and students, consider these ideas . . .

1. Lead the church to pray for this younger generation.

Even the most conservative estimates would measure the number of lost students in Generation Z in our country at over 50 million more than 10 times the population of our state! Our

communities are filled with young people separated from Christ. This must become a consistent and churchwide prayer emphasis.

2. Plan how the church will disciple and care for children and students before they begin to attend.

There are some churches that are frustrated that no young people attend. However, if the Lord quickly brought a dozen teenagers, would the church be ready with a plan to disciple and minister to them? The lack of numbers now should not limit the plans for tomorrow.

3. Make an intentional effort to partner and serve a local school.

Our schools contain the greatest concentration of lost teenagers anywhere in our communities. Churches should seek sincere and ongoing ways to serve and partner with a local school campus

to build friendships with leaders and help support its work of education. Again, the priority is to serve the school, not use it as a bulletin board for church events.

4. Do for one young person what you would love to do for many.

Instead of lamenting the lack of a strong ministry, as a leader resolve to mentor and disciple one young person in your community. Be an example to the flock and equip members of the church to do likewise. These are the relationships that will bring children and students to our churches.

Recognize that reaching and discipling children and students is the ministry of the church not a few volunteers or even staff members. The task is difficult, the work is messy, but the stakes are too high to neglect this essential ministry.

Matt Flanagan is children and student ministry consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

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BAPTIST LIFE: 4 suggestions on building a ministry to children and students - Kentucky Today

Noelle D. Lilley Nolle D. Lilley is a southern California native learning to From sequels to beloved 90s horror movie franchises to documentaries that uncovered an important historical moment in Black American music, these were the 10 best films of 2021.

Twenty Twenty-One was a great year for films. In the face of an ongoing pandemic, the movie industry managed to still release a number of films across genres that were well-received, whether critically and/or commercially. Some of those films happened to be sequels to beloved 90s horror movie franchises, while others were documentaries that uncovered an important historical moment in Black American music. Whether you watched some of these safely in the confines of your home or socially-distanced in a movie theater, these were the 10 best films of 2021.

Audiences had been waiting for a long time for Nia Decosta and Jordan Peeles Candyman after its original June 2020 release date was delayed three times because of the COVID-19 pandemic and it was well worth the wait. A sequel to the 1992 slasher film, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stars as Anthony McCoy, an artist struggling to find his next inspiration while living with his art gallerist girlfriend (the always-charming Teyonah Parris; bonus points for two dark-skinned leads!) in a gentrifying Chicago. The couple live in a community that was once terrorized by Candyman, a paranormal, hook-handed murderer who was said to appear and kill his victims if they said his name five times. When Anthony begins to channel the legend of Candyman into his work, he unintentionally becomes his next vessel. The movie is more gruesome than scary and it can be easy to get lost among all its twists and turns and flashbacks. But its strengths lie in how it blends real-life issues of gentrification, white gate-keeping, and police violence with all the guts and gore youd expect from a horror film.

For years, Black audiences have pushed for movies that didnt rely on Black trauma: more sci-fi, more romcoms, and fewer slave narratives. Their calls were answered in 2021 with Concrete Cowboy,Netflixs family drama about a rebellious teenager who is sent to live with his estranged father. Concrete Cowboy premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2020, but wasnt available to stream until 2021. The movie takes its title from the communities of Black urban cowboys across the U.S., and even calls on real members of Philadelphias Fletcher Street riding community to play supporting characters. Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin are sincere and heartbreaking as a father and son duo struggling to understand each other and heal past wounds. The final act is weighed down by a somewhat stereotypical plot development involving a friend-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks (a mistake in writing to no fault of actor Jharrell Jerome, whose star power shines as bright as ever), but its a moving, family-friendly movie about the power of community thats a refreshing change of pace.

Although this film had a limited release in 2020, One Night in Miami graced most screens at home in 2021 from Amazon Studios. Its a fictionalized retelling of a meeting between Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) in 1964. The men, real-life friends, are celebrating Alis win over Sonny Liston at the Hampton House in Miami, guarded by Nation of Islam security. In her directorial debut, Regina King wisely keeps this film in a time capsule, focusing on each man on the precipice of a major change: Malcolm X leaving the Nation of Islam, Muhammad Ali changing his name from Cassius Clay, Jim Brown retiring from the NFL to pursue acting, and Sam Cooke releasing A Change Is Gonna Come. Each performance here is stellar, with the actors finding their way around the sometimes stagey limitations of a film adapted from a play. As the men bicker like siblings and make up as fast as they fight, they push the audience to ask ourselves what we expect from our idols, heroes, and leaders, and what is their responsibility to us?

A quick weekend getaway goes wrong when a waitress accompanies an exotic dancer, her boyfriend, and a mysterious roommate on a money-making trip to Florida, only to quickly realize the trip is much more than she signed up for. Another 2020 film that was pushed because of COVID-19, Zola is based on the viral Twitter story that invented threads before threads were a thing. Its equal parts hilarious and visually stunning with creative editing, and good pacing and story structure. Zola feels like a mix between a Tyler Perry thriller, an indie arthouse drama, and a dark comedy that, in lesser hands, would feel cringey and overstimulating. But thanks to the intentional direction of Janicza Bravo (with a thoughtful script co-written by Jeremy O. Harris),Zola sticks the landing with lots of uncomfortable laughs along the way.

A star-studded cast comes together for a fantastical romp in the Old West. The best part of this film is how it subverts the traditional Western genre, taking real-life cowboys and outlaws but reimagining them, resulting in one of the few Westerns with a primarily Black cast. This is a movie where everyone pulls their weight: Jonathan Majors as Nat Love, Idris Elba as Rufus Buck, Regina King as Trudy Smith, and more. Its a stylish and energetic time, as fast-paced as the pistol-whipping fight sequences that take place throughout (particularly between Love and Bucks team of sharp-shooters that culminates in the end of the twos long-fought and bitter rivalry). Unfortunately, the film disappointed some when it cast fair-skinned, biracial German-American actress Zazie Beetz to play the plus-sized, dark-skinned legend, Stagecoach Mary. In spite of this, the movie is saved by being playful and imaginative, one of two films this year paying true homage to the under-tapped history of Black cowboys.

A thoroughly buoyant film, King Richard finds Will Smith at the peak of his powers as he plays a Compton father raising two future world-renowned athletes: Venus and Serena Williams. Here, Smith gets to tap into his comedic timing in a way we havent seen in years, and delivers monologue after gut-wrenching monologue that just knocks the wind out of you. And best of all, hes evenly matched with Aunjanue Ellis (excellent in HBOs Lovecraft Country) as the Williams matriarch. Those familiar with the legendary tennis duos rise to fame in the 90s and 2000s will enjoy many of the scene-by-scene reenactments from this once-in-a-lifetime story. And for others learning for the first time, its a heartfelt family drama that manages to touch on racism, pressure, and sacrifice.

Most everyone has heard of 1969s Woodstock, but Questloves documentarySummer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) depicts the lesser-known (but equally impactful) Harlem Cultural Festival of the same year. The doc is heavy on the archival footage, restoring decades-old clips of performances from Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Stevie Wonder with breathtaking color and clarity. The doc also tracks down attendees and performers alike, as they all reminisce about that memorable summer in Harlem. Its a great educational journey for folks who might be hearing about this historic event for the first time, and it masterfully connects the Civil Rights Movement of the past to the one in our present day.

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield prove why theyre two of the biggest stars of their generation as Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and William ONeal (the man who would eventually betray him), respectively, in Judas and the Black Messiah. The combined brilliance of Shaka King, the Lucas brothers, and Will Berson brings this story to life with an electrifying script, and a powerful message of racial justice that rings true now more than ever. This is one of the first films, and perhaps the most notable, to chronicle the short life of Hampton. It also does the important work of painting a true picture of the Black Panther Party, one that shows the group in their fullness from community outreach like the partys Free Breakfast for Children program to the Rainbow Coalition, a multiracial movement that united working class organizers like the white Southern Young Patriots and the Latino-led Young Lords.

A prison drama unlike any other, Night of Kings displays the power of the West African oral tradition with breathtaking stakes and dazzling visuals. Philippe Lactes fantasy takes viewers into a fictionalized account of the notorious La Maca prison on the Ivory Coast, where Bakary Kon is the latest inmate. Here, the prison is run by the prisoners and the ruler of them all is the ailing Dangro Blackbeard, who is being pressured to leave his post. To stall the prison uprising, he appoints Kons character as the facilitys new Roman, a griot or storyteller in West African cultures. But what this new Roman doesnt know is that if the story ends, he dies. This movie is magical and gritty with a clear knowledge of Ivory Coast politics, blending fable with fact for a thoroughly out-of-body experience.

Based on the novel by Nella Larson, Passing is a quietly poignant film that explores the choices that shape our lives. Irene is a well-to-do Black wife in 1920s Harlem whose life is flipped upside down by the return of her childhood friend, Clare, who is now passing for white. A Netflix original, this movie is one of the few mainstream films to explore colorism, Black elitism, and what it means to be white-passing. Is Blackness solely determined by genotype or phenotype? Ancestry? Or is it about shared experience, socialization, culture? A mix of them all? Its like that thought experiment of a tree falling in a forest: if no one knows youre Black, are you still Black? Tessa Thompson plays Irene with a fluster of anxiety and repression, and although Ruth Neggas racial passability was much-debated, her Clare is like a black widow: both beguiling and untrustworthy. The tension consistently amps up as the movie goes on, and it even subtly includes the homerotic undertones of the book that some critics and scholars have overlooked. Passing will keep you on the edge of your seat with an ending thats unforgettable.

Nolle D. Lilley is a southern California native learning to appreciate seasons. She is an alum of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. She cut her reporting teeth in Bakersfield, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and Washington D.C., where she covered the 2018 Thousand Oaks shooting, 2017 Congressional Baseball shooting, and other national stories, as well as hyperlocal stories that speak to equity, representation, and social justice. Her work can be found in the Chicago Reader, theGrio, CNN, The Nation, Arizona PBS, BKLYNER, amNewYork, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City where she works as a television reporter for News 12 Networks, and is working on her first novel.

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Okayplayers 10 Best Films Of 2021 - Okayplayer

SUKANTA NAG | ADDA COFFEE & TEA HOUSE OWNER AND ONETEN CHIEF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Are there family-sustaining jobs in technology, sales, manufacturing, health care and other professions that can be successfully filled by workers without four-year degrees?

Yes, according to OneTen, a relatively new national coalition that aims to hire, promote and advance 1 million Black workers without four-year degrees over the next 10 years hence the name, for 1 Million in Ten Years by urging companies to focus on skills and competencies rather than just academic credentials.

This coalition of employers, talent developers, education partners and community organizations says the focus should be on creating pathways for Black talent to enter family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.

Pittsburghs Sukanta Nag, an entrepreneur and owner of Adda Coffee & Tea House and other local businesses, recently was tapped to be the coalitions chief information and technology officer. He says Pittsburgh, with its wide range of industries, is an ideal city for OneTen.

We got a lot of strong support from local leaders, including the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, Vibrant Pittsburgh, The Andy Warhol Museum and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, he said about an October presentation Downtown about OneTen.

MAURICE JONES | CEO ONETEN

The coalition came out of 2020, says OneTen CEO Maurice Jones, who is based in Norfolk, Virginia. You had a pandemic with disproportionate impacts on communities of color. You had a recession that had the same disproportionately adverse impact on the same populations.

Those events, combined with the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others, spurred business leaders into action, he says. The business community knew it had good, quality jobs, but those jobs werent equally accessible. And, in their inaccessibility, they were contributing to the countrys racial wealth gap.

If you look at jobs that pay $60,000 and above, on paper, 79% of them require a four-year degree, says Jones, the former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If you look at jobs that pay $40,000, on paper, 71% of them require a four-year degree. Then, if you look at the labor force, what you find is among Black talent ages 25 and above, 76% of us do not yet have a four-year degree.

That is a systemic barrier to earning your way into the middle class, he adds. So they picked that problem. They said, We can solve that.

According to the Census Bureaus 2019 American Community Survey, 53.6% of white Pittsburghers have a bachelors degree or higher, whereas only 18.5% of Black residents hold the same.

Sabrina Saunders Mosby, CEO of Vibrant Pittsburgh, says theres already a significant base of employers here, from the financial industry to the health systems to the new tech startups that are gravitating to the region.

SABRINA SAUNDERS MOSBY | VIBRANT PITTSBURGH CEO

Our country is becoming more diverse from a racial and ethnic perspective, she says. The talents of today and tomorrow will be more diverse, and so, if you cannot as an employer, as a region attract and retain diverse talent, then youre going to consistently be understaffed and have an inability to be productive in your industry.

As with other cities in the country, Mosby says, Weve seen significant disparities among communities of color that span back decades that are directly [tied to] systemic inequities and racism that we are still trying to rectify today.

OneTens mission, she says, creates an opportunity for our regions businesses who have already made a commitment to diversify in the workforce a goalpost that they can strive for.

The effort is also directly in line with [Vibrant Pittsburghs] mission and my professional goals as CEO to make Pittsburgh a destination of choice, she says.

According to Mosby, being a destination of choice doesnt just involve bringing new talent into the city; it is also about lifelong residents being able to say, I am not bound to the region because of lack of opportunity. I choose to stay here because of the opportunity.

Within the creative community, Nag says The Andy Warhol Museum on the North Shore is launching a workforce development program centered on the creative economy. He says, If you look at some of the emerging marketing techniques that people are using through Instagram, TikTok amazing talent [and] a lot of them never go to college if theyre working independently. But if you look for the same kind of job in a corporation, theyre looking for 10 years experience and college degrees.

While the coalition has already begun partnering with large, national employers such as Bank of America and IBM to urge them to reduce the number of jobs requiring four-year degrees, Nag says it will eventually expand to include mid-sized companies and small businesses.

Nags team is responsible for what he calls the technology ecosystem of the coalition, specifically the online career marketplace the beta version of which launched in July 2021 where employers, talent and training programs will be able to match with each other.

Making the magic happen, says Nag, a native of Bangladesh who came to the region to attend Slippery Rock University 26 years ago and stayed here.

Businesses that want to get involved must commit to four things, Jones says: providing jobs right now that dont have a four-year degree; removing the degree requirement where its unneeded; learning from other business best practices for recruiting, retaining and advancing Black talent without four-year degrees; and staying with the coalition for 10 years.

As Mosby saw with local diversity and inclusion efforts in 2020, Those organizations that were intentional in their efforts to build policies or change or shape policies that focus on inclusion and equity the action and impact will outlive those promises and the sentiments that were made as well.

In order to reach Black talent, OneTen is tapping into established, trusted relationships in communities such as the Urban League, the NAACP and faith-based organizations. Jones says there are also nearly 1,000 community colleges throughout the country with an estimated total of 350,000 Black students who can be reached through direct marketing and Black media.

The potential impact of OneTen goes beyond salary.

The Brookings Institute reports that 30% of Pittsburghs families earn below the $21.62-per-hour family-sustaining wage benchmark. They estimate that there would need to be more than 80,000 family-sustaining jobs to bring those families out of that category of struggling.

Family-sustaining wages will allow [individuals] to advance in a variety of other capacities: home ownership, perhaps even entrepreneurship, education, many of the areas that are connected to social determinants of health, says Mosby. This is a pivotal shift in the way that were thinking. That will and can change communities, specifically communities of color for years to come.

Says Nag: Its a win-win-win. Its a win for the talent. Its a win for the employer because they could get amazing talent. And its a win for our city and our region for economic growth and prosperity.

Amy Whipple is a part-time writer, part-time church secretary and full-time awesome. In addition to Pittsburgh Magazine, her work can be found in PublicSource, HuffPost and VICE, among others.

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How the OneTen Coalition is Ensuring Black Talent Without Four-Year Degrees Grow Their Careers - Pittsburgh Magazine

After their kids were grown, Tom Wetmore and Heidi Marcotte started dancing.

For more than a decade, the Hartland couple would attend dances or lessons at least once a week and often more. Theyd waltz, fox trot, West Coast swing and nightclub two-step alongside other dancers throughout the Upper Valley.

But the couple havent attended a dance in the Upper Valley since the early days of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered activities for them and others like them.

The Upper Valley had a really big dance community, Wetmore said. Its good stimulation for our brains, physically and mentally. Its good exercise. We miss it.

Every social activity has been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have started to make a comeback. Choir groups and community bands are once again rehearsing and performing. People can sit in theaters to watch live shows or gather in a concert hall to watch a band play. But its been almost two years since Upper Valley social and contra dancers have cut a rug together.

There is truly a dynamic that is very special that happens in the ballroom or at the Black Center when we have our dances, said Kristina Cole, of Grantham, one of the founding members of the Fourth Saturday Dances, which take place at the Richard W. Black Community Center in Hanover. Theres the lights, the music, the camaraderie, and even being an observer of the dancing motivates you to dance. Theres a wonderful dynamic that occurs that we certainly are missing. Theres a magical dynamic that were missing.

Social dancing is loosely defined as any dance that involves a partner. It doesnt allow for social distancing like a line dance, where people can spread out. While there have been some smaller, private dance events in the Upper Valley since the pandemic began, none have been like the dances that used to draw dozens of people.

Last winter, Wetmore and Marcotte had hoped that, come spring and summer with vaccination, things would be different and that they would be able to return to dancing. Then Marcotte got a breakthrough COVID-19 infection after attending an outdoor event, and they became more cautious.

That kind of knocked the wind out of our sails, Wetmore said.

The couple attended two weddings and danced together, but the whole time we were wondering, Maybe we shouldnt be doing this. Sometimes they dance together at home, but it isnt the same.

Thats the case for Miriam and Gary Durkee, of Thetford, who used to go dancing at least twice a week before the pandemic. The Thetford couple would dance at the Black Center or at an area venue if one of their favorite bands was playing. Theyve developed a particular love for West Coast swing and tango in the more than 30 years theyve spent dancing together.

Theres something about dancing in a group with people dancing, you get energy from other people. Its just not the same to dance in your home together, Miriam Durkee said. Its definitely had an effect on our social life.

In the meantime, Miriam Durkee has continued taking line dance classes with Jamie Orr. She and Gary snowshoe in the winter and golf in the summer to stay active.

Dancing is somewhat athletic; Im not athletic at all. I have no interest in sports, she said. Dancing is just so it just lights up my life.

Its the same for the instructors. Orr, of Enfield, has taught dance in the Upper Valley for decades, and the pandemic halted his group social dance classes. He has worked with individual couples who are preparing to dance at their weddings.

If I didnt teach line dancing, I would have very little business right now, said Orr, who also helps facilitate the Fourth Saturday Dances.

During events hosted by the Dartmouth Argentine Tango Society, community members and students would dance side by side to learn from each other. Partners would take turns leading and following.

Like other forms of social dance, tango stopped. This summer, there was an event featuring instructors from New York City, but it was open only to members of the Dartmouth community.

Tangos a less socially distanced dance, said Armin Helisch, the societys adviser. You dance in an embrace, and its a close embrace.

He and his partner-in-life Marta Ceroni, who teach tango classes at Dartmouth, have a dance floor in their Enfield home that now holds exercise equipment.

Somehow its much more fun to do it in the community because its a social dance. Its meant to be social, Helisch said. For ourselves somehow we dont feel as inspired to do it.

Over the summer, dance instructor Gina Sonne, of Norwich, briefly tried to bring back weekly waltzes to St. Barnabas Church in Norwich. After about three weeks, she stopped them due to lack of interest.

People were scared, and people were busy in the summer, she said. I dont think they wanted to be indoors.

She currently does not have a timeline to resume the dances. COVID-19 case rates are rising, and shes not sure she can guarantee that all attendees, even if theyre fully vaccinated, will be safe.

Around 25 years ago, Dave Beaufait attended a Dawn Dance in Brattleboro, Vt., where he met his future wife, Sharon.

We didnt know each others names for a month or two, but now weve been together for 25 years, Dave Beaufait said. I worked a lot, so it was a good way to socialize with a lot of people. I love the music. I love to move and it was a way of doing that.

Like social dancing, contra dancing a form of folk dance that requires close contact with other participants has largely been paused in the Upper Valley. Dave Beaufait, an Enfield resident who is chair of the Norwich Dance Committee and president of Muskeg Music, the umbrella nonprofit organization for the committee, said the last dance that was held at their home base of Tracy Hall was in February 2020. The group had been hoped to hold a New Years Eve dance there this month, but those hopes were dashed as COVID-19 started to surge again. Now, they have nothing scheduled through the end of their season in June.

That may change if something miraculous happens, but I dont expect that, Dave Beaufait said.

The twice-monthly dances at Tracy Hall used to draw 60 to 100 people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Its something that the whole community can participate in, young and old, very inclusive and welcoming and energetic and just really a great sense of community, Sharon Beaufait said. It doesnt matter if youre dancing with a child or someone 90 years old: People are smiling and just having fun. And for me its unbridled joy.

The Ed Larkin Dancers, a contra dance group that has been around for close to a century, performed at the Tunbridge Worlds Fair this year just like they have in years past. But it was a different performance: Instead of going out in the crowd to get audience members to dance with them, they stuck to the stage.

When it started, we basically stopped all dancing altogether, said Bill Matoon, president of the group, which has around 18 active members. This June, they started meeting again to prepare for the fair and they plan to meet in the future, as long as everyone is comfortable.

Live music is a staple of contra dance and musicians who regularly performed at them have also been greatly impacted. There have been some virtual concerts where musicians play dances and people are encouraged to dance in their homes. But just like social dancing, it isnt the same.

We are exploring some carefully formatted concerts with vaccine requirement and mask mandate as well as social distancing and therefore limited capacity in order to be able to support some of the bands that play the live music for us, Dave Beaufait said.

The activity of dance itself is missed, but in many ways the social connections are missed even more. Whatever the style of dance, there would be breaks for people to talk and eat. Communities formed over a shared interest flourished. Its also curtailed the ability to hone skills that people have worked for years to develop.

I practice at home by myself almost every day, but its hard, Michael Dathe, of Strafford, said. It is, I dont know what the word would be, awful isnt a strong enough word. Its just crushed my own development. My development has just stopped.

Dancing is also a physical activity. People stretch their muscles and move fast, increasing their heart rates.

Dancing was my main form of exercise, said Kim Witmer, who has been dancing with her husband, Alan, for more than a decade. We were heading into empty nest syndrome. We just wanted something we could do for us to help nurture our relationship.

The Lebanon couple would dance at least twice a week and sometimes head up to the White Mountains for larger dances. The Black Centers Fourth Saturday dances were always a highlight.

It was a huge loss when the pandemic came, Witmer, who also line dances, said.

Like the Witmers, Amy Chan and her husband, Ben, were looking for an activity to do as a couple when they started dancing around five years ago. It was something they long had an interest in doing.

We were just at a point where we really wanted to be intentional about doing something that number one would be fun, something that would be a date night for us and that would help us make other friends with shared hobbies, Amy Chan said.

The couple quickly took to it and developed a particular affinity for the hustle, a 1970s dance largely performed at discos. In February 2020, they helped organize an event at the Black Center where they invited a instructor up from Boston. More than 100 people attended.

We were looking forward to doing more of that, Amy Chan said. I felt we were just getting rolling with bringing some new life to the dance community here.

The Chans, who are in their 40s and live in Lebanon, share a concern that is echoed by other dancers: Without holding events, they cannot recruit dancers and there is a worry about the state of the social activity in the Upper Valley. While the Ed Larkin Dancers are meeting with each other, theyre no longer holding open houses. Community classes at Dartmouth are no more and there is no sense of when they will resume.

We were enjoying bringing more younger people to the dance community here so having it disappear for two whole years has been hard and sad for the future of dance in our community, said Amy Chan, whose husband, as the New Hampshire state epidemiologist, has been playing a public role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dance ended up being the thing we both enjoyed. It kept us active in making new friends. We miss it. We cant wait to get back.

Its hard to say when dances will resume. Recently Orr put out a survey to people who regularly attend the Fourth Saturday dances asking under what circumstances theyd feel comfortable coming back. The majority said theyd attend if people were required to show proof of vaccination. Hanover, where the Fourth Saturday Dances are held, has a mask mandate, which also might put people at ease. Some dancers said that while dancing with masks can be cumbersome particularly with the tango theyd be willing to give it a go.

Theres been talk of gathering in person, but only dancing with the partner participants arrive with. That doesnt always appeal, though, as people are encouraged to come by themselves to socialize and dance. Changing partners is one of the hallmarks of social dancing.

One of the joys of it is youre able to make that physical connection being close to somebody who maybe you just met, but you share that warmth of not being socially distanced, Amy Chan said. It fed part of our soul, and that part has been aching for two years.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

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Tango, contra and other dancing still stalled as other activities have returned to the Upper Valley - Concord Monitor

A year ago, on a Christmas unlike any most of us could remember, amid a pandemic but with vaccines beginning to become available, we editorialized about Christmas as a day, no matter what a persons religious beliefs, that at its core pays tribute to what is best in human nature as shown in the kindnesses and good cheer shown other people at a moment of hope for better times ahead.

That Dec. 25, 2020, editorial concluded, Beyond creed or heritage, this is what Christmas arguably says to every Greater Clevelander: That human progress, albeit sometimes two steps forward, one step back, gives hope, stokes spirits, nudges us forward, promises better days. And yes: Those better days will come.

One year later, with omicron surging, many of us may feel frustrated, disappointed, let down. When will those better days come? During a year of political turmoil, gridlock and finger-pointing, what has become of basic civility and that broader spirit of caring, nurturing and giving back that so long has defined our relationships and communities, but that today seems broken or at best incomplete? How do we reknit our shredded skein into a diverse and equitable broadcloth of can-do Americanism, pride, vigor and hope? Are there restorative glimmers of a better way, a kinder voice, a more unified America we can grab hold of and nurture?

What are the points of hope and optimism that our Editorial Board Roundtable looks to right now that, just maybe, can show the way forward to a more civil, more respectful, happier tomorrow? What is the one thing we might do that could help nudge a return to positive momentum, here at home and in the wider world?

Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:

I believe that if everyone tried to listen more, and talk less, we -- all of us -- might decide that no one has a monopoly on wisdom, or good ideas, or common sense. Today public life sometimes seems as if millions of people, on one side of a chasm, and millions of people, on the other side, are screaming across that gap, aiming noise at each other, without hearing, or even wanting to hear, anything. Deadlock? Rancor? Thats the recipe.

Ted Diadiun, columnist:

What is the one thing missing from the America that once had a sense of common purpose; of the can-do spirit that transcended self-centered differences and partisan loyalties? I think its our shared faith in God and prayer that bound the nation together through challenging times and is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. If things get bad enough, perhaps we might return to the faith that breathed life into the founding of our nation.

Eric Foster, columnist:

In my last column, I wrote about the loss of my father. The response I received was overwhelmingly supportive. Unexpectedly, expressions of support came from people who disagree with me (and express it) on a weekly basis. I find hope in the fact that, despite our disagreement, some things are bigger than our differences. However, we can only get to those bigger things if we learn about each other. My hope (wish) is that we become intentional about getting out of our self-segregation habits in terms of whom we interact with and learn about those we disagree with. I believe that you can find something in common with anyone, if you look hard enough.

Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:

With a vicious new wave of coronavirus and a whiff of civil violence in the air, my optimism is currently in short supply. I find solace in the daily letters of political historian Heather Cox Richardson. Her expert juxtaposition of past history and current events inspires continued vigilance, and reasons to believe all is not lost. I also take heart at tiny signs of life in my winter garden, holding the promise of spring.

Victor Ruiz, editorial board member:

While there is a lot weighing on us right now, I am encouraged by the great shift in society that we are experiencing. Traditional society is being challenged in many ways, which is a good because it means that more of us can get access to the great American promise. So, keep challenging traditional workplace environments, so that everyone can benefit; keep fighting to eradicate systemic racism, despite the desperate efforts against it; and please be good citizens, and get vaccinated and wear a mask.

Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member:

When I am feeling overwhelmed by our nations incivility and political rancor, I ask God to intervene. And without fail, if Im paying attention, I can see His Hand at work. We Americans donate to charities. We rally to help our neighbors. We volunteer in schools and shelters. In everyday moments, God so powerfully reveals that the human ties binding us together are much stronger than the political forces attempting to divide us.

Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:

One word: empathy. If we each work every day not to default to catch phrases or angry putdowns, we might be able to inch our way to greater open-mindedness and an ability to listen, understand, and be respectful. Rediscovering common ground will soon follow.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial board roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.

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Christmas 2021 thoughts and hopes: Editorial Board Roundtable - cleveland.com